We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Greg Taylor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Greg , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Being a photographer I create tons of memories for my clients and usually thats where it ends. I always want to do more but had no idea how or where to go with it. I had been using Canva and other digital creation tools for a few months at this point, making digital flyers and poking around but not really diving really deep into them until one client unknowingly issued a challenge to me. We were doing a portrait session for her small business and we started talking about marketing as we’re both small business owners. She mentioned that she would love if she could have some of my great photos for her to use in other places besides online, like billboards and posters. I did’t think much of it at the time but it stuck with me, using my photos offline. At this point I had only been sending my photos via online galleries but never any physical means.

Once I finished editing her photos I took a moment to look at them and see what more I could do with them. My client was already happy with the final product (She’s still using them to this day!) but i told her that I’m gonna do more with them and get back with her with the results. I took some time looking at physical print magazines, the ad’s they had in them and how they were formatted, the fonts used, and overall structure of how it all looked. I was odd looking at ads for inspiration seeing as today we actively try to keep them at a minimum in our daily life! After a few weeks I started to come up with concepts, putting things together and getting a new appreciation for ad’s and how much goes into something that we usually don’t notice. I put together a whole package of flyers, cards, posters and all for her business with her logo and everything and sent it to her without her knowing.

I got a request for a FaceTime call from her a few weeks after, I had forgot I put that package together for her and figured she had some questions about her photos or something along those lines. As I answered she had the biggest smile on her face as she showed me the blown up version of the same poster I put together for her in her office! She was overjoyed with what she saw and so was I! She expressed that it made her business feel real and the fact that I paid attention and noticed that need for her shows that I cared about her business by using mine to help hers along

That whole turn of events has made me appreciate physical media as well as paying closer attention to what clients can get out of my work. I’m always looking for more ways to bring in physical media for myself, my clients and anyone else I can help out! This was one project that gave me an entirely different way of showing off my work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Born in Vallejo California and moved to Austin back in ’95 before it was cool! I have always loved the city and its unique look and the people that come with it. I always love to capture the uniqueness of what’s around me and it extends into my photography. I started back in High School way back in 2005(!) with physical film and video but then upgraded to an old Kodak Easy Share I got my mom for Mothers Day and has been the family photographer since! That evolved with the times to my smartphones (too many to count!) and eventually I added Moment lenses to my mobile photography and learned how much further I could go with it. I recently upgraded to a Sony a7RIII and do my absolute best to capture all kinds of special moments. Making those life moments freeze in time, seeing something that sparks a feeling, remembering those wonderful times, That’s what I set out to do when I grab my camera.

My style of photography is more real, lifelike in most cases, candid if you will. I love to make my clients smile, laugh and do things that come natural. I try to capture those real genuine smiles, instead of getting you to try a make a smile. I tend to keep my editing to a minimum to keep that simple look with subtitle use of post processing tricks unless needed. Now I am still open to what you’re looking at capturing too so let me know!

When I’m not out behind my camera I’m helping with all kinds of tech support, spending time with my two adorable kids and reading up on the latest video games and tech. I’m the oldest of 12 kids (long story, ask me about it!) and love being the big brother of the collection.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It’s not all bright ideas and perfect pictures! I’ve had many setbacks from burnout, overworking myself and just feeling like I should/could be doing more or less! It’s perfectly fine to fail! The path to success is littered with past failures, momentary setbacks and of course time for yourself! Learn to be okay with not having the best and focus on how you can become the best.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Helping people see what others see in them. My goal on my sessions is to always have them see themselves in a different light (no pun intended lol) I love when they say “Thats not me?! Is It?!” or “I can’t believe thats me!” on a session. Seeing the excitement in their face when that flash goes off knowing they can be themselves is just so rewarding! Making the session fun and entertaining as well is rewarding for me. I always try to make anything I’m involved in as fun as possible, it helps break the ice and gives people a space to let their hair down and just enjoy it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TayloredEye.com
• Instagram: @TayloredEye_ATX
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TayloredEye
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCSCKYWk_S6l6Nrkf7sqbzGQ