We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Gaines a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jason, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents were the type to always say, when there is a problem, there is also a solution. My mother always said that a lot. No matter how small, or how big a problem could be, my mother always taught me that at the end of the day, the solution, whether big or small, can always be there if you work hard and don’t give up on solving the problem. One of the biggest challenges that I had was when I was injured throwing shotput and discus. At the time, I was trying to go to states and win states. Unfortunately, I would injure my leg at the beginning of outdoor season, and would not be able to compete for the rest of the season. I was devastated. I had worked so hard for four years, and no longer had the ability to compete with the best in the region. My mom did what she did best. There was a problem, but there was also a solution. That solution was photography. I would be able to continue to show support to the team. Sure, I wasn’t scoring points and winning every track meet, but I was supporting my friends, and making memories that would last a life time. My mother gave me a solution that not only changed how I look at issues, but she also created a gateway that would lead to me starting my own photography business.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Jason Gaines, and I am a professional portrait and cosplay photographer. I have been taking photos for about 10 years, and started doing photography back in middle school. I started out doing photos for yearbook club, and I enjoyed. It was fun, and it gave me the chance to do something that didn’t require a rubric. To make things even better, I also got to meet a whole bunch of people, and make tons of friends talking to people, and taking photos at school events, sports events, and whatever else I needed to do. Once I got to high school, I really began to get into nerd stuff. This will come in later! I would find out that yearbook was no longer a club, but now an actual class in high school. So once again, I decided to take it. I started out in yearbook class working on pages, and creating different pages for the sports teams, and other clubs. One day, my yearbook teacher would ask if any of us wanted to go and take photos of the games. There weren’t a lot of photos that were being taken of the players at games, so we did not have a lot of galleries to use when putting photos into the yearbook pages. I said yes to it, because I had done it before, and wanted to pick up a camera again! Lets just say, things exploded after that. By the end of the year, I was the photo guy! I had taken photos of tons of games, and began to take photos of people. My photography journey truly began here! As high school began to start, I also began to really get into more comics and anime! This would lead to me taking photos at comic con, and beginning my journey with portraits. Soon enough, I would begin to take photos of cosplay, models, events, and many other things. Slowly but surely, I was doing something I didn’t realize would become a business years down the line! I started my business in 2024, and began to truly take on the challenge of doing portraits and cosplay photography! I love to be around people and help people have confidence in themselves. If there is one thing that makes me so happy, it is having a client be so comfortable and laughing during a session! For me, it is so important for someone to be comfortable and feel safe during a session! Especially when I am doing cosplay portraits. A lot of cosplayers can get camera shy very quickly. That is where I feel I do my best work, because I love to share comedy and just be sporadic. There is nothing more funny then having both me and the client laughing our tails off getting to know each other before the shoot starts. I feel that this leads to a great friendship and even better photos. The same goes for portraits to! I am very proud of being able to not only take photos and create memories for people, but also create a safe space for both cosplayers, models, and clients to be themselves and have a great session! I am all about fun and joy! I love being able to talk and figure out what makes each client happy and most importantly, bring out their authentic self! I love what I do, not only because I get to be nerd and talk everything geek, but also because I get to help someone with there confidence, and there image!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
One thing that I never thought I would use for learning would be a book! I was always so used to going online and learning from the computer that I never thought of getting a book! At least, until I ran into Lindsay Adler. I was really struggling with posing for a while. It was something that always stumped me. I could have a client happy, have a client give the best smile, and have a client give the best posture, yet still be stuck on what to do with there body itself. Then along came a spider named Lindsay Adler, and a book called the photographers guide to posing! It was a game changer for me! This not only created a space for me to learn from the foundation again, but to see so many of the mistakes I had made and fix them! The book not only gave me confidence on understanding that mistakes only make you better, but also the fact that its not always the big things that need to change! If anything, a lot of what I was doing was already decent! It was adding the little flare! Changing the tiny pieces that needed to be fixed, and strengthening knowledge! With this book, I have learned some crucial lessons, not only about posing, but more importantly, being a better photographer for my clients.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I am someone who loves to talk and get to know someone before I even pick up the camera! I think some of the most important conversations need to be had way before a invoice is even made! Understanding what the client wants, there style, how they operate, and even more important then that, understanding if I am the right fit for them is very important! I feel that as I began working with clients, I really began to have friends turn to family very quickly! Lots of the conversations started out as the usual. What are you looking for in a photographer? Where do you want the location to be? Is there anything I should know about? By the end of the conversation, I would be talking about memories. Talking about life and how it has built the way we are today! I feel that these emotional conversations lead to better understanding who my client is, and really understanding what these photos mean to someone. Sure, I can go and write an invoice in 5 minutes, but I would rather truly get to know this person and truly understand what makes them who they are. At the end of the day, I want those photos to mean something, and I feel that I have created a reputation around truly getting to know and understand a client, not just for the shoots, but for who they are truly.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaines.visuals/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaines.visuals
Image Credits
Cosplayer with blue hair and sword- https://www.instagram.com/archaiccryptid/
Man walking with sun- https://www.instagram.com/caseyshae/
woman with orange hair and sword- https://www.instagram.com/shearsintheshire/
man with yellow and red suit on- https://www.instagram.com/the3rdpharaoh/
Woman with yellow hood and spikes- https://www.instagram.com/avalon_lee_cosplay/
Man and woman standing- https://www.instagram.com/caseyshae/ and https://www.instagram.com/rosalin.inabinett/