We recently connected with Jerry King and have shared our conversation below.
Jerry, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
My pursuit of photography professionally as far as I was concerned was really never an option. Photography for me began as an impulse purchase. I bought a camera from Best Buy and spent a weekend exploring with my new toy. I was hooked immediately. I returned the camera on Monday and upgraded to a better camera, because I knew I would outgrow it. I joined a photography club to meet like minded individuals with an interest/love in photography. I was quickly told that I sucked and should find another hobby. Not being deterred , I kept at it and eventually resigned from the SWAT team to ensure my weekends weren’t interrupted. Two years later, I was offered an opportunity to work with the Mighty Eight Air Force Museum on a WWII project. At the conclusion of the project, I realized there was the real possibility I could earn a living doing what I loved. This led me to turn in my resignation and exit law enforcement.
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?
I always had a love for photography, but never envisioned myself as a photographer. I spent ten years in the US Army followed by seventeen years of Law Enforcement. If you had told me that a former army paratrooper and police SWAT officer, would find themselves as a professional editorial and headshot photographer, I would have rolled my eyes. I think what sets me apart from other photographers, is just me as an individual. There are so many talented visual creatives out there and it just comes down to connecting with people. I approach all my assignments as a collaboration with the end goal of bringing out the client’s best self. I strive to be better than I was the day before and have made peace with the fact that I will be chasing perfection but never catch it.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I remember driving to a job and was down to my last penny. I had just enough gas to get to the job, but none to return home. I was praying the client would pay at the end of the event. The transmission in my car was on it’s last leg and I had a tire blow out on the way to the gig. I was two hours late due to the tire fiasco. I still went and completed the job. I felt horrible, but the client was happy. There were so many stories similar to this and I almost went back into law enforcement, but quit was not in my vocabulary. Who knew a year later, I would be flying cross country for assignments in Dallas, Texas and Portland, Maine.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Experience has taught me a couple of lessons. One, It’s not about chasing transactions, but building relationships. Two, Is submit your proposal and forget about it. You can’t waste the energy worrying about a client accepting your quote or proposal Spend the energy in positive ways to push forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.jkingimages.com
- Instagram: @jkingimages_
- Facebook: Facebook.com/jkingimages
- Linkedin: Www.LinkedIn.com/in/jkingimgages
Image Credits
J King Images