Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joseph Chadwick. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Joseph, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

As a teen I was part of a highschool scholarship program that helped kids develop video/editing skills but was kind of left on my own to figure it out. From there I went to LIU Post where I earned a film degree but truthfully I don’t know if I ever wanted to be on movie sets, but rather be in the short form video side, and thats where Instagram and all those social media platforms began to sway towards it.

My first creative job was working in marketing for a restaurant media management start up company, I was photographing at least 2 restaurants per day and creating their photos for menus, socials, etc. I developed a skillset that I had no prior experience in, but I was let go. I continued to freelance but I truthfully do not have a passion for food, I was just good at it.

I began working for Adorama as a customer service rep, but thats where I truthfully developed all my skills. A perk of the job is to loan equipment when the store was closed, and it being a jewish owned company meant every saturday I had access to pro equiptment. With the help of coworkers and meeting other creatives while working there thats where I learned a tremendous amount.

I had my first wedding video booked by a family friend, covid pushed that wedding back almost a year and that may have been the best thing to ever happen. Within that year i gained my confidence as a filmmaker and met my good friend who has basically become my teammate when shooting weddings. We shot the wedding together and did a phenomenal job that people began to reach out, and from there thats where I started my business.

Towards the end of 2021 things at my job had begun to sour with management, I wanted more opportunity, they neglected to provide that, and after much back and forth they let me go in Jan 2022. This was a blessing in disguise.
Due to the great quality of work I provided for wedding videos, and having promoted myself on Theknot, I had booked enough “weekend” work that I was more than content with leaving Adorama.

After 9 months of soley filming weddings and freelance work, I got a call from a friend who works for B&H asking if i would want to interview for a job. I pondered the opportunity and said yes. I got the job at B&H as a video content producer, which is what I do today. Daily I am creating videos about different camera and products relvant to my industry while learning about various equipment. This is what I see to be the next biggest stepping stone in my career where I can develop more skills and one day move to next phase of my life.

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?

My whole life I wanted to be a sports videographer/photographer but that never seemed like something anyone I knew did so I never really had much guidance in that field. In highschool I had my first glimpse of being involved in sports media with a highschool program through MSGVarsity. In college where I earned my film bachelors degree, i spent a year as the team basketball manager, but that seemed unfulfilling as again there was no guidance.

I found myself doing everything but what I actually wanted to be a part of. I worked for a food marketing company and gained a massive portfolio, I started my own wedding videography business which I still operate. It wasn’t until 2019 that I got to shoot my first professional soccer match. Since then I have consistently shot matches for NYCFC, even having the opportunity to shoot their MLS cup win. Now I have yet to be paid for my sports work but this has filled a void of my desire to shoot professional sports, whereas my daily life I make videos for living. It has become a perfect medium for the time being. My goal in life is to be able to venture into both travel and sports photography as well shoot other professional sports. The journey will always continue

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

I just think that people sometimes think its easy, they see the creative job as the “fun” jobs or the ones that can easily be done for us. When people look to hire creatives they don’t understand the hard work that goes into alot of this, especially the time. Alot of times being a creative is about attention to detail, but when you’re not someone who looks for that it becomes hard to explain why that is needed.

Its like baking a cake, anyone can go to the store get cake mix and do it. But then they watch netflix shows like Cake master because they entranced by the way these people can make these beautiful things. Anyone can take photo/video with your phone, but do you really know how to use the tools of it. Using a camera is legitimately a matter of knowing certain maths, sciences and functions. People dont get that beautiful shot because they were lucky, they get them because they have learned the skills necessary.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to slow down, I had to make time for my family my business and myself. Wanting to be a sports photographer meant alot of busy weekends. Its unpaid work, mainly for passion and portfolio, but its my real dream. After NYCFC won the 2021 MLS cup, it was time for me to put my career first. As much as I want to be a sports photographer the realization is, theres not a tremendous amount of money in it, and there’s alot of time/work.

Everything about sports is about being in the moment, the one to capture it, produce the photo the quickest, and have the best composition. A player scores a goal, you rush to import that photo, edit it and post it before the game is even over. This means always looking to be in the right spot at the right time.

When I first got into sports photography, I had to give up the time with my friends and family being in the stands having fun to now taking this seriously. It meant giving up time at family events for big games and opportunity to get the big shot. And at times I was the person to the big shot, but at the cost of being with my family for birthdays or gatherings. I wanted to be anywhere and everywhere the team was, I was building my audience.

That needed to slow down in 2022, I decided I was going to start my business, but that was also on weekends so a sacrifice needed to be made. Now I go to matches when I think its important or I am available, my business and family come first. Hopefully there will be a time where my business is sports and my family can be a part of that, but in todays world you must make a paycheck first.

Contact Info:

• Website: jmcfilmphoto.com
• Instagram: @JMCFilmphoto
• Linkedin: @JMCfilmphoto
• Twitter: @JMCFilmphoto