Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josh Schorle. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I actually learned how to shoot photos and videos by watching A LOT of YouTube videos over the years. But that’s just part of it, the other half I learned by doing and getting my hands messy. If something still wasn’t working or if I was still unsure about something, I’d just go back to Youtube to search more about what I’m trying to learn. The never ending cycle of learn, make, repeat. One thing that could have sped up my learning process…. maybe…. is unfortunately tied to a somewhat financial limitation. I started learning a lot of this on a point and shoot style camera, the Canon G7X mk1. It has a lot of the functionalities talked about by many of the camera YouTubers I was watching, but not as many as say the Canon 80D that I later upgraded to. Being able to skip directly to the 80D would have sped my process along, but I also wouldn’t have appreciated holding an actual camera body had I not started with the G7X.
One thing that has stood in the way, and sometimes still gets in the way, is perfectionism / the comparison trap. I often worry too much about if something is “technically” correct and comparing my work to others instead of just comparing where I’m at now to where I was at 10 years ago. It’s far too easy to let comparison be the thief of joy and let it bog me down. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to know exactly how to execute a photo or video properly, but sometimes you have to learn the rules before you break them. Besides, by the end of the day we’re all trying our best with what we know how to do and giving it our all to deliver a quality product to our clients.
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 am a photographer and videographer from Iowa and a little over a month ago moved to northern Wisconsin. I got into this industry ironically because of Instagram. I started posting photos from my phone to Instagram and slowly became more and more intrigued by the craft. Later, I started a vlog channel on YouTube again filming with my phone and laptop camera. Overtime, I learned more and more about the crafts of photography and videography from watching creators that ended up on my recommended for me page. The more I watched, the more I learned, the more I learned lead me to upgrade my gear and the more excited I became and the more I realized I needed to learn. Rinse and repeat that cycle a couple times over the course of a decade and here I am.
I offer portrait style photography, product photography, and event coverage photography as well as video services for weddings, commercials / advertisements, and social media content. I help take the guess work out of the content you need for your business. When the client gives me their idea, I make it a reality and adjust accordingly to what works best and looks best on the social internet all while allowing what makes them… them… to fully shine through and stand out.
One thing I’m most proud of is an advertisement I made for a housing insulation company that’s been seen by thousands across Facebook and Instagram and has helped bring in hundreds of customers and the ad campaign still isn’t over yet. Also really proud of an Ad I made for an iOS app and has been seen by over 7,000 people to date.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I know this may sound redundant, but don’t be afraid to just be yourself in your content. I often find that the videos where I’ve dropped all my walls and shown me over-enjoying something that maybe have no business being enjoyed that much often perform the best. In this particular case, I was zoned in on trying to get two magnetic objects to stick together via gravity…. and it was just excerpt from a longer product review that was uploaded to my YouTube channel JoshSchorleTech. Another tip for accumulating views and an audience is to use a “hook” that engages your audience and instantly makes them curious or instantly relates to a common struggle shared by you and your viewer.
Lastly, be in the comments and go comment on stuff by fellow creators and on the stuff you like. Been the best way to really get to know and understand your audience on a deeper level vs just treating them as a viewer.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Not being trapped to a desk hating what I’m doing. Yeah there are many times I’m trapped to a desk deep into a video edit or sifting through and editing a large batch of photos, but I’m doing what I love and creating something for a client, or the general internet, that will create some kind of impact on their life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://JoshSchorle.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/JoshSchorlePhoto
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/JoshSchorlePhoto
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoshSchorle
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/JoshSchorleTech
- Other: Threads.net/@JoshSchorle
Image Credits
All images are mine