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

Kurt, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

Way back when I decided that I wanted to be a photographer, I found that wedding photography was a great way to make a living. People are always going to get married I figured. There isn’t any kind of licensing you need. You simply just become one. Now, getting from the, “I’m a wedding photographer” to “I just booked my first client” was a tricky predicament. What couple is going to hire someone for the most important day of their relationship that has no idea what he is doing? I figured I could I find someone experienced to second shoot for, learn the ropes. Problem was, I didn’t know a single person in the industry. Alternatively, I figured I could get on Craigslist and offer my services for free. Maybe just a few weddings to get some experience, collect a small portfolio and then get started with the money making. Of course, there was never a shortage of people on Craigslist looking for free stuff. I had so many replies to my ad that I actually ended up landing 2 or 3 fairly nice weddings after sifting through them all. These were couples that I assume had spent all of their wedding funds and realized they were now broke and still needed someone to take photos. I of course made it very clear that I had zero idea of what I was doing, This was free and if they ended up with zero photos, it was their problem. At the end of that first wedding, the parents of either the bride or the groom (cant remember) tipped me 150 bucks. And that officially started my foray into professional photography services.

Kurt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well, my name is Kurt Boomer and I photograph weddings. A pretty simple career that is one of the most difficult things to keep running properly and keeping couples happy.

I actually started in banking. A completely cush job managing high net worth client accounts. Long lunches and lots of putting along the office carpet filled my days. It’s no surprise that when the marked turned south round about 2009 that my entire position nationally was basically let go. From there, with the financial sector melting down, I decided to take the savings I had and drive across the country. Bought a camera and was off. By the time I got home, I had decided to become a photographer.

What am I most proud of? I guess it’s the fact that all these years later, I’m still chugging along. It has never been easy. But whats the fun of life without challenges? Avoiding a beige cubicle for so long is also something that I view fondly. And lastly, getting notes from clients telling me they love their images.

Plain and simple, I shoot photos at weddings. I love what I do and really can’t imagine doing something outside of some creative field. I’m inspired by the great fine art of the past and hope that I can add a little to the long history of humans making beautiful things.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I actually just went through a pretty big transition in the business. I went from shooting film at weddings to digital. It was a bit of a challenge. While I still love film, it just isnt viable in this day in age. With that being said, I love the modern tools that are around to get imagery look amazing from digital cameras. And it’s a lot less stress!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I got lucky in the social media game. I started pre-Instagram. Instagram being the absolutely most utilized app in our industry. While I really loath IG and what it does to people, I understand that it’s something I have to do. Most of the time I feel it’s just a daily offering to the great Zuck. Keeping the all powerful algorithm happy so that people still know your in business. Or simply still alive. Ive seen it rob good friends of a lot of time from their spouse and or kids in trying to win some non-existent race. How sad..

Anyway, I say lucky in that, I was there at the start of the social media revolution. So, I naturally got a head start. If you were to start today in the industry, I cant imagine the work it would take to catch up to the established area of our little world. I’d probably skip IG for the most part and actually meet with industry people in person. Gasp!

Contact Info:

• Website: kurtboomer.com
• Instagram: @kurtboomerphoto

Image Credits
@kurtboomerphoto