We were lucky to catch up with Kyle Barber recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kyle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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 more or less threw myself into the fire of creating videos for clients, perhaps slightly sooner than I should have.

I went to film school for one year before having to transfer due to financial issues. I learned a bit about the basics of filmmaking, the typical rule of thirds, frame rate, depth of field, etc. but one year of film school doesn’t teach you how to translate these skills to crafting videos for clients. Film school teaches you how to work on movie or TV sets and try and secure a job in the city.

While I knew I loved videography, I jumped into photography getting a job at a photo studio and picked up a new craft. This put my videography goals on hold, but it allowed me to stay in a similar field and learn more about cameras.

Due to my connections at the photo studio, i started making event videos for the mall we were located in. What I found tricky with this specific learning process was that I couldn’t find a resource online that “taught how to shoot event videos”. So I had to jump right into it and learned as I went. I do wish I started offering video shoots to businesses for free to just get the practice in. But since I didn’t, and I didn’t use the resource of YouTube or other similar teachable sites as much as I should’ve, it took me longer to get to a point where I felt like the video quality matched where I wanted it to be. While that may be just a personal desire as the businesses always loved and posted the videos, I do wish i sped up my learning process by researching and practicing more.

I fortunately never lacked the interpersonal skills that you may need to lock down or convince someone to book me for a shoot, but learning how to properly talk to or market yourself is very important to secure bookings and clients. Being able to present yourself professionally is a huge factor in someone wanting to use your services.

Also the ability to be multi-faceted and having a handle on all your equipment, during and post production is important.

Time is a factor into not learning more when i first started, as I worked 40+ hours in order to make as much money as I could, and while I never turned down a gig that was worthwhile, sometimes after working a full-time schedule, your motivation to add-on more to further your business or skills dwindles just from being tired, or having other personal obligations. While my situation wasn’t perfect enough for me to be able to focus solely on becoming a better videographer, I’m happy my job allowed me to become both a well-seasoned photographer and videographer.

My advice to anyone wanting to start shooting for clients is to go shoot anything. I’m sure that’s the most cliche answer, but look up what other videographers/photographers do or have done and see what you like. Translate that into your own style, see what you like/dislike and then get out there. 9/10 times businesses do not turn free advertising, even if it doesn’t turn out as you’d like!

Kyle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Funnily enough, I never expected myself to be involved in the creative space I am in now. Growing up I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, or atleast I thought I did because my parents wanted me to be.

At my college orientation, I fell asleep at my intro to communications lecture. I knew from that point I needed a change, and I luckily ran into someone from the film department. From there, I transferred majors and made the best decision for my future. I loved every moment of learning about film and TV production.

When i had to transfer out after only a year, i came back home and begun working at a photography studio and received my bachelors in journalism. I continued into photography, videography, and logo/website design, along with some marketing campaigns for various clients.

I love creating something from idea to completion. Crafting commercials is something I love the most, especially when I can take all worries away from the client regarding coming up with a story. It’s so satisfying watching the commercial go from an idea in my head to the finished product.

I also video weddings, which I have been shooting more of recently. I love creating something that will not only be re-watched so many times over a lifetime, but something I craft specifically to get people to cry! Seriously, my goal is for you to cry watching it. Mission accomplished quite a few times!!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

A website I love is envato elements. There are graphic design templates, royalty free musics, sound effects and more. I highly recommend checking it out.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Referrals, I don’t really market myself at all. It works out that this is my side business to my full-time salary job. However, I have enough side business where I can’t take too much more without being overwhelmed. Referrals will always be, IMO, the number one thing to gaining new clients. Need to make sure you’re meeting your current clientele’s needs so they recommend you to others!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Kylejbarber.com

Image Credits

N/A