We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Levi Thompson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Levi, thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

If I was to start this journey over and do something differently, I would be more focused on doing photography for the experience and love of the craft, rather than trying to make money off of every gig. A mistake I made was early on when I started to get some small local recognition, I started to feel like I needed to focus on getting payed for everything in order to progress my career. This resulted in me turning down opportunities that probably could have progressed my career at a point where I should have been focused on genuine connections and building friendships. What I tell photographers starting out that ask me for advice is to always remember why you love photography and keep that in your heart. I really believe photography is about people and connection. And if you keep that in mind at all times as you go forward, the career and money will come. At where I am now, I try to always move with good intentions and love in my heart, I believe it’s been good for me so far.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Photography started for me as a means of admiration. I remember flipping through my family’s scrapbooks thinking how cool it was that these memories throughout my life could be captured in this way. This admiration eventually turned into curiosity. In high school I was an avid Tumblr user (the social media and online blog website). I would spend hours scrolling through photos thinking how did they make these photos. At some point, thanks to having a few friends who owned cameras and getting to hold a professional camera in my hands, a switch flipped inside me and I decided I needed to get my own camera and try this out. I worked one summer at a summer camp in order to save up as much money as I could to buy my own camera. At the end of that summer my mother helped me purchase my first camera. My junior year of high school started and with my newfound love of photography I decided to join my school’s newspaper as a photographer. I was assigned to photograph football. Throughout high school I developed my skill through shooting football and other sports and really just photographing everything I could. When the end of high school came, I knew photography was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

College is the when I began to take steps to try and make this a career. I began to expand my photography by photographing concerts and music festivals for different publications and organizations as well as events, weddings, and portrait sessions. While doing this I did my best to form genuine relationships and post my work as much as I could on social media. I believe this allowed me to expand my network at a fast rate. I have made a ton of mistakes along the way, but with each mistake I try to bounce back and learn from them. Now, I am much more confident in what I bring to the table and how I am different from other photographers. My work has a very genuine and gritty feel that puts you in the moment of the photo. I achieve this through my use of color and contrast of my images. I don’t want my images to look super refined, I want them to look real but creative at the same time. It took me time to find a style that is unique to me but through trial and error I believe I am getting closer to perfecting my style.

What I’m most proud of in my career thus far is just being fortunate enough to tell stories with my camera. From photographing shows for Dj Vrywvy a dj based in Dallas that has brought me on as her team as her personal photographer, to getting to photograph two magazine covers, to doing portrait sessions and events for a clothing brands like Dr. Marten’s, to photographing music festivals. Every time I’m trusted by someone to take photos I take it seriously. Whether it’s to sell a product, or capture a moment, these photos will live forever, and I’m blessed to be able to do what I do.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I believe the most effective strategy for growing clientele Is really being genuine and leading with good intentions with every person you work with or meet and putting yourself out there whether it’s online by posting your work or just telling friends and people you meet what you do. Instagram and twitter and even Linkedin have played a role in getting my work out to the world, but word of mouth I believe is on the same level of importance. When you treat people with kindness and respect, I feel like only good things can come from that.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe what has helped built my reputation in my market is of course my photos but also my professionalism. I try to take every gig as seriously as the last and show the client that I care deeply about the product that they are paying me for. You show professionalism by communication and just asking as many questions as you can to your client to make sure you’re on the same page and they get the product they need. What also has built my reputation has been developing a style that’s mine in how ny photos look. This of course is something i will always be developing but having your own style is important in distinguishing yourself from others.

Contact Info:

• Website: levijpg.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/levijpg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/levijpg/
• Twitter: twitter.com/levijpg

Image Credits
self portrait of myself taken by Rob Mata – https://www.robjmata.com –