We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael McCoy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.
Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I like to think so. Being in a creative field has always been more appealing to me because of the freedom associated with it. I get to make my own hours, work when I want on what I want, and say no to projects that I don’t think I would enjoy. However, being self employed in a creative space comes with a lot of pressures you wouldn’t have in a normal job. Primarily the fact that if something goes wrong, or if you have a slow month, there is nobody to blame but yourself.
I work with a lot of professionals and executives who got trapped into doing a job they don’t enjoy, which sounds exhausting to me. I had a client come into the studio for an updated headshot to celebrate her new job at a big law firm. She didn’t particularly enjoy law, but had racked up so much debt from school that she didn’t really have a choice. With this new position, she is set to be debt free by the time she is 55, and can start saving for retirement at that point. She plans to spend 25 years doing something she doesn’t enjoy, which makes me realize how lucky I am to love what I do.
There are aspects that are appealing when working a normal job, such as security, benefits, and consistency; but in recent years even those are less attainable which reinforces my confidence in my decision. I believe if I’m going to spend the majority of my life working, it should be working on something that I enjoy and can take pride in.
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 was fortunate to know from a very young age what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I got my first camera when I was about 12 and a few years later I started shooting weddings professionally, and once I figured out that people would pay me to do something that I enjoy there really wasn’t any question of what I was going to do. Of course over the years that has developed and transitioned in to finding what it is that I think provides the most value and what’s important to myself and other people.
During the early stages of my career I found that people were always hyper critical of themselves in the photos that were taken of them. No matter the quality of the photo it was the way that they viewed themselves more significantly than the way the rest of the world viewed them. That’s when I started focusing less on the technical aspect of photography, which I already had years of experience in, and more on what happens on either side of the camera and the interactions with the clients in order to get the natural expressions and angles that would put them in the best possible light.
One of the things that I take pride in is the authenticity behind my photos. Capturing the expression in a moment as opposed to putting somebody in front of my camera and telling them to smile. Anytime you tell somebody to smile, it’s going to look disingenuous; however, if you have an interaction where they smile or laugh organically, then that is the golden shot.
I started off in wedding photography and did that for five long years. When I started school in Tampa I saw a real need for the business professionals and the businesses in Tampa to raise the quality of what they are presenting to the rest of the world.
I always thought that Tampa could be a hub, but when comparing the quality of photography representing their company that Tampa professionals were putting out to say New York, LA, or London it was significantly lacking. I wanted to bring that quality and style of photography to Tampa as a way of putting it on the map and making it more attractive to outside businesses and investments.
I chose to specialize in Headshot Photography because businesses and economic growth are the lifeblood of a city and it was my way of raising the quality standard of Tampa as a whole, by showing our businesses and business professionals in a way that measured up to the quality of work that was expected of a major city. This approach shifted my focus onto teaching business professionals how to look good in front of a camera the same way a celebrity knows how to look good on a red carpet.
My goal anytime somebody is in front of my camera is to take the best picture that they have ever seen of themselves. What makes it all worth it is the moments when I show somebody the end result and they see themselves without that negativity and self critical thinking. I get to give them the confidence to show the world what they are all about.
A headshot is a lot more than just a picture of somebody’s face, it’s a conversation. It’s a first impression. And It’s the nonverbal aspect of communication that we all understand subconsciously that i focus on. As often as we are told to not judge a book by it’s cover, we all do. And a headshot is no different.
The problem is most business professionals have no camera training at all whatsoever, and in today’s fast-moving world, no matter what professional level you’re at, chances are you’re going to find yourself in front of a camera. Whether it’s for a zoom call or to get yourself on LinkedIn or a website, professionals today are going to be in front of a camera at some point. So my focus is on teaching my clients how to look good in front of the camera and then capturing an image where they look better than they ever thought they could.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
It’s interesting that you ask about pivots, because I’m in the process of entertaining one right now. Not so much of a pivot as it is just expanding the horizon and unleashing my creativity. While headshot photography is rewarding and I have a lot of fun with it, after a decade it can get a little bit repetitive and as a creative I think it’s important to always challenge yourself.
In an effort to expand my horizons I have started having more fun with my camera and really expanding which areas of photography I enjoy. I have the fortune of having my headshot studio support all my random adventures and wild ideas, and in that process I came to enjoy find art abstract photography which is more a parallel than it is a pivot. Having the abstract side feeding into the creativity within the studio and also outside of it expanding the residence of who you meet and who you interact with has been an exceptional process so far and I look forward to seeing where it takes me.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I am currently going through a book called the artists way by Julia Cameron and I absolutely wish I had read this a decade ago. The view on creativity that she highlights and the process that she builds through the book makes life has a creative not only make more sense but be more enjoyable in general, so I highly recommend taking a look through that and applying what she says. There are a lot of great resources that I personally have used and learn from, two that come to mind off the top of my head would be master class and CreativeLive. Early into my journey I came across a UK based program called Key Person of Influence, based on a book of the same name written by Daniel Priestly. Having that as a blueprint for my business and for my personal goals and journey has been invaluable.
Contact Info:
- Website: MPStudios.com michaelmccoystudios.com
- Instagram: @mpstudiostampa @michaelmccoystudios
- Facebook: Facebook.com/mpstudiostampa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-mccoy-a109875/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZOLzucg861wjQDTLWA-5A
- Other: Professional Pages include MPStudios and my personal art and creative freedoms @MichaelMcCoyStudios
Image Credits
All images captured by Michael McCoy.