We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Timothy Alexander White a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Timothy Alexander, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I remember as a young man going to college for the first time right out of high school of course, my mom for some reason bought a polaroid instant camera. I came up with the grand idea to take the camera to school with me without her knowledge. This was my first year going to college in the fall of the year 1971. It;s a camera so what are you supposed to do with a camera? Take pictures of course and that’s what I did. Soon after I started charging people $5 to take pictures and my mom found out some how that I had been sneaking off with her camera, I guess cause she was a mom and secret service surveillance was a part of mom training. I did that for a. short period of time and my interest grew and I wanted to do more photography. I was able to get another camera from saving some money and I learned how to develop black and white pictures. There was no internet,and no YouTube, at the time so I had to read books at the library and learn from the guy at the darkroom facility. I’ve been shooting for approximately 55 years and have grown tremendously I think. I have shot weddings among so many other events. The wedding of officer Byrd from the ‘Judge Judy’ tv court show. Snapshots of singer John Legend, Charlie Wilson, Yolanda Adams, former President Bill Clinton. I

I would ask questions of other photographers who were willing to share information not all were very generous in parting with their knowledge. Practice, practice, practice and learning things when the internet and YouTube became a great resource and still today. Photography was and still is a fun hobby for me that allows me to actually make some money doing it. I consider myself a general photographer which means I not labeled a ‘wedding’ photographer or a ‘headshot’ or ‘event’ photographer. I like to shoot a myriad of things.

My learning process was very balanced and even. My learning was as fast or as slow as I wanted to learn. Nothing stood in my way or slowed me down, I was very fortunate in the way I was able to pick up this skill and attain knowledge.

There weren’t many obstacles that stood in my way. Photography became a passion for me so I guess ‘sleep’ got in my way. I was trying to learn as much as I could and shoot as many different events and people as I could. After about 55 years of being a photographer. I’m still learning and learning how to use ai as a helpful tool.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am creative. I have been since I was a kid. I was a tinkerer trying to find out what made things work. Taking things apart and putting them back together. I am self-taught in photography, Same with video and graphic design. People started hiring me to take pictures of birthday parties, fashion shows, then came weddings. I got business cards and started passind them out. People started hiring me more that put me in front of more people. I pay attention to detail good & sometimes not so good but it became an asset when pointing out things to clients that would make a difference in their projects. I became a mobile deejay which lead to a career in radio and then VoiceOver work while still holding on to a camera. Then came the celebrity deejay who’s gonna photgraph my wedding or deejay my party or wedding reception and my resume got me a lot of attention. My work spoke for itself.

I have done VoiceOver work on different projects for clients from small businesses that people had to very commercial clients like General Motors, McDonald’s, Several Police Departments throughout the us for hiring and recruitment videos. I’v paid plenty of attention to my skill sets and have become very good at what I do. I try to create things that seem to interest clients that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Having a knowledge of the disciplines that are in my wheelhouse give me the opportunity to enlighten clients and help them to achieve their expectations from me.

I think what sets me apart from a lot of photographers is that I don’t just take pictures / photos, God has given me an ability to capture the essence of a person which is far greater than just a pretty picture. There is a spirit down inside of us all..thats what I look for.

Sometime clients are not not 100% sure of what they want but know some. I try to assist them in locking down something that is creative, fun, intriguing, simple, breathtaking, and completely hitting the mark. That approach requires patience, know-how and interest in the clients needs.

I’m a pretty easy-going person with a problem solving spirit. Let’s get you what you want. I am confident with my skill set and in my work. Take a look at my website and I believe you just may agree,

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is to see a satisfied customer who is well pleased with the work I’ve done, especially when I get jobs where I can use my photography skills combined with my graphic design skills to create something unique. Or my videography skills and combine them with my VoiceOver skills to create something unique and stunning. I’ve given my VoiceOver / narration skills to wedding videos and funeral videos and slideshows which bring a little more life to the project. My VO skills has garnered me a share in an Emmy Award and a Telly Award for television commercials. I feel good about that.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Word of mouth seems to be the best for me so far. In all the years that I’ve been doing this and passed out hundreds / thousands of business cards I’v only gotten maybe 10-15 jobs from them and this was before the internet, social media, etc. Word-of-mouth where one person at an event may hire me for their upcoming event, Someone will recommend me and that seems to work very well. My VoiceOver jobs come from my agent and an agency that I’m affiliated with. That’s my day job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nlifemediagroup.com
• Instagram: @nlifemediagroup
• Facebook: Timothy Alexander White
• Linkedin: Timothy Alexander White
• Youtube: Timothy Alexander White