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

Hi Ty, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I started in photography with the family camera. Taking pictures around the various areas of San Diego and specifically the Little Italy farmers market I taught myself how to use a camera. This led me into learning to use both a digital and film camera in some high school classes including my yearbook club. I dived even deeper into the craft in college where I learned to develop and print my own film. I took these skills and ventured to my adult life where I spent a lot of time looking for the niche I wanted to work with. I tried family photos and even shot a couple of weddings, but my true enjoyment came from creative portraits and concert photography.

Knowing what I know now I would have trusted myself more. I had a lot of fear of not being good enough and just not having the confidence to work with bands and publications to get into live shows. Confidence and understanding how to use your camera on manual are the two biggest skills that are essential to what I do and how I got here. Many obstacles got in the way over the years but the largest was the cost of the equipment. Photography equipment, especially equipment that works well in low light environments, is an ongoing challenge. Really understanding how to use the tools I have access to got me so much further than I could have imagined.

Ty, 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?

I started with live music and portrait photography through a friend of mine who started a band in San Diego. I always wanted to try concert photography so at one of their first concerts they let me come along and shoot whatever I wanted to. The next few shows with them lit my fire creatively and we did some bad portraits that became my favorite photos to date. I started meeting the bands they played shows with which meant more bands to photographer and more people to meet. A lot of my early success with live music photography has been word of mouth and just being very involved with the indie music scene.

I provide photo and some video services for both live music shows as well as portraits for promotional and social media usage. I would say a lot of my success has to do with my creative twist I try to take in the editing process. I use some lens filters to create some of the magic in camera and spend hours editing sessions to get the colorful, bright, exciting image I see in my head. For my creative portrait sessions I love a themed shoot. This requires a bit more work on the planning end pre shoot but leads to some really unique and captivating imagery. I have been fortunate enough to have an artists use one of my photos as a cover for their music on streaming which was a dream of mine ever since I was a kid.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Lean on your peers. As much as it is a competitive field you are NOT going to make much money when you start up. Getting live music work is difficult and can be incredibly taxing on your confidence if you get a ton of “no’s” but chat with the people you’re around at a live show. You would be surprised how many people have connections to artists and creatives you would want to work with! This includes reaching out to people who inspire you on social medias. I have had the opportunity to work with artists simply because I DM’d them on Instagram.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The truth is there is no secret method to growing any following on social media. I still have a small audience on my Instagram but I am growing quickly! My luck has been with consistency. I always had so many photo just sit on my computer and phone and never see the light of day. When 2024 started I decided I was going to post a photo a day to give those photos a place to shine and since doing so I have doubled my follower count and gotten the opportunity to work with publications and photograph some huge bands I would not have had the chance to do on my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: tyfox.photography
• Instagram: @tyfoxphoto
• Other: TikTok: @ty.fox.photo