We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Zachery Umphrey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Zachery below.

Alright, Zachery thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Simply put, failure, the complete opposite of success. We’ve all at one point have experienced failure in our lives; whether it be in our childhood, teenage years, or even now. I’ve experienced it in all those walks of life, in different situations. One thing is though, that in all of those different situations of failure, I did not quit. You keep going, you keep trying, even when it seems like the work is in vain and that there’s no point.

It’s my faith that’s carried me this far, it’s my faith in Jesus that will carry me through any trial or test.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1

Zachery, 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?

My story begins back when Myspace was still alive and thriving! Back in those days, you made sure your profile was a reflection of you or how you were feeling in those moments, and of course, you had to have a nice profile picture and other pictures for it. I say this was late middle school into early high school. At the time, the only camera I had around was a little digital camera my dad would use every so often, so I used that camera to take my self-portraits. I would take pictures of nature and little things around the house. It became a hobby for me. Eventually, my friends would ask me to bring my camera to school or wherever we were hanging out so that I could take photos of them.

My parents began to notice my love for the camera and my love for the craft. So, in December 2012, my father purchased me my first DSLR for Christmas. It wasn’t a surprise, because they took me to pick out which one I wanted, but I still loved it.

Until 2014, I was still doing the same thing, taking photos of landscapes, family gatherings, friends, and whatever adventures I went on. It was still just a hobby. Around the summer of 2014, my sister’s friend asked me how much I would charge for a maternity photography session. I was like, “What is she talking about?”. I knew nothing about different types of photoshoots, let alone how much to charge her. My first shoot was $75. I come across those photos now and then and sit there thinking, “what in the world were they thinking choosing me for the special moment” and “man, I’ve come a long way from where I was.” I went to school for Graphic Design, at Wake Tech Community College. While I was there, one of the classes in the program was photography; of course, I took it! That class taught me so much about my camera that I thought I already knew.

Fast forward to 2019, the first month of the year, and I’m photographing my first wedding. Building up to that year, I had always told myself that I didn’t want to photograph weddings because of self-doubt. But God had other plans. In the summer of 2019, I photographed a total of 6 weddings.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Honestly Facebook has! I tried other avenues where I actually paid to get leads for weddings, that didn’t work at all. So I looked into running facebook ads, and I can say since running them that’s where about 90% of my clientele comes from.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I would have to say the look on a clients face when I show them a few of the portraits from the photography session. Or I get an email or text from a client expressing their gratitude and how much they love the portraits I captured for me. Another one I will have to throw in there is the repeating clients, it lets me know that they really love my work, and entrust me to capture special moments for them time and time again.

Contact Info:

• Website: Zacheryumphrey.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachumpcreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZachUmpCreative

Image Credits
New Depths Creations – Jared Caldwell