Community Highlights: Meet Gabe Ford

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabe Ford.

Hi Gabe, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Like most everyone else who moves to Nashville, I came here to pursue a career in artist management in the music business with the help of my buddy Taylor Bray (Front of House engineer for Dan + Shay). I did a few internships and decided to go open my own management company and label. We learned very quickly that my artists needed a photo and video content but we couldn’t afford to hire any pros.

My wife had a DSLR and took some photography in high school and college. She taught me everything she knew and youtube filled in a few gaps. I started shooting for my artists and they referred me to their friends. During that time we were looking to buy a house and saw a bunch of terrible photos online.

I reached out to a few realtors and they referred me to Showcase Photographers, an agency for real estate photography. I connected with the owner of Showcase, Dan Raper and he helped train me and put me to work shooting approximately four houses per day five days per week. Shooting real estate was tedious but it’s a great foundation for architectural photography.

After shooting residential real estate for a few years, I was referred to my first commercial architectural job by my buddy Chris Raines (Bullhorn Media). That gig changed everything and opened the door to what I do today. I left Showcase and quit shooting residential real estate so I could focus on shooting commercial architectural photography.

There were a few tough years building my business but I’m grateful for all the support from my many incredible clients.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I left Showcase and quit shooting residential real estate so I could focus on shooting commercial architectural photography.

There were a few tough years building my business but I’m grateful for all the support from my many incredible clients.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a commercial architectural photographer. I specialize in shooting images for marketing purposes for architects, builders, engineers, retail, hospitality, developers, and realtors.

A lot of the images are used for websites, socials, print materials, requests for proposals, and editorials.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Be persistent. Follow up until they ask you to stop.

Contact Info:

• Website: fordphotographs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fordphotographs/

Image Credits
Headshot shot by TJ Keller, Architectural photos by Gabe Ford, and Ford Photographs – Nashville Architectural