Eric Ahlgrim shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Eric, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
I think the most misunderstood thing about every photographer or videographer’s business is just how much time and work goes into the business. It is amazing how many people think that we just wake up and grab our camera, drive to our shoot, take the photos, and thats it. That is not the reality of it at all, far from it.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Eric Ahlgrim, I’m a Nashville based Photographer & Videographer. I shoot for Gibson Guitars, I am the Ryman Auditorium’s house photographer/Videographer as well as the Opry shooting both community and backstage events. I have also been a Tour Photographer & Videographer for Charley Crockett since 2023 which has been amazing traveling all over with those guys. I do photo & video shoots all across Nashville with many musicians, bands, brands, companies, you name it. So often when I am out and about I get told “man, you look so familiar I swear I’ve seen you somewhere” and I tell them well its because you probably have because I am literally everywhere. I’m a bit of a workaholic to be honest.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My Pop taught me the most about work, hands down. I always looked up to him growing up, as I think every boy does to their father. My pop worked his ass off for our family. Early mornings, late nights. The phone would ring and they’d be looking for someone to come in last minute and he would do it drop of a dime. Even when I knew he was dog tired and didn’t want to, he was doing it for us because that overtime paycheck was probably going to pay for the next vacation trip for our family so he strapped up his boots and headed out.
He told me “Nothing in life is going to ever be handed to you, you’ve got to work your ass of to earn it”.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
When I first started photographing concerts I was trying to find gigs that would actually pay me to do it and it seemed impossible. The music industry is so saturated and a lot of it is so money hungry they want to take but not give in return. I can’t tell you how many times the response I would get was “we really don’t have the budget for photography, but we would love for you to come shoot because your work looks amazing. We could totally hook you up with a photo pass tho?” I thought well of course you would like to give me essentially a sticker, in exchange for free photos of you, the people who are getting paid… So yeah it really ate away at me for a good minute, crossed my mind often, is this something that I really want to keep pursuing, is this really going to go anywhere or will I keep dealing with the same BS every time I try and land a job. But my love for music and this industry was larger than the greed of these people. So I just decided to be very selective with what bands I surrounded myself with, that I would shoot for free for just to start building my portfolio.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
100%
I’m an open book. I don’t sugar coat a thing. What you see is what you get haha
I can get along with just about anybody, unless you give me a reason not to.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
MY PHOTOS & VIDEOS!
Thats why they’ve stuck with me for all these years!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ericahlgrimphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericahlgrim_photography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ahlgrim/
Image Credits
Gibson, Tucker Wetmore, Zach Top, Ryman Auditorium, Charley Crockett
