Meet Jared Collins of Greeneville, TN

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Collins.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always loved photography. Dating back to when, I was a Junior in high school, I knew it was something that I wanted to do. Unfortunately, during this time 2008, there were very few possible careers paths as a photographer, so I went to college and got a degree in IT. However, I never lost what I like to call “the shutter bug”. I picked up my first camera, a Canon T3i and started learning the ins and outs of photography. Fast forward to today and I now make money in a variety of ways by using a camera.

One of my favorite types of photography is simply driving backroads or walking city streets and finding interesting compositions of light. Sometimes, it can be a photograph of some of the most mundane objects, but the way that the light was hitting it, caught my eye and caused me to stop and take a photo.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I definitely wouldn’t say it has been a smooth road getting to where I am today, but it’s been a fun one. I’m a very visual and hands on learner. I’ve always learned best by doing something. I’ve learned photography through a lot of trial and error. I go out to take photos, come back and edit them, critique them, and try to learn from any mistakes I made. In fact, that’s exactly what I love about photography. It’s something that you never arrive at a finish line with. What I mean by that is that there’s always something to learn from and something that you can improve upon the next time because you can always always always do something better. Perfection doesn’t exist, here.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I co-own a Media Production Company that specializes in helping businesses create visuals (photo and video) that can be used to help promote their products and services to a new audience. If given the choice between shooting photos or video, I would choose photos 10/10 times. I started my journey in photography and slowly adapted and began learning video as well. Though I feel competent with both mediums, my first love is still photography.
There are several different types of photographers based on their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, some photographers are great in studio, some are great in posing and getting their clients posed perfectly. My “style” would probably fall under the candid/capture category. I like to capture the in between moments. I like to capture events for businesses because you get the opportunity to find pleasing compositions and find photos that tell the story of the event, often seeing things that many people never saw.
I suppose if I had anything that I would say sets me apart from others, it would probably be my personality. Even going back to my days in IT, the users would often say “you’re not as dry as most IT folk”. I always took that as a compliment. I understand that I won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but while we’re working together, I’m going to do my best to be a light and a positive interaction within your day.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
As I stated earlier, I make money a few different ways with a camera these days. One of those is by selling prints in my print store. I update it somewhat frequently with new work, so that’s a good way to support me. I also co-own a media company called Motion Creative Media, so if you’re a business or someone looking to update the media on your website, or have consistent social media content created, I’d love to chat about your vision and see how we can bring that to life!

Pricing:

• Prints: $25 +
• Video Testimonials: $1,200+
• Social Media Content: $2,000+ / month

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.motioncreative.media
• Instagram: instagram.com/jc.capturedit
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jaredcollins-photo
• Other: https://jaredcollins-photo.darkroom.com/