Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Cato.
Hi Joshua, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Joshua Cato, and I am currently a full time student at The University of West Georgia which is located in Carrollton, Georgia.
Well to start things off, I got into photography as a small hobby or past-time during Fall of my Freshman year at UWG. I would snap photos at events for UWG BCM since I was on the leadership team and managed social media and other tech-related things. One day it clicked in my head, “Yo, this is kinda cool, I kinda wanna keep doing it and maybe turn it into a job one day.” And eventually purchased my first DSLR (The Rebel T6 along with a 75-300mm Lens from Canon) and actually took up an unpaid internship at UWG Athletics for videography. After doing that for a while, I decided to try and shift to focus more on Photos instead of video since my equipment and knowledge was better for that.
I worked alongside an amazing group of guys. (Matt Cooke, Jared Boggus, and Colton Lublink) my first few semesters until Colton eventually graduated and moved on to greater things. All three of them kind of helped and guided me through the process of Sports Photography as well as me teaching myself through just trial by fire and watching a few of my favorite Youtubers (Kai W. and Jared Polin) to learn the basics such as shooting Manual, RAW, and just general composition, as well as just not being an absolute greenhorn. I also do Worship Photography and event for CCF, which is a student ministry led by Southern Hills at City Station.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Oh, it’s definitely not been a smooth road at all for me. Just getting my hands on a DSLR and figuring out how to make my pictures not dark and out of focus was the first hurdle. After that, it was just advancing myself and marketing myself was a huge challenge. Also, being in Carrollton, Georgia, poses its own few unique challenges, you really have to push your brand and make sure you stand out for sure, and it’s easy to be intimidated by other photographers who already have solid footing in the area. I often fell into the pit of comparing my work to others because of this, but eventually moved past that and started making my own brand. But surprisingly enough to me at the time, most people I contacted were more than glad to help, offer tips, and whatever advice they could to help better myself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in sports and some event photography. But honestly, I’m more keen on the sports side. I absolutely love nailing THAT one action shot that makes your eyes pop, whether it be a dunk, a home run, or a tackle from the sidelines; I enjoy every moment of it. I also try to make sure our players have access to their photos which is important to me as well. I also love to shoot events such as worship at CCF. I’ve noticed that i’m pretty good at capturing genuine emotion in certain situations and it means a lot to me.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite childhood memories would have to be going to the airport and just watching aircraft take off and land there with my father. One particular time there was an old Warbird coming in for a pitstop before heading to an airshow and I was able to get a quick tour of the plane before they left.
Pricing:
- Portraits $50/Hr
- Automotive $50/Hr
- Most other shoots around $25-50/Hour + Travel
Contact Info:
- Email: Jcatophotos@gmail.com
- Website: https://creatively.life/Cato.Graphi
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cato.graphi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cato.Graphi
Image Credits
Headshot credit: Natalie Blanton of NB Photography
