Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyra Grayson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tyra. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
So, this all started with me and my grandad printing t-shirts, he ran his own printing company for years, and I told him I wanted to learn how to make my own shirt. He would walk me through the process of designing it on the computer in CorelDraw x4 and then printing it, as the time went on, I fell in love with the design process and how creative I could be. I then started using Photoshop, learning more about it and what I could do. I started off doing shirt designs in photoshop and smudge painting different photos. The rest is history. I’m now a graphic designer because I loved that my creativity had no limit, and I now design things such as album covers, flyers, logo banners, etc. As for photography, it came shortly after graphic design. My grandad came to me one day and said: “I want you to use my camera, I don’t use it much and I want to see what you could do with it.” That day, I started shooting nature, pics of my grandad, as well as my friends and it, blew me away as well. I was a rapper and writer before I began all of this, and I fell in love with photography because I finally found another way to express my emotion, and that’s through a picture. I thank my grandad for helping me discover something that has now become a major part of my daily life. May his legacy live on.
Great, 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?
In all honesty, no it hasn’t. Some of the struggles I’ve had was overthinking, thinking I wasn’t going to be big in this, or I was horrible or not good enough, or I got frustrated with something too quickly. There were people better than me, instead of it being motivation, I thought of it as a joy killer. But now I take every chance I get, and get better every single day, and connecting with fellow creatives who may have a little more knowledge than me, to help me out and vise versa. As an upcoming photographer and designer in this industry, you not only wanna be the best but pave the way for the people behind you. Always network and help your fellow creatives and build relationships!
TGD/TGDShotIt – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
TGD consists of Graphic Design, and Photography needs. I specialize in logos, album covers, banners, etc., as well as concert and portrait photography. I’m known for shooting shows and having a vintage tone and sometimes soft feel to my portrait shots. What I’m most proud of right now, is shooting artists that I’ve always listened to. I’ve shot Lil Baby twice, Trina, Boosie Badazz, Moneybagg Yo 3 times, Rich Homie Quan, Pop artist Logan Henderson, Yelawolf and more. Also, I have upcoming gigs, Soulja Boy and NBA Youngboy as well as another Lil Baby show.
When I started design, I didn’t have a fancy name in mind, I simply put “Designs” at the end of my name. (Tyra Grayson Designs) and for photography, I wanted to incorporate my design name and I was stuck between “Tyra Grayson Photography”, “ShotByTGD”, or “TGDShotIt”. I was Tyra Grayson Photography for a little while and TGDShotIt started to flow a lot better, and that is my current photography name now. I’ve been called Ty, or TG a lot down the road, so TGD is a popular name for me right now and it’s become something bigger than what I actually anticipated. I thank everybody who supports me!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I have so many proud moments in my career; it’s hard to choose just one moment. I would say shooting my first celebrity, which was Moneybagg Yo. I chose this moment because, I thought it was impossible to even do that, I prayed hard that everything would work out and it did. It’s just crazy listening to and supporting somebody and then you end up working with them, it’s crazy how life works. I felt super accomplished.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://graysontyra.wixsite.com/tgdofficial
- Phone: 205-902-4879
- Email: graysontyra@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tyraisme
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tyra.nicole.grayson
Image Credit:
Desmon Williams (My Headshots)
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
