Today we’d like to introduce you to Julien Mcdaniels
Hi Julien, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been around cameras my whole life due to my father being a professional photographer. I can remember watching him work in his studio and helping him with his shoots, always telling myself that I wanted to do that one day. I knew I always had the eye for it but was scared to take the risk of actually pursuing it. That was until September of 2023 when I bought my first camera-a Sony A7iii-and went head first into my photography journey. I started like many upcoming photographers; taking pictures of my friends just to learn my camera more and expand my portfolio. I created an Instagram page (@vizualsbyjmac) to motivate me to keep going and step out my comfort zone to share and promote my work. Many people locally know what I do but I also used big local events like college homecomings and proms to spread my talent even more throughout Georgia and soon globally.
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?
It definitely hasn’t been the smoothest road but I can say the ups for sure outweigh the downs. There have been times where I sometimes couldn’t exactly get the look of the shot I was going for, had difficult clients, forgotten gear, and even times where I didn’t feel much support. I appreciate every lesson I learned from failure because it made me into a much more skilled photographer that I am today. Like any business, when you make a mistake once or twice you know how to avoid it and how to resolve it so it’s beneficial in some ways.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a 21 year-old freelance photographer based in Atlanta, GA just looking to continue to grow my name in my city and continue networking with other creatives and potential clients. I specialize in portrait and lifestyle photography but I don’t limit myself to a certain field of work I have proven to myself to be able to capture editorial, automotive, sports, and event photography. I am known for producing simply quality work and doing my best to deliver what whomever I am working with what they need. I am most proud of how far I’ve come only being a year in independently, building relationships with photographers I looked up to starting out, and all the smiles I’ve brought to faces through my talent.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck has put me in the right places at the right time and also the wrong places at the wrong time in this business, doing so it has led me to meet some very important pillars in my journey. Therefore, I can say that some luck has helped me but it is solely hard work and pure skill that brought me to where I am now and where I will be in the future. I spent many long nights of studying videos and really getting in the “field” teaching myself each skillset I apply into my craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vizualsbyjmac.as.me/schedule.php
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vizualsbyjmac/
Image Credits
Gabrielle (@okgabby_)
Jada (@the.jadarose)
Jearrod (@notjearrod)
