Today we’d like to introduce you to David Kim
Hi David, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I remember always enjoying the art of taking pictures. As a young elementary school student, I remember carrying around the point and shoot camera that our family had purchased, always looking for different ways to photograph people and things in order to bring out their best qualities. As I grew up, I never pursued anything in terms of photography, but always had a continued interest in capturing moments – not only for the sake of memory, but for the sake of creating something beautiful. Most of all of this was either through other people’s cameras or the phone camera, which thankfully kept getting better and better. It wasn’t until Covid that I finally invested some money to purchase a camera that was half decent and could take better quality pictures than my iphone. Being home with my wife and two young children, what better thing was there than to go on empty park adventures and take fun pictures. Slowly as the world began to open back up, I started carrying my camera around again. Every birthday party, every social event, I was that one person coming in with a big camera, waving it around like I knew what I was doing. As time went on, people around me began to encourage me to take this more seriously. That’s when I finally decided to invest not only my money, but my time into learning all that I can about photography. Countless hours of watching videos and practice shoots later, I began my freelance photography journey in the beginning of 2023. My decision to start my photography business mainly stems from a desire to give everyone an opportunity to have beautiful pictures of their family. More and more I began to realize how difficult it was for people to afford something as simple as a nice picture of their family. My hope is that, the more I grow my business, the more I am able to provide affordable photography to those around me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think the biggest struggle for me has been, and will probably always be, my imposter syndrome. Yes, of course it’s hard to find clients, and hard to keep up with the amount of equipment that I need to purchase since everything is so expensive and the budget is tight. But more than all those business related things, the hardest thing is to believe that I am where I am supposed to be. Whether its a family portrait session, or a wedding venue, sometimes I can’t help but feel the overwhelming thought of “why am I here? I don’t deserve to be here”. Thankfully my family and friends have been very supportive of this from the very beginning. Without them, I would probably still be just taking pictures of flowers on my backyard.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer who mainly focuses on portrait photography. More than anything else, I love capturing candid moments that portray people’s relationships. Whether that looks like children playing with each other, or couples embracing their loved ones, the aspect of capturing these candid moments is what draws me to do what I do, and hopefully is what I am known for. As a photographer, my main job is to make people feel comfortable and safe. More than camera settings or pretty backgrounds, if the people being photographed feel good, whatever I do with the camera usually ends up being beautiful and meaningful.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Kindness. As stated in the previous answer, I believe the main job of a photographer is to make people safe and comfortable. If I fail to be kind, the session can easily turn into a lifeless workspace. I strive to be kind to my clients so that they can see and believe that they can trust me. Once trust is established, the rest becomes easy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://togetherphotosatl.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/togetherphotosatl?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
