This year marks the 15th year that we opened the doors to Randy Wilson Photography! While I have been photographing all of my life, it was then that I took the first paying gig.
The shoot was for a band called "Cool for August" and I was so excited following them around Atlanta in venues such as The Variety Playhouse and the Dark Horse Tavern. I was finally getting paid to do what I truly loved!
Cool for August
I made many mistakes under and overexposing the film, but I was learning how to work the camera and those lessons have been invaluable to my photography. You can only go so far relying on the auto exposure modes in the camera. I believe that true photography begins using the manual settings.
Soon other bands were calling and I lived in our make-shift darkroom in a closet developing, printing, and breathing the chemicals. I found the darkroom almost as much fun as the photographing.
Several years found me shooting any and every paying portrait. And that is where I learned that knowing the camera inside and out is only the beginning. But getting along with the people, relaxing them in front of the camera, and posing were all very important skills. I never gave up and I slowly climbed the ladder to professional photography.
My break came in 2000 when a friend shopped my band portfolio to a NASCAR photography company. After several interviews they took a chance on me and next thing I knew I was shooting races in Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta along with season credentials to the Atlanta Braves.
It was at the Braves that I met out first ever bride in 2004 which moved Randy Wilson Photography into wedding photography.
I remember my Dad taking me to a public library one summer when I was seven years old. A book on Mathew Brady's photography drew me in like a magnet to steel and I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. Keep in mind that telling my Dad that I wanted to be a photographer in a small farming town in South Carolina was on the same parallel as wanting to be an astronaut! The dream was covered but it never died.
I honestly believe that you can do whatever you set out to do if you never give up. With the only question - How bad do you want it?
I want to thank my wife, Lisa, who offered her credit card when I had maxed out mine on a $6,000.00 lens and I needed another camera body. She has always supported me. She makes RWP work -- from shooting the brides at weddings, to all of the business books, website, album design and invoicing. In many ways she is a better photographer than me!
Humbly, here I type after 15 years of living my dream. The people that I have met and photograph along the way amazes me...someday I will write a book on the experience. There have been lots of changes, such as film to digital, and many more. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I welcome it with a Nikon to my eye and a smile on my face. You see, I am still that kid holding the Mathew Brady book in my hands, passionate as ever.
It has been 15 years and we are just getting started!
Thanks to all of our great clients who have made this possible!
Randy
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