Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lee Gill. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lee, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I think being a freelancer is all about work ethic. I have to learn and adapt and grow in order to keep booking jobs. I was raised in a military family and everyone had to put in the time and effort growing up around the house and during sports and in school so I’m super thankful that was instilled in me early. One of the mantras that was engrained in my head was, “If you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late”, and I’ve carried that with me to adulthood. I’m usually the first one to show up and the last to leave, making sure everything gets done.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Lee Gill and I am a portrait and commercial photographer based here in San Diego. I fell in love with shooting photos when I was a teenager traveling around for soccer tournaments and the random family trips we had. I have been working in front of camera as a model for the last 11 or so years as well. I have worked with so many amazing photographers and I still learn a lot from them, pursuing photography as a profession was natural. I have been shooting professionally for the last 5 years or so. I just opened my new studio in La Mesa, San Diego and I am stoked to be in a bigger spot with a lot more room. I am shooting a personal project this year called Tan Lines Project, so if you have any fun and funky tan or burn lines, hit me up! My goal is to create a book and/or gallery show towards the end of the year.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Learning from others who have been at it way longer than you have.
2. Don’t get discouraged when you don’t book a job. You’re going to get told “no” 1000000 times. The one time you get a “yes” it’s all worth it.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
This new personal project is my current challenge. I am learning how to wrangle participants while being flaked on and June was completely cloudy so no tan lines even were possible. I am still working on overall look and lighting and it’s a labor of love and I am excited for the outcome.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leegillphotography.com
- Instagram: @leegill_photo
Image Credits
Jaida, Jessica, Melissa, work for Sol-ti and work for Templeton Whiskey, and Victoria.
