We recently connected with Kaire Umoja and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kaire, 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?
Definitely my dad. The way I’m obsessed with what I do is because of him. He’s a bodybuilder and has been competing for as long as I can remember. Being in the gym with him and seeing the behind of the scenes of what it takes to be good if not great in that world, it’s insane you know? Having to train ones body to exhaustion, aiming for perfection, putting yourself through the wringer for ten plus weeks for one day. Crazy. As I got older though and found my own passion, I understood that grind and obsession. I’m not in the gym seven days out the week like him, but I can be in front of my screen for hours on end and not bat an eye because I’m invested in making my work be the best that it can be. It’s hard work, but when your passionate about something and truly enjoy it, putting in all that work makes it worthwhile.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a photographer from Baltimore, Maryland. I’ve always been a creative person, but I’ve found photography to be my outlet to display mine. What’s exciting about it for me is hard to explain sometimes, I just like creating. The process of coming up with something in my head and then seeing that idea on a screen is a surreal feeling. It’s like a time capsule. Those frozen moments in time can have so many meanings to different people. I used to draw and paint when I was younger, but never had the feeling of accomplishment the way I do when taking photos. Within that too, I think it’s just displaying my unique perspective of the world. That’s why I love photography. Even if a hundred people have taken a photo of the same thing, it’s possible that each holds a different meaning to the person who took it. Being able to show something like that to the world is beautiful.
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?
Doing simple better is a big one. As much as we all want to put our creative touch on things, sometimes just doing what’s needed is all that matters. I’ve learned that while working for other people. Sometimes the ‘artsy’ shot isn’t what the client desires, but that doesn’t mean you dumb down your skill, create the best thing possible within the parameters. Another one is willingness to learn. The more you practice, the better you’ll get but you also have to research and obtain new information. YouTube was my best teacher in high school and going into my senior year of college, it’s still the most valuable tool to use. Within the last few years, I’ve also been fortunate enough to make connections with people that’ve given nuggets of information that’s helped me improve my photography. Last thing would be confidence. You’ve got to have confidence in yourself and be proud of your work. Also be your biggest fan, plug yourself everywhere you can non-stop because no one will appreciate your work if they can’t see it. Still working on that one myself.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
Definitely creating my website. Having a website allows me to put more of my work on a bigger platform. It also made me realize I’ve gotten so accustomed to getting shots to put on social media that they lacked variety in orientation. Having a good mix of portrait and landscape photos make for a better use of storytelling and just capturing more details. I’ve tried to keep that in mind in recent months whenever I shoot.
On top of that, I think not taking my socials as seriously? Not worrying so much about the interaction I get and just putting what I like out there. I’ve been taking more photos on my phone recently. It’s been nice to just take a quick shot and continue my day. The traction to the page is important, but it helps to loosen up a little and have fun with it from time to time I guess.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kaisimages.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaisimages/?__coig_restricted=1
