Meet Lex Moore

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lex Moore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lex , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience has always been a word of significance for me. Growing up in an extremely dysfunctional household plagued by addiction and mental illness, it wasn’t until I actually learned the meaning of resilience—exemplified by Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” poem, that stuck. Angelou described her upbringing and experience in life through her poetry and little thirteen year old me, having been at my lowest, grasped at the words this poem brought to realization. And so, I maintained resilience in my life, knowing that I could make my situation better. I worked part time in high school on top of more than ten extracurriculars while maintaining a near perfect GPA, solidifying my place at University of Michigan in 2017. My first tattoo was “Still I rise,” named after that Angelou poem. And that’s exactly what I did. When my grandfather passed away from cancer in 2020, I rose. When Covid ran rampant and the world shut down, I still rose. When my mother died suddenly in 2020 after a valiant battle with illness, I still rose. Slowly, but still. And when I quit teaching in late 2022, I had no clue what the future had in store for me. So I pulled up Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise.” Putting imagination to action, I traveled the world discovering videography and photography. I went back to school. I started a photography business on top of a travel blog. I did a TED Talk. And I rose. I am gearing up to take the GRE and enter grad school. I will continue to rise, because my life can only get better than what it was before all due to overcoming each day. That’s resilience to me in a nutshell.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I quit teaching in late 2022 and jetted off early 2023 with only a backpack and Canon CoolPix in hand. I didn’t even know how to use the camera, but when I landed in the small town of Temanggung, Indonesia, I knew camerawork wouldn’t be the only thing I would gain growth in. In the month I was there, I received steadfast training from my mentor and published my first few reels and photographic ventures on Instagram. One of my reels went viral, garnering almost 800,000 views. Soon I was doing sessions for strangers in the small town. It was immaculate to feel the growth just from this time—not knowing how to even take a picture, then having support from strangers—but I persevered. I traveled back to Michigan (despite continuing to travel whenever possible) and continued accepting photo sessions to build my skill level further off what what previously learned. Then in late August 2023, I went back to school to study photography and videography. My experience in photography was no longer only limited to nature, action photography, or beginner portraiture; rather, my work shifted to complex portraiture, nature, senior photos, couples, and in about a week and a half, wedding photography! I finished my final portfolio with accolades from colleagues and aficionados alike, driving me to pursue a business in photography. I still do travel photography, but having more of a wide variety of services than before, on top of a distinct editing style now, really sets me apart from others; it even sets me apart from my earlier work. I just launched It’s Amoore Photography May 9th, and we are already booking for June! We have a Facebook and Instagram page, but we are going to add booking links within the next few days. Until then, feel free to send a message to book or check out my portfolio!

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?
The three soft skills that benefitted me most in this journey is flexibility, networking, and perseverance. Flexibility—because when traveling or doing anything in this industry, things may not work out as planned. You might shoot a session in the entirely wrong ISO and your entire session may be overexposed. You might put your camera on a plane and the battery overheats, overcooking the motherboard. But in these events, we must be flexible. Weather or client needs may vary, so preparation, flexibility and perseverance in this event is crucial. Networking has blessed me with some amazing opportunities. I have gotten the majority of photo sessions from networking, and have been able to receive valuable critiques from esteemed visionaries in their field. This networking not only benefits professionally in that area, but word of mouth and good reviews bring clients. Put yourself out there and it can bring you clients, experience, or valuable feedback you may not have had previously.
Lastly, perseverance. Failure is a given, especially when just starting out. I had to get a new camera a month in and figure out a completely new mechanism before a shoot, but it taught me valuable lessons on planning I would not have had before. By persevering, we can become a better professional each day by learning from mistakes and noticing our strengths and weaknesses.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I think it’s always better to improve, but to also take note of your strengths. I knew I had strengths in editing and angles previously to going back to school, but I built on those strengths and learned more about my camerawork, color grading, aperture, and some tips of the trade I would not have had if I opted out of school. I had the opportunity to mount my work (which, as a beginner in that realm, took three hours and many mumblings.) By receiving crucial feedback on my areas of growth including tips on how to remedy, my work has become stronger than ever before, in both film and photography.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
It’s Amoore Photography

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