Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendrick Sims.
Hi Kendrick, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
So my journey into photography came about from my short time in the modeling and acting industry. Being in those fields, I wanted to keep updated comp photos to submit to different agencies for modeling and acting roles, so I ended up buying a digital camera from Best Buy for that purpose alone. When I started modeling, my wife, who at the time was my girlfriend, was actually the one who took my photos whenever I needed headshots or comp shots for my portfolio. Photography wasn’t necessarily her passion, so she started to move away from it as I started taking a liking to it and then started doing practice shoots on her because I was enjoying the process. It was fun to me because I love the process of learning new things. At some point I started diving deeper and deeper into learning the process of how to take better photos like the ones I was seeing on different social media sites and that drove my passion to keep learning more and more of what I needed to do to get the type of images that I liked. Some of our online friends started to notice the images we were uploading on our pages and that eventually lead to others asking if we would take photos of and for them. After a few more months of researching, learning, practicing and taking in clients, we decided to officially put a name to our business, which my wife came up with the name Melanin Lens. As she moved further and further away from photography into her true passion of teaching our youth, the business mainly became just me as the photographer, in which case I eventually switched the name to K.S. Portrait Photography a few years after. Over that time span I’ve shot weddings, seminars, corporate and personal events, portraits and even some real estate to see what I enjoy capturing the most. At the end of the day, I found that I enjoy shooting portraits more than anything and that’s how I got to where I am today.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has mostly been a smooth road, mainly because I always had the security of a backup job to keep funds coming in when seasons got slow. I did one year where I strictly did photography full-time as an entrepreneur but went back into the job field after needing medical benefits when my wife got pregnant, which was shortly after we got married. Ironically, I started this job a few months before covid hit and shut everything down. Looking back on it now, it ended up being a God send because I know a lot of photographers lost business and money during that time due to the restrictions that were in place. At the end of the day photography just kind of picked me because doing this was never a life long dream of mine to be honest. I never put pressure on myself to make this a full-time business, so I never let it stress me out too much.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work full-time as a delivery driver. My weekends are when I get a chance to tap into my creative side and do photoshoots, amongst other things that I enjoy doing as a hobby.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I was in between an introvert and an extrovert. I’m more on the laid back side. I’m mostly a relaxed and quiet person but can be talkative at times. I don’t hang out a lot but when I do go out, I enjoy myself. But not doing anything too crazy. I’m a husband and father of 3, so I always have them in mind. During my youth years, I was mostly into sports but always realized I had an artistic side to me. I loved drawing as a kid and always found that tech type things interested me. I think part of me liking cameras is because of the technology some of them come with now. A camera can take what’s happening in reality and freeze it in time. You can take an idea you had in your mind and show others that vision with using a camera. Stuff like that is fascinating to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kmsportraits.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ks_portraits
Image Credits
All images are captured by me, KS Portrait Photography LLC.
