Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine “Jai” Harrison.
Hi Jasmine “Jai”, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Ever since I was a child I was always fascinated with drawing. When I got to high school that love shifted the moment that I took my first photography class. My art/photography teacher (Laurie Hunt) took my love for drawing and challenged me to take that same creative vision that I had and apply it to photography. As I got closer to graduation, that love for photography turned into a love for film. I ended up taking a detour for a few years becoming a preschool teacher. I spent several years teaching and learning from children, until a parent saw one of my drawings and asked me one simple question ” You drew that? You are so talented, why are you still here?”. That simple question set me out on a journey that led me to Florida. I decided to attend Full Sail University to become an animator. My time at Full Sail re ignited my love for photography through digital compositing. With that I took my love for both and decided to set out to create my own adventure in photography for weddings and events.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Studio Jai Photography LLC. is a small local photography studio located in Orlando, we take pride in our knowledge of both film and photography and apply it to the images we take. We make it a point to make all of our clients feel like family and make sure that they feel comfortable in front of the lens. We understand that being in that position can be very valuable for many people. At our studio we make it our mission to insure that every client gets more than just ordinary generic, boring, and staged photos. We set out on an important mission, to capture emotional, fun, crazy, adventurous images that’s identified uniquely to each and everyone that acquires our services. Behind the lens we use creative concepts to plan and capture images that are full of passion and as unique as your life’s story. With our world forever changing, we make sure that our photos become reminders to our clients – reminders of beautiful days and precious moments that they’ll never want to forget.We meet every client with a laid back approach, we’ll chat over coffee or cocktails face to face (while practicing social distancing standards) or via FaceTime (or Skype/WhatsApp) and craft – TOGETHER – their timeless story be it they are tying the knot or just capturing family milestones.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No journey is complete without a few humps or bumps along the way. What matters? is making sure that you learned something from the failure. A lot of challenges that I have come across came after graduating. In the industry looking for jobs isn’t easy, they want you coming out of college with 5+ years of experience. As a college grad fresh out of college how can you have that experience when no one will hire you because you don’t have the experience lol. You end up in this never ending cycle of let downs because you don’t have the industry experience they are looking for, you can always do an internship that’s not paid. But for someone who’s not in their 20’s it’s not fitting to work for free lol.
As a photographer, it’s a competitive market you know. You have to have something about you that draws a client to your work. Everything from your images down to your IG profile has to capture them and say “Wow, I love your work…Will you be my photographer?” lol What I learned through all of the ups and downs, is that you have to keep going no matter what happens. My motto, if the door closes..there are other paths that you can take, you know?
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My advice to someone who is looking to become a photographer, first find your niche. Study industry photographer leaders within that same niche, look at their work…study it. Imagine yourself behind the lens shooting those same images, be ready to learn all that you can because there is always something new you can learn in photography. Don’t be afraid to pick up books about photography, yes there is YouTube, but there is so much more thats out there in books that you may not get
Contact Info:
- Email: StudioJaiPhotogaphy@gmail.com
- Website: StudioJaiPhotography.com
- Instagram: studiojaiphotography
