Meet Blake Simmons | Photographer, Graphic Designer & Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Blake Simmons and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Blake, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Before deciding to start my photography business, I had been working as a model. However, I realized that modeling wasn’t the right fit for me. I have always had an interest in photography ever since I received a camera as a gift. I loved experimenting with it and messing around with it by doing random photoshoots with friends. In addition, I had prior experience with Photoshop from a graphic design class I took in high school, and I loved editing photos.

As I transitioned from modeling to photography, I already had connections with models and photographers which would help me later in my journey. I was in Atlanta, a city known for its vibrant creative community which would be a perfect place to kick-start my photography journey. I was also 21 and in college paying minimal expenses compared to what I would be paying out of college, making it an ideal time to invest in photography as well.

Prior to launching my business, I devoted a lot of time to contemplating how I could differentiate myself and the steps I needed to take to achieve that since Atlanta is already saturated with photographers. I spent months researching every aspect of photography, including lighting, color grading, camera settings, and drawing inspiration from other photographers’ work.

After about three months of research, I knew what type of photography I wanted to pursue, the necessary gear, and the skills to acquire. I had been saving money and strategizing initial and future investments. All that was left was to purchase the required equipment and begin doing test shoots when I was out of school for the summer of 2023!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think something that sets me apart from other photographers in Atlanta is the combination of how I take my pictures, my editing process, and the mixture of graphic designs that I add in my work that makes it unique. When shooting, I like to shoot outdoors with a fisheye lens and outdoor strobe lights whenever I can because there’s just something about a fisheye lens that adds a bit of fun to the photos and I love the whacky distortion you can get out of it. Not to mention how wide the lens can get which I use to capture the environment around the model to make it just as much of a subject as the model. But of course that’s not the only lens I shoot with, it’s just my personal favorite, I’m just as good with any other lens. The use of strobes on the model and other objects of interest mixed with natural sunlight already makes the subjects stand out from the environment. But during the editing process I emphasize this even more. No matter the shoot I individually masking out different aspects of the photo like the models, the sky, the background, and any other objects of interest that I want to stand out whether it’s the models’ clothes or a random building in the background that looks cool and edit them individually which gives rise to my unique style. Then if I see fit or if I’m requested I add graphic designs like text/symbols or making clones of the model in Photoshop or even 3D objects and custom 3d typography that I make in Blender. Just to name a few things that I can do.

Once I made my initial photography investments starting in the summer of 2023 and was let out of school for the semester I spent the entire summer just doing test shoots. One of the first things I invested in was a backdrop and a studio light so that I’d be able to replicate a studio setting in my living room and be able to practice different lighting setups and camera settings whenever I wanted to for free instead of practicing in a studio where id have to pay by the hour and not be able to take my time to actually learn and experiment. If my friends came over I’d ask them if they wanted to do a quick photoshoot or I’d invite them over with the intent of letting me practice on them. And of course, I also started contacting models that I knew personally for test shoots and eventually, I started doing comp cards since models always need comp cards and it was a good way to start earning money. I also knew people with clothing brands and offered to do shoots for them in locations I had already scouted out for free to practice outdoor photography. Back then and even now I would just walk/drive around Atlanta and take pictures of spots that looked cool and now I have a folder of 1000 pics of just cool locations! 

After posting some of my photos from the summer of 2023 to Instagram I already had people contacting me about photoshoots and I’ve been getting more traction ever since and the quality of my work is only getting better! I joined the same organization I modeled for but did creative team instead once school started back up. It helped me gain even more connections in the industry and gave me another platform for my work to be shared. And now it’s a little over a year since I started my photography journey and I’m so excited to see how year 2 of photography goes for me!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Firstly, I have to shout out all of my supporters and friends in general. Most of my clients hear about me through word of mouth whether it’s through my friends or previous clients and I wouldn’t have the platform I have now without them! But there was one particular organization and its participants that really helped me kickstart my career and that organization is Infinite Appeal.

Infinite Appeal is a student-run organization located on the Georgia State campus. Its purpose is to educate models on industry conduct and modeling techniques. During my first year with the organization, I attempted to pursue modeling, but I realized it wasn’t the right fit for me. However, being part of the organization exposed me to a community of creatives who inspired and assisted me in pursuing my current passion for photography. Before joining Infinite Appeal, Before IA I wasn’t surrounded by that many creatives at least to that capacity and being surrounded by these creatives helped me find my true creative passion, which is photography.

The thing about IA though is that you don’t have to model, you could also join the creative team which included a variety of roles from photographers, videographers, Hair and make-up artists, etc. I figured out I didn’t like being in front of the camera but being exposed to the creative team made me want to try being behind the camera. After the first two semesters of modeling, I ended up getting into photography that summer, and the same models I walked with on the runway, creative directors and brands I worked with were the same people I contacted to help me with test shoots during that summer and even now. These creatives were also the main ones supporting me at the beginning of my photography journey. Being on the creative team put me in the position to make even more connections with models and work with real creative directors and model coordinators and It really forced me to get better with photography overall since we did a handful of shoots in a short amount of time planned by the creative director, who is none other than Aveda Torres who has also interviewed with Shoutout Atlanta.

Overall Infinite Appeal put me in a lot of good positions to network and work on my photography skills and I wouldn’t have progressed as fast without them!

Instagram: Blake.no.1

Other: email: blake.shot.it@gmail.com

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me