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

Hi Jay, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
How I feel about giving up is simple. You can’t! I constantly tell myself that I have gotten this far, so why give up now? The road I’ve traveled hasn’t been easy, but neither will the road leading to where I want to go be either. There has been so many sacrifices made to get me to the point that I am at now and giving up would just make all those sacrifices pointless. We all strive to be the best and to continuously get better. We all hit bumps in the road at some point in our journeys. The most successful people in the world always kept pushing, kept grinding, and kept their foot on the gas and never let up. So why should I? You have to continuously tell yourself that this is your story, this is your legacy you are building for your name, for your family. How do you want it to be told? How do you want to be remembered?

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I mainly work in the beauty and fashion realm of photography. I believe what sets me apart from others is my passion to get to know my clients and what they are expecting to get out of their service with me and go above and beyond that. I am a true believer in building great relationships with my clients to understand what their needs/wants are and challenging myself to go above that because that is what they deserve. I am most proud of making each one of my clients feel more confident, have a little more self-esteem, and feeling overall better about themselves at the end of our session together. If you take the time to truly listen and understand your client and their needs, then you will be able to connect with them personally during the session and give them memories and an experience that they will never forget.

Where I am today as a photographer did not come without some coaching, some mentoring, some late night phone calls, purchasing of tutorials, and the blessing of YouTube. I do not have the formal training that some photographers have, but that did not deter me from doing what I love to do. Majority of my photography skills are self-taught with tons and tons of practice and failures. As I continue to move forward in my photography career, I always lean back on the many mistakes I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned from them. The biggest lesson learned thus far and that has helped me start dialing in my photography niche was stop trying to be what everyone one else is. Be yourself, learn yourself, and create to your passion’s drive not to what drives other people’s passion.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If a friend of mine was coming down to visit, I’d tell them they would most definitely need to visit The Battery Atlanta, The Painted Pin, The Brunch Apothecary, The Vortex (Little Five Points), The Mercedes Benz Stadium during an Atlanta United Game, A Food Truck Festival, and The Trap Music Museum.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This Shoutout goes to Nicole, Leak, Antoine Stephenson, Cxllab Productions, Brandon Carter, Raven Beard, Carlos Hernandez, and Dave Porter! These people have been the driving force of my photography. Nicole has been by my side since the day she bought my first professional camera. Antoine and Cxllab have mentored me and continues to push me past my photography limits. Brandon, Raven, Carlos, and Dave have been the true no BS type of support that everyone that is attempting to or is already running a successful business needs.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aes.thetic.imagery/

Image Credits
1. Gigi Moody 2. Azandria Freeman 3. Dieuvalda Lamartiniere 4. Nathanael Rush 5. Tae Kim 6. DaMarcus Jones 7. Jeff Teitelbaum 8. Mercedes Brookes

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlana is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.