Meet Jonae Guest | Aspiring Sports Photographer

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

Hi Jonae, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Alexandria, VA and currently live in Dumfries Va. I grew up an only child and I played soccer, track and field and basketball. Parents are divorced so I lived with my mom growing up who is my biggest supporter. It was tough growing up an only child with divorced parents, but my mom gave me the best life she could. There isn’t anything I regret. My mom bought a house in elementary school and when I got to middle school, I shot up about 6 inches and basketball was the sport that stuck with me. I love and know basketball as well as the professionals. I can talk sports for hours, but when I graduated, I still wanted basketball to be a part of my life but wasn’t sure how that was going to be possible. Then right before Covid hit I bought a camera, and the rest was history. Shooting basketball or sports in general is my dream and it truly makes me happy on any given day. I guess you could say photography stuck with me because in some scenarios you do it independently. Now as I am growing as a sports photographer, I know how important creating content with a team is just as important.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I truly don’t believe every one creative is the same. We all want to capture the best shots or the best videos, but our processes are all different from person to person. I am simply different because of who I am and my journey to where I am and where I want to be. I am most excited about learning and getting better each day.

I want to learn from the best while watching great sporting events whether its basketball, football volleyball or soccer. I would say it was challenging to get started shooting sports when Covid hit. Only select personnel were allowed at certain events so it took a lot of networking and putting myself out there as a photographer to get myself access to certain games. Another aspect that comes with being a freelance photographer is doing a lot of work for free sometimes, especially with sports. Now I still partake in portraits, family and maternity photoshoots but when it comes to sporting events sometimes you may have to do that work for free to create a connection with someone or a company.

The main thing that I have learned recently is to be patient with myself and enjoy where I am now. Two years ago, you couldn’t pay me to believe that I would be answering questions about myself or the brand I am trying to create and yet here we are. Life is full of Un-expectancy, and I am trying my best to be open to all of the surprise’s life will show.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them into D.C and show them around the city. There are a lot of good eating spots that we could go too in D.C while also checking out different museums. And while being a photographer, I would want to take them to any scenic areas around the area and take some pictures in the area. And whatever else happens naturally I would be open to whatever the day brings us.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Anyone who has supported me and guided me deserves a shoutout. I mean the list could go on forever but to name a few I have to thank God. Who guided me who I am today and giving me the ability to do this every day and for loving me unconditionally. Of course, my parents, my dad is also a photographer so he helped me from a technical standpoint while also supporting me as just my dad when he could. My mom always been my biggest fan, whether it’s my photography or the sports I played growing up, she always showed up for me. No questions asked. There is also my mentor Patrick Driscoll! He is my photography mentor but also a good friend who is a photographer himself and he always helped me with editing, talking with clients and just helping me understand the business of being a photographer. I have the best friends and support system, literally too many to name but the people who are in my circle know who they are. Lastly, I have to thank a group I am apart of named Black Women Photographers that was founded by Polly Irungu. This group helps a bunch of women with not only just photography and finding jobs but giving women a community to lean on and helping each and every one of us be the best person and photographer that were capable of being.

Website: https://jonae49.wixsite.com/jguestphotography

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jg24_photos

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jonae-guest-60408917b

Twitter: @Jonae22

Image Credits
California picture of me taking by my friend Shakeerah other picture of me taken by Ian Bowie