Today we’d like to introduce you to Doug Sweet.
Doug, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I fell into photography, to be honest. It wasn’t anything I ever considered or even though it was viable. I had a little point and shoot camera that I had, and a few people request prints from the images I was making, so I ended up buying a more “serious” point and shoot that had manual settings and began experimenting with it. More people wanted prints, and I thought maybe there was something to this photography thing and began to learn and dig into what I was doing. Then, my mother bought me my 1st DSLR, and I was hooked. I learned all I could on my own and then began to reach out to people in the industry for guidance. When I say ‘reached out”, I mean cold emailed people lol. I had no idea who they were in the industry. I just liked their work and figured they could point me in the right direction. Thinking back on it, I figure they helped me because I wasn’t asking for a handout, I was asking where to find what I was looking for and willing to the digging myself. In retrospect, it was crazy to even reach out to them. I continued shooting the streets and random buildings, never thinking about shooting models or fashion. Out of the blue one day, two women walked up to me as I was shooting a building and asked me if I was a photographer and if I would shoot them because their photographer hadn’t shown up. From there, I was hooked. Over there years, I have put in hours of work, study and trial and error, to me, that’s how I got where I am, along with luck and some extremely kind people along the way who put me on the right path or allowed me to watch them work.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No! Not at all. Any creative will recount all the sleepless nights early mornings, disappointments and outright failures. They will also tell about the triumphs and the little wins that feed the fire to keep going. They will tell you about the uninspired nights and seeing a friend’s work and having something awaken in you. I remember people closing doors in my face because I didn’t have the equipment they thought a professional photographer should have. I’ve had people reach out to me to let me know that they love my work, but couldn’t work with me because I didn’t have enough followers. Literal strangers, out of the blue, email me or DM me to tell me that lol ! I admit that it hurt sometimes because you know how much work and sacrifice you’ve put in, but eventually, you learn not to take things personally. You learn to defend your work, but not take what people say about you or it to heart because frankly, they don’t always know what it takes to do what we do. It’s all part of the learning curve.
Finch St – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
After many, many iterations of my business and business name, I finally found a name I felt was marketable, and I was comfortable with it. Finch St is a street I grew up on and still have family on. I don’t like to say I specialize in anything, because I don’t like being in a box as a creative. I have focused on fashion and beauty although recently, I’ve been refocusing on my 1st love in this art, photojournalism. It’s going to sound cliché, but I’m extremely proud when clients love their images. It feeds my creativity to know that someone enjoyed my work so much that they hang it or post It or share it with their family. It doesn’t drive me, but it does add to the fuel. I didn’t go the traditional route to learn photography. From day one, I shot things that spoke to me. I hunted the emotion of everything, well before I knew the rules. That’s what sets me apart, I know the rules, but I ignore them every instance I can because to me a photo is a success when I capture emotions. If I can go back months or years later and still feel something from an image, that’s a success to me.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is personal. Not everyone is going to like what you do or create. Not everyone is going to “get” your work, but if I’m happy with it, I feel successful. As I said before, it helps fuel me when someone likes their images, but it doesn’t drive me . Being able to still be passionate about this art form and having a healthy obsession is how I gauge if I’m going to be successful. If I’m not passionate or feeling something, I can’t give it my full attention or my best . If I don’t feel it, I can’t shoot it. I’ve forced myself to shoot things I wasn’t passionate about, and it was some of the worst work I ever created. The client was very happy, but I felt like I sold my soul or just went through the motions instead of the emotions. I know I reference emotion a lot, but I really does guide my creativity. That’s what I look out for and again, if I can nail that, then I feel I have been successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.finchst.co
- Email: thefinchst@gmail.com
- Instagram: @opticaljournalist (portfolio) and @opticalanalog (film photography page)
- Twitter: @opticjournalist
Image Credit:
Image of me by FotosbyBen
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