Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Fitlow.
Jeff, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always had a love for photography. My grandfather would give me his old cameras whenever he got a new one. You had to wait days to get your film back from the lab and the anticipation would drive me crazy. In high school, me and my friends I would take pictures on road trips and bring the pictures back to school for everyone to look at. It was like analog Instagram. After high school, I went to Texas Tech and got my BA in Photo-communications and Art in 95′. We did not learn anything about business or how to find a job. I came back to Houston and started doing assignments for the This Week Section in the Houston Chronicle. These were mostly 20 minutes to an hour of shooting.
Nothing too glamorous. I had to turn the film in downtown by midnight the day of the shoot with names and information on subjects (cutlines). It wasn’t digital and very confusing to keep the names numbered with each image. I learned how to meet deadlines, follow detailed instructions and to quickly asses a situation to find what would make the best images. I realized the PR firms that sent the releases for most of these assignments were on location and often needed photographers. I started networking and got a lot of my first gigs from those connections. Many of whom I am still friends with today. The Chronicle did not pay much at all and I tried my hand at freelance assisting. I had a hard time with that because much of the equipment I had to set up I had never seen before. I did get to work with some great photographers and learn on the job. I was very much a fake it till you make it kind of guy at the beginning. Luckily I avoided any major problems and was able to fix any small issues that came up while learning. After about a year on my own, I got hired on as an assistant photographer part-time at Rice University. I quickly became full -time and promoted to University Photographer, where I have been for about 25 years.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Some of the struggles at first were getting the proper gear, learning how to use more advanced lighting than I was used to and definitely running a business. I wish I had known about local organizations that help a small business like Score and the Greater Houston Partnership back then. I also would have like to have been a business minor in college. When I started out, I took any job that came my way. Anytime I took pictures, I learned something new. Finding subjects for personal work was much harder back then without internet and social media.
Please tell us about Jeff Fitlow Photography.
My time outside of Rice is limited, so I try to only work on assignments I am interested in. I love shooting portraits, interesting events, bands and anything in Stem. I also enjoy giving back with my creativity. I work with students and I have been photographing kids at Texas Children for years with an organization called Flashes of Hope.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have been more active in anything related to photography. I would have been on the yearbook, worked for more photographers done internships volunteered at camps. Whatever put people through my lens. The internet wasn’t around when I was young, so you had to be creative in order to learn your craft. I would have been out shooting even more in high school to hit 10,000 hours even quicker.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fitlow.com
- Phone: 713.416.7442
- Email: jeff@fitlow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitlow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitlow
- Twitter: @fitlow
Image Credit:
All images copyright Jeff Fitlow Photography
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