Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelek Jordan.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always have had a camera in my possession since I was in Junior High. I was always taking selfies or capturing moments of me and my friends. I am that friend that has to take pictures of everything because I do hold those memories close to me. In high school, I took my best friends prom pictures, and it just kind of kept going from there. When I look back at those photos, I laugh because the quality of them were HORRIBLE lol. I remember just using the computer’s photo edit function to edit pictures, I had no idea what I was doing, but I did know how to make the pictures look good. Once I started getting more practice, I started doing graduation photos, which I was able to put my name out there when I got to Sam Houston State University. That opened up a lot of doors for me because I was not taking pictures for people who I had never met, but they saw my work on social media and trusted me to capture that special moment for them. While at Sam, I took pictures at 2 pageants and a few other events. I slowly stopped doing graduation photos when I graduated from Sam in 2018; After graduating, I would host several mini-sessions throughout the year but the biggest time of the year for me was Christmas minis. I’ve done a couple of weddings within the past few years, as well. Last September I was able to take photos for my first fashion show, which was such a bittersweet moment. The photos I captured those nights are honestly some of my favorite photos I’ve ever done. My goal is to open my own studio one day, I’ve taken a small break from photography due to personal reasons, but I am definitely still planning on having my own studio within the next 5 years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say there have been few bumps along the way for me. Reason being is that I do work full-time, so I’m not always able to focus strictly on my photography. I’ve had a lot of times, especially when I was on campus, where I would struggle to gain new clients, and it was slow for me. I’ve also hosted different mini-events that I thought would be a hit but didn’t get very many bookings. I’ve realized that it’s not always going to be booked and busy and that I need to enjoy the times I am able to focus on my craft.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a photographer and a crafter. I specialize in portrait and lifestyle photography. I am most proud of having a supportive client base. There are people who I have been capturing special moments for them for the past 5 or so years, and it makes me happen when they return year after year. I believe what sets me apart from others and keeps my clients returning is capturing real-life moments of them while not over-editing the photos. I love natural photos because sometimes over-editing can take away from the beauty of the reality behind the photos.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success to me is being able to complete a project and receiving great feedback from the clients. There are moments where I’m either feeling down or insecure about my craft, but once I start get behind the camera and then start editing the photos, it changes my whole mood. When you are able to produce quality work, and your customers are excited about it, it just makes you feel like you are on top of the world. It’s never been about the money for me which makes me enjoy what I do even more.
Image Credits
Jared Patrick
