Community Spotlight of Austin, TX – Greg Daily Photography
https://youtu.be/2iv3cAmq0_4Nicholas: Hello, and welcome to today’s Community Spotlight. Where I interview local businesses that I know and trust, to introduce them to you. I’m Nicholas Painter, your host. Today I’m here with Greg Daily of Greg Daily Photography. Hi Greg. Greg: Hey Nick, how are you doing? Nicholas: Doing well, thank you. Hey Greg, how did you get into photography? Greg: Very good question. I’ve been passionate about photography for my whole life. I say my whole life. Started, I got my first camera when I was about 7 years old. It was a little – one of those Instamatic that you had to push to review the, to advance the film. 00:46 Was a 110. Nicholas: Oh wow. Greg: And my parents told me they were going to stop paying to get the film developed, if I kept taking pictures the way I was. I was – they were kind of stunting my creativity at an early age. I was taking pictures of my feet, of the stop signs and things like that. And they wanted me to take pictures of people. Later they informed that it was, “No, we just didn’t want you to take color pictures of that.” Because black and white was cheap to develop, so– Anyways, fast forward to now. Or maybe not quite now. But I got really passionate about photography about 20 years ago. And started a business, did a part time business. And our side business, where I made money on the side selling my work. And it wasn’t until– Well it’s exactly 2 years ago, I’m getting ready to go into my third year full time with my photography business. I got laid off from a job, and the job I got laid off on, it was in software development. I was a business systems analyst. And I didn’t quite have the skill set that they were looking for for new opportunities. The contract I was on was a maintenance type contract, and it was one that had a lot of old technology and they weren’t teaching us new ways and new methods of doing things. And I got a call from my real estate agent. Talking to him, said, “Well Greg, why don’t you go into photography? You’re really good at it.” And I thought, “I don’t think I’d make any money doing it. Nobody buys prints.” You hear the words, “struggling artist.” And it wasn’t until probably – a little bit further in the conversation, he said, “Well have you thought about real estate photography?” And it’s like, “Well no.” 02:31 They have it, and then he told me how much his real estate photographer was doing on a per weekly basis as far as the number of homes. And the more I thought about it, said, “You know what? I can do that.” I was a real estate agent for 6 years. I know real estate, I know photography – so why not combine the 2? And so then I decided to stop looking – and now I’m, full time professional photographer. Nicholas: Fantastic. Great story. Thank you Greg. Greg: Wow/Well. Nicholas: Hey Greg, what’s 1 thing everybody should know before they hire a photographer? Greg: I would say, make sure you feel comfortable. There’s actually several things. 1 is, you want to make sure that you feel comfortable with their work. With the type of photography or the style that that photographer produces. The other thing is, the professionalism. And depending on what the photographer’s been hired for – for instance, if they’re being hired for a real estate photography shoot – whether it’s residential or commercial. Make sure that they’ve got project management skills. They make sure they show up on time. They get the photos out in a timely manner. At least as far as when you’ve committed to getting those out. If you’re taking pictures of people or people are involved in the photos, make sure that you feel comfortable with the person and they make you feel at ease when you’re taking the pictures. Nicholas: Fantastic. And Greg, what makes Greg Daily Photography unique? Greg: Well, another good question. I typically focus on what I’m good at. I don’t take a lot of pictures of things that I’m not passionate about or don’t like feel truly comfortable taking. I actually refer those out. For instance, I’m not a wedding photographer. I typically don’t do events. I typically don’t do family portraits. So I know where my skill set is, and I know that being a real estate photog– Or being in real estate for 6 years full time, allows me to understand what people are looking for. Real estate agents, in a photography shoot – what their clients are looking for, because I’ve dealt with that. So that kind of sets me apart, makes me a little bit unique. And then from a fine art perspective, taking images of– I see things a little bit differently than others. Oftentimes people say, “05:02 Well, good job. ” And I can go out with another group of photographers, and come back with something totally different. And they think that they were in a different location than I was. Nicholas: Wow. Greg: It’s just the way I see things a little bit differently than others through the lens of my camera. Nicholas: Beautiful. Very cool. Hey Greg, what’s your favorite song? Greg: I don’t really have a favorite song. I can tell you my favorite genre, I guess? If I’m going out listening to live music in Austin, I typically like the singer/songwriter – the small venue type things. If I’m listening to songs on the radio, I typically like more of– I like the folk-y, the singer/songwriter. I listen a lot to Chris Stapleton, Lyle Lovett. I’m trying to remember others. Pretty much anything that’s on the softer side. But I do like the old ’80’s rock. Nicholas: Nice. Greg: And I like old music also. So a variety of things, but I don’t have a favorite song. Nicholas: Very cool. Thank you Greg. What’s the best way for people to reach you? Greg: Probably either going– At first I’d say, before they try to reach me – I mean, find out what I do first. Go to my website and go to mytexasphotographer.com. Again, that’s mytexasphotographer.com. And then they can call me on my cell phone. It’s 703-608-5246. And of course they can contact me via email at greg@gregdaily.com.Nicholas: Awesome. Thank you Greg. Greg: Yeah. Nicholas: This has been another Community Spotlight where I interview local businesses that I know and trust, to introduce them to you. I’m Nicholas Painter, your host. Take care. Greg: Thank you. Thanks.