Meet MaKayla Hartter

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

Hi MaKayla, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Staying true to my brand and myself is something I think about going into every show. I’ve been given a lot of amazing opportunities however some aren’t on brand of what I am trying to accomplish and I’ve had to turn some things down. At first I was taking photos of everything to figure out what stuck and I quickly realized it was concerts.

A little over a year ago, my favorite artist Mike was performing in South Carolina at Voyage Music Festival, I did not have enough money to fly out, get a hotel, and a weekend pass so I did some digging and reached out to a handful of people in hopes I could come shoot his set. At the time, concert wise, I had only shot content of my local DJ a few times so to say the least I was ill prepared. I didn’t have a portfolio, my Instagram showcased a lot of different niches. But Braxton Wilson and Madi Scott took a chance on me so I rented a lens and hopped on a plane, little did I know it would change my life. That weekend, while it was a grind to secure a media pass allowed me to really practice and get a feel for what I wanted to do. The dedication and hard work I have “off the field” if you will keeps me going and staying true to Untalentd. When I started Untalentd I really didn’t have talent in the concert photography space but I knew I liked editing videos so I started there. Even now, a little over a year later I’ve been given some amazing opportunities and there are times I feel like I still don’t have talent and that reminds me to keep working hard.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that people will say no and that’s okay. When you get a rejection email it does suck but that means I just work harder for the next one. The concert photography space is filled with some very talented people and it’s very competitive so “no’s” are inevitable. The work I do behind the scenes when trying to book shows I really want I think sets me apart because very few people know who I am and I am not signed with a publisher both of which allow so many photographers to get shows like Coachella, Taylor Swift, Stage Coach and more.

Another lesson I’ve learned is to not compare myself to others, we all have different editing styles and eyes for what we think is a great shot, staying true to yourself is such an important thing in this industry.

This year alone I’ve gotten to shoot my top three artists: Mike, Fletcher, and Post Malone while continuing to learn and craft my skill.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Whenever someone visits me I always make sure we have dinner at Hot Wings Cafe on Melrose in Los Angeles. I love wings and they have my favorite wings hands down so that would be on the list for sure. We would also probably go to Nicola’s Canyon beach in Malibu, CA. Driving down PCH past Santa Monica is so beautiful and Malibu beaches are a must see. I am always on the lookout for some sort of random pop up with artists, living in Los Angeles there is always something going on for example, when Machine Gun Kelly put out his Mainstream Sellout album he posted on his Instagram story that he would be at X address (which was a parking garage down the street from me) performing the album for the first time. I got ready, grabbed beers and ran down the street to be an apart of it so if I saw something like that, we would definitely pencil that into the itinerary.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a few people that definitely helped in my successes with Untalentd Co.

Braxton Wilson and Madi Scott:
If you’ve ever been to a festival in South Carolina, Braxton probably is THE man behind the scenes from set up, planning, booking and execution. Madi is a social media marketing guru from South Carolina who got me in touch with Braxton in 2023 to shoot my first festival- Voyage Music Festival.

Mike:
My favorite artist, has inspired me to never give up and keep creating. He’s used a handful of my photos ranging from his Spotify and Instagram profile photos, tour posters, and even sold out merch. Seeing my work in so many places being used by my favorite artist is something so special that I never want to stop creating.

My uncle Kurt:
He’s allowed me to use his camera to capture all of the content I have to date and I will forever be grateful for that because without his camera there would be no Untalentd Co.

Website: https://www.untalentdco.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/untalentdco/profilecard/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555029541286&mibextid=LQQJ4d