Meet Blair Kirby | Lifestyle Photographer

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

Hi Blair, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have had a camera in my hand since I could walk (at the age it was a fisher price toy camera). My dad is also a photographer and he gave me my first camera when I was 12 – Canon girl for life! Growing up I was always the friend taking photos and this led to me taking film classes in high school and then continuing to study the fine art side of photography in college. I’ve always been the creative kid. Art and photography classes were always my favorite subjects in school.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
As I mentioned I have always had a camera in my hand and have loved photography since a young age. When I was little I had always dreamed of being a fashion photographer. Funny enough I feel like I have achieved this goal in the modern era/ way of content creation, brand and lifestyle photography. I absolutely love working with and photographing people so creating work for brands through lifestyle photography has been such a fun and driving experience.

I studied photography in high school and in college – however in school it was more fine arts based. I loved working in the dark room during my school years but realized early on I wanted to do something outside of the fine art side of photography. I moved to San Diego soon after graduating college and interned for a popular wedding/ commercial photography company in the area. Quickly picking up the skill set of editing images in Adobe Lightroom I gained a job for that same studio as their operations director/ in house photo editor. Over the next 7 years working as an editor I learned a lot from editing other photographers’ work and also learned a lot about color and finding my own personal style in how I edit my work. During those years I photographed weddings, engagements, family sessions, events, etc – all of which I loved. But it was also during this time I kept feeling like there was something else out there. It was around 2016/2017 that I started leaning in with content creating/ brand photography. At first I was just putting together shoots with products from brands I loved and asking friends to model. One of my favorite brands at the time happened to be Blenders Eyewear, a local San Diego business. It was a few years later that I caught Blenders attention by tagging them in my work with their sunglasses on my Instagram page. Jan 1, 2020 Chase Fisher (founder of Blenders Eyewear) had seen my work and reached out to me over instagram letting me know that their in-house photographer had left and wanted to know if I had any interest in coming in for an interview. Needless to say I was ecstatic and jumped at the opportunity. I interviewed later that week and got the job! It’s been a dream working for the brand but boy did it take a lot of work to get there! Along with working for Blenders Eyewear as their full time in-house Brand Photographer I still shoot on the side for myself as a freelance photographer. This may be for other brands, events, headshots and even still family sessions!

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.
My first spot I would take them would be Windansea Beach. This is hands down my favorite beach in San Diego and the best spot to catch sunset! I live in Pacific Beach so I would definitely encourage a day in PB enjoying the boardwalk, beach and restaurants – Fish Shop is a must stop for some yummy fish Tacos, The Beverly for a cocktail at their garden rooftop bar for sunset. Hikes at Torrey Pines and definitely rent bikes at Ferry Landing over on Coronado – This is always a blast riding around seeing all the beautiful homes and stopping at Hotel Del – I do this every time my parents come to visit.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh man! I love this section. I have a few shoutouts. First would be my dad. If it wasn’t for him and his passion and career in photography I don’t know if I would be half as interested in photography as I am and as I’ve been from such a young age. He gave me my first camera, showed me what it’s like to have your own freelance photography business and how hard work in doing something you love really doesn’t feel like work at all. Thank you dad for sparking my creative light and your endless support and love. Second would be the amazing photographers who I got to work under and with at my first internship that quickly turned into a full time editing job for my first 7 years out here in San Diego. Without these photographers in my life teaching me how to edit in Adobe Lightroom, assist them on endless shoots, and just being there to show me the ropes of how to run a photography business in San Diego I wouldn’t have the skillset I have today without them. I learned so much from them and I am forever grateful for them and their friendships. Third I have to thank Chase Fisher – Founder of Blenders Eyewear who gave me the amazing opportunity/ job I have now as the in-house Brand/ Lifestyle Photographer for the company. This position as a full time photographer is few a far between and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to get up and do what I love every day with a brand that embodies so many of the same things as I do. Lastly I have to thank the creative team I get to be a part of at Blenders Eyewear. This team means the world to me and getting to work alongside these other creatives everyday is so inspiring.

Website: https://kirby.photo

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirbybk/

Image Credits
My Headshot is by Christian Blake. All portfolio images are taken by myself – Blair Kirby