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

Hi Erik, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve always had the mind of an entrepreneur and started in door-to-door sales while in college so those summers talking to people really thrust me outside my comfort zone. I’ve always had a love for photography and majored in it at Brigham Young University. I was able to do an internship in Hollywood with a photographer and moved to Los Angeles after graduation. I was mentored by some amazing photographers and knew I wanted to make a run at starting my own photography business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started off being inspired by travel photography that my friends dad had on display in their home. I began taking classes in high school and worked on the yearbook. I then majored in Photography at BYU and did an internship in Hollywood. At the time the Winter Olympics were soon happening in Salt Lake City. I had the idea to focus my senior project on portraits of Olympic athletes. It was an amazing learning experience on how to produce shoots and create a body of work I was proud of. It was a great springboard into photographing sports lifestyle imagery. After graduation I moved to LA and was a studio manager for photographer Jerry Garns and continued to freelance assist. All the while I continued to build my portfolio and pursue my own photography work until after a few years I was full-time on my own. Has it been an easy career? Absolutely not. I work hard everyday to improve and be the best person and photographer I can be. One big lesson I learned while working for Jerry Garns was when I came to him with all the obstacles I had come across in finding the right props for a shoot. He stopped me at some point and said, “Erik, I want you to come to me with solutions, not problems.” That struck me and I’ve worked to have that mindset throughout my career. Go to my clients with “solutions”, not “problems”. There’s always a way, find it! I absolutely love what I do. I’m a big sports fan and have a passion for telling a story, particularly with athletes. This sort of work has bled into other genres, such as tech lifestyle, product photography and other non-sports related subjects. I consider myself very blessed to do what I love!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to thank my parents for believing in me and supporting me from day 1 in my photography journey. I want to thank Joe Ostraff, my first photography teacher in high school who taught me and pushed me to be better. I want to thank my BYU photography professors, John Telford and Val Brinkerhoff for helping me prepare myself for a career in photography. John Telford was instrumental in mentoring me with my series of Olympian portraits for my final BFA Senior show. I want to thank photographer Jerry Garns who has been an absolute blessing in my life. I was his studio manager in Los Angeles right out of school and continued to assist him and learn from him through the years about how to run a successful photography business, as well as striving to strike a balance between work and family. He did it masterfully. Lastly I want to thank my wife Jennille and my kids for being a wonderful support and inspiration to me.

Website: www.erikisakson.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-isakson-294b174/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063578653224

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