Today we’d like to introduce you to Marquis Kiner.
Marquis, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have an uncle that is a photographer in Washington DC. I would always see him take pictures at the family gatherings and he inspired me. I was in middle school at the time. Photography has always been fascinating to me. I began to take beginner’s photography classes at a career school called “Ben Barber Career Academy”, located in Mansfield, Texas. Where I met my teacher, “Temi Coker”, who is a very well- known photographer in Dallas, Texas. I began to learn everything about a camera, how to take pictures, and also edit. I also met a lot of great people and photographers in this class. One who inspired me the most was Malajah Nixon, she is now a famous photographer in Dallas. We both started at the same time as photography. Once I started to slack and focus more on football, she was investing her all into photography and she became very successful. It inspired me to be successful, even more so because we both started at the same time, she just worked for it. This was the first time I picked up a camera. My mother Tongula Kiner, has always been supportive of whatever I decided to do. She purchased my first camera, which is a Nikon DSLR 3100. Later in the future, I purchased my own lense a “50mm”. This all happened in my sophomore year of high school in 2015-2016, I attended Mansfield Timberview High School. In my junior year, I decided to try something different. I enrolled in a yearbook class for my high school. I learned how to edit pages and also some of my photography work ended up being in the yearbook. I also started to shoot different events and sports.
My senior year of high school which was 2017-2018, I went back to the career academy. My teacher Mr.Coker was still teaching there, but this time, an advanced photography class. I met even more talented and great people. This was the year that my business had a big jump. A lot of people at school began to see my work and was impressed, some even decided to book me for photoshoots. Prom and Graduation season was when everyone began to book me. One who inspired me in this class was, Sydney Person, she was a hard worker and was dedicated to her craft and it was inspiring to see her success. But then again, I was focused more on football. I enrolled in advanced photography and I was very excited. Mr. Coker told me that he’s seen the progress that I have made since I first started. I had a great time in this class also I learned a lot more about photography and editing in photoshop. I was playing football at this time as well. I received a scholarship to play football at Sterling College, located in Sterling, Kansas. I looked into the school and it also happened to be a liberal arts school. Football and Photography always felt like I had to choose one or the other because it was difficult to focus on both when I have to invest a lot of time into each one.
After the seasons over (2018), I decided to let go of football because I realized that I was more talented with my photography career than my football career. I went back to Sterling my second semester (2019) and began to focus on just my school and photography. I then began to do more photoshoots and coming up with more ideas and ways to improve my business. This summer, I came back home and I decided to transfer colleges, one to where I would be closer to home. I got accepted into Tyler Junior College, which is where I currently am at. I have updated content for my business and have invested more time and have taken it a lot more serious. I recently started to get into video as well. I so far have two short clips that I have made. I am also looking to pursue video in the near future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road on this journey. I have had a lot of struggles with this field. Once I discovered that I was naturally talented in photography, I got scared. Scared because I wanted football to be what I was naturally talented at, but it just simply wasn’t. I had more confidence in being a football player rather than a photographer simply because football got more attention. I didn’t want to be seen as an outcast and was always worried about what others will think of me. Once I decided to let go of football and to accept what I was naturally talented at, it became a lot easier to have more confidence in myself to be a photographer. The struggles are what prepared me and built me into being the best and am still overcoming my struggles and learning.
KinerPhotography – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The name of my business is called “KinerPhotography”. I just used my last name and put it in front of the word photography. I specialize in portraits, I love to capture emotion and realistic moments. I am known for my consistent work and great quality photos. I am most proud of the progress that I have made with this company. What sets me apart from others is that my work isn’t “Staged” they are mostly natural and realistic.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career was when I got the opportunity to be interviewed for a magazine for my photography business.
Pricing:
- $50 for 30 pictures
- $80 for 45 pictures
- $120 for 60 pictures
Contact Info:
- Email: mkiner233@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/Kinerphotography
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/quis231
Image Credit:
Marquis Kiner
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