Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Jones.
Andrew, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up in a small town, especially in East Texas, was challenging at times as I knew I was different from my classmates. I would spend countless hours drawing and painting while they would be at their deer lease or football practice. By the eighth grade and early freshman year, I began taking my art more seriously, setting goals, and making art almost every day. I had a great support system from my dad. He’d take me to get supplies almost every weekend and would tell almost everyone he could about how well of an artist I was becoming. I could tell how proud he was of me. Unfortunately, he passed away unexpectedly my freshman year of high school. I was severely depressed, but I continued using my art as a coping mechanism, leading to the start of my first business, Andy J’s Art. I was obsessed with just drawing and painting my favorite musicians from Selena Quintanilla to Erykah Badu. I would sell commissioned pieces of portraits and landscapes up until my senior year.
During my junior year however, I began the interest for photography but didn’t have a camera yet, so I would just use my iPhone 6s with friends in a field. Hey, we all start somewhere. At the beginning of my senior year, I had to recreate a photo for a painting for an art competition. My painting was inspired by the East Texas native, Kacey Musgraves, a photoshoot she did, and her recent album, Golden Hour. This album would soon become the soundtrack of my senior year. I borrowed a friend’s camera, headed to downtown Gladewater, Texas, and began shooting with my friend, Delani, as the golden sun began setting over us. By the time we finished, I quickly fell in love with photography and immediately realized this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I barely had any experience with using a camera, but I would beg friends to do “photoshoots” with me every single weekend, and often during the week after school. I finally got my own camera that Christmas.
By the second semester of my senior year, my life began to change forever and I will never forget this time of my life. I was soon accepted to the University of North Texas, started Goldn Photography, and began booking all my friends for their senior portraits. I was loving life and just on cloud nine as more and more of my classmates were wanting to book with me. I felt so honored. In March of 2019, I reached out to a local photographer, Lindsay Steele, who is phenomenal. She invited me to one of her sessions where she properly taught me how to shoot in manual and work with different lighting. That week, I traveled eight hours to Lubbock, Texas where I had the opportunity to shoot out in Quitaque, Texas at Caprock Canyons State Park with two of the sweetest souls, Delaney Oursbourn and Chelby Coppedge. Throughout the rest of the spring and my senior year, my business continued to grow, and I was becoming famous within this small town. I graduated with many awards, newspaper and yearbook articles on my business and I, and so many amazing memories. The weeks following graduation were a bit nerve-racking though due to no one needing senior sessions. My fears and anxiety rocketed as I feared of not becoming successful, and ultimately in an artist’s block.
However, I realized that’s normal, and everyone experiences dull days. I never gave up though. Thankfully, I began working on editorial pieces with my best friend, Kaylee Camp. My work paid off as I won a spot to work with DFW’s Girl Gang Meet Up one day at Burning Rose Co. This is where I grew even more, networking with talented and popular creatives, and overall growing as a photographer. My work slowly continued when I got to Denton, but everything changed when I met Ruston Kelly at Granada Theater in Dallas, Texas. I had previously made art for him and I soon began telling him how much of an inspiration he is to me. I told him how one day I wanted to be a concert photographer, and that’s when he stopped me, and invited me to his show in Austin just two days later and put me on his media list. I cried so hard that night on the way back to my dorm. Ever since I got a gig with Ruston, my portfolio has grown with many different artists such as Aaron Watson, Saint Motel, Mya, and many more. My advice to anyone with a dream is to never give up as cliche as that sounds. If you continue to be you and work hard, you will achieve great success. There are people who support and love you, just hang tight.
Has it been a smooth road?
Many obstacles I faced in the beginning were lack of equipment and lack of self-confidence, but those come when you work hard and believe in yourself one day at a time.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I specialize in concert photography, editorials, and senior sessions. I feel like my best work comes from those three categories. I will always do senior sessions, no matter how big I become. Senior year is very special time in a person’s life and that’s when my life began to change, so I want to be there for them and make their senior sessions shine. I’m proud to have such an amazing support system throughout the industry and from family and friends, they really keep me going. What sets me apart is that I want my service to be affordable for everyone and make it about the clients. They call upon photographers for very special events and I believe it’s my job to go the absolute extra mile for them.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I firmly believe that the DFW area is the best place for photographer to start and work out in. There are many different scenes that DFW has to offer such as: beautiful scenery, awesome studios within the city, a gorgeous skyline, concert venues, and other great opportunities. However, I believe there should be more studios available as there are only a limited amount.
Pricing:
- Senior Sessions – $150 for unlimited pictures with editing and outfit changes. $200 for out of town.
Contact Info:
- Website: goldnphotography.com
- Phone: 9037208697
- Email: photographygoldn@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/goldnphotography
- Facebook: facebook.com/goldnphotography
- Twitter: twitter.com/goldnphoto
Image Credit:
Andrew Jones, Goldn Photography.
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