Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Isaac.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I discovered photography in graduate school. While I was buried in books and writing papers, I started feeling like I needed a creative outlet. At the time, I was big into rock climbing with my brother and would take trips frequently to Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, which was a great opportunity to learn to shoot cool things of people climbing, and then of beautiful landscapes.
Being freelance kicked off for me in 2015 when I got back in touch with a commercial photographer, who I was introduced to the year before. At that time in 2014, I became aware of the commercial industry in Dallas and realized “Whoa, this is a thing that I can do.” A year later, I was cold-emailing people asking for work as a photo assistant and this guy emailed me back. I had good skills in Photoshop so he picked me up as a freelance retoucher. That was the beginning.
After that, I learned real quick what “hustling” means. I was emailing everyone I could who I thought might pick me up as a photo assistant, which is really on-the-job training for people who want to do this kind of work. Whenever I would meet someone in the industry, I was relentless with following up with them and just emailing, calling and straight up asking for work. When I was given a shot, I made sure to pay attention and do good work. Then, after the job, try and keep in touch with those people always reminding them I’m around and ready to work.
I started to get booked a lot and before I knew it was booked pretty consistently. While hustling to get work as a member of the crew, I was also working tirelessly to build my skills as a photographer and director.
Today, I’m always looking for opportunities to shoot, always talking to industry people and potential clients and finding those who vibe with the next project I have lined up and who wanted to be a part of it. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m always ready to work on the next cool project. I’m always thinking about what’s next, and what new thing I can show in order to push myself as a creative in both mediums of stills and motion and get eyeballs on my work. I love to collaborate with like-minded creative people and I really gravitate towards people who catch the vision and want to run with it. These are the kinds of clients that I love to shoot for too. I want them to cast a vision for me to catch, and ultimately own and make the final product something really special.
Has it been a smooth road?
Yes and no. I think I got pretty busy early on, which is great, but there is nothing smooth about being a freelance creative, or freelance anything for that matter. The ups and downs can really get to you if you’re not careful, especially when it seems on social media that everyone else is doing something interesting.
I once heard a successful photographer say “I’d rather be lucky than good.” When I heard that I knew it was true and it made me a little nervous because it means that most things that make a person successful are outside of her control. In fact, I can point to pretty much every break I’ve had in this industry as coming from a situation that was outside of my control. There’s like one or two exceptions, but 99% of them are from serendipitous conversations, something I said on set that someone else overhead and vibed with, people who are feeling gracious and want to help you out, a person who knows a person who knows a person, etc. I can email, I can work on my website, optimize my SEO, post on social media, cold-call, go to industry meetings, conventions, all that, and I’m not guaranteed one job from all that work. But the minute a producer or another photographer or director recommends me for a job to a client or to an agency, I’ll get a call or an email and I have an opportunity.
The things I can control are typically things that occur after I’ve already been recommended or have formed a relationship with my client or agency. Especially, when it comes to my bread and butter of shooting and being creative. Then, I can really craft something. Everything else I think is just putting myself in the way for an opportunity to find me and always keeping my eyes and ears open and then being ready to jump at any moment. So, it hasn’t been smooth from that perspective. I’m still pushing the boulder uphill, but honestly, that’s the business for everyone.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with JDi Creative – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I shoot a lot of commercial sports, fitness, athletic and athleisure. I also shoot product and the occasional editorial portraiture assignment. Beyond the specific genre that I shoot, my specialty is my ability to craft a creative visual piece that has a style and that commands attention. I can do this from scratch, when there is no concept, or come alongside a creative agency who already has a concept, but needs to figure out how to make it happen on camera. I don’t just want to be told what to shoot, I want to be able to craft something special that will stand out in the midst of all the noise online. At the end of the day, I want to create something and give it my own stylistic touch. I would hope that that’s why brands want to hire me.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shift, changes, trends, etc?
I feel like I’m still trying to figure that out. It’s definitely changing massively. But what is it changing to? That’s anybody’s guess. However, it’s not just photography or video that’s changing, it’s the entire advertising industry. It’s being forced to change because of what the internet and social media are demanding — smaller and more frequent chunks of content. People’s attention spans are shorter, content needs to be punchier. I also think advertising is going to move away from relying on the traditional campaign. Advertising of this century is going to be more holistic and maybe more invasive in people’s lives. It needs to be everywhere, not just on TV or on a billboard or magazine. Last year, I directed a spot that was 100% Facebook Live. From the production point of view, it needed a lot of TLC and definitely wasn’t haphazard, but where it ended up was experimental. We could see the results immediately — real numbers, real feedback, real engagement. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
If anything, I think advertising is changing to be more dynamic, more interactive. The tradeoff is that the ad will have a shorter lifespan because the internet is a constant stream of data — so you have to be ok with that because that’s the nature of online. Things come and they go. People like it, then they scroll past and like the next thing. So, brands, whether personal or corporate, are always in need of finding new and dynamic ways of engaging with their target audience.
In fact, from my own reading on the subject, I think the entire concept of an “ad” needs to go away, or at least become only one piece of the fuller picture. What really matters now is engagement with your target audience. Engagement goes beyond trying to sell something and a branded piece of content. It gets to the human need to connect. That can happen in any number of ways. An ad, or a branded piece of content, is just one piece of the engagement equation. How are you engaging your audience? How are you getting people to look — even if they don’t “like” — how do you get them to do more than look and stay engaged over time? This is the irony of social media I think — people’s attention spans are shorter, so what we need are longer-term solutions, not short-term fixes. Engagement in the long-term is what will set brands up for success in this century.
What does that mean for me and other content creators? I think it means there is a new world waiting and anything is possible. Literally, any medium can be used to engage audiences. Content is the one thing a brand can’t do without, and if we think creatively, we can open up new horizons for brands seeking to engage at deeper levels beyond mere advertising in the traditional mold. This is what really excites me and I hope to make more inroads in this direction in the years to come. I think there are limitless possibilities there.
Contact Info:
- Address: FLOCC Studio, 606 N Edgefield Ave., Dallas, TX 75216
- Website: www.jdicreative.co
- Phone: 2149989854
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i__justinisaac/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jdi915/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-isaac-200059168/
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
