Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul “Kaido” Asyn.
Paul, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Ever since I was a kid my dad traveled for work a lot and would bring a camera on his trips. When he’d come back, he would show my family all the sights and places he would go. My family would always have cameras accessible whether it was disposable film, camcorders or digital cameras; they were always in the house for me to play around with. My sister got a camera for Christmas one year and after that, I wanted one of my own.
On my 10th birthday, I came home from school to my first ever digital camera—a Casio Exilim. Man, I took that thing everywhere. Pretty much after that, I’ve always had a camera on me. Fast forward to college, I would always take pictures of my friends and people would ask me If they could pay me. So I kind of went with it! Along the way, I gained some traction off of a single picture I posted on Instagram and it helped me break out from there. You’ve might’ve seen it, just search “fairy lights” on Pinterest. 😂
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?
Definitely not a smooth road. The hardest thing to balance is having something creative being fueled by profit. Or having someone buy into your vision when photography is so subjective. And then the social media pains everyone goes through where you think you’re not progressing at all even though success comes in waves and isn’t constant. Most of the struggle is internal which is all part of the growth. Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of help along the way where I can personally say it’s been pretty successful so far.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I have offered “very limited” video, graphic design, and creative directing services. Hence, “media”. But what I mostly focus on is photography. I do work mainly in commercial, wedding, concert and all-around portrait photography. I would say my self-proclaimed greatest strength would be versatility. Since I’ve experienced many types of photography projects, it’s given me a lot of tools under my belt to utilize in different situations. Though, I try to take in client suggestions without sacrificing my creative input. BUT what I’m most known for is being that photographer that dances while taking pictures at weddings. 😂
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
Last winter, I built my own home studio and ever since I really dove deep into photography, I’ve always wanted to get into fashion photography. I can appreciate the unusual and unnatural— the “What’s normal anyway” kind of stuff. A lot of material in that world just goes. I have also been really getting into a film so I’m really excited about that. I haven’t given myself many chances to do personal projects so that’s something I’m looking forward to.
Contact Info:
- Website: PaulKaidoAsyn.com
- Email: paulasynphoto@gmail.com
- Instagram: @paulkaidoasyn
Image Credit:
Elizabeth Duong, Tony Le, Christy Tran, Uyen Vu, Jennifer Fitta, Melanie Wang, Nora Tran
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