PRO CASE STUDY
Jake Moore (jakemoore photography.com) explains how he successfully balanced life shooting two very contrasting genres – wedding and water sports photography
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAREER TO DATE. WHAT GOT YOU STARTED?
In 2006, my cousin said he was getting married and having spent all his money so far, he asked me to shoot his wedding as I “had a camera.” I said I had only photographed the odd sunset before but he didn’t care – his wedding debt was growing so I worryingly obliged. I ended up loving his wedding so much and he still talks of his photos from the day 12 years later. I then used these photos as a portfolio, got my first ever paid wedding and never looked back.
WHAT DID YOU FIND MOST DIFFICULT ABOUT BRIDGING GENRES? WHAT WERE THE CORE CHALLENGES?
For me, the toughest moment was realising that no one wanted to pay for their surfing photos. I first tried to sell them pictures of themselves but made about a tenner over a few very cold months. I had once thought that if I could now master water photography, I would be in Hawaii six months a year, living in a beach resort and never looking back. The thing is, surfers don’t have the cash for their shots and the magazines were dwindling around the UK. I needed to burn the bridge and realise only one [genre] was going to pay the mortgage.
HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THESE DIFFICULTIES?
I had to realise that these two genres are very different. One could pay £1,500 a day and the other rarely got me a hot cup of coffee. I must admit my water camera has given me some ‘money can’t buy’ experiences, but these don’t put food on the table. I had to manage my time, as one genre was going to be consistently for money and the other was for my heart.
“I had to manage my time, as one genre was going to be for money and
the other was for my heart”