Teamsiliconvalley - Sports Blog

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their continued support since day ONE of my start as a photographer. First and foremost, I want to thank my family for sticking by my side and supporting me through it all. Without them, none of this would have been possible. Love you all.

For those of you who are new to my name and body of work; I am a beauty, sports, and product photographer. My portfolio is available for viewing at www.KyleGoldie.com.

Now, I’ve been asked countless times how I’ve started, so I figure that is a good place to start. I’ll try to put this into a nutshell:

After getting into corporate management and advertising, I realized that I would be most happy doing my hobby for a living. After all, who wouldn’t be? There were critics and skeptics right and left, but I had to keep my head up high and keep at it. Doing what a lot of photographers do, I started out shooting landscapes and cityscapes – something that was relatively easy to do based on the fact that I needed no one other than myself. After a good amount of time doing that, I needed a new challenge. Now, for myself, I need a challenge to push myself to new limits for my own personal, intrinsic gain. That challenge was photographing people. I had NO idea and only had training over a single class in Kamiak High School, taught by Mr. Jim Sawyer. After meeting a model, Courtney, she quickly turned me on to the idea of photographing models to begin learning the subject. I quickly (and honestly) though, “great looking girls, fashion, and photography combined – oh hell yes!” Now, after my first few shoots and comparing them to some of those photos in top magazines, I quickly realized I was a terrible photographer. Haha. It was my personal mission to better myself on each and every shoot I’ve been on. That may improvement may have been small or it may have been large, but ever single day I did improve – which led me to my career as it stands at this moment.

Many people asked how I have learned lighting and if I went to school for photography. The answers are simple. I didn’t go to school for photography – I went to school for my Bachelors of Business Management. I’m self-taught. Now, how did I learn photography? Another simple answer. I was terrible when I started just by picking up my camera (Canon 5D) and not really thinking about any type of particular concept, location, or knowing what the hell any kind of modifier was… or even what the word “modifier” meant in terms of lighting. So, my first few shoots only comprised of my 5D and a simple 22″ 5-in-1 reflector and a few models who were willing to work with me on trade for a disk of the images. After reviewing the photos, I dove right in and studied them in immense detail. I did not only look at what I did right, but more importantly – what I did wrong. I took what I did wrong and improved on that on literally every single shoot to this very day. After photographing over 300 models since my start in this industry, those small incremental improvements have proved to be quite beneficial. It was just a matter of sticking with my game plan and not being discouraged. I’ve read a lot of photography books on lighting, posing, photoshop, et al, but none of them truly helped me out that greatly. It was really just getting out there in the field and the old practice of trial and error. Just a lot, a lot, a LOT of time at it.

As of this moment, my work has been seen around such places as Warner Brothers, Matrix Hairstyles, Brocato Hair, Vancouver Fashion, WINO Magazine, FlareNow Magazine, Canadian Hairdresser International, and La Belle Reve Bridal. Without the help of the talented teams around Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, none of this would have been possible.

I would like to extend personal thanks to Stace Quach (aka Fresh Face Stace), Gavin O’Neill, Katrina Molson, Alecsa Nelson, Brenda Nelson, Vanessa Mills, Marianna Scarola, Ajentse Representatives, Jennifer Fulfer, Jessee Skittrall, Jesica Milton, Steven Lyon, Anna Dabrowska, Heffner Management, Seattle Models Guild, and TCM Models, among others.

I must personally thank the local modeling agencies; Seattle Models Guild, Heffner Management, and TCM Models, for working with me as I was building my portfolio. These are the agencies that have been vastly important to my successes in this industry. Without their time, assistance, and most imporantly – guidance, I would not have the portfolio I have today. So, genuinely, thank you.

After renting studio space of my own in Seattle, I took advantage of the opportunity and went crazy. My first month in there I shot about 37 models to get a better grasp on how to light different concepts, different moods, and most importantly, different types of body types and facial structures. I’ve never taken this space for granted and capitalize on the opportunity to have such a wonderful area to show my creativity, lighting style, and new work on a regular basis.

Now that I am officially represented by Ajentse, I am embarking on an adventure that will hold many great things for me and my career. It is this step that everything I’ve ever worked for around the Pacific Northwest has been for. I knew how hard it was and the level I had to reach to be able to have such prestigious representation, but it was merely a day-to-day philosophy that got me there. As long as I had the personal drive on a daily basis to improve on myself that very day and the people and teams to support me, I knew I was going to get there.

Now, there is always that “next step;” and that is precisely what myself and the people around me are striving to achieve. We have all come this far and we will all get there – together.

Once again, I genuinely thank you for your continued support.

Thank you,

Kyle Goldie   -   www.KyleGoldie.com