Check Out Jason Ellis’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Ellis.

Hi Jason, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I got into photography as hobby during a trip to Costa Rica in 2017. They were basically all just landscape shots I took on my phone, but I had a lot of friends compliment me on how good they were. I thought wow, what if I actually put some effort into this. I decided to take it a step further by watching some YouTube tutorials and shooting more frequently. At the time, I thought the only way you could make any money off photography were through weddings and portraits. I never had any interest in that, so I just kept it as a hobby, shooting only landscape and travel pics on my phone. About a year later, I got fired from my job at Quicken Loans, which of course, gave me a lot of downtime. This led to me watching a lot of travel vlogs like Lost Leblanc and Fun For Louis. This is where I learned that you can make a living off content creation on YouTube. I had already been questioning what I wanted to do with my career and had a serious travel bug, so the idea of being a travel vlogger sounded pretty great at the time. There was just one problem, I was out of a job and therefore had no money. The initial plan was buy the necessary camera equipment once I got a job, vlog and shoot when I got the opportunity, then slowly but surely turn this into a full-time profession. Buying the necessary equipment took a lot longer than expected. Partially because it’s really expensive, but also because I’m not very good at trading what I want now for what I want in the future. I finally got my first camera in 2020 after the pandemic hit. God bless those stimulus checks. By this time, the whole travel vlogger idea had faded for a multitude of reasons. It did however, lead me to watching countless YouTube tutorials on various types of content creation, which taught me that there are many other ways to monetize this craft. About a year later, I felt that I was finally ready to start looking for paid gigs. I started out shooting some local events; i.e bar crawls, musicians, ect. But I knew if wanted to take this thing ful-time, I had to expand. I knew I needed to start doing more video work, because it pays more, and unlike photographers, videographers aren’t a dime a dozen. At the end of 2021, I bought my first drone, which many people think is my bread and butter. As soon as I bought it, I worked extremely hard to get as caught up with my drone as I am with my camera. After a little less than a year, I made it happen. Most of the work I do is in events, real estate, and advertisements. Both for photography and videography. I haven’t quite been able to take this full time yet, but I am pretty close, and looking to expand. I am currently learning how to fly FPV drones, edit motion graphics, and do drone sight surveys. It’s hard to say what the future holds for me, but I know if I stay focused and take things one day at a time. The universe will unfold as it should.

Alright, 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?
My road to success has been anything but smooth haha. I never had any sort of a mentor other than creators I’ve found online and none of my friends did this as a hobby, so I had to build everything from scratch in terms of learning and finding clients. Purchasing all my equipment was also a huge challenge. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not great when it comes to trading what I want now for what I want in the future, so purchasing all the proper equipment took a very long time. However, had I purchased everything as soon as I got the money for it, I wouldn’t have had a life for a solid year. This stuff’s not cheap.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in videography and photography for real-estate, events, and advertisements. I guess what sets me apart is my drone work. That’s what seems to stand out to everyone the most. That’s why I decided to hone in on that and am currently in the process of learning to fly FPV drones.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
It’s hard for me to say where this industry is going because predicting the future isn’t really my forte. I do think AI is going to start playing a huge role in photo and video editing. Also, with us living in such a digital age, I’ve seen a growing need for content creators and even heard Kevin O’Leary talk about it in an interview. That said, I’m hoping to see more companies grow to the point that they start hiring creators to work for them, as opposed to everyone having to work independently and start their own businesses. Entrepreneurship is great if you can pull it off, but the reality is most people can’t. Anytime you can find someone who can help get your foot in the door, it will help tremendously. It certainly would’ve helped me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ellisimaging.com
• Instagram: @ellisimaging_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/103310993/admin/dashboard/