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Meet Johnathan Sutton of Premium Paris

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnathan Sutton.

Johnathan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a US Army veteran, I was in the military for about ten years and had a career ending injury and was retired in 2016. I was going through a lot at the time and honestly found comfort in taking photos and using a camera and working on the images. After the military, I moved to Philadelphia for a while and started a self-discovery of myself and what I wanted to do in life and honestly I knew I could never have a regular job an I wanted to be in photography somehow.

I had a hobby at the time of taking photos around Philadelphia on my iPhone and sharing my days in an interesting way with sharing the city and the beauty of things people do not always get to see. So I bought a real camera and my first camera was a Canon 7D. I started taking photos with a camera that was interesting to use and trying to see how to use the camera on manual and trying out techniques. I was lucky because at the time I was dating this woman that I met who modeled out of Los Angeles and was doing well in her career as a spokesmodel and touring with a brand and she let me take some photos of her and oh man! I loved it! The hobby turned into a passion almost overnight. As you would imagine.

I was so enthused to get the images edited and to make them interesting as well through my eyes and perspective. I was seeking more to discover myself and I decided to move to Hawaii to get some time in nature and relax a little more and have a year around whether that was good for photography and I was lucky as my friend who I was renting a room from was a wedding photographer with a lot of nice gear and she gave some professional lessons and I helped her out a few times on a shoot and she walked me through her process as a business owner and even looked over my photos and she let me know right away. My images were interesting and incredible and she loved them but I need some work on editing. She recommended I go to school to learn how to edit images and learn a little more about photography.

At that time I was looking into the Art Institute in San Diego and I was wanting to move out to San Diego or Los Angeles to get into an art school to really follow my passion and take it to a school level and learn. But right before I could go do a tour of the school and see about moving out there, I had a family emergency out in Puerto Rico when the hurricanes hit the island in September of 2017.

So I put my education on hold and just brought my camera out to Puerto Rico. I saw so much and experienced a lot out there on the island as it was completely disconnected from the rest of the world and it was wild because no one knew what was really going on around the island so I just taking photos out there and posting them on Facebook when I got back into reception in Hurricane Maria Facebook pages to chat and report back to those who wanted to know what’s going on out on island and I got popular very FAST! So many people would reach out to me and text or call on Facebook and leave me messages to see how their family was doing and I would get addresses to go check and I would go check on their family and take a photo or if I had reception I would reach out on Facebook to connect them to their families in the rest of the US.

I took photos everywhere I went and posted them and then I was reached out to by a few senators out of Washington DC that were highly interested in my photos and videos I was posting and then an organization in DC reached out to me to look over the images and photos and shared them with many members in DC from the House of Representatives. I had no clue my photos and post were so powerful until that moment. I was taking photos of things of high importance to many who had friends and family in Puerto Rico and just saw how my photos could change lives. So I knew I was on to something amazing.

About five months after that initial contact I was invited out to Washington DC to be in a court hearing about being apart of the change in Puerto Rico at the Rayburn House in DC and it was eye-opening to be a part of that, because like I said my photos and videos got me all the way to that point. I would have never imagined things would go that way or far and be so important.

Well, after Puerto Rico died down and the calls stopped coming in to work on projects out in Puerto Rico, I did what I was initially planning to do and so I went to school at that time I was in Virginia Beach and Washington DC area and I started to go to school at the Art Institute in Virginia for photography and learn rather quickly and had a little bit of a head start on it so getting styles down was fun and great because I was finally around others who were photographers and or in the industry a little and instructors that have been in the industry for over 15 years and know what editors are looking for.

After a few semesters, I was told to transfer to California and give Los Angeles a try. So I applied for the transfer and was picked up in San Diego of all places. So I made the jump in July of last year and was in school as I was taking on gigs around Los Angeles and just went at it for fashion and beauty the moment I got in California. I just always wanted to be in the fashion and beauty industry and I just was challenged in school to shoot it all semester long and so I did and the love for the industry grew quickly.

I had my first big break during Los Angeles Fashion Week at Art Hearts Fashion and shooting behind the scenes and a little bit of red carpet photos as well. I did so well that the director of media and now my business partner Thierry Brouard saw my images and was impressed with my work and asked to start working together and was interested to mentor me in my photos. So it was a no brainer, I kept taking gigs in Los Angeles on the weekends and doing photoshoots around LA with Thierry and started shooting for magazines like Playboy, Maximum, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle and my career has really started to take off.

There were several nights where I was sleeping on couches, in my car because I am just too tired to drive back to San Diego, and yes just couldnt afford to get a hotel because I was putting all my money into my new business and camera gear and paying for an LLC and taxes and turning this into a business. Sleepless nights where I am up until 5am or the sunrising and I am still working or editing and delivering images and days I have no idea what day it is and just constantly working. Obsessed YES!

Thierry already had the company name of Premium Paris and he started with a friend in Paris and now in Los Angeles and asked me to move up to Los Angeles and so I did because well I was up here about 5 days out of the week and was actually driving from 10 minutes from the Mexico border every week and coming back to just make class in San Diego because I was in the middle of my semester. So I moved up in December of last year and my first official shoot I shot when I moved to Los Angeles was with Telli Swift and Deontay Wilder right after he fought Fury at the Staples Center, his wife Telli I met her during Los Angeles Fashion Week back in October and got some cool shot of her and India Love and yes I got some cool shots of India Love as well.

I have even been flown out to New York Fashion Week and Miami Swim Week with Art Hearts Fashion and now I am working for Art Hearts Fashion with Erik Rosete and Didi Roberts and I shoot the behind the scenes and runway photos as the in house photographer. I am very proud of that and to do it so fast.

The latest shoot I have done was with Brazilian designer Carmen Steffens and supermodel and 17 year Victoria Secret Model Alessandra Ambrosia so we are doing well. I even shoot for some of the nicest venues around Hollywood and Sunset like Le Jardin and Liaison.

The other side I do is beauty and I love makeup and hair editorial photoshoots. I have amazing friends in the industry and have worked with brands like Bdellium Tools, Morphe, Inglot, Kryolon, CAO Cosmetics, Paul Mitchell, Moda Makeup Brushes, OFRA, and several others.

The fun note is I have only been a photographer now for about two years, my motivation and love for what I do and my passion for everyone in the industry is what has given me the ability to do well because people can FEEL what I do and love what I create and come up with. I love the support everyone including Art Hearts Fashion has given me and the love is so amazing and each fashion week my company is now always getting multiple publications in all the latest fashion magazines and we are even in film and videography and make fashion films and working on commercials and doing really well.

The best thing I have learned from all this is just stay humble and be thankful and help everyone like you want to be helped and a lot of doors open when you do that.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not a smooth road, it was hard getting started and working on credibility and I was lucky to meet the right people who were helpful. There were a lot of gigs I took on that were not for pay and finding the right clients who would be willing to pay the price I was asking for. But once I started getting published and working with Thierry those paying gigs found me and working together with another photographer has really help challenge me to bring my “game” up and to do better and to learn quickly and be okay with criticism and learn from the mistakes.

Many nights I have had to stay up late to make all this happen and I cannot tell you the amount of hours weekly that I have spent on projects.

This field is very competitive and a lot of photographers desire to be where I am at today and my company is at and many do not value the art behind photography and just will undercut or speak poorly about a company or person just to land a job or gig.

Many shoot for free or are willing to do thousands of dollars of work and time for nothing to work with a company because they are not established and or are still trying to make it out there in the industry.

Which is sad but for me I have had to learn how to say no to clients who are not willing to pay my rate or asking for me to work for free. I have learned from many that those are the clients you just do not want and or need because they do not value your work and will never be satisfied with anything you deliver and will most likely act like everything is free. Like 100 dollars pays for many days of editing and at that point it takes more time than what it is worth and you minus well let them see what someone who works for free gives them and if that client is meant for you to just let them take on a company that is within their budget especially when they will not even be within a few hundred or close to the original quote and know how to see that they are just wanting free work.

The next was friends and family asking for free work or not paying right away and having to track them down to pay and trusting the wrong people so to say. We have a lot of friends who own clubs around LA and yes we are friends outside of working the event or venue and just billing or sending an invoice to everyone regardless if they are a friend or apart of my family.

I think many people within the industry like myself and my company have to be our own cheerleaders and support team and have to believe in ourselves to get places. I have had a lot of people from my past tell me I wouldn’t make it or just didn’t believe in what I was doing because well I do not think they even believe in themselves. I moved from Virginia and the DC area to come out to California to do what I love and what my passion really is because I believed I could and slowly but surely those who said I couldn’t congratulate me and say they are proud but I don’t forget and I remember and let it go and say thank you of course.

I think many photographers and videographers struggle all these things when they are trying grow and get more clients.

Please tell us about Premium Paris.
Well I am the Co-Owner of Premium Paris with my business partner Thierry Brouard and we specialize in fashion photography and cinematography, we work on many editorial campaigns for companies all over the world.

We cover events, major shows like the Oscars and Golden Globes. We also work with creating commercials and films with A list and B list film directors and producers. We work within the union for the filming industry.

We are also apart of Art Hearts Fashion and produce all the videos and images for the fashion show along with Getty Images. I myself shoot runway photos and backstage and behind the scenes of the show along with Thierry as he films the shows and behind the scenes and we do very well with that.

We also are in the wedding industry as we do shoot weddings all over the world.

What we are most proud of is our multiple publications in Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazaar, Playboy Mexico cover and centerfold, Playboy Italy, have had our images and videos all over Time Square in New York and published each Fashion Week.

We work with many nonprofit organizations that help create a better world like working with The Covenant House of California and The Anaheim White House to help cover event to help promote their amazing organization to bring change to Los Angeles and to many kids who are less fortunate.

I always say our love an passion within the industry sets us apart but our photos and videos just speak for themselves. Many people want and desire our types of photos and videos and can tell right away when the images they get for someone who as a little more cost effective than the photos or videos are not up to par. We have a European style of shooting and we are so versatile and commercial at the same time the high grade of photos and editing is hard to not be amazed and or blown away.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
No, I think that this is exactly how it is always meant to be and I am thankful for everything that has happened. I would only say I wish I did this sooner in my life.

Pricing:

  • Wedding Photography – US $4,000 : 1 Photographer | Half a day (up to 6 hours) | 200 Edited Photos (HD digital only) US$5,000 : 1 Photographer | Full day (up to 20 hours) + Engagement | 500 Edited Photos (HD digital + Prints) US$6,000 : 2 Photographers | Full day (up to 20 hours) + Engagement | 700 Edited Photos (HD digital + Prints + Photo Album)
  • Wedding Films – US $4,000 : 1 Camera Operator | Half a day (up to 6 hours) | Trailer + Short (10 min) Edit US $5,000 : 2 Camera Operators | Full day (up to 20 hours) | Trailer + Same Day Short Edit US $10,000 : 2 Camera Op + 1 Steadicam | Full day (up to 20 hours) | Trailer + Same Day Short Edit + Long Edit
  • Portraits – $700 | 2 hours | 10 Edited Photos $1,500 | 6 Hours | 30 Edited Photos
  • Commercial Work- Request a custom quote. Shooting only Starting $2000 for 6 hours Full day of shooting with full team (Photographer, Models, Gaffer, Make Up Artist + Hair Stylist) : Starting $5000
  • Event Photography – Request a custom quote starts at $850 for a half day 6 hours and $1,500 for a full day up to 12 hours
  • Event Videography – Request a custom starts at $900
  • Runway Photography- $1000 Per show Per day

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
All images belong to: Premium Paris (Johnathan Sutton & Thierry Brouard); Black and White Photo: Deontay Wilder after the Fury Fight in December of 2018 in Los Angeles; Runway stuff (Art Hearts Fashion)

Getting in touch: VoyageLA 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.

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