September 14, 2016

Meet South Pasadena Photographer: William Overby

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Overby.

William, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a photographer who started in Fontana, California seeking to make my mark in the industry and now reside in South Pasadena CA. I’ve enjoyed taking photos since high school, This cemented my passion for becoming a professional photographer. When I mentioned this passion to others, I was always turned down. I tried to pursue my passion on my own but the continued discouragement allowed my spark to die out. I had been working a warehouse and administrative jobs for some time and was feeling that that type of work was crushing my creative abilities. I then decided to pick his passion back up and go all in. At this point in 2014, I have been working to build a portfolio of work to get me noticed and branded myself as WNO Photography. The imagery I create are portraits, fashion, beauty, and some automotive. My dream is to open up his own photo studio one day, shoot commercial work out of it while still maintaining personal projects, and also teach workshops. The motto I came up with for my brand is Shoot For Your Dreams as I feel strongly about this and use it to keep me pressing forward. By shooting for your dreams, you are giving yourself the opportunity to open yourself up and grow in ways you would never have thought of. We all have different tools for working on this process. My tool of choice just happens to be with a camera. The camera allows me to capture concepts I have in my head. Aside from the camera I love being able to control light with light-shaping tools. Using these tools enables me to bring my vision to life. I also enjoy being able to include others in my vision and creating something we all can walk away with.”

Shooting for my dream is an ongoing process and I feel that I am not there yet but am taking steps to get there. This is a journey that I am excited to take part in.

Has it been a smooth road?
This road is not easy at all but I feel that the struggles are part of what makes me determined to keep moving. I embrace the obstacles and challenges. Some of the struggles in my journey were the negative feedback from when I was thinking about pursuing photography full on aside from when I was in high school. I was told that it was not a lucrative field of work. I then found myself doing administrative work for some years and was driving myself crazy. There is nothing wrong with that field of work but that’s just not what I am passionate about. I still carry those skills into the business aspects of my photography. The difference is that now I am open to doing more than just those tasks.

Has there been people or an institution that has played a pivotal role in your career?
The person that played the most part in my career is my wife. She has pushed me to pursue my passion in photography. She has been a prime example of giving your all to your field of expertise. She accomplished her dream by obtaining her masters degree in nursing. Other than my wife, my influences are commercial headshot photographer Peter Hurley. He works with actors and actresses to help them get that great image to get them that next big gig. My next influential person of impact is Lindsay Adler. She is a fashion photographer out of New York City. She specializes in creative fashion images. My final and most influential industry professional that I admire is portrait/fashion photographer Richard Avedon. Richard is my most influential because of his level of success. He worked with one of the top magazine companies in the world which was Vogue Magazine. To sum it all up I would like to take pieces from all influences stated above and use them as goals and growth references toward my path to success.

What type of clients or projects do you look forward to most?
My favorite types of projects are creative collaborative projects. It is such a good experience working with other creatives such as Stylist, MUA’s etc… to help create that wow factor image. I also am always drawn to the face so with every project I do, I always get a headshot for the client to take away from our session together.

What have been some of the most important lessons you’ve learned over the course of your career?
The one thing that I would have done differently would have been to start earlier in my life on this journey. Prior to taking on photography full time, I was working my way up the corporate ladder of America in warehousing. I wanted to pursue this field of work sooner but fear is what held me back. I eventually embraced the fear and now I am very happy with this decision.

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