Daily Inspiration: Meet Antonio Taylor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Taylor.

Hi Antonio, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been into technology and love capturing moments that last a lifetime. I started getting serious about photography about 8 years ago. I was doing graphic design for athletes but most of the pictures they sent me were poor quality. I spent more time editing the picture and less time doing graphic design. I decided to get my own camera to get better images, so I bought my first Nikon and 8 years later, here we are. I fell in love with the creative process and the joy I saw when a client saw their images.

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?
It definitely hasn’t been smooth. This is a highly competitive and saturated market. One of the biggest struggles was on the business side. I’m a natural creator but business and marketing were not my specialty. Like most starting out, I just wanted to work so I’d shoot at a low rate and pretty much give away everything I shot. I was afraid to charge what I felt my value was in fear of losing clients. I found myself working long hours with little financial reward. There were many times I thought about giving up. As you can see, I kept going to get where I am today.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My primary work is senior and family photography. I love the idea of watching a senior get their last image of their high school years knowing that life changes from here on out. I do tons of youth sports and I get asked quite a bit to capture and create something that makes an athlete feel like a star.

I’m most proud at this point of the video work I now do. During the pandemic, I started producing video content for my church and in a years’ time, I’ve grown tremendously in the video world. I’ve had the pleasure of doing live recordings, commercials, highlight films, and I’m in the process of working on something major. It’s a game changer for me.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My wife has played a major role by supporting me 100%. My life changed when we met and got married and she has been my motivation to focus and go after my dreams. She keeps me grounded and she’s my rock. I wouldn’t have the desire to do any of this without her. Sorry for all the camera gear love. 🙂

I’d like to thank my sons Torian, Devan, and DeSean for always believing in me and trusting me to take care of our family. They are also good practice subjects.

I’d like to thank my family, my mom, Janice, my sister, KeeAnna, my brother, Shun and all my nieces and nephews for always being my biggest cheerleaders. My granny LeeAnna who’s smiling down and taught me everything I know. I hope your punkin is making you proud.

I’d like to thank my church family, Mt. Olive #1 for allowing me the opportunity to grow in the video department and being patient with me. I can always count on them as models when I’m trying new things.

I’d like to thank my guy Demone Dickerson for always pushing the vision forward and the conversation that have shaped our direction for the future. He’s my point guard and sets me up perfectly every time. All I have to do is make the shot. Life lessons bro.

Also, Julius Jackson and Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering. He took a chance on me early on. He asked me to shoot his senior and middle school athletes and that grew to me shooting their prom and graduation. I consider them to be my family and I’ve grown so much thanks to the chance they gave me.

Pricing:

• $125 – 30 minute session fee
• $200 – 1 hour session fee
• $250 – 90 minute session fee

Contact Info:

• Email: antonio@taylordenterprise.com
• Website: https://taylordenterprise.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylordenterprise/
• Facebook: https://fb.me/TaylordEnterp
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/taylordent_

Image Credits
Kimberly Reed-Taylor