Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Bates
Hi Colin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started photography a little over 7 years ago back in 2017. I was a freshman in high school and was going through a pretty rough time in my life. I wanted to start taking photos after following some local photographers on Instagram. I had told my mom this and she had bought me a $50 small point-and-shoot camera from one of her friends and the rest followed. Taking photos was very therapeutic to me and would take me into a more enjoyable life. I’d have my friends and family drive me downtown and drop me off so I could run around the city and take photos for hours. This would essentially become what I was known for. I made my business around this and it melded with a love for video as well. I graduated last year with my bachelor’s in Science of Digital cinematography. My main focus has shifted into video while still taking photos on the side.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been hard and thankfully after starting people would come to really like my photos. I got lots of praise from my friends, family, and people online. This led to me being able to turn it into a business for doing photoshoots and working with brands.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When I was starting out my main niche was running around the city and taking photos. I would show the good side of Saint Louis and how architecturally beautiful it was. We have some really old and great buildings here and I loved showing that. This is the photography that I most love doing because it’s the most fun in my opinion, Overtime I got good at doing portraits and other subject-related shoots. I’m most proud of the work that gets published I’m grateful enough to have been published a few times and that’s what I’m most proud of.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
My first name is Colin, not that exciting but I don’t have it listed on my socials. And my age was a big thing for some people that I had to tell and it wasn’t fun trying to be professional and telling people you’re 17. There was a company that does marketing for various liquor brands and after seeing my photos they reached out but I was only 18 at the time. 3 years later I got back in touch with them and we ended up working together.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stlbates/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stlbatesphotos
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@stlbates
