Today we’d like to introduce you to Josa Comstock.
Hi Josa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It sounds cheesy but I really didn’t choose photography, photography choose me. Ever since I could remember I had a little point and shoot disposable or digital camera in my hand. I’d take pictures of our family pets, flowers, stuffed animals. As I got older it turned into family vacations and my horses and pets. Instagram took off and my friends and I became amateur photographers getting our hands on “real” DSLR’s and trying to figure out this editing thing. Soon I found myself being asked by friends at horse shows to take their photos and being paid. I took a gap semester after receiving my associates in dance and took my first formal photography class. I was in love. I transferred from College of Lake County to Columbia College Chicago where I received my Bachelors in Commercial Photography. After graduating in 2019 I promptly started my very own LLC and have been capturing and building my small business ever since.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Certainly not, as most freelancers I think would agree, working and building a small business based on art is always challenging. In the beginning the hardest thing for me was prioritizing my work and scheduling. I had a side hustle newspaper job as well as second shot for equine and wedding photographers in the area but that work ultimately filled my schedule so I had trouble booking my photography work as well as I had long days second shooting with no work to show which left me burnt out and with nothing to add to my portfolio at the time. Slowly after re-prioritizing my schedule and finding better people to work with in the photography world that valued my artistic eye as well as allowed for portfolio usage I started finding a better balance. Every year came with less work for others and side hustles and more of just my own business. I still second shoot here and there as well as have a remote side hustle but 90% of my schedule is my work. It’s crazy even saying that now knowing how I felt when I was starting out. I constantly questioned if I was on the right track. If I should just “get a real job”. I’m so glad I stuck with it and trusted the process. What I do today I would not trade for the world. I spend my days mostly outside capturing horse shows, love stories and families. I get to document peoples stories and give them something tangible to remember these moments in time. As Albert Einstein puts it “one picture is worth a thousand words”.
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 am a professional photographer and videographer. I specialize in equine events/lifestyle and weddings although I capture a wide range in between and always love to document something new. I’m really proud of my work and especially my style that I’ve curated through the years. I think as a photographer it can be daunting to find “your” style through capturing and editing. It’s a very saturated market and imposter syndrome is real! I use to catch myself constantly comparing my work to others but now I am confident in my work and style and feel it is completely unique and ever changing and developing into something better. People often ask me what I do about “competition” in the industry. My reply is simple, there is no competition in the photography/videography industry. At the end of the day a client is hiring you for you! I love my photography community and am constantly networking and building people and their work up. I truly think there’s a place for all of us and treating art like a competition just doesn’t work.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
At the core, I’m just a midwest crazy horse girl. I grew up riding my welsh mountain pony (Curly), petting my black cat (Simba), running wild with the family dogs (Balto and Huckleberry Finn). I was homeschooled K-12 and spent my extra time in dance classes, 4-H activities and United State Pony Club lessons. My world revolved around horses and lucky for me my parents had them right in the backyard. I grew up learning everything that goes into caring for them, cleaning stalls, feeding, grooming, exercising. Every spare moment I had I spent in the barn just being in their presence. Even today, with all my “adult” responsibilities and work keeping me busy as ever, when I have a spare moment you can find me in a barn caring for one of my four horses.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.josacomstockphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josacomstockphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JosaComstockPhotography
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josa-comstock-00835427a
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZVd9j4YF7Z5s1rkLO8LIlA?view_as=subscriber
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@josacomstockphotography
