Conversations with Floice Kemp

Today we’d like to introduce you to Floice Kemp.

Hi Floice; please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always had a passion for photography. Growing up and getting into trouble, I had to work in my mother’s shop. I would use her camera to take photos of her products and, of course, photos for my MySpace page. For some reason, getting into photography was unacceptable to me due to the steep startup cost. Years later, I “volunteered” to manage a Public Affairs Program for my unit in the Army. What did I know about Public Affairs? Nothing. Nothing at all when we deployed; they issued me a robust kit to manage this program. Now out of excuse, I became obsessed with photography. My free time became split between the gym and photography. What I was capturing didn’t matter—volleyball games, Cities and abstract street cones, etc. I became known as The Camera guy, which got me into many interesting places. Now that I returned home, not having a camera was terrible. I’m fortunate to have friends with photography businesses wanting to upgrade their camera kits and do not mind selling their old equipment. Now with the equipment, what do I name the company?

My nickname is ‘Kilo.’ With a complicated first name, I’ve earned a ton of cleaver and terrible nicknames. The first letter of my last name is ‘K,’ and in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet, ‘Kilo.’ It could be more creative, but it stuck. I quickly ended up on all of my gear and part of my introduction to social settings. As a self-proclaimed math nerd, the intersections of moments in space are referred to as points, and that’s what I am capturing. Capturing the point. Point Kilo ~ Capturing the Point

Let’s dig deeper into the story – has it been an easy path, and if not, what challenges have you overcome?
Haha, oh, far from smooth! I don’t want to lie to you and say I am a shining example to follow. I’m not Peter Mckinnon or Matti Haapoja because I am still in the building phase. I have a few smaller but several “free” clients because I want to build my reputation in a very saturated market. Without a doubt, the biggest hurdle was getting started. From my story, I started carrying a camera regularly (and I still do). Photography quickly became the only thing I could think about. I showed undefined and unprocessed images to people with significantly more talent than me. It was daunting until I texted a photo to my friend Chris, who called me back. Now I knew I needed to take myself seriously.

Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
As a photographer, I specialize in event and sports photography. Those are my main clients. As an artist, I work with more Long Exposure, Street, Cityscape, and some Portrait photography. Then as a hobby, I capture wildlife and automotive photography. The list is long, but my goal is to get my art form out there for the following year. I am now clearing my SD card and heading out the door for a car show. As long as I can keep booking the events, I can continue to fuel my art form.

The photo that probably caught your attention, “Neon Mornings,” I call it (Note: Sunrise with the iconic Western Auto sign), is my staple as a Long Exposure Cityscape photographer. I like capturing the color of neon and how the colors pop in industrial settings. One project I am working on. I want to take free headshots for veterans.

Backstory: as I mentioned before, when I was deployed managing public affairs, I wanted to dabble with portrait photography. With some advice from my friend Scott, I built a studio with pallets and several desk lights, but I had a goal. Offer to take updated portrait photos of everyone else I served with because it was years since the last time they had a good photo of themselves in uniform. I told them it was time for them to update the photo hanging on grandma’s fridge. Over three days, I took some 200 portraits (some serious, most of them not), and the feedback from everyone I worked with was amazing. Now that I am home, I see 100s of profiles on LinkedIn of Veterans with low-quality or old photos from when they were serving. It’s a bad look, and It’s something I want to act. I am still working on the logistics (location and equipment), but I will soon offer free portraits to veterans.

So, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you before we go? How can they support you?
You can now find me on Instagram (@pointkilophotography) or email me directly at pointkilophotography@gmail.com. I am still working on a Pic-time store for anyone interested in ordering copies of my art. I will post it on my Instagram once it’s life. Open to collaborating with members on the street scene, shoot me an email!

Pricing:

• Veteran Portraits – Free
• General Coverage – $100/Hr
• Daily Coverage (5+ hrs) – $500
• Event Coverage – TBD on specifics

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pointkilophotography/

Image Credits
Floice “Kilo” Kemp, Point Kilo Photography