Meet Jeff Poe | Photographer/Creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeff Poe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have always been an artistic person and grew up with a camera in my hand. However, my career path was mostly medical, and I spent almost 15 years in medical device sales. At a certain point I became burnt out and wanted to follow my passions. Photography and travel was always a passion of mine, and I always printed pics from my travels and hung them around my house. I would often get visitors commenting on my wall art and tell me to pursue that passion, but I was too focused on medical sales to entertain the idea.

In January 2017, I had a near death car wreck that changed everything. I spun through traffic and was hit head on by a 16-wheeler. After coming out of that unharmed, I decided it was time to follow what I loved most after seeing first hang how fragile life can be. I started to learn more about my camera and its settings and focus on learning better technique and composition. By November of 2017, I had my first solo art show and first front-page image in the local paper.

I decided it was time to step away from medical sales and stop working in hospitals and fully immerse myself in travel and nature.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is ever evolving. I focus on selling prints and commercial work. I also teach photography and work as wildlife guide in Sedona, Glacier, and Yellowstone. Guiding and teaching replace my photobooth and event business that I had while I was in Los Angeles. I also license my work and sell videos on stock photography websites. It’s imperative that you have many different revenue streams so that you can limit the “feast or famine” rollercoaster.

Being a small business owner is not easy, and being in a creative field may be even more challenging. Trends are constantly changing, and you need to evolve with them. It can be exhausting and to have to battle ever changing algorithms and social media idiosyncrasies can be tough. My advice is to focus on what you’re good at and love and outsource the rest.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If someone was visiting me in Manhattan Beach, I would mostly hang out with them at the beach. There are few things better than watching the sun dip below the horizon over the ocean while there is sand between your toes. There is rarely a sunset that happens where I am not watching it on the beach. Other than the beach, I love taking friends to Griffith Park Observatory to get a glimpse of how vast Los Angeles is.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people who have inspired me along the way. I grew up reading National Geographic and dreaming about seeing some of those sights with my own eyes. With the growth of social media, there’s too many photographers and travel writers who have pushed me to become better.

But most of all, without my parents support I wouldn’t be able to keep going. I grew up camping and exploring and my love for nature and the outdoors is in large part because of my parents. I’ve been lucky enough to take many road trips with my family and recently finished one from AZ to MT with them. They have been a constant source of support and encouragement throughout my journey.

Thanks mom and dad!

Website: www.jeffpoephoto.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeffpoephoto

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffpoephoto