Meet Kyle Goetsch | Landscape Photographer

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

Hi Kyle, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Organic engagement. 90% of my clients come through my social media or website. Creating a platform where I can genuinely engage with my future cliental has been an essential part of my business strategy. I want to build relationships with my viewership as these in time leads to them attending my photography workshops or buying my images for their homes.

What should our readers know about your business?
I left my 9am to 5pm job to work 24/7 and that is the truth of running your own business, but knowing that you are doing it for you makes it way more satisfying at the end of the day. What you put into your business is what you get out of it. Working with like minded people has always helped me stay focused and grow my career.

I also firmly believe that work shouldn’t only be about earning money and I spend part of my time giving back to the photographic community through arranging free meet-ups and workshops to hosting online platforms where people can share their work and engage with like-minded photographers.

Getting to where I am today was quite difficult as I left my job the year before covid to go full time. The pandemic really set back my growth but luckily enough I didn’t have high overheads at this time and was able to make it through this difficult time. It also gave me time to properly establish myself in the local photographic community.

When you work with different clients all the time it is important to focus on their story and needs. If it gets to the point that you don’t have the enthusiasm you had at the beginning then you need to rethink your business offerings. The clients feed off your energy and it makes a big difference when most of your new cliental is coming from word of mouth. So stay real and engage genuinely with people and if you are doing what you love then you can’t go wrong.

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?
This is a great question as I often have photography friends visiting from different parts of the country or world. Cape Town is such an amazing place photographically and you can be at the beach, on a mountain, or in the remote rocky regions of the Cederberg in 1-2 hours drive.

I would definitely do a sunrise hike up Table Mountain and take photos of the sunrise over Lions Head. We’d then get a coffee at Liquorice and Lime coffee shop. The afternoons would be scouting a seascape location and eating snacks on the beach before taking photos of the sunset. These sunset expeditions often turn into astrophotography missions where we will capture star trails over the mountain peaks either in the Cederberg or at Kogelbaai conservancy.

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?
This is a tough one as I’ve had many people along the way that have supported me or offered guidance. In truth the people that have also shot me down or told me to “stay in my lane” have greatly influenced my success. Being a stubborn person I found it easy to channel negativity into a drive to prove people I can make it.

Gavin van Haght a wedding photographer encouraged me to take up photography and lent me my first camera, I think it was seeing the world through this lens that really inspired me to go out and pursue photography. Also I need to mention Tyron van der Berg who helped with some essential editing skills I was lacking in and was always willing to join me on the mountains at 4am in the morning for to capture the sunrise.

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Website: www.kylegoetsch.com

Instagram: @kyleincpt

Linkedin: Kyle Goetsch

Twitter: @kyleincpt