Meet Simon Timbers | Photographer

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

Hi Simon, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I was 13 years old, my brother taught me how to use his Nikon d3300 camera. By 14, I had saved up enough to buy my own and went out and bought the exact same model. I quickly began to fall in love with taking photos. My only problem was that I did not have anyone that I knew who shared the same passion with me besides my brother. Eventually, I joined the photography club at my high school and began shooting with other photographers. We went out every weekend to San Francisco, bringing our cameras with us to document our adventures. I posted my pictures on Instagram for fun, but eventually they began to draw attention from a large crowd. I realized that people had an appreciation for my work, and I was enamored with taking photos. I decided that I wanted to pursue photography as a career, so I began learning the ropes of running a photography business. I was rather unsuccessful at first, but working on my craft and my business skills over the years has enabled me to be a full time photographer today. Ultimately, it was the consistency and hard work that allowed me to be in the position that I am today.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It has been quite the bumpy ride getting to where I am in my career, but nonetheless I have loved the journey. At first, I had a very hard time getting clients and to be fair, I did not know the first thing about running a photography business. One thing that enabled me to turn photography from a side business to a career has actually been taking a step to move things forward every day. It is easy to lose track of your goals or stop when hit with a difficult obstacle, but if you persist and make a promise to yourself to take at least one step forward everyday toward one of your goals, time will fly by and you will have soared past what you initially thought you could achieve. There is nothing special about me except for my perseverance to move things forward and I believe others can achieve what I have in the art world with a bit of dedication.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There is a ton to do nearby and you would have to take multiple trips to even see the tip of the iceberg, but here are some great recommendations for what to see in the LA area! For photography, some spots I recommend are the Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Sign, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. I am also a huge fan of art museums, and there are great free museums to visit in the LA area. Both The Getty and The Getty Villa have great art and beautiful views, but The Broad and Los Angeles County Museum of Art are great free art museums as well. As far as beaches, LA has some of the greatest surf spots on the west coast. Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo beaches are all excellent spots in the South Bay, but Surfrider and Topanga are great further north. As far as food goes, you can’t go wrong. There is plenty of delicious and authentic food in every corner of the city.

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?
One person who was vital to my success is my brother, Rafi. He spent the time teaching me how to use his camera and was one of the first people I had to take photos alongside. If it weren’t for him, I never would have started! He inspires me with his strong work ethic and I am grateful that he pushes me to try new things.

Website: simontimbers.com

Instagram: instagram.com/uwo

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-cohn-gruenwald/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/simon_timbers

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimonTimbers2

Youtube: youtube.com/simontimbers