Hello everyone! My name is Jason Vinson and I sort of fell into photography by accident.
My wife Chasnie and I decided to get a nice camera to take with us on our honeymoon. We then spent the week taking mediocre vacation photos to later share on Facebook. But when we shared them, a friend actually really liked them and asked us to take their family photos. We were a bit taken back by the request but decided it could be fun.
So, on this first shoot we took turns taking images with our one and only camera and kit lens. Handing the camera back and forth as we had new ideas for the next location. This one shoot turned into more and more family shoots. Then one day, we received a request to shoot a wedding.
Making completely sure the couple knew we had never done this before, we accepted the job with a bit of hesitation. When we left this first wedding, I remember loving the chaos of the day. I remember the troubleshooting of ideas and the constant hustle to get that next great image. Now, at the time we loved the images we made, but looking back you could tell we were beginners. But no matter the results of that first wedding, I was hooked.
At the time, I was still a full-time mechanical engineer. And for almost 10 years, photography would remain one of those full-time side hustles. In the final years of my day job, I was using almost all my vacation days for shooting destination weddings. Then in 2017, I had the opportunity to go to India to cover a story for Fstoppers as well as to photograph the Holi festival. Unfortunately, I already had all my vacation days used or earmarked for weddings. So I requested time off without pay — declined. In that moment, I decided to put in my two weeks’ notice exactly two weeks before my flight to India and never looked back.
Currently I am a full-time wedding photographer in Northwest Arkansas (I was recently ranked one of the top 25 wedding photographers in the world). But I also have a passion for family documentary work and feel it’s something every family should have done! I will also dabble here and there with senior shoots, headshots, family portraits, etc. as things come up, but these are not sessions that we advertise doing.
In addition, I also create educational content for brands and my Patreon account as well as write articles for publications like Fstoppers, SLR Lounge, Rangefinder, and here for Flashpoint Lighting. Changing what I’m working on helps me not get bored. It also gives me an outlet to share my knowledge with others. This path of education is one that I get more and more excited about the deeper I get.
I have never been a huge fan of speaking in front of crowds, so writing has always been a comfortable avenue for me to take. But the more I venture into video, I see how much easier it is to get certain ideas across. And the in-person learning experience is one that I feel can never be replaced. So with that, I’m excited to be here and to have this platform to share my voice. I hope you enjoy what I have to say.
Feature photo by Jason Vinson