Today we’d like to introduce you to Parker Solum
Hi Parker, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always been drawn to the creative industry. From a young age I was involved in performing arts, found fascination in vast colorful landscapes, and always told everyone that my dream job would be to join National Geographic as a wildlife photographer. As I pursued my higher education I decided to study graphic design though in the hopes of being close to my family, and one day start my own family. Web design, audio engineering, and creating graphics were the keys to unlocking my creative brain and entering my flow state of mind. I would take the influences around me, mesh them together and mold them into something truly unique.
A different part of my brain however really enjoyed deep conversation, food, friends, adventure, laughing, travel, and a healthy social life. I enjoyed dating, going to college parties, church events, and social gatherings just to meet new people and learn about them. I found ways to celebrate people’s uniqueness, and quickly found myself becoming a hobby collector due the exposure I had to all of these new people.
During my third year in college I was working as a leasing agent/marketing specialist at a college housing community. I had met several of the upper management and decided to take a chance and ask the CEO of the company if I could take him out to lunch one day to talk to him about my professional development. The first day he totally blew me off. Forgot completely that we had a lunch appointment and I was totally deflated. I had been thinking for days about what I was going to say, what I was going to ask, and really try to prove that I could be a total asset to the company as a graphic designer. He felt bad, and the following week we tried again, but before I left I made sure to send out a confirmation text in the morning to make sure he would be there that day. I was just some poor college kid sending out reminders to a CEO of a nation wide company that we had a lunch appointment, but by golly, it worked. I pitched him my value and secured a job as an assistant graphic designer for the entire west coast. I would be doing work for college apartment complexes in eight states. I was ecstatic about my victory and couldn’t wait to get to work.
Well, after about two months of work I had yet to receive a single pay check. I followed up with the accounting office, and the CEO himself, but somehow my victory over lunch had turned into empty promises, and an even more empty bank account. I did receive a pay check, but quickly realized that this wasn’t going to be the company that was going to take me where I wanted to go in life, and quite frankly, was killing my passion for graphic design.
That same weekend I was at one of the many social events I enjoyed going to when I met a girl who had caught my eye. We got talking, I told her my current work situation, and she shared with me that she was working as a photographer at a local photo studio. She told me the training was quite vigorous, but before they would take you on you had to have a specific personality for them to even look at your work. With that on the table, she told me I should apply and that she would make the introduction for me. With my current work conditions I was entertaining the thoughts of going back to perform at a local amusement park as a singer, heading out with some friends to join the “summer sales bros”, or now try to secure this photography job until I could figure out my graphic design path.
I went to the photographer interview, and to my surprise it was a group interview. Not my favorite kind of interview, but I just decided to have fun with it. Like, I just totally let my guard down, had some fun, and forgot about the interview entirely. When it had concluded the interviewers dismissed everyone and asked me to hang back for just a second longer. To my surprise they offered me the job on the spot without needing to come back to any further interviews and offered to put me through their academy program on their dime. I was floored. I told them I needed to think about it and would let them know by the end of the day. It wouldn’t pay as much as summer sales, probably wouldn’t be as much fun as a summer performing job would be, but I saw it for the most professional growth exposure to something new in my artistic realm. I decided to go for it. Just like that I quit my graphic design job and pledged myself to this photography path I was now embarking on.
When I started my training it was everything plus much more than my friend had told me about. The material itself was intense, and the CEO of this company was incredibly egotistical, ruthless, and yet a phenomenal teacher. I was learning five to ten times the amount in this training than I had learned over three years of college courses, including my photography classes. It was quite the trade off. Kind of like a boot camp. I was expected to do a brain dump of everything I thought I knew so I could rebuild my foundation. It was like going through the refiners fire to be molded and purified over and over again until I could produce a product worthy of his standards while delivering an experience that showed people that they are something more than they saw.
It was incredibly difficult, but I fell in love with what I was doing faster than anything else I had previously introduced myself to. This was a career where I got to practice my artistic abilities while enjoying the social life I loved so much. I was meeting people every day, and I was helping them see what they may not have been able to see themselves. I took their best features and showed them it was something worth celebrating.
About a year into my journey with this company I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with a world renowned photographer in California by the invitation of none other than the same egotistical and ruthless CEO who had trained me. It was there that I realized how much I was actually standing out as a talented photographer after just a year of practice. It was enough that even the photographer hosting the workshop took note of my work and showed it to some of the other attendees. He often asked me to demonstrate for the class the following day which I took as a huge compliment. With praises flowing in from the others like sweet lemonade I was quickly greeted with bitter lemons from the one who had brought me there. He was proud of me, but also reminded me that I have much to learn. He wasn’t wrong though. I was only in the beginning stages of my professional development if I wanted to make this something sustainable long term.
Over the next six months I was given opportunity after opportunity to help the company grow. I helped launch a schools devision, teams devision, and even opened up a new studio in downtown SLC. It wasn’t too much longer after that thought that I realized this little bird had to leave the nest to continue to grow. So I did just that! I quit to start my own business. I had to wait out a non-compete contract, so for the next year I introduced myself to the printing side of photography. At first I worked full time at a local print shop that also sold equipment. I was able to purchase everything I needed to get started, slowly went to part time as I began to obtain more clients, and when the one year was up I went all in to become self employed.
It was terrifying. Although I had a fantastic support group between friends and family, it was a couple hundred dollars here, and a couple hundred there, but I saw the potential. I was growing, and before I knew it I was growing faster than I could keep up with. Once I was in a position where I could turn away work due to the sheer amount I had I was able to begin to transform my work into what I liked to do even more. I remember hearing somewhere that the moment you tell yourself you don’t have anything else to learn is the moment you lose, so I set out to continue to grow and learn even more. I took my photography to the skies with drone work, and just last year I took my photography underwater. While I specialize in portrait work I have been able to revisit my childhood dream of being a wild life photographer and now have beautiful photos in art galleries.
In the beginning of my photography journey I quickly realized that the most important part of my job is to show people just how incredible life is, and even more specifically, how incredible their life is. I get to be there for graduations, wedding ceremonies, when parents bring home their first child, dance recitals, and every mile marker in life you can think of. I’ve seen the power that a simple, yet incredible photo can have in helping someone see their self worth. It can literally redefine a person. It’s what feeds my passion and keeps me wanting to grow. It’s been over ten years now and I feel like I’m still just getting started. I have so much to learn, and can’t wait to share it with the world.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been so many ups and downs. Covid about snuffed me out. I wasn’t able to photograph any schools, teams, newborns, weddings, families, or anything really.
Trying to keep motivation can be more difficult than people realize. I think there are so many incredible photographers out there, but not all of them are capable of running a business. Some of them don’t work well with people, and some of them are good at the other two, but don’t take good pictures. You have to be good at wearing every hat to be self employees, and it’s not always bliss and taking fun pictures out in the woods like everyone believes.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a portrait photographer. That is definitely my strength. Over and over agin I get complements on my lighting techniques and making people feel comfortable while posing them and helping them look natural.
Most photographers will tell you to find a nieche. They shoot weddings, or newborns, or seniors, or kids exclusively. I believe to truly master photography you need to learn how to do it all! They all tie in together and can help you elevate each area with relatable skills. For example: shooting a high school football team and shooting a large group at a wedding really aren’t that different. You need to know how to interact with authority and build trust with a large group almost immediately. Camera settings are the same, lighting technique is the same, you just might slightly change the posing for each. If you know your lighting techniques you can transfer that from an athlete to a newborn. Mostly you’re changing how you pose them, and how you interact with them as a person.
I’m extremely proud of my underwater photography right now. My photos of sharks and giant manta rays have been recognized by artists, photographers, and divers across the globe.
I think what sets me apart from others is how versatile I am. I’m currently studying architecture photography and underwater portraits. I want to be able to confidently be able to walk into any kind of situation and be able to pivot at a moments notice with ease.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My parents always told me they could see me working for myself. They probably planted the first seed of being self employed. In the beginning of my photography career my friend Russell Jasperson pushed me and encouraged me through countless struggles, and gave me fuel when I had none left. Most importantly, my wife Valorie had helped me transform this from an artists dream to a business. Her knowledge and support has helped me in ways I couldn’t have reached myself. She encourages me to take chances and try new things, not for the financial gain, but purely because she knows it’ll make me happy.
Pricing:
- Family -$400
- Weddings -$3000
- Underwater Session -$700
- Teams starting at $1000
- Seniors $400
Contact Info:
- Website: www.purelight.photography
- Instagram: pure.light.photo
