By Olivia Turner | Staff Writer
“Together let’s create something that lasts,” reads Chanhassen, Minn., freshman Brandon Mosley’s photography website.
Mosley has been behind the lens for much longer than he has been at Baylor. Initially, his talents with the camera didn’t start because of his desire to start a business, but sprung from a passion for visual storytelling he discovered as a kid.
Traveling back to campus from his home in Chanhassen, Mosley took time to reminisce on his start in photography. With a friend at the wheel, Mosley started from the very beginning, when he said he could first recall the sparks which lit his passion for the camera.
He said it all began with his mother’s film cameras, ones she would get from Best Buy. Mosley said they were easy enough for him to play around with in middle school.
“Around times where we would take family vacations, I would just bring it and I would just take like videos and photos and stuff,” Mosley said.
Sparks continued to fly as Mosley entered high school. During his senior year, Mosley filmed several different sports recap videos for the hockey and soccer teams at his school.
Filming and editing the videos was enjoyable for Mosley, he said, but the real thrill was in the jobs he got “by word of mouth,” the ones which allowed him to tell stories. Senior photo shoots, weddings, promotional videos for businesses like Kingdom Clothing and Nautical Bowls and Christian youth events were his favorite.
Since then, Mosley started to consider navigating his photography in a more business-oriented direction because of his constant work and starting in the entrepreneurship and marketing programs at Baylor.
“Once I started doing the sports stuff, I think I realized I could kind of make money off it, by reinvesting into more gear and stuff that was gonna make the products better,” Mosley said. “With sports and stuff, you kind of just go in and film something and then you edit it and that’s it, but with directing short ads, you create the story.”
In order to tell captivating visual stories, Mosley has gathered inspiration from photographers like Esther Brown and videographers like Sam Kolder who create products that are timeless and go deeper than just the initial image. He said his style, which resembles that of golden-tinted vintage film photos, is greatly inspired by these creators.
What other factors contribute to Mosley’s talent behind the lens? He suggested practice: something which takes motivation and commitment, but pays towards self-improvement.
“The more that you do something, you’re inherently going to get better at it, especially if you’re passionate about it,” Mosley said.
He also said learning how to best utilize the camera instead of just pushing the shutter button. Mosley explained using functions like shutter speed, ISO and aperture are all significant to creating a photo that stands out.
One of the most helpful methods of storytelling is to become familiar with his subject and the story they have to offer, Mosley said. He reminisced on his senior photo shooting sessions and how getting to know the seniors impacted how he photographed them.
“Going there and just having a good time with someone but also just being able to capture their personality and getting to learn about them is super cool,” Mosley said.
Similarly to shooting senior photos, Mosley has also been able to meet people he never thought possible because of his photography. Shooting for DJ duo TWINSICK‘s Dallas concert in the fall, Mosley said it was an ‘I don’t even know how this happened kind-of-thing.’
Despite the struggles of pushing through crowds of people to get the perfect shot and having to blindly hold the camera above his head while filming, Mosley said that experiencing the concert and capturing it was truly one-of-a-kind.
“Some of my best photos ever have come from that night; I just finished the video and it’s definitely my favorite one,” Mosley said.
Mosley said he plans on moving to Los Angeles this summer in order to shoot more promotional videos and concerts like TWINSICK to take his work to a more professional level.
Mosley believes passion can transform into success. With what he learned through his commitment to photography and videography, Mosley urges fellow Baylor students to have the same persistence he had toward his own dreams and invest in what they enjoy wholeheartedly.
“I encourage anyone who has some sort of passion, if it’s artistic and creative or some other area entirely, just consider going into that and pursuing it,” Mosley said.
