Meet Jayson HInrichsen | Photographer

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

Hi Jayson, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think risk-taking is a big part of life. Without risk there would be no reward. In my career you always have to take risk to better yourself and grow. I started photography five years ago and knew if I wanted to become some thing big I needed to go to LA to expand my portfolio. So, I decided to hop on a plane to LA with only $300 and no plan but grinding as hard as possible. Once I got to LA it was the hardest five months of my life. I thought LA was going to be a dream but it was far from it. I was sleeping on peoples couches, I was sleeping at hostiles, some days I had no idea where I was sleeping. I also went days without eating. Going out to LA by myself made me grind harder than I would have if I never went there. I found myself messaging anyone I could find to take pictures of and make connections. It put me in a mindset of I have to make it or that’s it. I had no backup plan. I remember about 3 months since living in LA I called my dad one night crying because I was exhausted and I had no money or a place to sleep and he said he would buy me a flight back home but once I got back I had to start looking for a real job that wasn’t photography. At the time it sounded like the right thing to do. I was beat down, exhausted and wanted to give up. But I called my dad back and told him I’m going to grind it out. I couldn’t give up photography it was my dream. The day after I landed a gig with a company called iHome and things started going up. I started booking gigs and started working with famous people and companies. That’s when my career started. If I would Have given up I would never be in the place I am now. Take as many risk as possible because in the end it will pay off. It may not pay off right away but eventually it will.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I got to where I am now professionally by taking risk. I never had a back up plan. My only goal was to make it in photography and create the best content possible. It all started in college, I was playing baseball and was living a great life and one day I got sick with ulcerative colitis and my life changed forever. I was in the hospital for over two weeks and when I got out I was never the same. I wasn’t able to play baseball anymore and I lost my scholarship and baseball was my life. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do now which put me into a depression. One day a classmate of mine asked me to shoot a video for him and I told him I didn’t have a camera, he said he had a friend who had one we could use so, I said I was up for the challenge not knowing that that day would change my life forever. When I get home for summer break I decided to buy a camera and take pictures around my house. I was living in Wisner Nebraska in the middle of nowhere so I would go out and take pictures of random things. That year I wasn’t able to go back to school because I was so sick so, I stayed home for the next two years taking pictures and watching videos of how to become a better photographer because I knew that photography was my outlet. At this time I had no friends because everyone was at school or working. I watched hundreds of hours of YouTube videos and practiced as much as possible. Doing this made me who I am today. I always thought I was going to be a professional baseball player but God had a different plan for me. The biggest life lesson I’ve learned is to never give up on something you love. I’ve hit some really low moments and some really high moments and in the end you realize that both were needed to grow. You can’t get to the top if you’ve never hit the bottom. Some life lessons I’ve learned along the way is to be nice to everyone and to make as many connections as possible. It sounds corny but connections are everything. Also I learned never to give up. I could’ve given up countless times even having a disease which is no excuse but it sure did make life a lot harder but in the end it made me stronger and made me who I am today which I am very grateful for.

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.
If I had a friend coming into town The first place we would go in the morning is a place called eggs and jam it has the best food in Des Moines and a great Atmosphere. After this I would probably take them to the mall to shop and hang out. For lunch I would take them to Drakes diner it is one of my favorite restaurants and one of my favorite places to take pictures. we would then go to Cinnaholic for cinnamon rolls because they are the best in the world. For dinner I would take them either to Splash or cabco because those are my favorite restaurants. I would then drive around downtown with my friend to show them the city life at night. After that we would probably take some pictures by some neon signs because I like shooting little light low pictures and Des Moines at night is great for that.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shout out a couple people. The first person is my friend Michael Francis. We met in college in our communications class. During that semester I came down with an auto immune disorder called ulcerative colitis so I was no longer able to play baseball. My friend Mike asked me one day if I would shoot him a music video. I had no idea how to use a camera and we made the worst music video ever but holding the camera that day made me feel something special. I knew once I picked that camera up that my life would change forever. I would also like to shout out my fiancé Nina Hill for always being there for me and being the greatest photography partner I can ask for. I’ve learned a lot from her over these past three years and we’ve grown so much. If it wasn’t for Nina I wouldn’t be where I am now. She’s taught me so many things about photography that made me grow into a better photographer and person I couldn’t have done it without her.

x

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawe.reality/

Other: Heres my Unsplash page. I have over 150 million views and 600,000 downloads https://unsplash.com/@jayson_hinrichsen

Image Credits
Nina Hill Angela Mazzanti Yung XOXO Lil Xan Gabrielle black Joelle Blanchard