Deacon Will J.

Average rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on 146 reviews

Book Deacon Will J. now

Get matched automatically

Will grew up with a nact for electronics. In 1997 when faced with a career choice, Will went on to earn a B.A. from ITT in Fort Lauderdale in Electronic Engineering. At ITT he became a student photographer for the school's marketing department, covering events, competitions, and local school news. Unaware this would ignite a passion inside of him that he had no idea of.

Will started covering the school's basketball program, then when the season was over He connected with NOVA in Davie FL and started covering their program and during their offseason, He would cover the park and recreation sports where he found himself eventually covering year-round sports.

In 2006 Will relocated to the Tampa Bay area and trained under Jimmy Starling an SEC broadcast production Engineer in video and sound Production. While still shooting headshots, weddings, and events on the side, Will focused on Cinematography, learning Adobe Premier and Photoshop. Starling's broadcast schedule had him on the road a lot, which afforded Will to assume a role as the Media Director over one of the largest churches in St Pete.

By 2014, Will opened his own 700 square foot studio in downtown St Pete. When He saw there was a need to be met, He asked to take on an additional task and teach a group of youth broadcasting, photography and video editing for the church weekly announcements.

Today Will continues to freelance as a cinematographer and photographer, shooting and directing mostly community content, events and weddings.

Book Deacon Will J. now

Get matched automatically

Portrait

Event

Family

Real Estate

Product

Graduation

Newborn

Team & Office

Media

Party

Maternity

Wedding

Fashion

Engagement

Sport

Travel

Automotive

Anniversary

Dating portrait

Religious

Other

Aircraft

More about Deacon Will J....

What do you love about your job?

I am an only-child, and I have always had this 'thing' about being the one - the one that stands out not by my words but by my actions! I put a lot of dedication in my work and that builds confidence. Knowing that there is some other local photographer out there that is better than me, fuels me to keep pushing myself to be better than I was yesterday.

My job has some negatives, as it requires a lot of sacrifices! I am studying, teaching and practicing how to pose people while others are watching TV. I am up early backing up files, organizing folder and doing retouching in between meetings while others sleep in late or take extended breaks. What I love most about my job is that it challenges me to excel.

What types of shoots have you done and how did you make them special?

I have done weddings, because I do not shoot from a script, but instead insert creativity, fun, and genuine results the client shares their appreciation on my google reviews.

I have done video at an event where there was a photographer, and I see the things they do well and don't do so well, and when I cover events I try to go well above and beyond and do more than what the client ask to get them so see how I stand out from other photographers.

I have done headshots where the client demonstrated a lot of self esteem issues and I listen to them, came up with ways to work around the issues they expressed concerns about, and help them to feel relax, earn their trust so that their images would reflect natural looks and not stiff uncomfortable looks.

Awards, honors, and recognitions received

I was featured in the Progressive MPAC magazine 2015 for Community Photographer
I was appointed as the Lead Photographer for the St Pete 2020 Project in 2018

A fun fact about this photographer

I shot Canon from day 1, in 2018 I decided to sell all my Canon gear for Sony. By the summer of 2018 I started to crave my Canon so I ended up buying a Canon DSLR and now I am a proud shooter of both Canon and Sony. I am a Mac, and do not care for PC's. I have been doing this for over 20 years, but I still study, practice, teach and learn.