Instagram Interviews
A collection of biography style interviews with talented Instagrammers from around the world. jamieshoots@gmail.com
Instagram Interview — Stephen Alkire
All photo credit to featured photographer, Stephen Alkire.
Name: Stephen Alkire
Handle: @stephenalkire
Location: Washington
If I had to choose a word to describe Stephen’s photos it would be Clean. He snaps the most clean, crisp scenes that I can imagine and when I scroll through his feed I can almost smell the mountain air.
Stephen’s interest in photography began by taking pictures with his phone and now he has his very own photography business. Need inspiration? Read his interview and you’ll be inspired, trust me.
Origins
I first started taking photos to impress a girl. A girl who loved to use Instagram. That girl today is my wife so you can say it worked. What started out as a tool to impress become a love and a passion. I started shooting on the iPhone 4, and really just upgraded phones after that and kept using them for photography. I love iPhone photography because it’s so simple and so convenient, whenever I want to take a photo, I just reach into my pocket and snap a photo. I quickly got into film and dSLR cameras though. My passion for photography which started on a little phone, and a simple app (Instagram) has now turned into somewhat of a career. I hope to continue to grow in photography and be able to make it more of a career.
Experiences
I’ve been so blessed to shoot for some amazing companies. I do hope to continue to use my talent and shoot for more companies and brands! I was also voted top 10 photographers in Washington back in early 2014. (I’m not sure of the source). I’ve love my trips to Glacier National Park, MT. It’s right now, my favorite place in the world. My desire is to travel more and replace it though.
Currently
I’m currently working on my new website. For about 3 years my wife and I had a photography business together, but I have now taken it on and she has moved on to other passions. So I’m re doing everything, and I’m very excited about it! We’re headed to the Oregon Coast this weekend! Very excited to be on the road and find new places and new experiences! Also, I’ve been booking plenty of weddings and other portrait shoots. My goal is to book 30/52 weekends for photography in 2016! It’s a huge goal for me, but I’m a dreamer!
Future
My future goals in photography would be to travel more, shoot more weddings, work with more brands/companies. But more than that, always be able to look back at my work, and have it pull out emotions and tell stories. I think that is what most photographers want, and there’s a reason for that. It’s what I want my work to show.
Gear
I use my iPhone 6s+ and a Canon 6D right now. I’m saving up for a 35mm either Sigma or Canon lens right now. For my phone I use SnapSeed and VscoCam for editing and for my dSLR I use Lightroom 4 and VscoFilm. I’m pretty satisfied with my equipment as of now.