Meet Jacob Prather | Photographer & Videographer

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

Hi Jacob, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Starting a business actually came as a complete surprise! After graduating from Auburn University with a film degree in August 2020, my original plan was to move to Atlanta and get my feet in the door as a production assistant. Of course, 2020 had many twists and turns for all of us. Many film sets stopped production due to COVID-19, and my original job I had lined up was no more.

One year later I was working in fine dining. The money was decent, but I knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Around this time my now business partner, Cheyanne, graduated from Auburn University with her film degree. Cheyanne and I were good friends and always worked well together on projects while at Auburn. She reached out to me with the idea of starting our own business in the wedding industry.

Starting your own business is never easy. It takes patience and determination which we both had. I decided to take the plunge and just go for it. Over the course of the next year, I continued working my job as a fine dining server and bartender while working with Cheyanne on our new photography and videography business, 1247 Productions. After a year, we had gained enough clients and following for me to feel financially comfortable to leave my full time job and pursue our business full time.

To this day, running our own business continues to comes with surprises. I’ve continued to learn as I go, and can truly say that I am happier now than I ever was. It can be scary to leave a job with a consistent income to pursue your passion, but I found that once you put your heart and mind to it there is nothing you can not do to achieve your goals.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Impassioned storytelling for wayward souls. That is the motto behind our Photography/Videography business. I am a storyteller at heart, but I do it through the moments captured on photo and film. It brings me joy to capture these moments for others so that they may remember it for the rest of their lives.

After working in the wedding industry for a couple of years, what makes us stand out from our competitors is our natural ability to bond with our clients. Photographers are a huge part of the wedding day, and being so involved with these intimate moments requires an empathetic mind set. If you ask any married couple, their wedding is likely one of best days of their life, but it can also be a stressful day. Our job is to make their wedding as stress free as possible and to capture the excitement and love of the day. ‘

I am most excited for the direction our business is heading with destination weddings. As our following grew on social media, we began receiving inquiries for travel destination weddings and elopements in different countries and all around the United States! We recently completed our first destination wedding in Cabo, Mexico, and have two more this year in Aruba and Greece. It’s amazing that I have a job pursuing my passion that allows me to see the world, and I am so grateful for our clients that believe in us enough to bring us along for the ride!

So how did we get here? Well, it didn’t happen over night that is for sure. You first need a portfolio, which can require a bunch of free photo sessions as well as investing your own money! We learned that there are numerous facebook groups that have people willing to model for free pictures and both the model and photographer receive free portfolio! My partner and I also signed up for multiple styled sessions hosted by other photographers to grow our portfolio. Once you have the pictures, the most crucial part comes into play: developing your unique style. Through trial and error, we finally reached an edit style that we wanted to represent our brand.

The journey wasn’t easy, and still has difficult moments. Impostor syndrome is common for photographers who think their work isn’t cut out for the big leagues, and they are likely comparing their work to other photographers they aspire to be. At the end of the day, you are creating your own art style that people will desire and once you find your target audience, thats what you roll with and what will make you successful! (One of the most useful things I learned with my marketing minor)

I want people to see me for who I am, a storyteller that just wants to share my art with others. How do I leave my mark once I am gone from this planet? This is how. After I’m dust my work will live on!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I haven’t had the chance to explore Denver yet, but will this July!

Places I’m excited to see and try:

-Denver Botanical Gardens (named top 5 Botanical Gardens in the US!)
I’m excited to possibly use this locations for some couples portraits

-Exploring Larimer Square
I’m a huge history buff and can not wait to see the history dating back to the gold strikes in the 19th century

-Molly Brown House Museum
The history of Titanic has always fascinated me, and seeing the house of one of Titanic’s survivors is super intriguing

-The food!
I am the least pickiest person when it comes to food and am looking forward to trying all the best cuisines of Denver!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give a shout out to my grandfather, Jay Carter. He was one of my biggest supporters and believed I could do anything I set my mind to. He held the traits of a person I always aspired to be. He sadly passed away due to a sudden fight with cancer around the time I officially went full time with my business.

I know how proud he was of me, and how proud he’d be of where I am today. I love you Big Guy.

Website: https://www.1247productions.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1247productions/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1247Productions

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzCQm9l1rbJgwm46C5N6wxA

Other: TikTok: @1247productions email: 1247productions@gmail.com

Image Credits
All images are credited to 1247 Productions, LLC. Taken by myself, Jacob Prather, and my partner, Cheyanne Blevins.