CAPTURE THE MOMENT IN YOUR MIND
A bio about yourself, how you started and your plans for the future as a photographer:
My name is Malik Rainey , I am a 20 year old photographer from Buffalo , NY . I started photography about 2-3 years ago when i was attending college and i came across a guy by the name of Robert Simmons whom was a photographer himself and he told me that if I wanted to learn how to take great photos that i needed to go out a buy a camera and so what that was when my passion for photography was born and my plans as a photographer is to break into a music & fashion industry and capture artists and designers in their purest forms and be able to tell their story through my vision
Q: What is your name or what would you like to be known as?
A: Malik or lik
Q: Is your work a form of self-expression?
A: I had to save this question for last because i get asked this question a lot , for me i would say yes because everything that i shoot comes from thoughts within my head rather they be dark, happy , goofy it’s a way to release my feelings without having to say anything verbally , I can speak to people through my work
Q: When going into a shoot what is your thought process?
A: It depends i have different tactics for different kinds of shoots like , whenever i am doing portraiture i normally try to make the person whom i am shooting comfortable so i’ll put their
favorite song on , possibly ask them how was their day , you know just the little stuff cause often when shooting with new people , people tend to be shy and nervous and if you don’t “break the
ice” it usually carries over in the final product
Q: What do you want your photos to say to the audience that views it?
A: Honestly i rather the audience come up with their own interpretation of what THEY see because
at the end of the day , i can be like “ my photos are about this or my photos are about that” at
the end of the day i bet it’ll be like ten or twenty people whom may think something different and
i'm completely fine with that .
Q: Was the beginning of your photography journey rough?
A: Mannnnnnnnn rough isn’t even the word!!! , it was honestly depressing at first , i had many
nights where i would just sit in my bed and just cry at night because i felt as if it would be such a
difficult thing to get my name out their and get booked by people / music artists and things of
that sort , and where i'm from ( Buffalo NY ) we have a vast market of like wedding
photographers and event photographers so it’s like if you’re not in that lane it’s hard to pick up
clients
Q: Many people do not have the means to get their hands-on photography equipment but want to
start, what advice or tips would you give to them?
A: USE YOUR PHONE!! , no seriously haha our phones are so advanced these days that they can
be used to do whole photoshoots , take it from me because i myself have done a handful of photoshoots off of my phone just because now , granted our phones haven’t reached the point where they are flatout better than a mirrorless camera or DSLR but as long as you got a phone that’s up to date , go outside ask a friend if they want to model for you and start shooting.
Q: As you have matured as a photographer have you gotten harder on yourself?
A: Yes i have , and i honestly take it as both a blessing and a curse at the same time , the reason
why i say that is because i tend to overthink things sometimes and i feel like i might lose interest
in the photo i shot at that very moment until i come back to it after calming myself down so i
would say that i find myself overthinking a lot now than before , im working on that
Q: What is your end goal that you think signifies you have officially “made it” as a
photographer?
A: I think the realization of that would come when i'm able to put people in a position to win , of
course my end goal is to be able to have done EVERYTHING and have built great long lasting
relationships with people but my satisfaction would come from seeing people whom either look
up to me or whom i inspire succeeding so i think that’s my “ made it “ moment
Q: What is the thing you love most about photography?
A: The editing process , no doubt about it , taking a shot of a subject rather it being a portrait or
street photography is cool and all and i enjoy it but it’s something amazing about booting up
lightroom and just going ham , and creating something moody or something different then what
you saw before the post process
Q: If people would like to contact you what should they do (social media handles)?
A: - People can reach me on instagram @MalikMeetsLik
- Twitter @MalikMeetsLik