Cameron Kirkland, the CEO of Cam Kirk Studios, estimates he’s made more than $6 million from a photography studio business.

“Do you think Wiz Khalifa would come to Morehouse College to do a popup event?”

In 2010, Cameron Kirkland sent that direct message to Khalifa’s booking agent on social media platform, X, formerly Twitter. Then a junior at the HBCU, Kirkland had just discovered a passion for fashion and to convene fellow fashion lovers in one place, he sought out Khalifa to sell apparel on campus. As it turns out, Khalifa was on tour and Atlanta was the only location he hadn’t booked. So, Kirkland’s request was upgraded to an actual performance.

A $4,500 payment later, Khalifa performed. And “Cam Kirk” the creator, started his journey to becoming a millionaire. “It’s trusting your instincts and being open-minded,” Kirkland tells Forbes.

Kirkland, CEO of Cam Kirk Studios, shares his story in Forbes’ “Journey to ForbesBLK Summit,” an editorial series leading up to the second annual ForbesBLK business conference in Atlanta on June 23-25. ForbesBLK will amplify entrepreneurs like Kirkland, who take distinctive approaches to business, thought leadership, and economic problem-solving.

In 2017, Kirkland, 35, launched a photography studio after he noticed a void in the marketplace to capture content for younger and star musicians in Atlanta on the rise. Kirkland has since worked with notable entertainers including Future, Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, and producer Mike Will Made-It. His 4,000-square-foot creative loft is also the go-to destination for clients including Atlantic Records and Nike.

Atlanta native and hip-hop star Clifford “T.I.” Harris called Kirkland a “pioneer” for a generation of content creators looking to monetize their talent. “Cam showed a generation of hip-hop hopefuls that being a photographer-videographer can be just as lucrative and fun as an entertainer,” Harris tells Forbes.

Kirkland, a former Forbes Under 30 Atlanta judge, estimates he’s made $6 million from his photography business. Income includes fees from his portfolio, studio sessions ranging up to $260 per hour and he makes money from camera equipment rentals. Also, Kirkland makes income from commercial collaborations with blue chip brands including Coca-Cola. Kirkland also started Collective Gallery, a photography agency that signs creatives and advances them $10,000 each. Collective Gallery profits from percentage splits and management fees.

Over the last two years, Kirkland estimates the two businesses averaged $2.3 million. “I’ve grossed millions of dollars with my camera,” Kirkland says. “It’s amazing to see how open-minded people have been to content.”

For the risk-takers

Raised in Prince George County, Maryland, Kirkland is the youngest of two boys of parents Robert Kirkland and Chris Bridges. His dad was a master sergeant in the U.S. Marines, serving two stints in Iraq. His mom was a credit coach who Kirkland praised for his risk-taking.

“My mom’s side is the entrepreneurial side,” Kirkland says.

In 2007, Kirkland initially moved to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College in pursuit of becoming a doctor. His parents paid tuition; however, Kirkland still gambled on a $4,500 Federal Stafford Loan to book Khalifa. The money went directly to Morehouse, cutting his parents’ tuition, which they gave to their son.

The show sold out and generated about $15,000. However, factoring in hidden concert fees and venue expenses, “I didn’t make anything significant,” Kirkland says. Still, reminiscing on the journey – from sending the Twitter DM to opening a studio, the concert, “It made me feel like I was moving in my purpose,” Kirkland says. “It led me to discover my actual passion” as a creator.

Goldman Sachs estimates the creator’s economy, consisting of influencers, photographers, and videographers that profit from social media platforms will reach $480 billion by 2027. That’s up from $250 billion in 2023.

“The money is there,” Kirkland says. “To see the economy grow and see the amount of opportunity and wealth and money you can make from it – it’s quite frankly amazing.”

Capital Gains: Watch the video to explore Kirkland’s entrepreneurial journey and learn how he started Cam Kirk Studios

MORE FROM FORBES

Frankly, portrait shots are stunning. I said earlier that these might be the best portrait shots I’ve seen from a phone, and that’s not rhetoric. These shots are downright fabulous. Don’t get me wrong, there are some that aren’t amazing, but overall, it would be very hard to not take a great portrait shot of a subject with this phone, in any mode. Colors are awesome and the bokeh is top-notch. It’s one of the best phones to handle wisps of hair around a subject’s head.

But the question is, does the Honor 200 Pro do anything that another phone can’t replicate? The short is no. The super nuanced answer is, sure. We’re about to get super nerdy and picky here, so strap in. But before we get too far, allow me to shout out the model that posed for our group of 12 journalists individually, followed by me who produced no less than four phones. She had the patience of a saint. So, here’s what happened in Harcourt’s studio.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

Take these two photos. One was shot on the Honor 200 Pro (left) and the other was shot on the OnePlus Open (right) with the black and white filter enabled.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

Then there’s these two, taken with the iPhone 15 Pro (on the left) and the Pixel 8 Pro (on the right). The difference here is that these photos were taken in color and converted to black and white with a filter. The Pixel 8 Pro photo is a virtual carbon copy of the OnePlus and Honor phones. The iPhone is a different story. It produced a much more evenly lit photo (despite Harcourt’s lighting) and overall captured quite a bit more detail, which is simply a different philosophy when it comes to photography. Nothing wrong with that.

But where that leaves us is that in this setting, the Honor phone doesn’t do much more than any other high-end phone. So, let’s leave the studio.

The pair bonds between kestrels are strong and often permanent. The same birds typically pair up every breeding season (as long as both are alive) but often spend the winter separately, reuniting in spring.

As the Youth Prize winner, Pourahmad will receive six days at Audubon’s Hog Island Audubon Camp for Teens in Maine during the 2025 season.

“I really like the photo that won,” Pourahmad said. “Sometimes I win photo contests, and I feel like my photo didn’t really deserve it, but I think this photo took a lot of work, time and knowledge to get.”

Birds — and their survival — in the spotlight

Pourahmad is not the only Californian to win a prize in this national competition.

Kevin Lohman, a photographer from Santa Cruz, received the first-ever Birds in Landscapes prize for his photo of a California Quail perched on top of a small bush in a field in Santa Cruz. The Birds in Landscapes prize was introduced this year to focus on how birds connect with their broader surroundings.

Audubon’s recent climate science report Survival by Degrees reveals that two-thirds of North American birds are threatened by extinction from climate change. These include several species featured in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards, such as the Blackburnian Warbler, California Quail and Sedge Wren.

Audubon California protects American Kestrels, California Quails and other birds through on-the-ground conservation and policy efforts across the state. They partner with working lands in the Central Valley and steward California’s coastline to advocate for habitat protections and engage local communities through their centers and sanctuaries.

Sabine Meyer, photography director at the National Audubon Society and one of the contest judges, highlighted the “amazing bird behaviors, some of them rarely if ever seen” illustrated by this year’s submissions and the specific “painterly quality” of photographs capturing Willow Ptarmigans, Great-tailed Grackles and California Quail. “They look like tableaux with exquisite compositions,” Meyer said.

Visit the Audubon Society to see all the winning photos.

Voice actress Sora Amamiya issued a cautionary update via her official website on June 21, addressing incidents of unauthorized photography during her ongoing tour, “LAWSON presents Sora Amamiya Live Tour 2024 ‘Ten to Bluer Sky.‘” The statement highlighted that unauthorized photography has been confirmed as a prohibited activity at the tour venues, unless explicitly permitted.

The update also addressed illegal activities involving the auctioning of photos of artists taken without consent at other events hosted by the company. In response, security measures have been reinforced. Attendees were informed that security personnel may approach individuals suspected of unauthorized photography to verify their identity.

Amamiya urged fans who witness any unauthorized photography during the event to promptly report it to security or staff members. She emphasized the illegality of purchasing photos obtained through unauthorized means and urged fans not to support such actions.

In her career, Sora Amamiya is celebrated for her roles as Elizabeth in “The Seven Deadly Sins” and Chizuru Mizuhara in “Rent-A-Girlfriend”. 

Official Statement:

“During the ‘LAWSON presents Sora Amamiya Live Tour 2024 ‘Ten to Bluer Sky,” incidents of unauthorized photography have been confirmed. Photography inside the venues, including entry and exit, is strictly prohibited unless specifically permitted. We have observed unauthorized photos of our artists being auctioned at other events we have hosted, which is illegal. To prevent such occurrences, we have strengthened our security measures. Attendees may be approached by staff for identity verification if suspected of unauthorized photography. We urge anyone who witnesses unauthorized photography to report it immediately to security or staff. Purchasing photos obtained without consent is illegal and we implore fans not to engage in such actions.”

An extraordinary, costly defense of a minor moving violation in Grand Teton National Park fell flat for Jackson Hole wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen, who was found guilty Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman issued a 10-page written verdict, explaining that the National Park Service had met its burden of proof to convict Mangelsen of “operating a vehicle so slowly as to interfere with the normal flow of traffic.” Videos and testimony made it “clear” that the acclaimed photographer went to the location where Grizzly 610 had been struck by a vehicle and injured, the judge wrote.

“He drove back and forth past the site at a very slow rate of speed and in doing so caused other traffic to slow behind him,” Carman wrote. “He did so for the specific purpose of slowing the traffic in the vicinity of grizzly bear #610 and the cubs.

“While Defendant believes that his actions were justified based upon his concerns for the safety of the bears,” the judge added, “he did in fact obstruct traffic.”

In an all-day trial in early June, Jackson attorney Ed Bushnell argued that Teton Park rangers were biased against Mangelsen and exploiting a “subjective” statute. In the photographer’s defense, he pulled law enforcement officer Brett Timm’s bodycam footage and played it in the federal courtroom to scrutinize what the officer claimed to have observed.

Timm was roughly 700 yards away from Mangelsen at the time of the violation, the footage showed. The officer was talking with another motorist in a highway-side pullout and facing a different direction.

“There’s no way Mr. Timm could have seen four cars stacked behind Mr. Mangelsen at the time he said he did,” Bushnell said during the trial. “It just couldn’t have happened.”

Reviewing the body camera footage, Carman saw evidence supporting Timm’s contention that he witnessed Mangelsen significantly slow down with four trailing vehicles.

“During this portion of the video, you can see by Ranger Timm’s reflection on the side of the vehicle that he is looking around a great deal, but the camera does not reflect his movement,” his verdict reads. “This supports the Ranger’s testimony that he observed Defendant’s driving action while in conversation with other drivers.”

Mangelsen, who owns the Images of Nature Gallery in Jackson, estimated he spent about $20,000 defending the case.

Carman scheduled Mangelsen’s sentencing for June 27.

Mangelsen told WyoFile on Wednesday that he will appeal after sentencing.

“I did exactly the right thing a person with common sense and a brain would do under the circumstances,” the 78-year-old photographer said. “They were not there to take care of bears. They were there to get me, it’s all they can think about.”

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

This story was posted on June 19, 2024.