By Lauren Juillerat
While Jake Erwin may have outgrown multiple cameras, he says he began to grow into himself when he moved to Reno at the age of 23.
He found himself in the Biggest Little City after wanting a fresh start away from Susanville, California. Moving to an unfamiliar place, with no friends besides his uncle, it was uncomfortable at first to adjust. However Jake has flourished in this new city and has quickly become a go to photographer and videographer for the local music scene.
When Jake was 16, him and his brother started playing Call of Duty, a popular video game that pins clans against each other to engage in combat as a soldier. At the time, in 2012, it was common for people to record the gameplay and create a video montage to upload to YouTube. Jake quickly found that he preferred editing videos of the game rather than playing it and thus his passion for creating content began.
He taught himself how to edit through YouTube tutorials and trial and error. As his skills progressed he became interested in graphic design and decided to attend college pursuing a more fine arts based education. After about four months he realized that graphic design was not his passion and Jake left school.
A little shocked and discouraged that graphic design hadn’t been what he thought it would be, he began to find local jobs to work at while he figured out what he wanted to do. He worked at Papa Murphy’s along with other jobs in Susanville until he decided to make a drastic change. After some bad stuff had happened, he says, he packed his things, moved to Reno and bought a Subaru WRX. Little did he know that this car would lead him to the discovery of his lifelong passion.
Through some friends, Jake began getting into the local car scene. He and his friends would organize and attend car meetups and film content of cars with the help of a photographer in their spare time. Unfortunately they had a falling out with their photographer and with no one there to film the cars, Jake stepped up and bought his first camera.
An EOS Rebel T7 camera that Jake describes now as adequate for a beginner. He started teaching himself how to take pictures but after six months he quickly realized he had outgrown the camera and he decided to sell it to his friend Josh, another local Reno photographer who goes by takeone_visuals on Instagram. He then bought a new camera at the end of 2021 and kept that equipment until the middle of 2023.
Between November 2021 through June 2023, Jake said he became a well sought after car photographer. While he loved taking pictures he began to stop loving the car scene in Reno as a whole. “That final six to eight month period from November of 2022 to June of 2023, I didn't enjoy cars anymore. It was mostly just due to people I had encountered… I just kind of fell out of love with the car side of it. But I was still really in love with the picture side of it,” he says.
Through this weird transition period of falling out of love with the scene he had become so accustomed to, Jake started attending more concerts with his girlfriend.
He said that it wasn’t until he went to a concert at the GSR in July that he started noticing photographers running around the stage capturing music artists. At this show in particular he saw a man in all black sprinting back and forth as he captured memories for the bands In This Moment, Motionless in White, From Ashes to New, and Fit For a King.
Jake said he was curious and then he had a realization, “what's this guy doing running around up on stage–I want to do that. I want to figure that out.”
After the show he figured out that the photographer had been Ian Urquhart. He found his Instagram and reached out to Ian. Unsure where to start, Jake also asked for some tips and Ian kindly sent him a long list of things to do. Or as Jake describes it, a “bible” on how to become successful in musical and touring photography. Jake was incredibly grateful for these tips as most people in the photography scene gatekeep their methods.
Before diving into the list, Jake had to buy a new camera because he had sold his old one in the middle of 2023. However life got in the way and buying a camera had to become a later priority but once he was able to, with the help of his girlfriend, Jake bought a Sony A7R III, which Jake describes as the perfect combination of video and photo. He also credits his girlfriend as his biggest supporter. “She has been, just, the most supportive person that I could ever ask for in my life. She’s the one person in my life that i've met, that no idea has been stupid to her, no idea has been too far out of reach for her” and so she pitched in to help make Jake’s vision come true.
So, with the help of his girlfriend and some local bands, he started to get into the music scene. Over the last summer Jake and his girlfriend rebuilt a gazebo in their backyard that served as the perfect makeshift venue for their friends in the band, Quitter, who had approached them asking if they knew of any places they could perform. Emberwake was one of the bands on the bill and their song Monster spoke to Jake.
That was what inspired him to shoot a music video for them. “I was like hey, this song I, I really want to get my hands on this. I don’t have the camera yet, and I don't have any pictures to show you. I don’t have any video to show you of what I’m capable of, but take my word for it. I’m good for it.”
Emberwake happily agreed and the two started planning out music video ideas, times, and locations. However, right before filming was set to begin, Steven, one of Emberwake’s vocalists, broke his foot. The camera mentioned previously arrived in the mail three days after this incident. Jake was really bummed but he understood and so they postponed filming.
Their focus shifted back to planning from September through November of 2023. At one of Emberwake’s September shows at the Remedies Bar, Jake asked them if he could take pictures of them performing completely free of charge. They offered to pay him and he denied saying, “They were like so what’s your Venmo we’ll give you– and I'm like no no no no. I don’t want that expectation first of all, to be put over my head. You know like, in my head I don't want to not live up to what that dollar value would have been” because these guys are way too generous Jake says.
He used this show as an opportunity to improve his photography skills and step into the world of photographing bands for the first time. During this time he also started attending Holland Project shows. Reporter Lauren Juillerat, in the band BenderWorld, was playing one of the nights Jake came to take photos. His photos provided them with some beautifully captured moments of their performance and when he told them that was only his second time photographing bands, they were shocked. “He is incredibly talented. The photos he took that night in October are still some of our favorites to this day” Lauren says.
Jake says that he was following Ian’s advice and seeking out local venues to help him improve his skills. He says that The Holland Project was very welcoming. Anyone with or without experience is invited to attend and enhance their abilities or enjoy shows put on by local and touring bands.
It wasn’t until early November that he and Emberwake were finally able to begin filming. This consisted of very late nights in the freezing cold since that was the only time all seven of them were free. But this experience was not only rewarding in a creative sense, but also in a friendship sense. From complete strangers in the beginning, to good friends at the end, lots of laughs were exchanged on set. “If you’ve seen it, it was a very emotional video. But, behind the scenes of recording it, it was just laughs. It was constant fun” Jake says.
They had no budget for the music video. Meaning any money that was used came directly from Jake’s paychecks. His experience was developed along the way as he experimented with his new camera and new found companions.
Emberwake was just the beginning. Because of them, Jake was able to showcase his talent through videography and photography and gain a multitude of opportunities after the music video release for Monster. Such as his first arena show in early 2024 and being paid to shoot four to five shows on average a week.
His advice to anyone new to the Reno photography/videography scene is, “do not charge anyone, until you'd be comfortable paying for your own experience. People assume I'm getting paid, so I'm good. Money does not make you good.” In the meantime he recommends practicing your skills at venues like The Holland Project. That way you don't have to worry about contacting bands in advance. Just show up, take pictures and learn the etiquette of the creative field. He also encourages wearing all black when taking pictures at events. “I do my best to lay low and be a fly on the wall” so he doesn't draw attention away from the performers.
Jake also wants to warn beginners that when you do start out in this creative field, there is a lot more bad than good initially. You have to really love it to be able to get past the rejection and hate in order to do this long term.
He also recommends being realistic to an extent. Currently, Jake is fortunate enough to say that this has become his full time job. However he doesn't just do photos in the music scene. He helps local businesses with commercials and photographs as well. For example, Low Boost Performance is a local business he does social media for. “Have plans in place. This isn’t a guaranteed job” says Jake.
Jake constantly strives to improve his work. He is currently working with Split Persona, a Reno band, on a music video that will be released within the next few months. He is also attending local shows and venues and aims to expand on storytelling with his work in the coming months.
Lauren Juillerat reporting for Our Town Reno
Intially published 04/25/24 on Our Town Reno: http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2024/4/6/jake-erwin-a-young-photographer-videographer-taking-on-the-reno-music-scene
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