Meet Seth Baird | Photographer

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

Hi Seth, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
The decision to truly embody that it’s perfectly normal not to always feel sure of yourself. To embrace that life can be confusing, challenging, complex, and even on the best days, it’s important to welcome the love and support from family and friends without feeling as if it’s inconveniencing them. And I’ve also made it a point to be open to tangible and spiritual guidance that has helped create a life that carries rich meaning beyond financial stability.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I recall visiting art shows and museums with my family from a young age. After each visit, we would find ourselves in conversation about how and why the artists decided to express themselves in such a manner, regardless of the medium they chose as a template.

While I took various art classes throughout my schooling, I was formally introduced to photography during the summer following my senior year of high school (2004), during which I landed a job at my uncle’s film studio in Durham, NC. However, it wasn’t until December 2022 that I picked up a camera intending to pursue photography.

When I picked up the camera and released the shutter for the first time, all of those creative aspirations from my childhood came flooding back to me. I snapped a picture again and then again, and I felt a sense of purpose to have the ability to freeze a moment or a memory.

Cell phones, of course, have changed the landscape of photography, but for me, when I can control each aspect of a composition with a camera, I look at the world in a different way. Like many other photographers, I started to notice the intricate details that create life, and then, when I turn the camera lens on a subject, I can capture raw, genuine human emotion.

After struggling mightily for a few months, I decided to make a personal investment in myself and take formal classes to learn photography. I joined a group based in Charlotte, NC (The Professional Photography Group) to help improve my chances of matching the imagery in my head when approaching composition.

The most challenging part along the way was maintaining a work-life balance, as my full-time job was working at a respite center, The Ivey. This, along with balancing time with my wife, who works as a nurse and is a full-time student. However, our most important balancing act is being sure to be present with and for our young daughter.

Deciding to blend hobbies with raising our daughter has been a welcome relief. I actively make it a point to talk with my daughter about who I’m taking pictures for, and I discuss my thought process with her when reviewing these images. In turn, she walks me through her art projects and elaborates on all the wonderful details. I’m also not shy about letting her work with my photography equipment and encourage her to take as many pictures as she likes.

When it comes to me as a photographer, you get a person who has rediscovered a passion for living a creative life. Through collaboration with each client, I enjoy the ability to mold a vision into a composition that carries the desired outcome for which they seek. I’m a photographer who thrives on genuine relationships with a client beyond simply taking a photo.

Through life, and now with photography, I’ve found an outlet that brings me great purpose, and I hope to continue sharing the gift of photography with many in the years to come.

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?

We are a breakfast family through and through. Famous Toastery is the closest to our home in Huntersville, NC, but biscuits and gravy at the Flying Biscuit in the South Park area of Charlotte are a delight.

Following breakfast, we enjoy spending as much time as we can outdoors. Weekends are spent park hopping (we’ve gone to almost every park in the North Charlotte/ Huntersville area), but we highly recommend Martha Rivers Park in Gastonia for those with kids. Between parks and spending time in Nature Preserves (My wife is an avid bird photographer), we find all excuses for a day out and about as a family. The White Water Center is a great place to spend summer afternoons, and Inner Peaks climbing walls have fit nicely into our weekend rotations.

I’m a big people watcher, and yes, I enjoy documentary-style street photography, so spending time in the NoDa area and spots throughout Uptown is particularly interesting to me.

Yes, we go to ALL the games. Panthers, Hornets, Charlotte Independence, but we have yet to make it to an FC game.

Charlotte and the surrounding area are chalked full of diversity that speaks to people from various walks of life, and I’m also excited to have recently begun exploring Charlotte’s performing arts scene.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Being adopted at a young age, I give tremendous credit to my mother, Donna Baird, who told me that she didn’t find her career path until she was forty. “And even when you do…” she said, “still be open to all possibilities.” This has held till this day, and I continue to approach each day as if there are still doors to be opened.

I’ve also been fortunate to be surrounded by a strong, close network of friends and family. Even when distance becomes an obstacle to in-person connection, we’ve always managed to pick up where we’ve left off, which is why so many of my deep relationships are with people I’ve known since childhood.

I want to dedicate this shoutout to my wife, who’s put up with my many light-hearted antics for years as I’ve made attempt after attempt to discover a passion that speaks to who I’ve become as a person. I’d also like to mention Jen Olin, an amazing connector who believed in me as a person and an artist when I had little work to show for it.

Many others have played a vital role in helping me gain the confidence and experience to pursue photography. I will forever be grateful for their contributions to making my dream a reality.

Website: www.sethbaird.com

Instagram: @sethbairdphoto

Image Credits
All images by Seth Baird