Adobe Stock artist Jacob Lund on patience, pursuing your dreams, and paying it forward

Image credit: Adobe Stock/Jacob Lund.

When Jacob Lund began his career as a professional photographer in his early twenties, things didn’t quite pan out.

“I always had a dream to do my own thing, and I really had a lot of energy going into it,” he says. “But I was way too naïve about how it was to start from not having a track record, not having a portfolio at all. I needed more patience than I had at the time. After six months, I was completely broke.”

He made a big pivot and joined the police force in Copenhagen, Denmark. But his love of photography remained, and he continued to take side jobs and work at his craft.

“This time around, it went much better,” he says. “I had a more steady, slow approach to it, and then I started to build up my business.” After seven years as a police officer, he left the force to pursue full-time work as a photographer once again — and this time he was successful.

Finding the light and capturing authentic moments in Cape Town

As Lund worked to build his photography practice, he traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, to take advantage of the beautiful natural light.

“I realized it was so much easier to shoot in Cape Town because you can count on the weather most of the time. You have lots of beautiful daylight and beautiful sunsets. So I started coming back every year to shoot, and the periods became longer and longer.”

He met his wife Courtney in Cape Town, and now they work together at the studio he founded, Jacob Lund Photography. Their process before a stock production usually begins with the two of them bouncing around ideas for concepts, and then they begin casting.

“I would say casting is one of the things we put a lot of effort into,” Lund says. “It’s so important for us to find the right talent.”

When casting people for a group shot, the team pays close attention to the natural composition of the group. First of all, they want their models to reflect the diversity of the real world.

For example, when the body positivity movement began, the studio created a lot of work around that theme. “I think it’s important for us to put out photography like that,” says Lund, “because it becomes part of the mainstream culture.”

Secondly, the team wants their models to have a real connection with one another. When casting families, for example, they like to work with real families because the authentic connections come through in the members’ interactions. When casting models who aren’t related, they like to have people come in and meet with each other prior to a shoot to ensure that there’s good chemistry between them.

Timing and working in the moment are critical, too. “You can tell your talent to do something,” says Lund. “But the second time you tell them to do the same thing, a little bit of the authenticity is gone. So you need to be able to capture the moments as they unfold in front of you.”

Staying inspired and raising the bar

For Lund, having the dreamed-of career in photography isn’t enough. His ambition is for his team to outdo themselves on each and every shoot.

“That’s in all aspects of shooting — lighting, casting, finding the right concepts,” he says. “We always want to raise the bar for ourselves, and we always want to raise the bar for stock photography. If we do what everyone else does, we’re just following their tail.”

To keep his work fresh and relevant, Lund looks for ideas and insights from outside the world of stock photography. He draws inspiration from great advertising, movies, and even Masterclass lessons taught by everyone from writers to directors to chefs.

But not only does he want the best technical and conceptual quality, he also wants to show human beings in the best possible light. “These images are being used all over the world, so we want to make sure that people are being represented in a good way, never a negative way,” he says. “The secret sauce for us is probably that if you look at the picture and you get that feeling that makes you smile, then I feel we’ve nailed it.”

Sharing success through mentorship

Despite a constant stream of production and all the complexities of running a business, Lund makes it a point to share his success with others.

A few years ago, a photographer from Brazil reached out to Lund and asked if he’d be willing to provide professional mentorship. He readily agreed, and since then his studio has formed a partnership program in which they mentor her and another photographer from Spain.

“Our ambition is to give them the best possible opportunities to get started and be successful in stock photography,” he says. “We’ve acquired so much knowledge over the years, and being able to pass the baton to someone and help them get started — that gives me great joy.”

See Jacob Lund’s portfolio on Adobe Stock. And if you’re inspired by his story and ready to share your work with the world, sign up as an Adobe Stock Contributor and upload your best photos, videos, and more.