Swapping the mic for a lens: DeGraw follows passion in music photography

For years, it seemed Dakota DeGraw was on track to become a music teacher.

“From middle school, I just remember thinking, ‘What can I do with my life that I think I would like or that I know that I could do for a long time?’ ” DeGraw, 23, said, “and the one thing … that I’ve been heavily involved in was music.”

The Utica resident, who is a classically trained tenor, was involved in the choirs throughout his time as a student at College View Middle School and Daviess County High School, along with being a member of the Kentucky Youth Chorale and becoming a concert soloist for Kentucky Music Educators Association’s (KMEA) All-State Chorus for over seven years.

“All the inspirations in my life, all the people that I truly cared about being around were my music teachers,” he said. “At the time, that’s all I had.”

He even graduated with a music education degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College last month following the completion of his student teaching requirements and has been the tenor soloist for the annual “Messiah” performances at Third Baptist Church for the past two years — a position he plans to return to for its 82nd year.

But before walking across the stage at Owensboro Christian Church for KWC’s graduation ceremony in early May, DeGraw came to the conclusion that he didn’t see his future being in the classroom.

“I learned a lot about myself and realized that a lot of the things that I do (is) for other people and out of fear of letting others down,” he said. “... I really started thinking, and I think I started thinking for myself.”

While DeGraw said he enjoys the performance aspect, it’s the receiving feedback as a potential educator that brings on some anxiety.

“I get scared that I’m not … fit enough to be able to do it,” he said. “In a way, I was scared to continue.”

Though DeGraw put teaching on the back burner, he hasn’t swayed away from the art form.

Instead, he’s following another passion of his: photography — a hobby that DeGraw became introduced to about seven to eight years ago when he received a point and shoot Canon camera from a friend.

Though DeGraw said he tends to “hyperfixate a lot,” he felt differently about taking photos and finds it’s helped him get out of his comfort zone and take some risks.

“It gave me so much motivation to do things I typically wouldn’t do,” he said. “I took (the camera) on a trip to Gatlinburg and was able to, by myself with all my family still at the bottom, I was like, ‘I’m going to go up this trail’ … up to this, like, almost skydeck. Unfortunately when I got there, it was all foggy, but before I did it was just this clear sky and it was just gorgeous ….

“I really loved doing it,” he said.

DeGraw’s friend Rebecca Volk, a current music teacher at DCHS, sold him his first DSLR camera his senior year which ended up heightening his interest in the field.

“... I just went crazy from there,” DeGraw said.

DeGraw began to be more diligent in doing research of different lenses and equipment and eventually started branching out in the community during his college years such as shooting photo and video for entities like Encore Musicals and the RiverPark Center.

DeGraw, who showcases his works under Dakota DeGraw’s Photography online, has since expanded into shooting couple photos, local events, graduation, portraits and more.

But his main goal is to become a music photographer, focusing on concerts and live shows.

“It’s really what gets me going and what really, really inspires me,” DeGraw said. “I love working with music artists ….”

And he’s already been making some good headway.

Besides taking photos of Owensboro musicians like Colt Graves, DeGraw had the opportunity to shoot Americana artist Joshua Quimby during his “Back Home” album release party at The Basement in Nashville last month along with guest performers Chloe Kimes, Liam St. John, Dylan Smucker and Angela Autumn.

Additionally, he’s recently partnered up with the Evansville-based record label Wally Opus to do photo and video work with its roster of up-and-coming artists.

In particular, DeGraw enjoys capturing the candid moments.

“I think people want the genuine and to see the realness rather than a staged picture,” he said. “And I think that’s why I love live (shows), because it’s done once; no show is the same … and I want to be able to capture that energy and put it into the photo.”

Though the change in career paths are quite different, DeGraw is happy they still have a similar connection.

“I figured out that it wasn’t necessarily (teaching music) that I was inspired by; it was music. It was being around music and just ingesting music,” he said. “There’s one constant … that has been the pinnacle of my life, and I can say that with confidence, … (is) being around music ….”

And he finds his prior experiences being on stage himself helps know what angles and shots are ideal.

“... I want (the artists) to be comfortable with what I’m shooting,” he said, “and I want them to be just as excited about the photos as I am.”

Though photography is DeGraw’s main jam, he hasn’t ruled out getting back on the education side of things.

“I love the idea of being able to teach vocal lessons here soon. … I just kind of get everything else figured out right now,” DeGraw said with a laugh.

But at the moment, DeGraw plans to keep this dream alive for the long haul.

“I just want to have a reason to smile every day,” he said. “That’s kind of what I’m going for.”

For more information about DeGraw and his work, visit dakotadegrawsphotography.mypixieset.com/links.