From a young age, Darrin Smith knew he was meant to do great things. The 27-year-old, who hails from the small and beautiful indigenous village of Wakapoa, located in Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region Two), found his passion in photography and videography and aims to successfully build his brand, Gifted Hands Multimedia.
In an exclusive interview, Darrin explained that photography and videography were not what he initially wanted to do. It was after he graduated from secondary school that his passion for those crafts slowly developed. “… I started taking photos and doing videos of Wakapoa with my phone,” he said.
Sharing pictures and short videos of his village on social media soon became his favourite hobby. The incredible feedback about his work was what encouraged him to consider pursuing his passion on a professional level. Darrin credited Duran Cornelius with making it possible for him to begin his journey as a professional photographer and videographer. He expressed his gratitude to Cornelius, who, he said, recognised his potential and contacted him with a proposal. Cornelius, who is also originally from Wakapoa, but now resides abroad, gifted Darrin his very first camera.
By this time, in 2017, Darrin had already graduated from the University of Guyana with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. While pursuing his career in electrical engineering, his focus on photography and videography never waned. The proud Arawak revealed that he became even more invested in ensuring his success in both areas of his life.
Over the past three years, Darrin has been dabbling in nature photography, highly inspired by his village, along with portraits and more recently wedding photography. He, however, mentioned that he found his niche in wedding photography and videography. As someone who loves the outdoors, he still tries to reflect the beauty of nature in most of his work.
It was wedding photography that pushed him to master his skills in video production, which he has recently implemented into his brand. “When you’re doing weddings, persons usually ask, do you get video along with this package and so I do offer professional videos now,” explained the owner of Gifted Hands Multimedia.
He expressed the joy he feels in telling the love stories of his clients through what he likes to call “short wedding films.” He further indicated, “seeing people happy and excited when I deliver the final product to them, is one of the highlights of my work.”
Throughout his journey, Darrin said, he has learnt a lot and continues to learn as he strives to excel in life. The challenges that were thrown at him, he found ways to overcome. His major hurdle was “the fact that photography and videography are both time consuming” and he found it a bit difficult to juggle both his business and his nine-to-five job. This hurdle was crossed after he decided to narrow his focus to only weddings.
The highlight of his photography career so far is one of his photos being featured on the cover of Hotspot Magazine, a local production aimed at the tourist industry. He happily said, “one of my photos was one of the cover photos for the Hotspot Magazine and that was probably one of the most satisfying moment so far in my photography journey.”
Darrin, who is now pursuing his master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Guyana, has big plans for his brand. His vision for Gifted Hands Multimedia is to offer more than just photography and videography. He plans to continue perfecting his talent, so that he will be able to offer the best packages, at affordable prices to his clients.
He can be contacted on 592-681-8570 or 592-614-1383. Persons interested in checking out his work can visit his Facebook or Instagram pages @Gifted Hands Multimedia or visit his website www.ghdmultimedia.com.(Tieanna Jordan)
