YouPointIShoot on working with A$AP Ferg, advice for photographers, and future business plans

We recently spoke with YPIS, better known as YouPointIShoot, a legend with any camera with cold photos all over their socials. If you're trying to get into photography, this is the guy to ask for help for sure! Be sure to follow his socials and make sure you drop a like.

Yo Jack, could you give us a short introduction of yourself for anyone who may not be aware of you yet?

I’m jack, I am a videographer/photographer, and I am from a small village just outside Basingstoke.

When did you start professionally working with cameras?

I can’t lie, I haven’t been doing it that long, I suppose the exact date would be like 13th November 2021, which was when I first like went out with a camera with the intention to like get some footage, do you know what I mean? That was for Asap Ferg’s pop-up in Soho, so yeah that was the exact date that I started.

That’s mad, how was it first meeting him?

It was weird, do you know what I mean, in the best way possible, I spent years listening to this guy and to have him like in front of you and interacting with you, you know and he’s so like humble and he makes so much time for everyone. Yeah, he’s the goat, like truly but yeah definitely nerve-wracking at first.

How long after meeting him did you get to work with him?

Actually, the same day, so he really fucked with my camera and how the footage came out and whatnot. He called his manager or assistant Hunter, shout out Hunter, who came over and swapped contact details and whatever. So after the meet and greet finished, everyone dispersed and whatnot, I was on my way to go and watch Lil Tjay cause I’d booked tickets for that meet and greet as well because he was doing a show in Brixton at the time, on my way to Brixton I received a phone call from his assistant asking me to come to a restaurant where he was and he wanted me to come and do some filming, grab some food and hang out. I pretty much got off at the next stop and went all the way back cause I was pretty much nearly at Brixton anyway. I got all the way back to central London, went to the restaurant, and pretty much spent the remainder of the day with him, and yeah that whole experience was pretty wild, I ended up meeting so many like British music icons there, it was like a really crazy experience.

That’s so sick, what were you feeling when he was talking to you on a personal level?

I just felt relieved, you know when you look up to someone for so long and then they make all the time in the world for you like they respect what you’re doing and the respect is mutual, the conversation flows, it’s just cool, he’s such a humble guy - he’s my brother man. You only kind of see people like Ferg on YouTube and Instagram, it’s such a relieving experience when they’re there in front of you, it’s truly something special.

He sounds like such a down-to-earth guy, I’ve seen you’re quite close to Bakar too, how did that come about?

Yeah, it’s a full circle with Bakar, I’ve always fucked with his music, super cool, lot of respect there, he opened for Travis Scott when he did his O2 show last August. I just took some pictures on my phone, just some videos and stuff, and then I uploaded a couple of those to my Instagram story with a few edits and obviously, I tagged Bakar. He just popped up on Instagram, he really fucked with the pictures, thought they were really cool. He then asked me if I wanted to go and shoot him at Gunnersbury as he was opening for Rufus Du Sol or something, I can’t remember off the top of my head but he asked me if I wanted to go along so obviously, I jumped onto that and just thanked him, so yeah I met him at the show, I met the band and his team, his management is super cool, shout out to all of them guys and shout out to Bakar, again he’s very humble and has a lot of time for people. The photos and footage came out all good so yeah, it was blessed.

Not many people can say that they’ve done what you’ve done, have you worked with UK artists?

Yeah, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few, few names would be Fredo, Knucks, Stay Flee Get Lizzy as a whole, and some more on-the-rise artists as well like Arz, Cityboymoe - all great talents.

Do you have a favourite?

I wouldn’t say favourite, I feel like I’m in a very blessed position to even have an option of favourite but definitely Stay Flee Get Lizzy was very special to me because he unlocked a lot of doors for me early on, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have had many opportunities in the first place after Ferg. He welcomed me onto his team for a short while so I managed to work with people like Fredo, Knucks, Arz, and a lot of the artists you see on my page were through him. So I’ll always be thankful for that and those opportunities, all good memories do you know what I mean, that’s what I’m there for, to capture all of those moments. Also just want to give a shout out to all of the producers as well, I feel like they didn’t get as much credit as they deserve, Young Chencs, Roddy Beats, Jester Beats, all of these incredible talents are almost unheard of but they all play a massive role in the UK music scene.

I hear that 100% shout out to all of the producers out there, what’s the dream for Jack?

I’ve never really thought about that, I just take each day as it comes but I definitely like to venture into music videos, maybe a podcast, and definitely get into documentaries, kinda just expand my brand as a person and as Jamal Edwards says, the goal is to create something that lives on forever, obviously rest in peace, Jamal. Also, collect as many Hot Wheels as I can, I really fuck with Hot Wheels.

That’s super interesting, what sort of documentaries would you want to make?

Real ones, like really behind-the-scenes, honest to god, truthful ones of music artists and what they go through, the productions, the albums, the lifestyle, the ups and downs of everything, kind of like Louis Theroux meets Cole Bennett.

When that happens, I’ll be tuning in for sure! What advice would you give to someone that said they wanted to start photographing and videography?

Don’t worry about equipment, just don’t, you can shoot with an iPhone or camera that costs thousands of pounds, all that matters is the content not what it’s shot on, you can shoot the most amazing thing with like an iPhone 4, and that story and that content would be worth so much more than a boring shot on a really expensive camera. Also, don’t worry about what everyone else is filming, you’ve got to be happy and be confident to shoot what you like and what you find interesting, don’t worry about filming rappers and expensive things if that doesn’t make you happy you know? If you’re into nature, film nature. It doesn’t work if you’re not happy with what you’re shooting. One last thing would be to always accept help and as much as you can, give out help - there’s not enough love in the scene at the minute, it’s very secretive and a lot of gatekeeping and it doesn't need to be like that if we all helped each other, the sky is the limit with anything.

That’s going to go a long way, what’s next for you in terms of your career?

Definitely going to try and get some live events in this summer for sure, but to be honest, I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow, so I’m just going to do what I’ve always done and take it day by day, there’s no point trying to force something, the art will come naturally.

Very well said, is there anyone that you’d like to shout out, someone you’ve worked with, someone that’s helped you with anything?

Yeah, I’ve got four people who I truly wanna thank, firstly would be my girlfriend’s dad, Matthew, it wasn’t for him I wouldn't have had the camera, and the courage to go out and film in the first place. Secondly would be my girlfriend Molly, she’s been a superstar throughout this whole journey so far, she’s just really supportive always and I’m so grateful. The third person would be Sincere, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have had as many opportunities, so yeah big thank you to him. The fourth person would be Ferg, giving me that first shot, he’s been really supportive and we keep in contact all the time, just a lot of love and appreciation from both ends.

Shout out to all of those guys for sure, have you got anything else you’d like to mention?

The last thing I want to say is that it’s okay to be a bit of a kid sometimes, you don’t have to grow up to fast, you obviously have to be mature about the business side of things but it’s okay to be excited about stuff without a professional look, it’s about being true to yourself, there’s only so long you can pretend to be someone they’re not. Thank you for the opportunity for letting me speak, much appreciated.

We highly recommend YPIS for any photography work or editing, shout out to Jack every single time and we wish him nothing but a blessed year.