Thomas Wilson

Thomas was born in the small city of Hampton, located on the lower east coast of Virginia. This makes him a few things right off of the bat: a seafood lover, and a football fanatic! To add to that, Thomas is a self-proclaimed “full fledged geek” in every sense of the word.. Comic books, video games, cartoons, computer hardware, gadgets, the whole nine… It’s a recipe for a creative mind!

He received his Bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State University in 2008 and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Media Management with an expected graduation date of December 2010. Why would he return to the place he graduated from a few short months previously? According to him,

“I feel as though there are things I left unfinished.. I definitely have a lot more things I need to bring onto that campus and seeds to sew! When one ‘gets into the groove’ late in his career (from transferring, etc.) he must rush to get things accomplished. This leads to having to forgo things that may have been just as important, but not as feasible as other things. I’m making it my job to finish everything I started and show that talent and skill aren’t just a once in a while thing for Spartans, and I do belong in the upper echelon of those before me and those to come!”

Outside of the classroom, Thomas spends his time freelancing for a few local publications including the Virginian Pilot and Inside Business, as well as teaching visual design software to high schoolers and undergraduates.

Thomas’ heart is in Sports photography and it shows in his images. After hanging up the pads his sophomore year of college, he needed something to occupy his time. By picking up his first camera, he found that he could still be a part of the on field action and roam the sidelines as he once did while an athlete. This deep sports background allows Thomas to seem to always be in the right spot, to capture just the right image, because of his knack for predicting the action. Oddly as it may seem, he feels that always being immersed in the moment is a negative drawback for a photographer, and his ability to separate himself from his environment has helped him immensely.

Though most of his talent and effort is focused on his visual artistry, he considers himself more of a technical specialist than a visual artist, though he’s very gifted in both respects.  His background in troubleshooting and technology repair as well as his consistent habits of reading and tinkering have made him somewhat of a whiz when it comes to mobile communications, personal computing, gaming, and learning new technologies.

His focus has recently shifted to graphic design and branding as it pertains to social media and company or individual presences.  Since he  is constantly updating and altering his approach to his personal brand,  he’s become even more of a numbers guy.  Thomas is a loyal subscriber to Mashable and spends much of his time checking for statistics and research findings pertaining to his areas of expertise in order to stay on top of current and future developments in the industry landscape.  This allows him to better position himself to take advantage of the many changes in the volatile cyber landscape.

With a camera out of his hands and his fingers away from his keyboard, Thomas is still very much a creative mind. He loves to design, paint, and sketch, as well as hunker down with his video game controller in hand for a few minutes of his favorite games including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Madden 2010, and Guitar Hero.  He also loves to attempt cooking new dishes and to take an unexpected road trip or two.  Spontaneity amidst a productive schedule is something that is not easily accomplished, but Thomas has learned the balance of the pair and uses this balance to always find ways to enjoy whatever situation he may be in.