We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bart Mastronardi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bart , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Everything in business is a risk. I can still say every time I am with a client the butterflies in my stomach are going a mile a minute. One big risk story was working with one of my favorite models/clients. There was a lot of nudity involved. The thought and discussion we both had to have was ways to create a safe, comfortable space for him to be fully nude, how to not expl*it him in anyway, the understanding of creating beautiful erotic fine art quality photographs, and also to respect the whole process of why we doing the images in the way we wanted to photograph and show to viewers. With enough discussions we had together, he and his wife had together, and my talks in my own relationship at the time at the time we all understood the images that he and I were going to create on the day of. It was only he and myself on set. A closed set so he could be as comfortable in the space for the camera and lens. Anyone who steps in front of the lens can have a feeling of intimidation, but being fully nude is even more vulnerable.  What we created was quite beautiful, erotic, but so sensual and told a story with each image. I am quite proud of them. It was a risk for my client because much of the work he does is for fine art nudes and he trusted me in helping him to create the style he wanted to share with his viewers.  The risk for me was to go further in my fine art nudes more than I am accustomed to with clients.
Funny story. While on set his wife calls. And he is nude talking to his wife on set while I am getting lights ready. He is a beautiful looking man so I found it funny while we kept the whole environment as professional as we did. Here he is in his birthday suit having a “what’s for dinner tonight?” conversation.
All part of the risk and the professionalism we both brought to the photo session and to the images themselves.

Bart , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started out as a filmmaker. I have directed two feature films in the horror genre: Vindication (2012) and Tales of Poe (2015). I did a lot of cinematography work, but was getting restless with myself as a filmmaker. I decided to start learning about being a photographer as a business. I began doing portraits, then fine arts, then I created a Headshots division for my photo business. All took its time as I am also a college teacher so balancing my teaching and my business has taken quite some work and it still does. But I am so happy with both as I get enough space and time to work on both without it ever interfering with the other.

I have worked with some incredible clients of celebrity status, families, fitness models, my own creative work, and, of course, my family and friends.

Solving problems is always the number one factor. How do we figure out how to stylize the photos differently from a basic look? What to add? How much of a budget does the client have so we can get the looks we want? I will always spend a lot of time researching so I become more comfortable with ideas. I share with my client especially with wardrobe, hair and makeup. It all has to work together or something does not look right.

The quality of my work is important to me because I have to take ownership of what it is I am doing for the images that my client needs or what it is I am creating as a whole. For the client it is the meaning of the photos for them. The importance of the image is extremely important to my client, so I then must put 100% of all I can give to get each photo to that level. I love what I do so at times my relationship with the work is utmost important.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The initial capital to start my business up has been with my own money as a teacher. I slowly began to invest into my business based on my monthly expenses and how much I could save, pay bills, and invest into creating Bart Mastronardi Photography. First thing I did was speak with my accountant to create a corporation for myself. I had to learn about owning and respecting my business as a whole: money, taxes, save, spend, equipment, client needs, what not to do and what I needed to do in order to grow further. I am still learning. Good thing is now I have gotten to a point where the business is running itself. It took time for me to understand how all this worked. It is not the same as going to a job and just doing my time for a paycheck. It has been a learning process. Mistakes have been made, losses, giving away too much, not charging enough, and simply buckling down to not go bankrupt.

Owning a business is the other side of a job. I am the CEO and the janitor to my business. When clients are calling I am in charge of getting it all ready for them. I have a team that must be put together so the day of a photoshoot it all runs as smooth as it can be. There are always hiccups along the way, but the more prepared I am the more comfortable it is to maneuver when things are not as smooth. Much of the time, especially now, my sets run smooth and comfortable for all involved. I am still learning.

I look at other photographers on their social media sites and how they do some things with their behind the scenes stories or on their website.

Invest in yourself. Work another job if you have to create the capital you need to start your business up. Figure out what needs to be done and how much you need to start. You will find it is not a lot to start with. Just do the work and build from there. People need to see your work in order to invest or hire you in what you are specializing in.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am simply going to list:

Books:
The Science of getting Rich Wattles
Thing and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill
Study art history in books or go to museums

Artists/Photographers
Michelangelo
Sue Bryce photographer (learned so much)
Ian Spanier photographier
Matt Hernandez photographer
Lindsay Adler photographer
Visual Fine Art artists
Platon
Michael Stokes
David Vance
Paul Freeman

Essay
Henry Rollins “The Iron.”

Visual Videos
“Colour in Storytelling” Youtube
“Composition in Storytelling” youtube
Music helps in creating for my own visual mental space

I am also a fitness lover so health is most important. Exercise, nutrition, weightlifting, rest is all most important to me in order to do all I can do in my business and life

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BartMastronardiPhotography.com
• Instagram: Bart Mastronardi Photography and Headshots by Bart
• Facebook: Bart Mastronardi Photography

Image Credits
Carlus Reed, Charles Chudabala, Honey Cone, Lexie Di Chellis, Martha Reeves, Mike Knowles