We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lance Brandauer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lance, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar you earn in a new endeavor is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.
My first dollar earned for Birdzz happened unexpectedly. In 2020 I was still in the process of getting my business website up and running and trying to formulate an advertisement strategy during Covid restrictions with businesses operating. I was primarily focusing on real estate photography because person-to-person contact wasn’t necessary for me to operate my business and photograph real estate. My girlfriend at that time, Graciee was purging her closet and finding items to sell, one of which of all things was an older Sony DSLR camera. I offered to help her list it for sale on various sites, including Craigslist. A week later I received an inquiry from someone who was browsing Craigslist and saw the listing. We agreed to meet somewhere locally for a possible purchase. That was the day I met my first paying client, Erika.
We met, exchanged pleasantries and made small talk while practicing social distancing. Erika inspected the camera and ultimately decided to purchase it. She expressed her interest in learning photography and therefore needed a starter camera. It was the perfect opportunity to tell her about my photography business and offered free photography advice. I honestly didn’t expect to hear back from Erika but a few weeks later, she called to inquire about pricing for pet photography. She was interested in an outdoor photo session for her dog, Koba. Although I was primarily focusing on real estate photography, I didn’t want to turn away a client. Additionally, I was super excited about this opportunity that had fallen on my lap. So I gave Erika pricing and to my delight she called me, booked the shoot and sent her deposit! Just like that, I had my first paying client and of all things, it was a pet portrait shoot and not a real estate shoot.
At the time of our booking phone call, Erika inquired about pricing for another photography shoot. Her husband Ernie had always wanted to recreate a famous scene from the film, ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ but in the form of a photograph. It’s a scene with actor James Dean perched on the observation deck at the Griffith Observatory while his love interest flirtatiously watches him from below the deck. This famous scene was reenacted in a 1991 Paula Abdul music video for her song ‘Rush’. In that video, Keanu Reeves played the James Dean role. Ernie was a big fan of both scenes and for many years wanted to hire a photographer to recreate photos of each. Erika wanted a price quote for this type of shoot so I inquired about photography permits at the Griffith Observatory. I called and was disappointed to learn that the location was closed indefinitely due to Covid. Unfortunately, we had to put that project on the shelf with the hopes of doing it sometime in the near future.
It has now been 4 years since I did my first shoot for Erika and Ernie. Not only have we developed a great friendship but I’ve done numerous shoots for their extended family as well including weddings, baptisms, anniversaries, birthday parties and maternities. I’m happy to share that as of November of this year, I was finally able to photograph those recreation photos at the Griffith Observatory. It was four years in the making!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My mom Sylvia was a hobbyist photographer who learned all aspects of it on her own and took stunning landscape and sunset photos. I was always inspired by her beautiful photography. My mom always seemed to have her camera handy and photographed everything and everyone. She was known for catching candids of everyone when they least expected it. But sadly, my mom passed away in June of 2020 due to complications from liver cirrhosis and her photography among many other things, died with her. Her passing was a driving force in my entrepreneurial decision and direction. I was furloughed in April of 2020 from Covid business closures but I didn’t want to stay on the sidelines just collecting stimulus checks. I had 5 years of film school under my belt and I wanted to pursue something to utilize my creative talents. Photographing was similar to using a film camera (painting with light) and real estate photography in particular seemed to be the easiest of businesses to get off the ground and start making money. So to honor my mom, I launched Birdzz Photography in August of 2020. My mom loved birds, specifically eagles and hummingbirds, so the name Birdzz seemed fitting. At the time, I didn’t own a camera and had never shot real estate photography but I was determined to learn quickly. YouTube videos became my education and I used savings and stimulus check money to purchase the equipment I needed. My intention was to only target the real estate market but I soon learned that I couldn’t turn away other projects such as the pet portrait shoot I did for Erika. So I adapted and opened up my services to include commercial and portraiture photography along with videography. I am blessed to say that with each passing year, I’ve seen an exponential growth in my business doing something I love. Referrals have been the primary reason for this growth. And a lot of my success in retaining clientele can be attributed to the interpersonal skills I attained from working many years in management positions. They’ve allowed me to communicate, network and create long lasting relationships with clients; attributes that I feel are necessary beyond just delivering good product and services.
Most first timer entrepreneurs never have a smooth path to success. Many times our path is met with challenges and obstacles we didn’t foresee. It’s been said that if you don’t make money in your first three years, you have a hobby, not a business. So the first three years are purely dedicating to getting our business off the ground and gaining momentum to even have shot at success. There are many roles entrepreneurs have to fill so in between all the day to day core responsibilities, we must also find the discipline to dedicate time to all those other roles that are vital to any business. That can be very challenging because a typical work day for me is 13 hours which leaves little time for anything else if I’m also trying to fit in adequate rest. When I’m not photographing or filming, I’m spending my time editing photos, videos or staying fit and healthy at the gym. Trying to find balance is key. For me, balance is the key to happiness and to a successful business.
Another challenge I discovered in my first year of business was the steep learning curve for learning everything especially now that I offer many photography services. No two genres of photography are alike or photographed similarly and there’s a lot of investment in time and money needed to learn it all. This is the reason why most photographers stick to one niche. You rarely find one photographer that can do it all. But I wanted to break that mold. I wanted to challenge myself. So I started accepting all photography requests and having to quickly learn whatever that project called for. There were many late nights spent watching tutorials and then applying what I learned on the actual shoot the following day. “Fake it until you make it” they say. In the process, I’ve slowly evolved into an experienced photographer in many genres and I believe that is what sets me apart from other photographers.
Birdzz Photography specializes in portraits, real estate photography, commercial photography, headshots and small weddings. Other services offered are videography, photo printing, custom photo albums, photo restorations and reproductions. A sample of my portfolio can be viewed on my Instagram page and website.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I follow several photography groups on social media and a topic that pops up for discussion regularly concerns the lack of feedback from our clients once we’ve delivered their photos. I feel this topic applies to anyone working in the service industry but here, I’m speaking specifically about the conversations I’ve seen among my peers. It’s commonly said that you only hear the bad, not the good but in our industry, I’ve learned that in some cases, we don’t hear either. I feel our clients struggle to understand the impact this has.
I think it’s human nature to want positive affirmation from any client when you’ve provided them with good service. I was quite shocked that so many photographers had experienced a lack of communication, feedback or acknowledgment from their clients after delivery of goods. I thought I was the exception and began to take it personal. I don’t know if its just our culture shifting into a less appreciative society, if its entitlement, a lack of time, or just a lack of common courtesy, but its disheartening that so many of us have experienced this. It even occurs with some of our repeat clients who are seemingly happy enough to rehire us.
There will undoubtedly be unhappy clients that would rather not complain and for that reason stay quiet. But it’s always better to know than to not. Constructive criticism and feedback helps us develop and grow as photographers. It helps us know your likes and dislikes for future photography shoots. Photographers specifically, work in a profession where we spend many hours working after the photography session has been completed. We are quietly working countless hours behind the scenes culling through photos and editing each photo to perfection to try and meet standards and deadlines. Each photo isn’t just a representation of our skill, but it’s a representation of our work ethic and the time we’ve spent getting lost creating the perfect photo for you. Most of us creatives are perfectionists who spend countless hours contemplating the decisions we make on every edit. Every photo we edit can take on one of a million different variations dependent on the decisions we make. One editing decision can affect the entire outcome of that photo so every decision is critical. In most cases, no two photos are the same, so we can’t rely on what we did for the prior photo. Sometimes, we’ll go through 30 steps of editing only to end up with unsatisfactory results and having to start over. So when we’ve put in all this time and effort into decisions and executions and have something we’re proud to show and deliver to our clients, it’s a huge let down to not receive any type of response. It’s no different than letting your mechanic know the car is running great once they’ve serviced it. Or letting your personal trainer know that yesterday’s workout felt effective because you woke up feeling sore. Or letting your hair stylist know that you received a ton of compliments after your last visit with them. I’d rather have a client let me know that they were unhappy with the photos so I can offer a solution than to be left wondering. A “thank you” means more to us than you know.
My advice is anytime you hire a photographer, or anyone of service for that matter, please let us know how you feel once that service or product has been delivered. Thank us. Tip us. You tip your bartender for bringing you alcohol so why not the person capturing special moments for you or for your business? Make our efforts feel appreciated. And if you’re unhappy, please let us know and give us the opportunity to make it right for you. Let’s change the current culture we’re all experiencing!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
When I began my photography journey, YouTube was my primary source of education. I still believe YouTube is the best resource for learning just about anything. I had my filmmaking education to fall back on when it came to lighting and lenses but I had to learn all other aspects of photography. Over the last 4 years, I’ve encountered some valuable resources that I believe would have made my journey a little less challenging, helped me save time and money and even helped my income through more bookings.
There were numerous times when I was unable to take on jobs because clients were specifically asking for a studio shoot. I don’t own a studio and portable backdrops weren’t meeting their criteria so I had to pass on those jobs. I discovered Peerspace after reading about it in a social media post. Peerspace is a website and app that advertises independent rentals of studio space, rooms, yards and even fully furnished homes. They can be rented daily or by the hour. Some of the rentals come with props, backdrops, lights and other amenities. It’s literally a goldmine for anyone looking for space to rent for photography or video shoots. There are plenty of rentals available for all budgets and because of Peerspace and other similar sites, I am now able to accept any studio shoot!
Whenever you can save time on editing, you’re also saving money. Every minute saved is valuable to your business. My first year of photography editing involved mastering Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. These are software programs that are essential but I had never used them so they required many hours watching YouTube tutorials. To this day, I’m still learning. However, I was unaware of one-step application Preset filters and overlays that editors can use on photos during the editing process to quickly achieve a certain look. This discovery was valuable because Presets allowed me to quickly explore creative looks for my photos without investing a lot of time into the editing process. Presets require a simple task of dragging and dropping the filter onto the photo in Lightroom or Photoshop to achieve the desired look. The money invested on these can vary depending on who you purchase from. Many creatives make side money selling Presets they’ve created for photographers. Buying through their websites can be costly with an average of about $30 for a few filters. I’ve found the best deals on Etsy where a pack of 20 filters can cost you under $10. The editing time these Presets have saved me has been well worth the money spent.
I came across an ad on Facebook for a software program called Denoise AI by Topaz Labs. The software promised to eliminate noise, sharpen photos, upscale photos and recover details by using AI technology. Every photoshoot is met with the disappointment of discovering on occasional out-of-focus photo. Sometimes it’s due to equipment malfunctions. Other times it can be due to photographer hand movement or having improper settings. The software’s promise sounded too good to be true but desperate times called for desperate measures so I invested $2oo to purchase the software. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by the stunning results Denoise delivered. The ratio of unusable photos has dramatically decreased for me due to this software’s AI ability to salvage the occasional blurry photo. It even upscales photos taken with older cameras to give them sharpness.
AI was also introduced into Adobe Photoshop last year in 2023. The new Generative Fill feature has been a miracle resource for me. A complicated photo edit that previously took hours to complete such as the removal of objects, can now be achieved in about 3o seconds with stunning results. Of all the resources I have mentioned, this feature alone has saved me hours of editing and therefore saved me money. It’s a great time to be a photographer with all of these creative resources at our finger tips!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.birdzz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdzzphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/birdzzphotography
- Other: Tik Tok: http://tiktok.com/@birdzzphotography
Image Credits
All images photographed and owned by Birdzz Photography