Today we’d like to introduce you to Stewart Smith.

Hi Stewart, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

It all started when my sister was in high school. She was a part of the yearbook committee. She brought a camera home with her for a project and put it in my hands to let me play around with it. I took some pictures of my friends and she went back to school to develop the photos and brought them back to me and I thought it was so awesome. I was hooked.
By the time I got into high school I joined the yearbook committee and pretty much single-handedly took all the photos that went into the yearbook. Not only did I take them. I was in the darkroom developing film and printing the pictures.
When the yearbook came out, and I saw everybody in my school, looking at it and pointing at the pages and smiling, I knew this is what I wanted to do..
Once I graduated from high school, I then went onto Photography school down in Rhode Island at the Rhode Island school of photography. It was a two year class. I moved back to Maine and began my career as an assistant to another photographer.
I photographed a lot of my friends on the side to learn more and master the craft.
I hustled for many years, knocking on a lot of doors and making things happen. It is a very long story, but it’s a story about never giving up and always having determination..
Fast forward to today I am still taking pictures and making people happy and feel good about themselves.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

The hardest part back in the day when I first started was there was no Internet. People had to find out about you by word-of-mouth. I was always out and about meeting people and putting my business cards in people’s hands. I perfected the art of networking. Along the way I’m met a lot of great people And did a lot of favors to get me to where I am today. I never burned a bridge and I always took care of people.. I would always put in 110%. I had to make a lot of phone calls to build relationships with people out of state. I had to spend hours getting film developed and then picking up the pictures and then editing through them. Submitting to magazines was not easy. I had to send them physical copies of my work. We didn’t have digital photography back then. I did all this by myself and didn’t have anyone to help me.. I was completely determined to make something of myself and wasn’t taking no for an answer.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I specialize in a wide range of different types of Photography. Here is a list of the type of photography that I do.:
Modeling portfolios, weddings, Headshots, high school seniors, swimsuit and fitness sessions, glamour, and boudoir sessions, engagement, family, events, sports, birthday sessions, pageants, dance, and gymnastics, and take a lot of scenics.
I think the biggest thing that I am known for is all the models I got published in various magazines, such as Maxim, Playboy, muscle and fitness and photographing the entire 2005 New England Patriots cheerleaders swimsuit calendar. I also used to shoot for a baseball America and Baseball USA today..
I think the thing that I am most proud of is my determination. I made a lot of things happen for myself. If a magazine or modeling agencies said my work wasn’t good enough I shot until it was. I was not taking no for an answer. I know I have said this a few times already, but that is something that I am definitely proud of.
I think that is also a thing that sets me apart..
I am pretty much self-made. Nobody helped me get to where I am. As time went by of course I made friends and connections, but for the most part, everything that happened for me was because of the research I did and also always learning different photography techniques. I believe I am one of the only photographers here in Maine That get Models work and also published in magazines. .

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?

I think what I learned most about our Covid situation was I never stopped. I didn’t let it stop me from working. I was able to keep my distance from people. I also applied and received an essential permit to continue to work. I know this may not sit well with some people, but as time went by my opinions of Covid changed and worked with people that were on the same page I was on. In the beginning when I wasn’t too sure of what was happening I started a little bit of a side hustle and got into the stock market. I would say time stood still for about a month for me. When people realize I was still doing photo shoots my business actually increased.

Pricing:

• I charge $200 for head shots. That includes the time, me posting the images on a website, the client picking out two of their favorite images and then if they want more it’s $25 per file.
• I charge a flat rate of $2500 for five hours of wedding services. If they want me for an additional hours, it’s $200. Once the wedding is over, my clients will receive a thumb drive with all of the images.. I keep it pretty simple as people are really interested in digital Files these days.
• my modeling portfolio session start at $250.00 and go up from there depending on what the models needs are

Contact Info:

• Website: http://stewartsmithphotography.com
• Instagram: Http://instagram.com/stewartsmithphotigraphy
• Facebook: Http://facebook.com/stewartsmithphoto
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartsmithphotography
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/stewartsmithphotographymaine
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/stewart-smith-photography-scarborough