We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brian Jeremiason. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brian below.
Brian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
While I’ve always had an interest in photography, I didn’t start truly learning and pursuing improvement until my kids were older and I found myself with more time on my hands. Without formal training, there was a lot of trial and error. Joining social media groups focused on photography, signing up for online courses, talking with other photographers and eventually upgrading equipment all helped improve my knowledge and skills. The end result never tells the full story. We don’t see the hours of work, trial and error, practice and failures that lead to that result. I remember reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, a fantastic book about what makes high achievers different. He often references the 10,000 hour rule that suggests that expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practicing for at least 10,000 hours.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a photographer/digital creator located in Southwestern Minnesota, but I travel all over for clients and for fun. I got started shooting sports for my hometown newspaper, but quickly evolved and expanded to seniors, families, weddings and commercial projects. While my focus is still on photography, we’ve been slowly adding video for some of our commercial clients and have started some basic website development and hosting as well. Basically, I try to provide a complete visual solution to tell a story about an individual, event, or company.
One thing I’m proud of is that my clients know I’m willing work hard to help them achieve their vision. I hate saying no, and am usually willing to try anything.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In the spring of 2020, the world was trying to come to grips with the Covin-19 pandemic. The state I live in had shut down all non-essential businesses, including outdoor photography for a time. With one source of income disappearing, I had to look at alternative revenue streams. I had a son who was a senior in high school at the time and school was moving to remote learning. Some parents contacted me about ways to recognize these seniors, who were missing out on that senior year with friends. I put together a design for a yard sign that many parents purchased to honor their seniors. Those signs have now become an annual tradition, and I’ve been lucky enough to provide them for other communities. I’ve also been contracted to provide them for sports teams, golf tournaments, and small businesses. I’ve recently moved to producing larger signs for billboard and other outdoor advertising.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Word of mouth and social media have been keys to helping my grow my clients. I try to make it a point to share my projects online, when permitted. I encourage interaction on my posts and try to keep my personal pages positive and welcoming. Most of my clients are located within 30 miles of me, so I also make it a point to be visible and active in the region. Participating in community events, volunteering on local boards, attending school activities in the region, etc. Giving back to the community often leads to new opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jeremiasonphoto.com
- Instagram: @jeremiasonphoto
- Facebook: Jeremiason Photo
Image Credits
photo credits – Jeremiason Photo