We were lucky to catch up with Brian Kolin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brian, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Was Very simple, BDK Photography is my intention for my name Brian David Kolin :)

Brian , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Being native since my childhood in Brunswick, Ohio back in 2011 I decided to move to Fort Lauderdale, FL to go to the Art Insitute of Fort Lauderdale to work on my photography degree. During that time I studied photography for two years and worked with a lot of very well-known photographers based out of South Florida where I learned a lot of my skills in the photography world. After graduating I was hired by a full-time studio located in Fort Lauderdale where I worked for 13 years learning my craft.

My wife and I then decided we wanted to move back to Ohio. When returning back to Ohio I was hired by another studio in Cleveland where I worked for 6 years and the rest is history.

My wife was a big inspiration for me to take on this new adventure of starting my own photography business. So in late 2021 with covid going on I decided to take my chances and started to put a plan of action in place. I started thinking about how can I separate myself from other photographers? Gaining so much knowledge throughout those 18 years I learned very strong lighting skills in the studio, on location, and most importantly learning to work with many types of personalities and getting the best results possible from each client so I can produce the best images for my clients. The process of delivering exceptional photos begins far before the actual snapping of the camera. An excellent photographer goes above and beyond what is expected, putting the time and detail into their work from start to finish.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

A Story for you, While working at the Florida Studio I was contacted by a marketing agency to cover a huge event that would take place in South Florida. The agency did not want to inform me of who the event was for because it was a high-end top-secret client. After spending a month or so going back and forth with them on the cost they kept changing things up every week. So I had to change my quote every week as well. This event would consist of capturing over 200 people covering places they visited for about a week around South Florida capturing video and stills. My studio manager kept telling me to stop wasting my time on them. I insisted that this could be a great job for us so I kept spending a lot of my time requoting after requoting. Being persistent in this field for sure pays off. Clients value people that are on top of things and focus all their energy on them. I honestly feel that! Well, after 3 months of going back and forth with them I landed the job for just over $30,000.00! The client ended up being a gold mining company from out of the county. Persistence pays off!!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

For sure referrals and website

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bdkphotography.com
• Instagram: bdkphotography2022
• Linkedin: Brian Kolin