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

Bryan, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success requires a combination of factors and qualities. It involves having clear goals, working hard, and staying dedicated. It also requires continuously learning and adapting, being resilient and persevering through challenges, maintaining a positive mindset, building a strong network, and collaborating with others. Additionally, being adaptable and flexible, finding passion and purpose, managing time effectively, and possessing emotional intelligence are crucial. Success is subjective and personal, so it’s important to define what it means to you and pursue it in a way that aligns with your values and aspirations.

Bryan, 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?

Back in 2013 I started a clothing brand I was doing all of the process in-house. Between creating designs doing the screen printing process and managing web sells and events, I really noticed I was more interested in the marketing side of the brand. I had an older canon rebel at the time and so started doing all the photos for social media and the website. I had a good working knowledge of the camera just never really did much with it until I started shooting for my own brand. In 2019 I decided to end the brand and continue on to the next chapter over the course of the brand the photography and videography had taking over its all I wanted to do going forward. My photography ramped up fast it got 100% of my time and attention it was nonstop! With the growth of my photography and videography I have worked with several companies, brands and have my own brand Smithpines Media that recently completed the Art Junkie Documentary featuring Kelson Thorne.

As Smithpines Media grows I have a strong work ethic that focuses on client relationships, I do not offer packages with a set amount of photos. I feel like this has been a huge contributing factor to getting new clients, to set down in person and really understand what they want to capture. This gives me the opportunity to provide an experience not just a business transaction, I offer experiences that solve the need of the client on a personal level.

•Smithpines Media message

As a photographer, I specialize in creating visual stories that help businesses and individuals connect with their audience. With a focus on highlighting the unique personality and values of each client, my goal is to capture images that truly represent who they are and what they stand for.

With a background in graphic design, I bring a keen eye for composition, color, and typography to every shoot. Whether it’s capturing product images for an e-commerce site, creating portraits for a personal brand, or shooting lifestyle images for a social media campaign, I strive to create images that are both beautiful and effective.

In addition to my technical skills, I pride myself on my ability to connect with clients and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. By building a rapport and understanding their vision, I am able to create images that are authentic and meaningful.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media for me is a great tool to showcase my work you just have to have the confidence to put yourself out there! Social media can be very intimidating for creatives it’s truly heartbreaking to met a photographer, artist anything type of creator that has amazing work and doesn’t have the confidence to showcase it on social media for the world to see.

I look at it like this if everyone does the same type of content everything looks the same, go against the grain sometimes do something that’s outside of the normal.

The trends come and go you do not have to copy what’s popular, consistency is the key. You develop a style over time and when you lock in on it that’s when you find a new love for your craft!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When I do photo shoots most of the time we build a good relationship through the process of the planning of the shoots. My marketing to clients is a personal experience not a package plan this leads to return clients!

Contact Info:

• Website: smithxpines.com
• Instagram: smithpines
• Facebook: smithpines
• Youtube: smithpines

Image Credits
skater is Landon Snawder Painter Kelson Thorne Baby photo is my daughter Dog is with Miranda Murphy I have full rights to all photos.