Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Seth Polfus. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Seth, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story that illustrates an important or relevant lesson you learned in school?

During my undergraduate career, I minored in photography at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. During this time I had the opportunity to learn from two photographer professors who taught me how to take photos with meaning, rather than thinking about social media value or color grading style. I believe learning from this perspective really gave me a foundation for photography in which I do business portrait work, but also take a wide variety of photos of the world around me. And in both situations, I am using the lesson I learned of thinking about how to capture the shot to convey the meaning I want to before I press the shutter button down.

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 background and context?

My name is Seth Polfus and I am the owner of Polfus Photography LLC based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I started out as a photography minor in college and eventually started my own business in July of 2020. I take all kinds of photos and sell fine art prints while also doing portraiture work such as engagements, weddings, family, and senior year sessions. I think what sets me apart from others is the wide variety of photos I take which ranges from wildlife images to classic portraits. I am most proud of the fact that I am a small business owner and the main thing I would like people to know about my work is that photography helps me appreciate the world around me and I am grateful that I have been able to start a business doing something that I enjoy so much.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

One of the most important things I do after a photo session is request a review of my work. I always try my best to provide the best work I can but ultimately, I understand there will be people who will be dissatisfied no matter how hard I try. After every photography session I request a review specifically on google, so potential clients can see how former clients felt about my work and so I can learn and grow through feedback each and every time I schedule a new client.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

One thing I do after establishing a client is ask them, what are they looking for? Do they have specific locations, outfits, or poses in mind? By asking this question, I am trying to find out what they want and cause them to think about they want. I think this makes for a better photography experience, even if they don’t have anything particular in mind. This also helps me stay in touch with clients up until the date of our photo session. As for brand loyalty, I always try to make the experience as fun as possible and work on continuously improving my mannerisms and posing techniques to make my clients more comfortable. One thing I tell all my clients is that if I put you in a position where you feel uncomfortable, you probably look uncomfortable, so please let me know. I hope by doing this I can keep open communication about what my clients want which hopefully encourages them to contribute their own ideas which I think is important for making the photo session their own. Then the next time they are looking for a photographer and have ideas in mind, they know they can bring those ideas forward during our next session.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sethpolfus24.wixsite.com/polfusphotography
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seth.polfus/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PolfusPhotographyLLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-polfus-392600154/