We were lucky to catch up with Stephen Odunlami recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stephen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Over the past 4 years of accepting bookings, I have not had a disappointed customer. In fact, I have a 5-star rating on Google reviews! This is because I put my clients and models first. I put people before profit every time. I believe that I am only to create beautiful photos if my clients are comfortable, relaxed, and feel safe with me. I try to make jokes out of random things, have good talks, and create a healthy relationship with the person or people on the other side of the lens.

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 became a photographer out of passion for creativity. I try to make my sessions unique to whoever I take photos of. This requires careful planning and practice before the session so that I have various tools at my disposal to help me create different scenes to fit the subject’s personality.

I try to be different from other photographers, especially when choosing a location. Most portrait photographer take photos with trees in the background or in fields, or in the woods. I have decided to stay away from these kind of locations because I want my clients to feel luxurious. I take them to locations with nice buildings around or structures with beautiful architecture. Sometimes, I take them to indoor locations where there’s a great balance between darkness and light. These spots make me create beautiful, unique, and creative photos that please my clients and make them return!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Don’t do free work after you’ve leveled up in skill. It’s okay to offer free services at the beginning, but there needs to be a time when all free services stop, and making income begins. No for-profit business will exist if the services rendered are free of charge. I have heard people ask me to do a free photo shoot for them, and they will “spread the word” for me or that I would gain exposure in return. My response is usually that they got to know about me because of exposure, so I must be doing something right with marketing. Therefore, I wouldn’t render the service free of charge to them for an exposure that isn’t guaranteed. If i keep conducting photo shoots for free, profit will continue to be far from me. This is something I wish I knew earlier, but I am moving on, knowing not to do free photo shoots.

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

I usually text or call my past clients to check up on them from time to time. This helps build comfort and trust between us, and is also a good way to remind them of good memories we might have created.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dunlam.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dunlam_official
• Facebook: Dunlam

Image Credits
Personal Photo by Khosro R.Kordi