We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Travis Branum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Travis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
I grew up in the Star Wars era so I have always been a huge fan. So much so that I was a member of the 501st for a few years. That a “professional” Star Wars character costume group that primarily does work for charity groups. My adult paid profession was in Emergency Medical Services/Fire Service and started as an EMT. When I had to create a gamertag long ago for Xbox I chose darksideemt. With all that when it came time to try and go professional with my photography I chose Pics by darksideemt. I already had that as my Instagram name so I felt being established there with that name would carry over well to my website and Facebook photography page.
Travis, 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?
I started photography as a hobby in my late teens just before the digital era. That definitely dates me after reading that. Most of my photography starting out was on vacations of the family and then as my girls were growing up taking pics of memories. I have always been a huge car guy so once my girls were grown and I got in to going to car shows and meets I started doing car photography. That is what I primarily do in photography but when I travel I love doing landscapes and street photography. I especially love going to cities that make for good car spotting while I am out exploring so that the car photography merges with street photography. I feel that over the many years I have been working at the craft I feel that lately I have been finally doing my best work and hope to continue to improve.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
While I don’t feel I have a huge social media following or presence like I would like or the people I look up to have, it has been mainly from just meeting people at car shows or meets. I have had some companies share/repost my work so I have gained followers from that as well but I feel the majority are from meeting in person over the years. I feel consistency in posting and the quality of the posts helps grow your following most but if you can find a niche in the field you are trying to grow that will definitely get you noticed quicker.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I feel that for me passion is what is driving my creative journey the most. Having the passion for cars and photography pretty much my whole life is what has driven me to try and turn those loves into a business. I am also lucky enough to not feel forced to follow certain trends or do certain things because I don’t have to do this to survive. If that wasn’t the case I think it would effect how you keep the love and passion versus feeling like it’s do or die. It is definitely not something that happens overnight so when you don’t have that pressure that if it doesn’t turn into something quickly you wouldn’t be able to continue doing it because photography is not a cheap hobby.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://picsbydarksideemt.com
- Instagram: darksideemt
- Facebook: Pics by darksideemt
