JUST days before each month’s rent was due in 2017, Bryan Smith said he would get a major booking for a photo shoot which allowed him to make his payments. At that time Smith was not an established photographer, but he said if there were any indications that suggested he took the occupation seriously, it would have been those experiences.

“I would get a big photo shoot for corporate events — Christmas parties, functions, and conferences — right before my rent was due. I said, ‘No man, this must be the work of God.’ Every single month. At the time, nobody knew who I was so it was difficult to do photo shoots and I didn’t have any work to showcase, but I just kept going,” Smith told Career & Education.

The 39-year-old St Catherine resident explained that he started out doing photography while working at a call centre, from 2009 to 2016, where his female colleagues would occasionally request maternity shoots.

“A lot of women were pregnant there. One person reached out to me and I did the maternity shoot and it came out good, and then others would start requesting shoots,” said Smith.

“But a lot of our positions were made redundant [at the call centre] after the company lost the account we were working on. Photography, which was a plan B, became a plan A for me,” he said.

Smith said he decided to do a lot of research about photography before he officially launched his business on social media platform Instagram in 2017, which he named Bryan R Smith Photography.

“It was as a result of Googling, watching YouTube videos about marketing, and I got some tips. I started to grow my followers so jobs kept coming in,” he said.

But upgrading his business did not stop there.

“While doing more research too, I read that as a photographer you need to have a website if you want people to take you seriously, so because of my background in information technology I knew how to build a website so I did that, then launched it.”

With his research and a few lessons learnt from working at the call centre, Smith said his photography business has been good so far, especially since he has more work to showcase.

“Those little jobs that came have allowed me to have a portfolio now so that people can see my work. So business has been very good, and with all the marketing done in the early stages, it is starting to pay off now.

“As a result of being in the call centre, especially spending my last four years as a supervisor, I realised the importance of customer service to a business. Whenever persons are doing a photo shoot I give them an experience so they can say ‘Wow’. It’s not just about taking pictures, it’s giving them an experience that would allow them to be comfortable. Customer service is what I use to separate myself from other photographers.”

Smith does photo shoots for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, corporate events, engagements and maternity events.

And since he started out his photography business doing mostly maternity photo shoots, it came as no surprise that those are his favourite types.

“I really enjoy it. I even got the title ‘Maternity Boss’ from fellow photographers. I just love to see the moms, and I love when the dads take part too. When I started out I realised that fathers didn’t like taking pictures, so when I persuaded them to be in it you would see how pleased the moms were. Also, some women don’t see themselves as beautiful when they get pregnant, so being able to capture them in the moment to let them see their beauty when they are pregnant is also a joy,” an ecstatic Smith said.

Smith pointed out that his most impactful experience was in 2017 when he was recommended by a publisher to do a photo shoot of an author. He said he had no clue that the author was Senator Floyd Morris who published his book, By Faith, Not by Sight.

“I was the one who took his photograph for his book cover. When it hit me was when I was at the book launch where I saw a lot of politicians, and to see my name in the book, I was like ‘Wow’. It was a proud moment for me, to know I was just starting out and was able to get that feature,” he explained.

While many businesses have been badly impacted by the economic effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Smith said his photography business has been thriving, which he is positive will continue.

“It [pandemic] worked in my favour as a result of people not being able to have birthday dinners and parties, so they resorted to doing birthday shoots. That has become really popular. Going forward, my aim is to continue improving my skills, growing the business, and keep capturing memories that will last a lifetime,” said Smith.