Member Monday: Rob Brown of Tee Rage Portraits

June 12, 2019 Member Monday

Member Monday is a weekly blog post highlighting portrait photographers in the Sue Bryce Education community.

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Q: Where are you located?
A: Corinth, MS (population 15,000) in northeast Mississippi.

Q: How long have you been a photographer?
A: I have been a professional photographer for a little over six years.

senior portraits, football player, Sue Bryce, black and white, Rob Brown

Q: Can you tell us about your journey? 
A: Pictures were always a big part of my life, even growing up, but I didn’t really get serious about it until 2010. We had purchased a Nikon D40 for my wife for Mother’s Day, so we could take “good pictures” of our son! Seems almost comical now. Then in late 2010, I figured out that there was so much more you could do with a camera when you took it out of auto. 
I began shooting everything I could and testing the different settings of ISO/aperture/shutter speed and experimenting to learn how that light triangle worked together. In 2012 I had a girl I worked with ask me to do her engagement photos and I said yes. They were pretty good, not by my standards today, but in 2012 they were!

Q: What genres do you shoot? What’s your favorite?
A: When I first started I was exceptional at sports portraits and the images looked like Nike or Under Armour ads and I almost got pigeonholed into being known as a sports photographer. I love my “sportography” but my passion is shooting fashion styled senior portraits. As for what type of genres I shoot now, I am primarily a senior portrait photographer. I also do limited children’s portraits.

senior portraits, basketball player, Sue Bryce, Rob Brown

Q: Do you have a studio?
A: My studio is part of our home. I have a room I shoot in with backdrops, sometimes one light, sometimes a three light set up, depending on what I am shooting. I also have an office/sales room where I do my pre-session consults and sales appointments. I have a 43-inch flat screen on the wall where I show my clients their images in the form of a slide show before going through each image individually as they make their selections.

Q: What are the challenges with shooting on-location?
A: All of my senior session are location shoots, and because I shoot with strobes on location lighting is never an issue. The only issues I have to contend with are sometimes vehicles or other people in the frame, but most of the time I position my clients so that we don’t have to worry about those things. I have fallen in the water with my entire camera rig before (and that is why you need insurance)!

senior portraits, senior girl photos poses, Sue Bryce, Rob Brown

Q: What’s in your camera bag? 
A: I currently use a Nikon D810 with a 24-70 f/2.8 and a 70-200 f/2.8. My 70-200 is my favorite lens at the moment. I go back and forth between the two lenses as to which one I love more! As an artist I don’t script my sessions, I flow through them and direct my clients through the poses. Sometimes they will look a certain direction or shift/move in a way that is just magical and I’m able to capture those fleeting moments.

Q: What are your lighting preferences? 
A: I shoot 95% of my images with a strobe! I currently use the Flashpoint 600. High-speed sync has spoiled me. By allowing me to shoot at f/2.8, with my shutter speed as high as 1/8,000 of a second (I seldom shoot that fast) but I usually keep it 1/400 to 1/3200.

Q: How’s business going?
A: The first year I was in business I made about $15,000 gross and over the last six years, I have built a $100,000 business that is a side hustle. I still have a Monday-Friday, 8 to 5, day job.  I’m pretty happy with my website, however right now 87% of my referrals come from Instagram.

Q: What’s in your marketing toolbox?
A: As far as marketing goes, I have a .pdf info guide I send out to potential clients who contact me that lays out the entire process of the portrait experience. I also have started modeling teams for the Classes of 2020-2024 for marketing purposes, and that is really all the marketing I do. I run an occasional ad on Facebook and Instagram, but that is pretty much it.

senior portraits, senior girl photos poses, Sue Bryce, Rob Brown

Q: What’s challenging you right now?
A: My challenges right now are that it’s still a side hustle and I wonder where the path is going. I have built it from nothing to a thriving business and I am completely humbled by that. I get to photograph people and get paid to do it! I am getting growing inquires for family, newborn, and maternity headshots. I prefer to stay in my lane and do what I do, and saying “no” to people is hard! I am honored that they would ask me to photograph them or their family members,  but I say “no” because those types of images are not where my heart is.

senior portraits, senior girl photos poses, Sue Bryce, Rob Brown

Q: What inspires you the most?
A: I am inspired by the hustle. Every single day I get to do what I am most passionate about. Being able to stay motivated and in motion inspires me. While some days it’s not easy, it’s completely worth the sacrifice.

Q: For those getting started, what advice do you have?
A:  I would say fail often, and fail mightily! And have patience. In this world of immediate gratification, you aren’t good when you start. None of us are, but we think we are. You aren’t and that is okay! You are supposed to learn and grow, and that takes time. Go practice and don’t get ahead of yourself. Learn to see the light, once you can really see it you can do anything you want. And lastly, don’t be like everyone else. Find your style and be who you are, and don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of you! Do you!

senior portraits, senior girl photos with glam dress, Sue Bryce, Rob Brown

Q: What are your favorite training courses?
A: I have always loved 28 days with Sue Bryce, but in recent past, I love her One Light Set Up she did for the 2017 Portrait Masters conference. I have purchased several of the courses offered by The Portrait Masters. Pratik’s Retouching Series course has given me a lot of help.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to share with us?
A: I can never thank Sue enough for what she has taught me. And for inspiring me to get outside my comfort zone and go out and find my inner artist. She was there at the beginning of this journey and she is still right there, never far out of my periphery. Thank you, Sue, for being bold and challenging all of us to challenge ourselves!

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