Muna Coterie Photographer Bryan Smith of Love Stories by Smitty isn’t just looking to capture the “perfect” shot; he’s passionate about getting to know his clients, sharing their unique love stories, and showcasing Black Love in all its beautiful forms.
Bryan’s journey begins in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was born and raised as the youngest of three brothers in a middle-class home by two loving parents (who are going on 36 years of marriage!).
His upbringing was filled with playing sports like basketball and football, hitting the books in school, and attending church every Sunday.
“Church was big in our household,” Bryan recalls. “Even my cousins knew that if they spent the weekend over at our house they better have brought church clothes because Sunday morning was reserved for that.”
Bryan’s fascination with cameras sparked in elementary school.
“My school had a weekly newscast filled with student anchors, weather reporters, and cameramen. I was pretty interested in the cameras and my mother noticed.”
In middle school, she introduced him to “the magnet program,” a specialized program for public school students that allowed them to major in a particular subject. Naturally, Bryan gravitated to the camera. “Broadcast and communications were my niche,” he reveals.
From 7th grade to graduating high school, Bryan was exposed to different forms of media like news, radio, and graphic design. At only 12 years old, his family’s church even had a media ministry that he eagerly joined.
On Sundays, I would operate the church cameras recording live services and events. The director at the time never allowed young people to join but he told me that there was something different about me. I was mature for my age and had a seriousness about operating the cameras.
– Bryan Smith of Love Stories by Smitty
Bryan’s love for media led him to attend Florida A&M University where he majored in Broadcast Journalism.
An astute student, he always made the Dean’s List and was heavily involved on campus. “I was in a dance troupe, a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, a Big Brother in BBLB, and heavily involved in the School of Journalism and Graphic Communications,” he shares.
Bryan gained ample experience in journalism and news production while participating in FAMU’s award-winning student news broadcast. He even won an AP Award for co-producing an Election Night Special newscast for the 2016 Presidential Election.
In 2015, Bryan’s Aunt gifted him his first camera, officially opening his eyes to photography.
He recalls, “I didn’t use [the camera] for about a year until a friend needed photos taken for their graduation. He liked them. Other people like them. I ended up shooting my first paid graduation session and that was the moment I realized I could actually get paid doing something I genuinely liked to do.”
“From there, I never put my camera down,” Bryan admits, smiling. “I’d photograph personal projects, graduations, and promotional shoots for Greek organizations on campus. I’d lock myself in my room some days watching YouTube and learning how to retouch skin. I invested $50 (a lot of money for a struggling college student) in a photography course hosted by 3 successful photographers in Tallahassee at the time. I even shot my first wedding in Tallahassee for a whopping $200 (also big bucks for a struggling college student).”
Before graduating in 2017, he interned for WCTV (Tallahassee News, a local newspaper, and post-graduation, went on to earn a summer fellowship at CBS News headquarters in New York.
He admits, “After the fellowship, I got homesick and returned home where I landed my first job as an Associate Producer for Local 10 News in my beloved hometown South Florida.”
While working at Local 10 News, he would still take photos on his days off and even sometimes before clocking in for his graveyard shift.
Bryan reveals, “At work, we used two monitors at our desk in the newsroom. For me, I would work on one monitor and have YouTube up on the other monitor as I learned from big-time photographers and videographers.”
Fast forward to 2019, everything changed when Bryan connected with Muna Coterie Photographer, Kareem Virgo of REEM Photography.
“That was my true introduction to the wedding and events industry,” Bryan shares.
From that point forward, he was immersed in the world of weddings. Storytelling was his passion and Black love was his inspiration. After officially leaving corporate America behind in 2018, today, Bryan travels the world to capture couples’ most special events wherever love takes him.
Keep reading below for more of Bryan’s journey, how he transitioned from Corporate America to pursuing his entrepreneurial dreams full-time, and what he aspires to accomplish in the new year.
- Owner: Bryan Smith
- Featured Brand: Love Stories by Smitty
- Blog Series: Behind The Brand
When did you decide to jump into photography full-time?
Eventually, the entrepreneurship bug started biting me. The thought of full-time entrepreneurship crossed my mind every single day. It was scary and yet very exciting to think about. I prayed countless times and asked God to show me a sign of what I should do. If entrepreneurship was for me, I was going to need spiritual guidance for sure.
After about 6 months, my enthusiasm at Local 10 News died down and my performance suffered. I was sick of news, the graveyard shift, and not having a normal social life. In the back of my mind, I had already checked out from the workplace and had the ‘I don’t need this job’ mentality.
My boss had given me my final warning. Before they could fire me, I beat them to the punch and requested that they give me a month to get my ducks in a row and then I would put in my letter of resignation. Any average person would be bummed out that they were about to lose a good-paying job but for whatever reason, I felt joy inside of me. Like, “I’m really about to do this.”
I went home and told my parents my plans and even though they were supportive, I could see the discomfort in their faces. For them, the motto was ‘get a good education, get a good job, and save your coins.’ So entrepreneurship was a tough concept to grasp.
In June 2018, I put in my letter of resignation and in July I was officially a full-time entrepreneur.
– Bryan Smith of Love Stories by Smitty
What makes your company, Love Stories By Smitty, unique? Describe your photography style.
Love Stories By Smitty is more than the average wedding photography company. Our photos stand out from others and that’s not an accident. My goal for every photoshoot and wedding is to provide my couples with a gallery of captured memories that they can’t stop looking at and showing off to the world.
One time, I was having a conversation with a group of guys and they truly believed Black people didn’t get married or loved each other. So it became the mission of Love Stories By Smitty to capture Black love at its finest and most positive form. Because we do get married, we do love each other, and there are many of us out here getting married.
My photography style itself is unique. I specialize in providing clean, editorial, modern, and moody images. I want to capture the full range of emotions that exemplify my couple’s love for each other. The smiles, laughter, deep intimate looks at each other, the passion, etc. No doubt in my mind that couples that get in front of my camera will be changing their wallpapers and screen savers to images that were captured by LSBS.
How did you overcome challenges and adversity while building your business?
My mindset. Building a business is so hard. Coming from corporate America, I was not ready for the demands of being an entrepreneur and building my business. I didn’t understand scheduling, marketing, or investing. So in the beginning my bank account reflected my activity.
Even though there were plenty of failures and challenges I went through, I stuck with it. I didn’t give up. Most businesses fail within the first 3 years simply because the owner got fed up and quit. I always had the character trait of perseverance. When I was about 21 years old, I got a tattoo of a quote I made that stated, ‘Failure was never an option.’ You only fail when you give up. That has been my mood my entire life.
When I was younger, that was my mindset while playing sports, exercising, and even playing video games, and had to fight the big boss at the end. I guess that mindset poured into me being a business owner. I may face temporary defeat or it may take me a while to figure some things out but I continue to stick it through.
Regardless of the challenges that come up, I’ll continue to work, believe, and have faith that God didn’t bring me this far just to bring me this far.
In your opinion, what makes the “perfect” wedding photo?
Photography is art and art is subjective so perfection to me may not be as impressive to someone else. To me, the perfect wedding photo would be a photo that tells a beautiful story. In a photo, the emotions, colors, details, composition, and overall uniqueness are what separates an average photo from a perfect photo.
On your website, you talk about providing an “experience” for clients over just “pretty pictures”. How do you guide clients through a typical photo session?
Love Stories By Smitty isn’t just your average wedding photography company. I care about my couples in a way that some photographers don’t. To some, couples are just another number. Not here. I want to know you. Where are you two from? How’d you meet? Who slid in Who’s DM to shoot their shot first? I’m not looking to just take your money, shoot your photos, and then never see you again. My goal is to grow together. Not only capture your wedding but other stages of life from maternity and other life achievements.
During a typical photo session, couples can expect their initial nervousness to disappear once in front of the camera. I always prep clients prior to the photo session about the expectations. So regardless of what myth the couple may have about not being photogenic or not knowing how to pose, I take care of all of that. I usually bring my own personal portable speaker so that we can all vibe out to our favorite R&B tunes or whatever makes the couple their most comfortable.
Honestly, for me it’s easy. A lot of times, the nervous jitters in the beginning fade quickly and chemistry takes over. From there, I guide the couple with posing, prompts, etc. to make the photoshoot fun and therapeutic for them.
As you broaden your portfolio to include more destination elopements and intimate weddings, what destination would you love to shoot at?
Santorini, Greece is definitely top of the list for me. Africa is also a dream destination I would love to capture love in.
What are the challenges of capturing destination events and how do you overcome those? What are the positives?
One of the biggest challenges with capturing destination events is travel and planning. I love it though, being a wedding photographer, you learn that successful wedding photographers embrace challenges, they are adaptive and ultimately solutions experts. So great communication helps.
When I was a news producer/associate producer, the main skill I learned was how to depict a timeline. So I guess I use that as a cheat code as well. The positive is that every couple and destination is unique. I am all for adventure in this season of my life and get inspired by every destination and love story I get the opportunity to capture.
Who is your dream client?
Hmm, probably Lebron and Savannah Brinson James because they look amazing together. Also, Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe because they seem like true best friends and I think would be tons of fun to work with.
Share any advice or tips for other photographers looking to take their own leap of faith to pursue photography full-time
When I was going through the process of taking my leap of faith to pursue photography full-time, there was a simple but powerful quote I heard that truly changed my perspective. I forgot who said it (it may have been Steve Harvey but don’t quote me) but it went like this:
“One of two things will happen when you take a leap of faith: Either you will fly or God is going to catch you.”
I will never forget that quote.
So I would say, believe that there is more to life than you making another person rich. If you feel miserable in your workplace, there is a reason for that. God gave all of us a gift and you are no exception. If you constantly get these visions of being a full-time shooter and you feel it in your bones then it’s not an accident. Believe in yourself more than anything.
I haven’t really talked about this much but after I quit my job, I failed miserably in the beginning of being a full-time entrepreneur. I didn’t understand setting my own schedule. Well, I was still living with my parents at the time and my mom had had enough. She started pestering me to get another job. But I KNEW being a full-time photographer was for me.
Despite everything, I never complained. I just believed. I always paid rent on time and never missed any fees I had to pay. After a while, shooting opportunities increased and it literally turned my mom into a true believer.
What can we expect from you in 2024?
I want to shoot more destination elopements so I’d love to connect with couples and wedding planners within the Muna community to bring that vision to life. I know there are plenty of couples within our community who would rather have more intimate weddings that are still beautiful and yet cost-effective.
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