Today we’d like to introduce you to Preston Smith.
Hi Preston, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Photography and Cinematography weren’t something that I grew up with. I’ve always disliked reading so visual storytelling always made sense to me. I graduated college in December 2007 with a BA in Marketing. I then spent the next 8 years in Corporate Sales (and dodging layoffs in the worst economy a new graduate could ever imagine) and eventually became a Strategic Sales manager for NA for a large industrial manufacturing company. In 2010 my wife and I got our first dog (Walle). I wanted to document his life as well as our own so we bought a Nikon D3000 (a very entry-level DSLR) At the same time I was a very active Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor and began taking photos at tournaments for my friends. Over time people began to tell me that I had a good eye for photography and really began to enjoy it. Within a year I upgraded to a slightly better camera and lenses. Fast forward a few years and it had become a full-time side hustle. Every weekend I was shooting something. Anything from family portraits, weddings, jiu-jitsu competitions, CrossFit competitions, or just for fun. I just wanted as many reps as possible to grow my skills. Around the 6-year mark, I really began thinking that this might be something that I can turn into a full-blown career. I was basically working full doing photography and my corporate job. Eventually, in 2016 I made the decision to walk away from my job and pursue being my own boss. The biggest motivator for the decision was the crippling fear that I would wake up in 10 years and wish I would have taken the chance. At the end of the day, I could always go find another job if things didn’t work out. But I’d much rather admit failure than to look back and regret not trying. From that day on I haven’t looked back. At first, the plan was just photography. I hadn’t had any experience with video and didn’t have plans to. But with the rapidly evolving world of social media, all my clients and prospective clients were now asking for videos. At that time, I was confronted with the realization that I could pivot to the needs of the market or risk not progressing my business. So, in 2017 I made a hard course correction a dove headfirst into the world of video. In the span of 8 months, I went from 100% photography to about 75/25 Video to Photography ratio. From there, things have only evolved and today I find myself getting to DP or Direct commercials and documentaries for the biggest brands in the world.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I would be lying if I told you, it’s been a tough road. Truth be told everything has unfolded incredibly over the last 6 years. Of course, there are growing pains, hard lessons learned and maturing. But I don’t consider those to be struggling. Just part of the process
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We specialize in nothing Haha. We don’t ever want to be pigeonholed into a niche market. Now of course when you begin to work a lot in certain markets you get calls to work for companies in that same market. But I’ve always tried to diversify our clients and the work we do. The bulk of our business is in the “fitness” space. Anything involving an athlete and we are game. We’ve had the opportunity to shoot documentaries for the UFC, Bellator, and CrossFit (just to name a few) But we also spent a good amount of time shooting regular commercials with companies like Tempur Pedic, and Men’s Wearhouse, Lowes, and John Deer. What I want potential clients to know is that we are willing to try anything. I’ve always said yes first and then figure it out
What do you think about happiness?
Happiness is being able to wake up every day and know that I am in complete control of what happens in my business. Let me clarify that statement. I entered the job market in 2008 in the absolute worst conditions. The worst economic climate since the great depression and I was 22, newly married, and had zero experience. In 8 years, I was laid off from 4 different companies. Not a single layoff was due to performance or disciplinary reasons. It was purely motivated from cost-cutting. “Last in first out”. This conditioned me to feel hopeless. Because no matter what I did or how I performed, I could be eliminated with a phone call on a Friday. So, knowing that the hard work I do for my business directly impacts me is a great comfort.
Contact Info:
- Email: preston@prestonsmithfilms.com
- Website: www.prestonsmithfilms.com
- Instagram: @prestonsmithphotography
