Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Szpakowski.
Peter, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My name is Peter Szpakowski. I am a local professional Headshot and event photographer in Dallas-Fort Worth. I specialize in large group headshots and individual headshots that bring out a person’s personality and project authentic images that show capability and approachability. I provide facial expression coaching, and I make everyone photogenic. I love taking large group headshots and love to hear so many people tell me that nobody has ever captured an image of them they like, and it is the best image anyone has ever captured of them in their lives. I shoot for that every single time and even get some tears from people in the process.
I have always been fascinated with photography. Even as a small child growing up in Detroit, if I saw a camera lying around, I would sneak off with it and capture images. My grandparents kept my first image, which I took with a camera. It was a Milk carton.
As I grew up, I became interested in so many different styles of photography. From Ansel Adams to Bill Dobbins. But it was Bill Dobbins’ images in bodybuilding magazines that captured my attention. My cousin had pictures of bodybuilders on his wall. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Bill Pearl, Reg Park. I not only liked the pictures, but I liked their physiques. At the age of 11, I started lifting weights to become a bodybuilder.
I did very well in bodybuilding. I became nationally qualified twice and even placed in one of those physique transformation challenges. The one I won runner-up in was with Lee Labrada’s transformation challenge. At the peak of my bodybuilding, I got injured playing flag football. I tore the ligament in both shoulders. It became so bad I could not lift at the level I needed to as a Bodybuilder. I loved bodybuilding. I did not want to stop, and I wanted to stay involved. With bodybuilding, I became acquainted with several top promoters, including Jim Lorimer, who ran the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in Columbus, Ohio. This was at a time when digital cameras just started coming out. I went to the show and took images. They were fantastic, and having been a bodybuilder, I knew what pictures would make people not only look good but help them improve for their next competition. The next year, I reached out to the competitors, offering to take their images for $50, and they could have every image I took of them. I think I got 5 or 6 people to pay me, and it was enough to pay for my trip. This was back in 2012. This is the year I use as becoming a professional photographer because people started paying me. In 2013, people had heard about my images, and that year I had nearly half of the professional competitors pay me. From there, I went on to photograph Bodybuilding shows across Michigan, top shows in Columbus, Ohio, and Las Vegas, including the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic and the Mr. Olympia. I got to photograph such stars as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and many of the Top Bodybuilders of today.
In 2017, I needed a change from just doing Bodybuilding. One day, I was watching Scott Kelby’s The Grid. He had this guy on who was a professional headshot photographer. His name was Peter Hurley. He was the top headshot photographer in the world and runs an organization called the Peter Hurley’s Headshot Crew. His images were so beautiful and captured people’s personalities. During the show, I found out he was going to be in Detroit 3 days later doing a seminar. I went and learned as much as I could in this seminar. At that point, I knew I wanted to be a headshot photographer and joined the Headshot Crew to learn from the best. Today, Peter Hurley is responsible for a great part of my success, and he and I are good friends to this day.
In 2018, I moved from Oxford, Michigan, to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I live in Fort Worth and later left the company I worked for at that time. In 2020, right in the middle of COVID, I decided it was a good time to open a studio. I found a location right in Downtown Dallas in the Hartford Building. I loved having my studio in this building. It reminded me of Peter Hurley’s studio in Manhattan. I was there for 3 years and had great success as a headshot photographer.
In 2021, just 1 year after opening my studio in Dallas, I got sick with COVID. I was admitted into the hospital with COVID and would spend the next 60 days in the ICU fighting for my life. I was told my lungs had major damage and looked like the lungs of an 80-year-old. But I stayed strong and only thought about getting out of the hospital and spending the rest of my life enjoying my family. 61 days after going into ICU, losing 120lbs, and losing the ability to walk, I was moved to a rehab center to learn to walk once again. It was a very hard time and was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I stayed positive. I do believe I’m only here today because of God, my faith in God, and having the mindset that helped me in Bodybuilding to never give up and push through some of the hardest tasks. The extra muscle I had built as a Bodybuilder saved me. Because of my extra muscle, the virus attacked my muscles first, attacking them so hard that I even lost the ability to walk. This protected my organs and ultimately saved my life.
It was a long road back, but 2 months after leaving the rehab center, I started to walk again, and 3 months later, I was even able to drive, and return to photography.
Since that time, I have been able to build a successful photography business focusing on Headshots and personal branding. From businesses to individuals just wanting a nice image of themselves. Another area I have been able to build is building eye-catching portfolios for Models, Actors, and Realtors. This is a great part of my business, but where I excel is in large group headshots. From doing corporate headshots to providing headshots and event photography at conventions and conferences across the country. While most of my headshots and event photography are done in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I do travel to places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Orlando, and Chicago. And others providing some of the best in glass headshots and event photography in the industry. I make the process seamless from the moment a client inquires to the time I deliver the final images. I make the process simple and stress-free so coordinators have one less thing to worry about. I handle it all.
The other nice part about being a headshot and event photographer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is the demand for model and actor portfolios. Most of my business right now is with people needing portfolios for modeling and acting. With each one, I not only give them something that makes them stand out but also each one is individually unique.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes, I have had two major obstacles with my photography business.
The first one was COVID in 2020. Right after I opened my first studio in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, COVID hit the area, and businesses were shut down. Not only could I not get business due to regulations I was not bringing in any income as a result. During this time, I focused on building my business. I took advantage of the time and built advertising, marketing materials, worked on my website, and got ready for when business would open back up. When it did, I was ready, but it was a hard time for 3 – 4 months, having just opened the studio a month before shutdowns took place.
The second was in 2021 when I contracted COVID and was in the ICU for 61 days. I nearly died as I explained in the previous question, lost 120 lbs, lost the ability to walk, and could not stand up without passing out. I would even pass out if I laughed because my lungs had such a bad capacity. This impacted me again, but for 9 months, I never set foot in the studio. I stayed strong and positive during this time, and while I only have 50% lung capacity today, I can still do what I love and even travel to locations to take headshots and event photography.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about 2mm Headshots and Event Photography?
2mm Headshots and Event Photography is a professional photography studio where I specialize in real authentic headshots and portraits that bring out peoples personalities and provide images that show capability and approachability. I make everyone photogenic. If you don’t think your photogenic I like to show people they are. I provide a state of the art best in class experience that makes the entire process stress free and enjoyable. Most people hate being in front of the camera but I provide some of the best facial expression coaching in the business and provide an experience that people will remember for a lifetime. I use the top of the line lighting designed by the top headshot photographer in the world. I also provide one of the best experiences for conference and convention coordinators from the time they contact me to the time I deliver final images of headshots or event photos. What makes me different is not only providing a great experience and facial expression coaching but I also provide real time editing and same day image delivery. So many times people will go to a photographer and not only do they not give good direction they don’t know what the final image is going to look like. This often leaves the client with a poor experience and often require going to somebody else to get a better image. I sit with each client through out the process and review images and make adjustments on the spot. Everyone wants to look younger and thinner but not over retouched where the image looks fake or plastic.
A majority of my business is large group headshots where I handle upto 300 clients a day or as many as 2000 in a few days. Everyone gets the same experience and it is a seamless process. Also nobody needs to wait in line more than 5 minutes. My average wait time for 150 headshots a day is less than 5 minutes for each person to wait. People also get their retouched images within 30 minutes where they can post their new headshots on social media or LinkedIn within an hour.
Event photography is another area that is great. From wedding receptions to big conferences in places like the Gaylord or other large conferences at other locations I capture key moments from speakers to attendees that capture the moments and people get their own instant gallery of any place they have been spotted in my photos.
In the studios I offer individual headshots, small group headshots, portfolios for models, actors, realtors, business personalities, celebrities, etc. I started as a physique photographer so love to get people that have competed in a physique show or somebody that just wants to capture their physique transformation.
My studios is called 2mm. This has nothing to do with photography like many people believe. It has to do with the 2mm shift. You can search on Youtube for what that means but what it reminds me of is doing everything I do just a little bit better than anyone else to go from excellent to outstanding. I want to be outstanding for everyone I interact with in or out of the studio. I even have it tattooed on my right wrist. It’s a great conversation starter. It’s a reminder to just give that little extra push to be outstanding.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice for people starting is to spend as much time in it as you can. You do get what you put into it. Headshot photography is one of the hardest genres of photography there is. It’s a game of inches, and the more you put in, the better. Also, seek a mentor to help you not only in learning photography but also in the business of photography. That is the hardest part and the part that is not as fun, but you also need to spend on the business side.
Pricing:
- Headshots start at $100 for a session for a quick LinkedIn Headshots
- Portfolios for Actors, Models, etc start at $400
- Event Photography starts at $200 / hour
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.2mmheadshots.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterszpakowski/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2mmHeadshotsandeventphotographyLLC/
- Twitter: https://x.com/peteszpakowski
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@2mmHeadshots
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/2mm-headshots-and-event-photography-north-richland-hills-2
Image Credits
The image of me behind the lights was taken by Suzanne Covert. All other images were taken by me.
