Today we’d like to introduce you to Erick Bryner.
Hi Erick, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
As a kid in the 70’s, I was fascinated by everything fast and loud. My dad raced drag boats on the weekends and his race boat was still our family ski boat when he wasn’t racing. As I grew up, I got into racing Motocross and then into Jet Ski’s. Around the age of 12, my uncle introduced me to photography and we would go out on long hikes shooting beautiful scenery and landscapes. Over the years, I developed a deep love for photography which eventually merged with my passion for motorsports.
As I shot more and more of the motorsports I was either attending or participating in, I started to get noticed and asked to shoot projects for various brands or magazines. Now, as a professional photographer, I travel the country shooting my favorite motorsports events for various magazines, commercial clients, and event promotors. In addition, I have developed a modest social media presence which adds some additional income through shared ad revenue and brand collaboration deals
Ironically, this thing for which I’m most well known is just a side hustle. Between shoot weekends, I also run my own creative services company called Firedrill Productions, where I support the creative efforts of corporate marketing departments and larger ad agencies. Thankfully, my self-employment as a creative individual is what allows me the freedom and flexibility required to maintain such a rigorous travel schedule, and every day I feel blessed that I’ve been able to make a living doing the things I love. I’m not getting rich at either venture, but I can argue that nobody has a better photo album than I do.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, of course not. Venturing out on your own business is not for the faint of heart. There have been many ups and downs along the way. For starters, it takes years to develop a consistent business that you can depend on as a full time income – especially in the creative field. But it also took years before I started getting real paid gigs for the motorsports photography. In the beginning I was just shooting for both the love and passion of my hobbies. Thankfully it eventually paid off.
The creative industry is notoriously volatile when it comes to work flow. The term “Feast or Famine” is used quite often among clients and colleagues. Learning to manage money well and have a solid business plan has been a vital part to staying in business as long as I have. And even to this day, it can be a challenge. But, as both a designer and a photographer, I have diversified myself well enough to get through the slow periods and sustain myself until its time to feast again.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Firedrill Productions?
As I mentioned before, my primary business by which I make a living is called Firedrill Productions – a creative services firm which supports the creative efforts of corporate marketing departments and larger ad agencies. Through this business, which is my primary income source, I provide graphic design, commercial art production, illustration and photography services to other businesses needing that kind of support.
However, on the weekends you’ll often find me in another city or state around the country shooting powerboat events, off-road racing, or any other myriad of motorsports. Known as Fast Loud Photography on social media, this can range from chasing high-performance offshore powerboats in a helicopter to standing in the middle of an expansive desert waiting for race trucks to fly by.
Originally, I started off doing mostly still photos for the motorsports work, but as social media platforms began to favor and push video content, I slowly gravitated to more and more video work out of necessity. Today, I find myself teaming up with other photographers, where I’ll give the still photos to them while I handle the videography. This allows me to provide all the media the client needs, but also get the content that helps my platform grow, as well.
I’m very proud of both of my business entities that I’ve created, but I must say that its kind of fun to be recognized at a motorsports event because someone saw one of my Youtube videos or one of my other social media pages.
The great thing about both of my businesses being so closely related in creative services, is that it creates a lot of cross promotional opportunities from one side to the other. Very often, I’ll be in, say, Miami, shooting an event, and meet someone with a business who needs a brochure done for their business back home in L.A / Orange Country. The motorsports world is made up of very successful business owners, so it often acts as an incubator to meeting future clients for Firedrill Productions.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
This is a tricky question, as I believe the answer could be wide ranging, from “world peace” to “a happy home”, so I’ll try to give it some context. But as it relates to my business, I would say it’s always important to me to strike a good and healthy work/life balance. While I travel a lot for my motorsports media, I predominantly work from home throughout the week. And because my side hustle is so fun, exciting and rewarding, I rarely think about the fact that I often “work” seven days a week.
But the real reward for me came in the fact that being a work-from-home-dad enabled me to be a consistent parent for my daughter’s, growing up. I got to be there when they came home from school and attend every sporting event, gymnastics meet, teacher conference, and back-to-school night. In fact, my youngest daughter was on her high-school surf team here in Orange County, and I never minded once that we had to be on the beach at 6am because she didn’t yet have her drivers license, and I knew I was just going to work in my board shorts all day, anyway. It was those things that really made me appreciate my business. And while I’d love to make a lot more money (who wouldn’t), I wouldn’t trade the time with my kids for anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fastloudphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fastloudphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fastloudphotography/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/firedrillproductions/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fastloudphotography
- Other: www.firedrillproductions.com
Image Credits
All photos credit Erick Bryner / Fast Loud Photography Bikini Model: Amanda Ames
