Daily Inspiration: Meet Lance Brandauer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lance Brandauer

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
First of all, thank you so much for this opportunity of allowing me to share a little about myself and my business. The “Arts” as it’s commonly referred to, in particular, movies, magic, photography and music have always been a love of mine. But it was the work of movie directors Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Terrance Malick and Stanley Kubrick that really inspired me to pursue Directing in the film industry coming out of high school. I decided to take the film school route at CSUN after 2 years at a community college. I won a few awards at local film festivals and thought that would be the momentum I needed to get noticed and employed by a studio but that wasn’t to be the case. Surmounting college tuition bills and living expenses forced me into the work force and away from my passion of filmmaking. I kept it as a hobby while I spent many years working management positions with various companies until Covid forced most of us into quarantine in 2020. The company I was working for was forced to furlough our staff of employees and relocated their business to Nevada. It was during this time of being unemployed and in quarantine that I had to rethink my career path. Essential vs non-essential? I never again wanted to be in a position where my future, my employment and my paycheck was in someone else’s control. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and launched my photography business.

I remember my mom Sylvia, falling in love with photography late in her 30’s. YouTube didn’t exist. In fact, the internet didn’t exist at that time. So she learned all on her own and took it on as a hobby. She took some of the most amazing landscape and desert sunsets photos I’ve ever seen. I was always inspired by her beautiful photos and you can definitely see some of that influencing my work today. My mom photographed everything and everyone and was known for always having a camera in hand. You always had to be ready to smile for the camera around her. She brought joy and captured memories in everyone’s life. But sadly, my mom passed away on June 10th of 2020 due to complications from liver cirrhosis and her photography among many of her other beautiful attributes, died with her. Her passing was also a driving force in my entrepreneural decision and direction.

Photography was the closest thing to using a film camera (painting with light) and real estate photography in particular seemed to be the easiest of business’s to get off the ground and start making money. So to honor my mom, I launched Birdzz Photography in August of 2020. My mom loved birds, specifically eagles and hummingbirds, so the name Birdzz seemed fitting. At the time, I didn’t own a professional photography camera and had never shot architectural photography but I was determined to learn quickly. YouTube videos became my education and I used savings and stimulus check money to purchase my first photography camera and gear. I would sneak into the open and unattended model homes in construction sites in Santa Clarita a few times a week and photograph these homes to practice. My intention was to only target the real estate market but I soon learned that I couldn’t say no to other photography projects. So I adapted and opened up my service list to include commercial and portraiture photography along with videography. I am blessed to say that with each passing year, I’ve seen an exponential growth in my business doing something I love. Referrals have been the primary reason for this growth. And a lot of my success in retaining clientele can be attributed to the interpersonal skills I attained from working many years in management positions. They’ve allowed me to communicate, network and create long lasting relationships with clients; attributes that I feel are necessary beyond just delivering good product and services. When you combine everything, it’s a winning formula.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s almost never a smooth road for most entrepreneurs. You’re always having to wonder when the next job is coming. It’s been said that if you don’t make money in your first three years, you have a hobby, not a business. So the challenge is “how do I make money?” and when you have that figured out, “how do I make more money?” In some cases, like mine, you are your own boss, your own marketing team, your own accountant, etc. There are many roles to fill, so in between working hard to answer the aforementioned questions, you must also find the discipline to dedicate time to all those other roles that are vital to any business. That can be very challenging, even in a typical 13 hour work day for me. Because when I’m not photographing or filming, I’m editing photos or videos late into the night and early morning hours. For most photographers, photographing is 10% of the job and editing is the remainder 90%. So trying to find balance is key. For me, finding balance in everything is the key to happiness in life.

Another challenge I discovered in my first year of business was the steep learning curve for proper photography techniques for the different genres of photography. For example, real estate photographers are rarely photographing models as commercial photographers are rarely photographing weddings. The reason? No two genres of photography are alike or photographed similarly. There’s a lot of investment in time needed to learn them. This is the reason why most photographers stick to one niche. You rarely find one photographer that can do it all. But I wanted to break that model. I wanted to challenge myself. So I started taking on all photography requests and having to quickly learn whatever that project called for. There were many late nights spent watching tutorials and then applying what I learned on the actual shoot the following day. “Fake it until you make it” they say. I’ve been fortunate enough to have escaped any disastrous results in completing these first-time projects. In fact, some of these projects were met with some of my best compliments. Call it beginners luck. This approach has allowed me to slowly evolve into an experienced photographer in many genres with a nest of services to offer within the Birdzz ecosystem, so to speak.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Birdzz Photography specializes in headshots, real estate photography, commercial photography, portraits and small weddings. Other services offered are videography, art prints, canvas prints, custom photo albums, photo restorations and reproductions. Lately, requests have been coming in for event photography, family portraits, social media content and Quinceneara’s. A sample of my portfolio can be viewed on my Instagram page, Tik Tok account or my website.

What I’m most proud of is having learned everything on my own. I didn’t go to school for this or take some online photography Masterclass. I learned by doing. I had to hold myself accountable to quickly learn everything and find a way to make it all work during Covid lockdowns. Even if it meant sneaking into model homes without permission to learn real estate photography and start offering my services. It hasn’t been easy but it has been rewarding.

I feel what sets me apart from other photographers is my talent and experience in many genres of photography. I’ve also been told it’s my friendly and nurturing way with clients on the set. I even had one client who was a nervous wreck for her headshots session tell me she felt like she had gone through a therapy session after our photoshoot. She said it was the manner in which I patiently guided her through the poses, complimented her efforts and boosted her confidence along the way. It was the best compliment I’ve ever received!

I like to set expectations early on so the client knows what’s coming. And I like to make everyone feel at ease because taking photos for someone you’ve never met can be awkward for them, especially the first part of a session. I always tell my portrait clients that the best photographs will come after 15 minutes of photographing when everyone is comfortable with one another and the process. And I find this to always be true when culling through the proofs. I have a patient way about giving clear directions with poses and always giving positive affirmation. My clients can also hear the enthusiasm in my voice when we get “the shot”. I like to show clients some of the photos that have been taken directly from my camera to build their trust and confidence. I also like to show them sample poses on my phone to make it easier for them to visually understand and reproduce instead of just giving verbal directions. I enjoy bonding with my clients and making the whole process a memorable experience for them. Building relationships and exceeding expectations is what’s its all about at Birdzz.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have many but one that comes to mind happened during one particular Christmas Day. I was 8 years old at the time and my dad Robert, had moved our family of five from a three bedroom home into a one bedroom guest house in South Gate, Ca. Christmas came that year and my mom had explained to my younger siblings and I that we wouldn’t be getting much that year because there was very little spending money. When it came time to unwrap our one gift, my brother and I unwrapped our matching G.I Joe gliders, a toy that couldn’t have cost more than $10. Instead of feeling entitled and disappointed with my gift, I felt sadness. Sadness for my parents. Maybe it was the sadness in my mom’s eyes that gave it away; sad that she couldn’t give us all she wanted like pervious years. I felt what I now understand to be compassion for the first time that day. And so I cherished that little G.I Joe glider like it was the most expensive gift I had ever received. Years later, I learned that my dad had been saving money to put a downpayment on a brand new home and that minimal spending and moving into a tiny one bedroom guest house were sacrifices that had to be made. 2 years after that Christmas, my parents moved us into our brand new 3 bedroom home.  I am so thankful to my parents for all the love and sacrifices they made for our family. That was the day I learned a little bit about feeling compassion, making sacrifices and appreciating the little things in life. I appreciate life even more so today after having lost my mother. I also survived one near fatal car crash, I’ve been shot at in road rage and have narrowly escaped death on two other occasions. My occasionally used artist name ‘Reborn’ rose from these life changing experiences. I’ve learned to appreciate everyone in my life, to live life to the fullest and to always smile like I’m smiling for my mom’s camera.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.birdzz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdzzphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/birdzzphotography
• Other: http://tiktok.com/@birdzzphotography

Image Credits
All photographs were taken by me and owned by me.