Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Bullman.
Dan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started getting into photography shortly after I moved to Boston in 2013. Initially, I just took pictures of interesting places (like the Boston Public Library) I found throughout the city as I explored.
Eventually, I began taking photos of my friends and classmates. This is when I discovered my true passion is portrait photography.
In 2016, I launched a YouTube channel to share what I was learning about photography, particularly film. I posted videos once a week while I was in grad school and the channel slowly gained a following. Very slowly. I think it took me six months to get to 100 subscribers.
Now my channel has over 10,000 subscribers and my videos have been viewed over 1.5 million times. It’s kind of surreal, to be honest.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s definitely been a lot of work. The hardest thing about YouTube is investing a ton of time and energy without knowing whether it will pay off or not. Some of my videos that took the most effort to produce have the least amount of views.
The other main challenge is balancing YouTube with a day job. I work full-time as a Photo Archivist at a library in Boston. After I get home from work, I spend about 20-30 extra hours per week working on YouTube projects. So just maintaining a baseline of consistency and energy without burning out is definitely a challenge.
But I love making videos and helping other photographers, so it’s totally worth it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Dan Bullman Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I create educational content and products to help photographers improve their craft. My main focus is on portrait photography, Sony camera gear, and film photography.
I’m most proud of impacting other people throughout the world. I got a message recently from someone in Uganda. He said he was inspired by my work. He also thanked me “for creating such a platform where people like us can learn something and see life in a whole new perspective here in Africa.”
Messages like that always blow me away. Absolutely priceless.
There are a lot of YouTubers in the photography niche. I’ve been told that what set me apart are my focus, positive energy, and a clear teaching style that viewers can easily understand.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I plan to develop more video courses and e-books about photography for folks who want to go deeper on the topic than what I teach on YouTube.
I also have plans to travel and connect with other photographers in the US and Canada to create video tutorials for my channel. My next trip will be to Toronto in June. I like giving a voice to other photographers on my channel to show my viewers that there are a ton of valid approaches to photography other than my own.
Longer term, I’m working to develop this business into my primary source of income so that I can pursue it full-time and impact more people.
Pricing:
- I have a portrait photography video course called Portraits Over Everything Academy. It costs $99 to purchase and is available here: https://danbullman.teachable.com/p/portraits-over-everything-academy
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.danbullman.com/
- Email: danbullmanphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danbullman/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/c/danbullmanphotography
Image Credit:
Models depicted in images:
Jenny Chu, Liya Atanasova, Ieshah Sadberry, Starr Felder, Hendrick James and Dian Mak
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