Meet Christopher L Smith

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christopher L Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christopher L, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My Father. I was brought up by parents who had old-fashioned thoughts on life according to todays values.. My father was my biggest influence and hero even though I guess he didn’t know it! He instilled in me to the core values of:

Always give 100% to everything and every job you do. If you cannot give yourself 100% to the task, then don’t do it. Giving less than 100%, you are cheating yourself and anyone of your best.

In some cases it has stopped me from taking jobs because of doubts that I could give 100% due to lack of confidence. So there is a flip side!

I also have this drive to achieve something every day. I feel guilty if I haven’t achieved something!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a Photographer, have been for many years. I am also a drone Pilot shooting stills and video. My main area of expertise is Real Estate, both residential and Commercial. I also shoot Rentals for Airbnb. Besides that, I shoot media for businesses such as aviation companies and industrial firms needing project updates, Insurance and events. When I am not outside, I shoot Product Photography. My brand is csfotoimages – Quality Professional Media Services in Tucson and surrounding areas.

When I am not working, I shoot aviation photos and using skills i have learnt over the years, make aviation art on photo paper or canvas for Wright Aviation Art which i started last year in May 2024.

I am hoping that I can continue expanding my Real Estate media business to realtors and other companies in Tucson and beyond to become a household name known for quality work at fair prices and also to continue building my on-line aviation art store at wrightaviationart.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

It doesn’t matter what path you follow in your career, everyone has doubts and there is always someone to feed those doubts.

Three things have kept me going;
Strong work ethic – do what you have to to pay the bills whilst you build the dream.
Believe in yourself to succeed.
Don’t give up..

Look at the greats:
AppleMac – started in a garage…
Look at Amazon – Did anyone think that would survive just selling books?
Virgin Started selling records on a loan from his father…
Ford, American Airlines and more the diversity in these products and services and the men and women who started them, they all had two things to common:
Determination to succeed
Self belief

Go for it… if you fail, and many will, you gave it a shot, failure is part of winning..

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

Marketing. Getting the word out there.

Getting to number 1 on Google is one thing, but just getting people to know who I am and what I offer is hard. I am originally from England, Marketing here is different and and added obstacle is I do not speak Spanish.
I hand out cards and talk to people but I feel like I am swimming upstream..

Contact Info:

• Website: https://csfotoimages.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/csfotoimages
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/csfotoimagescom
• Linkedin: csfotoimages.com
• Twitter: [email protected]
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/csfotoimages
• Yelp: https://yelp.com/csfotoimages
• Other: https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pl=1&plno=648859

  https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/csfotoimages

  wrightaviationart.com