Steven Steffel, a professional marketing major at UNA, will be opening his photography studio near Wood Avenue in the coming months to attract clients.

“This is my passion,” he said. “My dad always said that if I got a job I loved, I’d never have to work a day in my life. I really liked that whole aspect.”

Steffel has been a photographer in Alabama for two years after moving to UNA from Ohio, where he worked under a photographer and on his own with pro bono cases for family and friends.

“The business classes (at UNA) taught me a lot about sales, marketing aspects, interacting with clients and the best way to facilitate a better experience for my clients,” he said. “You have to know how to market and maintain happy customers; you have to thrill and amaze them.”

Steffel’s resume includes being a member of the Adobe Student Advisory Board, president of the American Marketing Association, the campus’ Marketing Ambassador, and a member of Phi Beta Lambda, where in recent state competitions he won first place in management and second place in marketing.

“A big part of the reason I chose the business major was my photography business,” he said. “I fell in love. I just loved getting lost in it.”

The studio is part of his new home on Button Avenue. The studio is downstairs with a spiral staircase leading up to the home portion of the lot.

While the studio is being remodeled, Steffel still accepts destination photography.

“I’ll go wherever,” he said. “Shoots in the hub at my house will be convenient for people so that we don’t have to work around the weather — I can work rain or shine.”

Steffel works with digital editing, primarily for easy manipulation and for transferring work to his photo lab printer in Maryland.

“Owning your own business is hard work, but it’s very rewarding when done right,” he said. “You have to have diligence and always be innovating. You have to set yourself apart — honestly, by being yourself you will be setting yourself apart.”

Though his studio is not open for business yet, Steffel is still accepting appointments for shoots, with plans to hire a few people for staff in the future.

“I’ll be looking for make-up artists, hairdressers and designers to partner with,” he said. “We’d be able to build up each other’s portfolios and get our names out there. I recently shot for a 4-year-old who was one out of 11n in the nation to get a call to play a role in ‘Spider-Man,’ so I have those connections in New York City.”

Steffel sees this possible partnership as a way to give back to a community whose university has rewarded him with a business to call his own.

Steffel’s studio is located at 103 Button Ave., and he is accepting appointments emailed to [email protected].