A no-compete clause Ty Bowling unwittingly signed after college forced the photographer to lay low the first year after opening his own business.
But once that agreement ended with a local portrait studio where Mr. Bowling worked for seven years, Ty Photography's annual revenues surged from $40,000 to $200,000.
Deals with Anthony Wayne and Ottawa Hills schools to take photos of students, games, and other events made the revenue jump possible, a boon Mr. Bowling said he didn't realize until the final numbers were tallied.
"It was kind of a pleasant surprise," Mr. Bowling said. "I really wasn't watching numbers. I was just going, going, going, going."
This year, Ty Photography expects to reach revenues of $500,000, he said. The Cricket West firm is looking to move into a larger location and to hire three more people next year, he said.
"We're really at the point where we have to spend money to make more," said Mr. Bowling, whose fiancee, Heather Rogers, is office manager.
About 75 percent of the company's business is shooting senior photos for a growing number of students from as far away as Indiana, the company chief said. The firm also takes photos at 30 weddings a year, for engagements, at various family events, for magazines and businesses, and for modeling agencies in Cleveland, Detroit, and Miami, he said.
Photographing high-school seniors gives the business the most opportunity to be creative, he explained. Graduates expect more than in years past and are more savvy about photographic possibilities, he added. "They don't want the same thing their friends had," Mr. Bowling said.
Models gave him input on the studio's backdrops, which are more subtle than those in traditional senior photos. Neither pedestal props to lean on nor cut-out numbers to denote graduation years are used, but the studio uses window lighting or can photograph students in a park or elsewhere, the company owner said.
Jill Brandenburg of Perrysburg hired Ty Photography to take senior photos for both of her daughters, Allison, 21, and Ashley, 17. Mr. Bowling's recent job included photos of both of the daughters and a trip to Toledo Botanical Garden.
"He does wonderful work," Ms. Brandenburg said. It's just unbelievable the stuff he comes up with and the things he does."
The company sells photo packages and products such as a hardbound book of senior photos for $150. Photos from school sporting events also are available.
Contact Julie M. McKinnon at: jmckinnon@theblade.com or 419-724-6087.
Small Business Profile is a weekly feature on local companies. To be considered, send information about your company to Small Business Profiles, Business News, The Blade, P.O. Box 921, Toledo, Ohio 43697-0921.
First Published September 4, 2006, 8:33 a.m.