Meet Sun Services: Commercial Fleet Photography in Beltsville, Maryland

Sometimes a new client finds me because they’ve seen exactly the kind of work they need… somewhere else.

That’s how this project began.

In the fall of 2025, Zack Kaliush of Caxton Creative Branding reached out while his team was redesigning the website for Sun Services. He had found my commercial photography for Cowan Systems and was looking for someone to create similarly strong imagery of Sun Services’ industrial fleet.

The original request sounded fairly straightforward: spend a few hours at the facility and create five or six great photographs of the trucks.

We ended up creating a whole lot more than that.

Photographing Sun Services at Their Beltsville Recycling Facility

Our photo shoot took place at the Sun Services recycling center in Beltsville, Maryland, where I met Zack and his boss, Micah, along with Johnny and Steve from Sun Services.

I had never met any of them before.

Within about five minutes, it felt like I had.

I was also very clearly the only woman wandering around the facility that day. But everyone immediately made me feel welcome, got me outfitted in my very fashionable bright yellow safety vest and required gear, and then we got to work.

Rather than standing around waiting for every truck to be perfectly positioned, we started exploring.

We photographed equipment. Dump trucks. Signage. Details around the property. The work happening around us. We went inside the recycling facility, where the dark, dusty industrial environment gave us a completely different look from the photographs outside.

Eventually, some of the fleet became available and we arranged the vehicles in the back lot for the hero images we’d originally come to create.

And somewhere along the way, somebody decided it would be a good idea to put the photographer on a lift.

Obviously, I said yes.

Up we went—probably three or four stories—to photograph the fleet and facility from above.

This is my kind of photo shoot.

Come With a Plan. Then Look Around.

Commercial photography often works best when we know what we need without becoming so attached to a shot list that we stop noticing what’s actually in front of us.

The fleet photography was important. Those were the photographs Zack originally contacted me to create.

But once I was physically inside Sun Services, there was so much more material available for their new website.

We had an industrial facility with fantastic textures and machinery. We had signage and branding. We had employees working. We had enormous pieces of equipment. We had elevated perspectives. We had Johnny and Steve—whom we managed to convince to stop working long enough for a few portraits.

So we kept making photographs.

Somewhere in there, the cameras even started turning around on me. I caught Zack and Micah photographing behind-the-scenes moments while I was working, while I was photographing some behind-the-scenes moments of them.

I’m still hoping those pictures eventually make their way to me.

From Five or Six Fleet Photos to an Entire Website

This is probably my favorite part of the story.

The initial inquiry asked for five or six great photographs of the fleet.

As of the publication of this post, the newly redesigned Sun Services website is filled entirely with photography we created that day.

That’s why I love approaching commercial photography as an image library, rather than simply checking individual photographs off a list.

A web designer needs options.

Wide images that can accommodate headlines. Vertical photographs. Details. People. Equipment. Establishing shots. Environmental portraits. Compositions with negative space. Images that explain what a company does and others that simply create the right feeling.

You might initially think you need five photographs.

Once the designer starts building, having fifty possibilities is a whole lot more useful.

And seeing those photographs eventually become a finished website—working together to make the company look cohesive, established and professional—is incredibly satisfying.

The People Are Still My Favorite Part

For all the trucks, machinery, dust, giant equipment and unexpected trip into the sky, what I remember most about this photo shoot is how much I enjoyed the people.

There was no existing relationship here. Zack found my work online, reached out, and hired me.

Yet the connection was immediate.

At the end of our shoot, Zack sent me a note saying:

“Your vibe was amazing and you were such a breath of fresh air! I can tell these photos will rock already.”

And after seeing the finished work, he was kind enough to leave me a Google review:

“Kelly brings a wide array of skills to any photo shoot. She helped us capture the look our client wanted for their new website and is a large part of the reason that their new website looks clean and professional. I am so happy I got in touch with her and chose her for the job. I look forward to working with her again in the future! Can’t recommend enough!”

That means a lot to me, especially coming from the marketing team that had to actually use the photographs afterward.

A successful commercial photo shoot isn’t only about handing over beautiful images. I want the marketing team to have what they need. I want the client to enjoy having me there. I want to be adaptable when the schedule changes or an unexpected opportunity appears.

And apparently, if somebody offers to put me three or four stories into the air on a lift to get the shot, I’m going up.

Thanks to Zack, Micah, Johnny, Steve, and everyone at Sun Services for making a brand-new photographer feel like part of the crew for the day.

I’d happily put the yellow vest back on.