beginnings
how I got started | At the age of 40, I was working at an
advertising agency in the areas of printing, sales and art department
(eventually photography). As a printer, I was always reproducing other
people's photographs. Around the same time, a few things happened that
influenced my start in photography. First, I started camping and
horseback riding on weekends as a leisure activity and I started
spontaneously started taking photos of rocks, trees and nature in
general. Then, while working at the ad agency I ended up working with
the agency's photographer on a commercial shoot for spark plugs. I
learned from the photographer how to do test shots, and that photography
is all about experimenting. Not too long after that my daughter was
performing with a group of kids in an event and I decided to experiment
with some test shots, just for practice. Well the head of the kids'
group saw me and asked me to shoot their big show that weekend. I had
never shot indoors and had no idea what I was doing, but I borrowed some
equipment, did a test shoot during a rehearsal, learned from my test
shots and nailed the actual shoot that weekend. In my first year as a
photographer I shot events for free, helping people out and they would
pay for my expenses. Everything I learned about photography in the
beginning was learning how to do something based on what clients were
asking for. I always said "yes I can do that" and would then figure out
how to do it. There is a book I like called, "Winning Through
Intimidation" that says: "You can proclaim at any point that you are
______. The best photographer. A great chef. A great mother. . . and if
you can pull it off, you are that thing. You don't have to start at the
bottom, you can simply self-proclaim that you are something and be that
thing. The trick is, you have to do what it takes to pull it off for
this to be true. The other thing that drove me, was looking at the
photos I was taking and saying "I can do better than this." That drove
me to keep shooting more photos. I came into this career late in life,
through a back door (versus the traditional route of going to school,
becoming an assistant and working up the ladder) and have never looked
back.
inspiration
why this job?| I drew as a kid but I never could get exactly what
I wanted. I had images in my head that I could not draw. I never could
reproduce them the way I saw them in my head but when I came across
photography I realized I could do that. It was another way of speaking
things that I felt.
love
why I love this job!| It's different every day. There's a social
wall we all have and as a photographer people give you permission to
enter their world and their personal space. People go to amazing places
during a photo session. I love constantly meeting and working with new
people. It keeps me young in many ways, especially since it's easy to
close yourself off to new things as you get old. As a photographer, you
train yourself to remain open to new experiences, new people and through
them new realities.
work
my typical day| I don't have a typical day but here is how a
typical project goes. First I meet with the client, get a description of
what they want and define and discuss the project by phone and email.
Then I brainstorm for awhile by myself and come up with ideas and
concepts and take what the client suggested to another level. For
example: I was hired by Toyota to do a shoot for their head line,
"Millions of fans, nobody's looking for an autograph." The concept from
their art director was a red carpet with enthusiastic fans. I came up
with the idea of football fans and presented some comped out ideas to
the client. They loved it and signed off on it. We decided on a look for
the shoot, the demographics, we found and cast the right people (all
the cast was done on Craig's List) and set up the shoot. On the day of
the shoot we (myself and two assistants) started at 6a.m., loaded the
van with gear, got to the facility and set up hair and make-up. I worked
with the talent while my assistants set up lighting and background. We
did the shoot, in and out, in 3.5 hours. Most of the project time is
spent in pre-planning so the actual shoot is almost anticlimactic.
Commercial shoots like the one I described are very structured because
you already have what you want in your head. Portraits are more
exploratory.
challenges
what they are | One challenge is, that as a business owner you're
almost never able to raise the rates of clients, especially if you've
been working with them from the beginning. They'll find someone who can
work at their price level. The level you're working at is the level
you're stuck. If you reinvent yourself so that you can move up to the
next level, you'll have to replace your current clients with higher-end
clients. That's a tough lesson that I learned.
upside
all about growth | When I first got into photography it was a
different game. Back in the days when we all used film I was hired
partly because of my creativity and partly because I never missed. Solid
technical skill was important when you wouldn't see the developed film
for hours, usually until after the shoot was done. The digital medium
has real advantages for a professional, but disadvantages in the market
because more people can take an acceptable photo. And many clients feel
photography has less value; partly because "anyone" can do it and partly
because of all the cheap stock photography that is on the market.
Another pattern affecting growth is that a tremendous amount of work has
gone overseas and into stock photography. For these reasons, more and
more ad agencies and clients don't need to hire photographers for work
they used to hire us for. The main thing now in this profession, is
multiple income streams and finding niches. I personally don't think the
traditional ladder in this business works very well - go to school,
learn some aspect of photography and work as an assistant for somebody,
then go start your business. When I got into it I was told that on
average, two percent of people who went to photography school would make
it as full-time photographers. That's a very small percentage.
My advise to an aspiring photographer is to do some serious soul
searching. Is photography about taking interesting photos or is it how
you communicate your feelings and thoughts about your world? Photography
is visual communication so if it's just about taking interesting
photos, it's probably just a hobby? If photography is your calling in
life, then you need to decide where you would best fit in the market:
fine art, advertising, portraits, editorial, etc. Then I'd recommend a
photography education, a well thought out business plan, researching the
market, creative vision, an executable marketing plan and enough money
in the bank to stay focused on your goal while you get your business
going. Personal creative vision is an integral part of the success of
all top photographers. But never forget that commercial success is
about creating images that enable a client to sell their product or
service, that make them or their family look beautiful, that capture a
beautiful wedding, etc. I have noted that there are few photographers
who naturally have a vision that is commercially marketable - it is
something most of us have to develop.
And in the final analysis, a healthy dose of perseverance,
self-confidence, personality and talent can overcome just about any
obstacle to your dreams.
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