While some pros are worried about kids shooting Facebook and concert pix for free, I think that the perspective is really skewed when we start to become more interested in what non-consequential folks are doing and forget to be excited about this wonderful thing called photography. To make photographs is a joyous event, something I love to do. I don’t want to sit around kvetching about some dude who shot his company picnic. Hope he had a blast and made good shots. They couldn’t have paid me enough (well, they actually could have, but they probably wouldn’t have regardless of the product manager’s awesome handling of the formidable D-Series camera… and what if he had a Pelican case… Judge Brown would have made him the winner anyway).

I have made my feelings known on the ‘working for free’ thing on several posts. It isn’t for ‘free’ if value is gained… and if it can be a win-win… then take the damn win.

So today we aren’t going to worry about that $400 wedding (with CD and proofs) that happened yesterday, or the IT guy who shoots for the local ice-cream parlor for trade (Mmmm – Rocky Road). Who cares anyway. Did you really want those gigs? Today we are going to focus on what we can do that is positive and fun.

Ten things to POSITIVELY affect your photography that you can do NOW.

1. Shoot something totally out of your comfort zone.
Are you a portrait shooter? Take some gear out and shoot landscapes. If you normally shoot still life, grab some stuff and go somewhere to shoot street portraits. Do something different. Shoot something different. Try a totally different subject matter… and try to bring your aesthetic to it.

Do it with the seriousness of an assignment. Work toward something that would be ‘portfolio’ worthy. Make the date and keep it. Whatever the impending challenges, meet them and create a shot. If it is raining… cool, make that work for you. No excuses… bring back a shot that you love.

Examples:
Dave Hill’s Landscapes
Arthur Elgort’s “Jazz” (you will have to click on it on the navigation. Stupid UI (flash) doesn’t allow for deep linking… but then this is Arthur so he probably isn’t looking for SEO… heh)

2. Do a “series” of images on something new to you.
Or something familiar, I don’t care. But make it a true series. Tell a story. Five or more images that work together. Not a ‘comp’ card approach, nor am I wanting you to write a ‘story’ and make illustrations for it. (Although, that sounds like a possible #11 to me… hmmm.) I am talking about images that ‘belong’ together.

Plan a couple of excursions to that place or event, or some time blocked off to work out all the shots you need. “Cover” the subject with enough shots that when you edit them down, you can get to a set of images that says something about what/who you shot.

Examples:
Joni Sternbach’s Surfers
David Eustace’s Trip with his Daughter
Chase Jarvis’s Songs for Eating and Drinking

3. Rent a Tilt-Shift lens and spend a week with it.
This is a somewhat unique tool. It can change the perspective on an image and allow you to control converging lines and depth of field. Still life shooters use it, as well as architectural shooters. Here is a link to a tutorial I did on how to use it.

Take it out as your single lens for a day or a weekend. Find things that it can do to help make your images different. Play with it. Experiment with it. Shoot portraits and exploit the tilt to alter DOF.

Resist the urge, if you can, of tilting it back and making landscapes look like toy scenes… yeah. Cute. OK… maybe one or two, but don’t get carried away. Oh, and BTW, if you do a google search for Tilt-shift photography you will find a ton of these lameass shots and articles. And most of them are too that silly ‘toy’ look, that is ONLY tilt, NO Shift involved… but hey, stupid runs rampant on them interwebs.

Rent it from these nice folks if you live somewhere they are hard to find. They make a few flavors of wide to semi-telephoto and each do their own thing. I would say start with the 24MM, but that is only a suggestion.

How a Tilt-Shift Can Change Your Work
From Luminous Landscape, this great post.
Wiki has some good info as well.

4. Plan a large-scale shoot. Then do it.
This is great for the soul and great for the commercial shooter working on building a book.

The planning and production of a large-scale shot is one of the things that is so hard to learn from a book, or a blog. It is something that takes practice and experience. And it has a ton of learning associated with it.

Working out the set, the models, MUA’s, stylists needed. Then the time and coordinating the shoot with the realities of time. Three models and one makeup artist means you better have the models on set waaaaay before the shoot. Scheduling them for a half hour before shooting could be a terrible mistake.

Do you need permits or permissions? Get them. It’s good practice. You will have to do this more and more as you move into larger commissions, so get comfortable with the system now.

Do a casting… not a MM thing where people simply show up (if you are lucky) – but a real ‘casting’. Find the people you need and KNOW will work for the shot. Look for the look you want. Settle ONLY as a last resort. And then resist it like hell.

Need props… find them. Find rental houses, if you can. Ask friends and family. Somebody knows somebody with a Harley if you need one. Getting the resources together to make a big shot happen is as important as understanding what it takes to pull a big shot off.

Be tenacious and make the shot happen. If you are lucky and prepared, you will get something for your book. And you will learn a ton of stuff to do differently next time. And then start planning the next time.

Make the jump, there’s more on the other side.

5. Make a Book.
Seriously. Make a book.

Take your images and edit them down to 30 or so, then edit them into a ‘flow’. Take your time and develop the images in a sequence that makes sense. Hint: Cheap 4×6′s are a great tool for finding the sequencing. I cannot do it on a computer… back and forth is not the same as grab and switch.

I generally use Photoshop to create full page designs that are to my liking, and really not use their design software. It isn’t bad, but it is not my preference. You, however, may enjoy their templates. Make a hard cover book and show it around to everyone.

What you will learn is the so valuable as you go through the process. Flow of images, color matching, layout. There are a ton of things that you will face to get it right. And in the end you have a book to go on the coffee table. You can spend as little as $30 on it.

Want a really fun idea? Do the book in conjunction with a road trip, or a series of images, or stuff you don’t shoot very often. If your kids skateboard, spend an afternoon with the lights and get them and their friends doing cool stuff. No matter what you do, where you live and who you know… there is something cool going on around you.

Book Makers to consider:
Blurb
MyPublisher
LuLu
Asuka Book (a little more pricier, but very nice)

I have made books with all of the above. I have been happy with what I received in all cases.

6. Make a Portrait of Someone Famous (or nearly famous).
Yeah… get on the phone, send an email, show up at the door – and make it happen.

Maybe it is a local musician, or the symphony conductor. A local chef who is renown for his cooking. An author, painter, heck – even another photographer. Just make it happen. Could be you set your sights way high… Catherine Zeta Jones for instance. OK, you are going for a big name… can you pull it off? I bet you can… it just takes legwork and time and energy. And if you need anyone to, you know, hold the lights or something, I am available for that one. Yep. Sticking to local celebrities may be easier.

The shot MUST be killer, so make sure your stuff is up to par. But the point of this exercise is to work out how to make this happen. It takes guts. It takes initiative. It takes gumption and the ability to sell yourself and the gift of gab and more… It won’t happen while playing Farmville, and it won’t happen sittin’ on your ass watching re-runs of American Idol (the white-hair guy wins, can’t remember his name.) It surely won’t happen while you are spending every waking moment at your BF/GF… that is for damn sure.

You may also learn a thing or three about celebrity shooting. It isn’t nearly as easy as you think it is, and you already don’t think it is that easy. Correct. Egos, time, PR flacks, weenies with too much power because they glom on… it is quite an interesting world. Get your feet wet locally and see how it goes. However it goes, you will learn a ton about the business/production side of photography.

7. Get a List from Agency Access.
Oh, and then use it. This is for people who have already got their book together and are ready to make the rounds. Get a list. Get a good list. It may cost a few hundred bucks, but it is so worth it. Agency Access.

1. It eliminates that lameass excuse of ‘not knowing who to show’ the work to.
2. It is tailored to what you want to do (magazines vs ad agencies for instance)
3. It gives you a target and a real tangible sources for your efforts.
4. It becomes the foundation for your marketing efforts – and is worth 10 times what you paid for it.
5. None of the above count if you get the list and continue to NOT do a damn thing with it.
6. Read #1 again.

You should have your mission statement, marketing tools and drop-offs and leave behinds ready as you begin this process, so we are going to simply let that stand as a very important pre-cursor of this exercise. If you are not ready, what is your time frame? Don’t tell me – tell yourself. Oh, and you should have some ideas of rates and billing.

Now get after it.

8. Create an EMail Marketing Campaign.
If you aren’t totally ready for the big time yet, you can start by creating an email marketing campaign and get it ready to go.

Finding a template there for your photography by not be the easiest thing to do – even though there are several billions of templates or so. Know what you want to send. Work with a designer to get the look you want, testing it to yourself and a few friends. This will take a while and you can be getting your other stuff ready in the meantime.

You can find some pretty cool templates for email at Envato. Or look for a designer you like and find out what something custom would cost. Not as much as you think, probably. If you are good with html, you will most likely be able to customize one of the templates provided.

Try it out on a few customers or a circle of prospects. This is a list of the ones I have used and recommend. You may find others that you love. That’s cool.

MailChimp
Constant Contact
Mad Mimi

9. Road Trip.
Oh yeah, man. I love them. They get me going. Apply the road trip to any of the above suggestions in as liberal a dose as you can handle.

10. Work With a Designer and Create a Direct Mail / Leave Behind
Get that direct mail piece into the works.

It can dovetail with the list above, and of course the email list as well. It may take a while to get together, and it may cost a bit (tradeout?), but it is worth it. This piece is your calling card, it is YOU when you are not there. It says who you are, and shows your attention to detail, aesthetic, style, vision, presentation and relevance.

Start to research the different styles and methods of these important parts of your business. I would recommend these sites to see examples of direct mail and leave behinds.

A Photo Editor
Heather Morton Art Buyer
Graphis (print as well)
Communication Arts Magazine (print as well)

Getting this vital piece of the puzzle done before you start to get calls is very important.

And anytime you start to actually ‘work’ with your own images, you find out a lot about yourself. We can miss holes in our work, and stylistically out-of-place images when we are simply shooting and storing. But going in and working with them to make a book, or a direct mail piece, an email campaign and other things we can do, can bring them to us in new and different ways – ways that transcend just being an interesting photograph.

Or we can sit around complaining about other people who have no more consequence to professional photography than the man in the moon.

And this should be #11, but it is a reminder that you will probably not spend a hundred bucks on anything more valuable than Selina Maitreya’s 12 hour long audio series, “The View From Here” on success and vision and style. She has examples, road maps and more in this baby, and it could be worth 10 times what she is charging.. and you get half off her price of $200 by purchasing it through Lighting Essentials. Just enter FOSLE in the checkout and you will save $100. I don’t do a lot of ‘selling’ on this site, but I so very much believe in this information that I really do think you should get it.

So that wraps it up for this post. Follow my bloviations on Twitter, and come to a lighting workshop to pop your chops up another notch.

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Rant/Rave today.

So it kinda sounds like this to a lot of young photographers:
1. You can’t get gigs unless you have experience.
2. Without actual shoots you cannot get experience.
3. You must always charge for your work (see # 1 above)
4. Get an assistant gig.
5. There are few assistant gigs.
7. Never shoot for experience alone.
Start at the top… repeat.

That, folks, sounds like a politician trying to tell us that unemployment is a blessing because it increases employment.

Yeah – sure.

There is always a conundrum that plays on in this business, and it makes me crazy to see and hear such a deafening silence when someone actually asks HOW to get off that round-about.

On a private forum I belong to, one of the photographers, Paulo, asked me a set of questions about my post, “Sometimes It Is About Getting the Shot”. He is allowing me to share the questions and my answers with you.

“After all you come out of college with your photography degree, or leave your job with everything up until that point telling you that you are a great photographer but can you really be expected to hit a home run every time?”

Yes. By carefully picking your starting points, and making sure you have the assets in place to produce the work required. In other words… pick your challenges. Would a kid coming out of college have the experience to shoot a 6 day annual report over several countries? Probably not. Environmental portrait in the city… sure. I would at least hope so.

So the point is to begin to build to the point where doing the big stuff comes second nature. My friend Ken, who I referenced in the article, had a client here in Phoenix that had him shooting about 20 portraits a month. They paid $250 per and let him do his thing on the images… he built a great portfolio, and actually put a lot of money in his pocket. If it had been a one off, it would have been too low of a rate… but they guaranteed him at least 10 per month… so it was not a bad deal. I can tell you that the experience Ken got while doing that gig was priceless.

Want to shoot high end real estate? Do work for architects where a ‘re-shoot’ isn’t that big of a problem. There are usually not that many deadlines, and you can return the next day and shoot it again. If access is required, get access for a period of a few days to make sure you can get it. The ‘practice’ and experience should start to build in to your personal ‘apps’ if you will.

It is more about managing your learning, testing incessantly, and building your skills. And many times you spend a lot of your own capital doing so.

Put together a larger shot for a weekend morning – set a shoot time in your head. Three models, a MUA, a stylist. Set the call times and treat it as a professional gig. Of course make great images, but also make note of things like timing, and set control, and managing the shoot from the photographer’s position. We can learn how to go out and make a photograph when there is only a model and ourselves… and no time frame – and no distractions and the freedom to do what we want…

Things change real fast when there are more people in the mix, a time frame and the exponentially increasing challenges that brings. Did your shot come together in the time frame you expected? Or did hair and makeup take longer than expected, lighting take up too much time, or the people become unmanageable for directing into a tight shoot schedule?

If it came off great, wonderful. Do another shoot just like it to build that experience into your personal apps. If it didn’t, imagine how it would have gone if the call were sunset? The sun doesn’t set on your time… it sets on its time. So do it again, but then have the very real, scary deadline reveal itself slowly falling to the horizon.

“So what is the enabler? What turns your average photographer or even a gifted newbie into the kind of pro that you are talking about? Skills, talent , vision and common sense can get you off the starting blocks and for some very gifted people that may well be all they need to reach your standard but I think the vital missing ingredient is experience.”

Experience is the most important thing of all. We used to get it by assisting, and yeah, that is a lot harder to come by these days. But working for smaller companies and smaller agencies can lead one up. You must start “small” – if you will – and keep your abilities to do the gigs in the fore of what you are looking to do.

In some ways your portfolio will help you keep those expectations under control. In your book show the work you are prepared to do. Show the work you are proficient in. Don’t accept assignments you cannot do. If it is out of your league, be smart enough to pass on it. (Or be smart enough to hire the best damn assistants you can find who actually HAVE experience in doing that kind of shot. I did that on a few occasions. Paid the assistants handsomely, LEARNED a ton, put some money in my pocket and delivered exactly what the client wanted. But you better be dialed in to the best assistants in your area.)

In any case, be damned sure you can do what you are being asked to do. Does that mean we play it totally safe and never, ever put ourselves out there on a limb? ROFL… oh hell no… part of this amazing business is the excitement of possibly instant death (well, maybe a little over the top, but the adrenaline that gets pushed… whew!!!)

Let’s say you want to shoot for big time sports officials. Here in the states we have the NFL or whatever. It is nearly impossible to start with them… too big, too much power, and too many gatekeepers. The challenges would be formidable.

So start with the minor leagues. Want to do big setup shots? Do one. It may mean a little more arm twisting and some out of pocket… but arrange and create a bigass setup shot. Do the best damn little league shot ever made. Find some pickup basketball players and bring out all the bells and whistles to do a killer shot of them playing in the street courts. Gymnasts, Ice Skaters, Bodybuilders, and Dancers can all be approached for photography. Do it, do it, do it. Period.

Take the images and do what we used to call a “post mortem” on the shoot. What did you learn? How can you make it better next time?

As you build your book… keep pushing your work and your style to a place where you are so totally comfortable with it that you can create it when needed.

“How do you get experience?”

By doing it. I know that sounds a little snarky, but it is not meant to be. I would say that if someone wanted to shoot music, and couldn’t find anyone to photograph, or bands to work with, or managers willing to take a chance on a portfolio shoot – that person is going to have a terrible time in the ‘music photography’ business. If you cannot find a way to make this stuff happen, how will it be easier when you have a ton of restrictions, expectations and money on the line?

Create your shots, form a group that meets once a week to do a big shot. Assist and shoot. (I have an idea about how that should work… if you are the shooter, you shoot and others assist. Period. When it is your turn to shoot your gig, others assist… but no one shoots but that day’s designated shooter. Otherwise the images can be pretty worthless… Unless you totally change the shot from shooter to shooter. Having a couple of shooters with the same image in their books is just stupid.)

“The best way is on the job, but all the lessons learned can harm your career as your article illustrates. Working as an assistant will teach you how to solve problems by learning from someone who already has the experience or at worst learn from their mistakes without any cost to you.”

It is so important to understand that you don’t start at the top. Shooting an editorial is usually not as ‘gut wrenching’ as shooting for an ad agency. Shooting (testing) models for agencies is less dangerous than shooting editorial for local magazines. So you start there. Shooting real estate for brokers has less ‘failure’ for re-shoots than a location shoot editorial for “Metropolitan Home”. Shoot food for local restaurants before heading out to do a 5 state trip shooting for “Cuisine”… it only makes sense.

It is one of the things that makes the Harrington post, (“12 Excuses for Shooting Photos for Free — and Why They’re Bogus”) that I refer to in my current LE piece (“What is the Difference Between Shooting for Free and Shooting for Me?”) simply wrong. There ARE times and places where you have to parlay your work and find people to work together to create an image that benefits you both. That has value in and of itself. To think that people can start this business without having any opportunities to prepare is simply insulting. Of course there are necessary sacrifices to get to the point where the work has the kind of value that can be considered sustaining.

And ANY pro who tells you they NEVER shot anything for free or nearly free are just blowing smoke. I know too much about this business to accept that at face value. Ask any fashion shooters if they have ever shot without money changing hands? Or travel shooters… or sports, glamour and beauty shooters. Do they do it as a matter of course? Well, of course not. But I know Avedon did. I know DeMarchelier does. I know Elgort does. They are sometimes working to get something for THEMSELVES and the collateral folks needed get something for them.

I would like to share this quote with you from my friend Steve Korn (one of the best drummers ever and a wonderful photographer)

“Musically, I don’t get nervous because I feel prepared and experienced and know I have the skills to handle pretty much anything. After all these years I know that I’ll always sound good sometimes great, but even on a night when I don’t feel like I’m playing my best, I’ll still sound at least good. It may sound like a load of ego, but it’s really just confidence and experience and I know that pretty much whoever calls, I’m up to the task.” – Steve Korn, Musician

Making it to the point of charging good money can take a lot of turns and changes, but the path is one that has to be made. Finding that path and sticking to it is so important. Commitment of time, money, time, effort, time and the knowledge that is built while doing the hard work to get there will pay off. I could go into a rant about the lack of commitment to this business that I see everywhere, but I did a rant about it here.

I hope you liked this Rant. I will be doing a followup on the “Shooting for Me” post on Monday with a list of things to watch for when contemplating working with others and working for your own book without legal tender changing hands.

—-

As always, follow me on Twitter and if you are looking for a workshop to hone your skills, check out Learn to Light.

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Getting an assistant gig is top of mind for a lot of commercial shooters starting out. It can mean exciting photo shoots, learning the ropes they didn’t learn in photo school (and them’s a lot of ropes), and an opportunity to work in their chosen industry while earning a bit of money as well. It also means long hours, boring down time, and a lot of stuff that wasn’t expected… like sweeping floors and cleaning windows. An assistant can be called on to do some of the most exciting and menial things you can imagine… sometimes right next to each other.

When I started out in LA back in the latter part of the 20th century, it was a tough town. Yes, I know, still is. I was a pretty big fish in the small pond of Phoenix, but upon landing in LA I found I was a pretty small, insignificant, amoeba in that pond. I knew immediately that I didn’t even know what I didn’t know.

So I got a pager, an answering service and I started assisting on every day I wasn’t shooting. I worked with big names and small names, architecture and lingerie, celebrities and construction workers. It was a total blur. And I loved it and I learned so much it was like a crash course in what I needed.

These days it is a bit harder to get those gigs, but it certainly is not something that cannot be done. On the contrary, I think a really GOOD assistant would be very much in demand in today’s environment. And the reason I say that is simple… and it may offend some… I rarely find anyone who wants to work as hard as I do. That sentiment was was expressed to me recently at a lunch with a very well known editorial shooter. It isn’t that they don’t want to work, it is that they don’t understand the concept as we do who came from that world. No cell phones, no twitter, long days, long nights, tough work, boring shit, demeaning shit that you are well over qualified for… but has to be done.

It is rare that I meet someone wanting to assist that can put themselves out there and ‘show up’ for the gig without having to check in with the BF/GF or significant other. “When will we be through” is something my wife doesn’t even ask… she knows. Most of the time we have no idea… when we are through, I guess.

Recent posts you should be aware of:
27 From 27: Recent Photographs from the LE FLickr Pool
A Chat with Steve of “Standbagger” Fame. Cool Gear for Photographers.
In Praise of Natural Light: Examples and Discussion.
“So You’re a Photographer, Quick… Tell Me What You Do”
Pricing Issues: One Big Monster of a Problem

I am sometimes asked what kind of images to show the photographer to get an assistant’s job. I will speak as to myself here, I don’t care what you have. I am not being mean, I already have a photographer. Of course I will look at your work at some point, and I am one of those photographers who would teach and help, but honestly I don’t really care if you rock or suck… can you get the parabolic umbrella on my Profoto without crushing the edge? Do you know how to get the images off of the cards fast and get them processing? Can you make a killer PB&J? Are you fun to have around when there is absolutely NOTHING to do? Sell me on that, not how you shoot hot chicks wrapped in caution tape standing on railroad tracks in stripper heels… seriously.

I have openings in the Greenville, SC workshop. I won’t be getting back to that area in the near future, so up your game and get involved with one of the most informative and affordable workshops around.

Now, on to the 10 things you can use to get an assistants job… and I hope to get the comment area alive with more!

1. Be Persistent / Not Annoying.
Call and make contact. Voicemail isn’t contact. An EMail isn’t contact. Contact is one-to-one. Keep the call brief, but make your case for being hired. If there is no work at that specific time, ask how often you should check back, and by what means. If an email every Monday would be agreeable do it. The job may not be one that happens overnight, but if you stay focused, things change and you are up. Sending an email and whining that you didn’t get a return email is not a good sign for this business. (BTW… you think getting in front of a photographer is a pain in the ass… wait till you start trying to get in front of AD’s and Editors.)

Keep your followups brief and respect the photographer, or his first assistant’s time. That will go a long way in establishing yourself as someone who understands how busy it can get, and someone that would be cool to have around.

2. Know Your Stuff – and More
This is so important. As you read above, I don’t care what you shoot, or how you shoot. I want you to know how to work a new Profoto pack when I am busy with the talent. I want you to be able to setup and be familiar with the more common strobe systems out there. And hot lights. And natural light modifiers.

If you are not familiar with the Quadra Rangers, rent a set for the weekend and get real familiar with them. You have done your homework and know that I shoot with Profoto, so get to know Profoto if you want to work with me. And don’t whine about cost to learn how to work a couple of systems… it is still a thousand times cheaper than Refrigeration Repair School.

Some photographers will take the time to show you, but you better catch on real fast. Brands to learn… Dynalite, Norman, Speedotron, Profoto, Elinchrome, Broncolor, and Alien Bees. There are a few other brands, but most will work like one of these.

And know your metering. Taking meter settings is something a lot of photographers need their assistants to do. Know how to use an ambient light meter, and a reflected light meter… and the difference between them.

3. Hone Your People Skills
So important. Look, the photographer and the assistant may have to spend a lot of down time together. Know how to converse, know what not to talk about, and when it is fine to not talk at all. Have a sense of humor, and have a sense of timing. Timing referring to those times when the photographer just needs to chill… not a good time to start drilling her on what lens she used for the shot and why she didn’t use that other thing. Just don’t.

You will also have to be ‘present’ when clients are there. Know how and when to have a conversation with them. Know what to discuss and what not do discuss. NEVER discuss the photographer, or the shot, or other clients. I like to have my assistants keep the client occupied while I work on the setup, and that is one of the things I look for in an assistant.

Be caught up on what is happening in the industry. Know stuff. Be informative. Be helpful. Be attentive.

4. Be a Self Starter
I love it when we would get to a shoot and Kevin would have all the lights on stands and the umbrellas out and the softboxes setup and the cameras on a table ready to go… and I was still chatting up the AD and looking over the layouts. You don’t need the photographer to tell you what to do… you know we need the lights and the tripod and such. Do it. Don’t ask.

When shooting, be aware of the progression. About time for a card change? All the lenses ready to go? Tethered cord is taped to the tripod and the floor. You know where I left my meter last?

Whatever needs to be done, do it. Don’t ask if it needs to be done, do it. Conversely, if there is something you don’t know how to do, ask. Ask. Do not barrel ahead and create a bigger problem than the one we had when it wasn’t set up. Follow the chain of command on the shoot, but get done what needs to be done.

If you are a freelance assistant, have a great set of tools at your disposal. Nothing wastes time like looking for my scissors. I have no idea in hell where they are when I am shooting. Have your own. See this post for a good idea for a grip kit, and then this post here at LE for some other tools that come in handy.

5. Be Familiar with the Photographers Style
This is very important if you want to be considered, and it will help you with the above. If the photographer is a natural light shooter, that may require different skills. Travel photographers mean you best know how to pack the most in the least, keep your head about you, have a passport, travel well and not complain about rainy days, bad food, less than stellar rooms and all the things that can befall a travel photographer.

A studio shooter could require a lot of knowledge in studio lighting, shooting tethered, Mac AND PC, Photoshop, getting lunch for 12, understanding how to connect the clients laptop to the network, sweeping and mopping, and a very organized approach to keeping the studio workable.

And if you don’t love the kind of work that the photographer does, it may make you a bit less interested. Don’t let that happen. Be interested in the work, or be interested in being the best photographers assistant, regardless of the style.

If you are wanting to get started in the business it is considered a good thing to work with someone who you can learn from. Even if the style doesn’t interest you, a people shooter is someone you should consider assisting with if you want to shoot people. And where this doesn’t always play out to be perfect, consider it a suggested guideline.

6. Know Your Place and Be There
Now that has two meanings, doesn’t it. Know your place can mean understanding you are an assistant, not the creative. It also means being on time at the location. Let’s look at both of these meanings.

An assistant is not there to proselytize or discuss the brand. We already love the brand. What we are shooting that day, we love that. If you don’t understand that, you are not cut out for this whole freelance thing. Assistants are not there to offer suggestions for the shoot… loudly. If you see the photographer struggling and have an idea, figure out how to get him/her alone and let them know. It then becomes THEIR idea… got it!

Get a GPS. Know how to read a map. Carry an iPhone/Android with the location already punched in. There is only one person who is allowed to be late to the shot… the client. The rest of us need to be on time, ready to go, and with a great and smiling persona. I hate being lost or late. I have a GPS, you should have one as well.

7. Leave Personal Problems at the Door
I think we all know what it is like being around some ‘Mr Grumpy’ or “Whining Jane” and we don’t like it. I don’t want to hear about your breakup, who said what to who on FaceBook, or who you slept with last night. I don’t care. I don’t want to deal with anything but the job at hand. Sure, we’ll chat later if we are friends, but this is a job. There is a client involved and lots and lots of money at stake. Treat it as such.

8. Assist First, Learn Second
An assistant is there to assist. That is why it is called ‘assistant’. Not ‘student’.

If the photographer is one of those who is also willing to teach, let them do it at their pace. Not at the shoot, not at the edit, not at the wrap up… and possibly all three. It has to do with the style of the person, not the ‘implied promise’ of a photographic education. I worked with guys who were all about teaching and helping, and I worked with guys who never even asked me if I actually was a photographer them… they wanted an assistant to help them, not to teach on the job.

If you are looking to be educated, make sure that is the kind of photographer you end up working with long term.

9. Become Proficient in Photoshop / LightRoom
I think that speaks for itself. It is more than a plus these days, it is necessary. Even simple things like Importing into LightRoom or Photoshop, exporting JPG’s, understanding color and more are basic tools assistants must know. Get real familiar with the tools that the photographers are using… and yeah, if they are using some strange free thing they downloaded 5 years ago, do your best and ask… sheesh.

10. Don’t Ring, Buzz or Tweet, Thanks.
I understand you are a freelancer. I understand you need to make plans for the next day. But you have to understand that a constantly ringing cellphone or buzzing ‘texting’ alerts suck in the atmosphere of most shoots. It keeps the focus distracted, and things get missed. Or screwed up. I don’t have an answer for you in most cases, but in my studio, I don’t want to see/hear the assistant making too many calls. I definitely am not happy with personal calls. Gigs I get, GF/BF’s I don’t. Tell your wife you will call at lunch, or tell the husband you will reach him on the way home. This is a business, it isn’t screwing around on a weekend MM shoot.

And unless you are specifically asked to, don’t tweet anything about the shoot. It is not your place. There may be situations where that is most inappropriate. If, however, the photographer asks you to… tweet away!

I am sure there are a lot of other things we can add to this list. Being an assistant is a noble thing to do, and I really have little respect for photographers who treat them less than people. If you are working for an asshat like that, quit. Life is too short for that. I once showed up on a 2 day shoot and was told to get coffee for everyone… as I turned to the photographer he exploded all over me telling me to NEVER speak directly to him… everything must go through his first assistant. And then he questioned my mother’s marriage status upon my delivery and I told him that I didn’t give a crap about him and if he ever called me that again I would kick his skinny little 5’5″ ass all over the friggin east side of LA. I walked off and let everyone I knew know what an asshat he was. Life is way too short to be treated like that from a friggin photographer. Jeeezusss.

IMPORTANT RESOURCES:

Here is a great set of guidelines on being a great photo assistant.
A Photo Assistant: Offers real world, fact based information on being a great Photo Assistant.
A Photo Editor: keep up to date with what is happening in the photo business. Great for discussions and information.
What’s the Jackanory: Travel is a bitch if you aren’t prepared. Andrew travels a lot, and you can get some ideas from keeping up with this editorial photographer.
John Harrington’s terrific blog on the business of commercial photography. Keep up with that legal stuff.
Chase Jarvis’ blog has occasional tips and some great behind the scenes stuff that shows assistants, assisting.
An interesting take from Dan Heller. I think the title of the post is a little off, as he does suggest that assisting is something that is important to do.
At Heather Mortons blog, there is a category entitled “The Whole Nine Yards” which is directed toward assistants and working as an assistant.

Thanks for coming along. I would love to hear some comments from assistants, and photographers. Let’s try to keep it upbeat and positive, without bashing and such. What are your experiences as an assistant and photographers, what to do you look for specifically in hiring an assistant. As always, take a look at the workshop page for more information on them, and follow along with me on twitter if you are so inclined.

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Finding your Creative Center with Google
by Daron Shade

A few months ago, I recommended that you sign up and implement Google Analytics. By now, I’m sure you are all getting pretty proficient with GA and have been watching your traffic and are beginning to understand your visitors better.

You’ve learned about all of the strengths and the few glaring weaknesses of GA that get in the way of truly understanding what drives traffic to your site. You’re a photographer and your work is entirely image-based. GA won’t tell you the search phrases that visitors used to find you on Google Image Search! How do you know if your title and alt tags are working their magic? How do you know if your Meta descriptions and on-page content are working together to bring visitors to your images? You don’t! But you want to know, right? Read on.

I had been struggling with the lack of image search information for many months. For some unknown reason, Google considers it’s own image search engine a referrer and not a true search. I began hacking the GA code and API, and found a way to force it to do what we need. I’ve been testing for a few months and am very happy with the result. Here’s a view of some recent traffic for the search engine images.google.com:

Before this hack, I had no idea that I was getting traffic for any of these keywords.

So, how is it done? It’s actually pretty simple. Google in their infinite wisdom has kept their code very open and friendly to modification. All we need to do is tell it that domain names images.google.* are all search engines. The behind-the-scenes magic does the heavy lifting for us! It took me quite a while to come up with working code, but as soon as I did, I searched and found that some other people were able to do it also.

Without getting more deeply into the details, let’s address the ‘how-to’ of rolling this into your own site.

Simply take the code code below and use it to replace your existing GA code on each page of your site. Please note the “UA-xxxxxxxx-x” – that needs to be replaced with your existing account number for this code to work.

<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>

<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-xxxxxxxx-x");
var ref = document.referrer;
if (ref.search(/images.google/) != -1 && ref.search(/prev/) != -1) {
var regex = new RegExp("images.google.([^\/]+).*&prev=([^&]+)");
var match = regex.exec(ref);
pageTracker._clearOrganic();
pageTracker._addOrganic("images.google."+ match[1],"q");
pageTracker._setReferrerOverride("http://images.google." + match[1] + unescape(match[2]));
}
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}
</script>

It’s that simple! Update the code and you will start collecting detailed information about Google Image Searches!

Next time, we will discuss paid vs. organic search engine results and if you should be doing both.

– –

Thanks Daron. This neat little trick will be very handy in tracking your images – and what it is people like about your work.

You can catch Daron at his website, you can follow me on Twitter, and visit the Learn to Light site to get more information on the workshops and other cool things coming up soon.

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How’s that for a panic inducer?

So could you tell them? Say someone walks up to you at a mixer for the Art Directors club meeting, introduces himself and you realize he is one of the guys you have been trying to see for a few months. Now he is standing there, and in the distance you see someone coming up fast obviously hell-bent to talk with the guy. He asks what you do. You have approximately 5 seconds to get this guy interested enough in you that he may stick around for a few minutes to chat. And that could lead to a portfolio showing.

And here’s your chance.

What do you say?

Obviously you don’t have your print portfolio there (yes, it is on your iPhone. Right? Blackberry? You do have it though… right?), but you want to engage him for a few minutes and genuinely get to know him a bit, while introducing your self to him and along with that your work.

What do you say?

Terribly difficult isn’t it?

“Uh, I’m a photographer… …. “ Ain’t gonna cut it.

“I shoot fashion and, uh… people, and … “ Ditto.

You need to tell them a bit about yourself, what you do, why you are special, and get them to take some sort of action.

What I am referring to is something we call an elevator pitch. It’s something we use to encapsulate what we do, and explain yourself in the briefest of instances… like an elevator ride up 4 floors. Getting the other person to remember you and even send your name on to someone they know may be interested.

In the agency days I worked with and still work with clients on developing language that can describe and define the work into a small bite of words that could lead to more discussion. Or a memorable, short moment. Sometimes I worked with clients who could not articulate what they did in a short burst. If they couldn’t explain what they did, imagine the person having it dis-explained to them. Scary.

Photographers need to have something similar. We rarely wear our portfolio on our sleeves (say…. that gives me an idea…) and there are times when pictures may not be available for perusal. Words take over. You take over.

It becomes part of your brand… that is, who you say you are. And what you show you when you show what you do backs up who you say you are. Convoluted? Not really. You are your brand and you must be able to speak to the work you want to do… especially in stressful, and off the cuff moments like described above.

To get to that place where you can prepare your “elevator pitch” or “mission statement” or brand statement, it takes a bit of introspection and planning.

(An aside here: I am in the plane heading up the coast toward Santa Cruz. We are close enough to the coast to see the beautiful demarcation of water/earth as it meanders up from LA. Looks like Santa Barbara down there about 34,000 feet. Beautiful. Hoping to see Morro Bay out my window in a moment. I love that place. – - – Oh – and there it is. Smile.

While we are on this break, I do want to mention that in two weeks I will be in New Orleans. Hope that the folks in that area take advantage of it and come on out for a workshop. More at Learn to Light.)

The planning of your elevator pitch takes shape in a series of three questions:

Who you are, what you shoot, and what makes that so special?

Got it? Great.. let’s hear your mission statement. Yeah, it isn’t really that easy. Sorry. Let’s break it down a bit.

Take some time and write down who you are as a person. Can you tell me who you are without telling me what you do? “I’m a teacher”, is not who you are. “I shoot still life” is not who you are. Are you involved, passionate, caring, driven, self-motivated, creative, on fire, over-the-hill, powerful, challenged, confused, a leader, self-absorbed, wonderfully giving…? Who are you? It is necessary sometimes, to find out who one is before one introduces oneself to others.

“A guy with a passion for all things creative, who loves his family, music, photography, design and writing, and through that creativity finds meaning in the chaos.” Guess who that is?

Describe yourself without telling us what you do. You may not use this word for word, but it helps you get focused on the critical part of who you are.

Now tell us what you do.

And describing the genre you do in dry terms is not the best thing to do either. “I’m a food shooter” doesn’t tell me that you do incredibly cool work with liquid and flaming food, and have shots “that make food look more sensual than bellydancing.” It only tells me that you do food. Then I bring into my head what I recently saw regarding food photography… and that may not be the best thing for you.

Once I was on a forum and saw a post by a photographer who had noted she shot pets. OK. I will say that a certain image popped into my brain. Chihuahua on a seamless at Petco sorta thing.

Was I surprised when I saw what Laurie Marie does with the genre of pet photography. Take a look, you may be surprised as well. I must say that the term “pet photography” may not be adequate for the exquisite portraiture she does. I do not know what Laurie’s elevator speech is these days, but I do know she is busy.

Try to be somewhat focused in this approach to what you do. Simply stating you are a photographer is not enough. Adding a genre to the designation can help to focus the message and then adding something to the genre to add context to the message, and it gets heard more readily.

For instance, being an Architectural photographer means something different to a lot of different people. But “I shoot high end residential and commercial property” gives the genre more context. And that helps define your brand as well.

You also have to articulate what makes you so much better, or worth considering when they think of photographers.

It can be a challenge to not mention gear for some at this point. Going off about megapixels and lines of resolution are not really gonna win over someone who doesn’t really care about that sort of thing. Some people refer to this as your “USP” – your unique selling proposition. What makes you different, unique, worth more, worth trying, and valuable to the listener.

Remember, when someone asks you what you do, in many situations they are really wondering what you can do for them.

You could mention a style, or a specific tool set that you use to set yourself apart. Maybe it is location. “My studio is located near the manufacturing area, and we have a cyc.” Or, “my in-house shop lets me build some pretty unique sets for advertising photography.” Find the thing that makes you unique… one-of-a-kind. This should not be price, by the way. No one wants to talk about money at this point.

We finish up the short explanation with a simple call to action. From setting an appointment to giving someone your card, a call to action is the reason you are doing all this. It is your moment to shine and be in contact with a potential buyer. At least make a good enough impression on the person that they may pass your name on to someone who would be interested in your work.

“What do you do?”

“Well I’ve always been fascinated by photography and design, so I have blended the two into an agency that specializes in the retail fashion market. We take advertising from concept to production, and our client list is pretty strong. Let me give you my card, and if you would like to know more, the web address is on there. Call me anytime and I’ll be happy to set up a presentation.”

“I make photographs that makes peoples mouths water. I love food and especially love cooking so I bring a special flair for presentation to the work I do. I would be happy so show you around my studio in downtown Phoenix if you would like. Here’s my card, take a look at my web site… and let me know if I can be of service.”

Developing a good, short explanation of what you do, how you do it and a call to action can go a long ways toward feeling a little more confidant when someone says:

“So you’re a photographer. What do you do?”

Thanks for coming along on the discussion of elevator pitches. Yeah, it ain’t lighting, I know. But it is vitally important to get to thinking about what you do… and how to explain it to someone else.

If you are planning a workshop, please check out Learn to Light for our schedule. And follow me on Twitter if you are a tweeter.

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I discovered Nick’s work a couple of years ago. Surfin’ from link to link, I stumbled upon his opening page and the image there of a woman with some amazing flare engulfing her. I immediately liked that shot, so I took some time to look around his site. simply wonderful imagery. Easy to get view, with a sensibility that was so accessible that I bookmarked it immediately.

Every one of my workshop students know his name as it is one of the dozen or so that I through out as being totally involved with making great pictures with light. Nope… not tons of strobes, as Nick seems to use a lot of natural light, and bounced ambient with great success, but light that wraps and flares and seems so integral to the communication ability of the image.

Yeah… I’m a fan. Heh.

So when I heard that he was coming out with a book of travel photographs, I emailed a congratulatory note to him. I mentioned that I would love to review the book when it came out and he emailed back that an advanced copy was on its way. Even cooler!

I gotta tell you that if you are interested in travel photography, or photography of people in environments, you must get this book. It is available now on Pre-Order at Amazon, and at a price that is simply irresistible. Man, those Amazon folks make the pre-orders really attractive with a huge discount.

Before I continue with the review, I would like to thank everyone for the great response to the workshops. Santa Cruz is nearly filled, and West Palm Beach is filling nicely. I do have some openings in New Orleans and Omaha, so if you know anyone who is interested in a workshop this year – one that actually teaches a ton of stuff you will use – send them on over to Learn To Light for more information.

A few important links That you may have missed:
A Sense of Urgency: Are You Demanding More of Yourself and Branding Your Photography Business, A Realistic View right here at LE.
Heather Morton has two great pieces in a row on Branding and the issues of working in another city. In Canada they call it the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” – refer to it as the “Out of Town Expert… on steroids”. My buddy Kirk Tuck has a post on building the perfect camera for himself… ah that it were that easy, and Seth always has something great to say. This point of “Looking Successful” is something to think about.

On the personal front, we are all moved in to the new studio, the office is setup and everything has been taken from the boxes and carefully arranged (LOL) in my work space. I am antsy to get in there and start shooting some food and still life soon. Probably after this weekend in Houston. I will do a walk around with a video soon so you can get an idea of how the studio lays out and what the work flow there looks like.

Please don’t hesitate to offer an article idea or to ask questions regarding any aspect of Lighting Essentials focus. We are ready and able to answer most questions you have as an emerging photographer.

Well, take the jump on to Nick Onken’s new book, Photo Trekking.

Photo Trekking is a different sort of travel photography book. From the outset you notice the landscape layout and the large, oversize images. Mmmm… big pictures! I like that! The printing is very nice, and for a photobook, that is really important.

But it is the content that is mixed with the images that set this book apart from a lot of other travel photography books that I have seen. Content that is real, easy to follow, and conversational… as if Nick were standing there telling you about traveling all over the world shooting known and exotic locations.

The table of contents shows how in depth the book really is: From Preparation to Tips to what to do After the Shoot, the information is delivered in easy to understand bites that don’t necessarily have to be done in order. Each chapter stands on its own. And that means you can read it any way you want. If you want to start with the Tips for Taking Great Travel Photographs chapter, go right ahead… it is self contained and full of great tips, tricks and professional working methods that are sure to increase the quality of your travel photography.

Nick starts by giving a real world evaluation of travel photography today. He cautions the unprepared and slowly guides the beginner through a potentially challenging maze of potential roadblocks. Traveling around the world, with bags and bags of camera gear is part art, part alchemy and a whole hell of a lot of planning. At every turn Nick takes the lead and tells the novice how to prepare and be ready.

This information is well stated and laid out through out the book as it relates to the different chapters, and I found that refreshing. Sometimes we need to be told a few times how something works, and keeping the challenges mixed with the fun of the imagery reinforces the serious side of such a fun lifestyle.

Nick Onken loves to make photographs.

And that truth is on every page, from setup shots and tests for his book, to once in a lifetime moments that are captured with his unique style, the imagery simply rocks. The larger size landscape images make such a great presentation.

Preparation is a fantastic chapter. Nearly all you need to know about preparing yourself, your gear and your mind’s eye to get the most out of a photo shoot on the road. Much of this advice is practical for the shooter who simply stays near home, but it is even more important for the ‘Trekker’ who may find it a bit difficult to get a sync cord in the middle of a Tibetan village in a snow storm. Funny how a $6 piece of gear can take the whole shoot with it when it goes.

Onken stresses the vision of the photographer. How to nurture it, press it, push it and develop it into a style that is unique to your shoot plans. Planning Your Images in Advance (heh, LE Workshop students… you have heard a bit of that before) and delivering them when the moment presents itself is one of the most important take-aways for the photographer who bought the book with hope of increasing the quality of their work.

The Tips Section is the one that will become dog-eared first in most folk’s books. From time honored suggestions of rules of thirds, through color and juxtaposition to the use of lens flare, there are some eye opening ideas and images that reflect the concepts.

Whether you are a newbie to digital photography or a long time pro, there will be something for you in this chapter. Nick presents it tightly, with examples and challenges for you to consider. One of the things a lot of photographers will like is the little personal commentary throughout the book giving the reader a glimpse into what he was thinking and doing at the time the image was taken. This insight is remarkable.

As a photographer as well as a designer, I must give kudos to the design team on this book. Beautifully arranged, with just the amount of white space and ‘air’. All of that leads to a more enjoyable read, for sure.

In the final chapter, Nick goes into detail on marketing travel photography, the creation of web sites, email campaigns and portfolio design. He uses his own portfolio and bound books to show how photographers can begin to market their travel work to ad agencies, NGO’s and magazines. Well presented and concise, the information is rock solid and easy to manage.

All in all I found the book to be an excellent addition to my collection. If it has a drawback it is that it makes you want to run off to the wilds of Argentina or Africa or… well, you get the picture. While some of us may have to settle for that cool road that goes from Sacramento to Mariposa (49), or a trip up the Eastern seaboard on the smallest two lane we can find, others will be inspired to pack it all in, grab their gear and go. Just go.

I recommend this book to any and all photographers who are interested in photographing people, developing a style, working on location or simply wanting to get a creative kick in the ass. Nick Onken’s “Photo Trekking” will deliver.

I would be remiss if I didn’t direct you to Nick’s new website – www.nickonken.com and his not to be missed blog at www.nickonken.com/shoptalk. Two sites that will inspire you as well as entertain.

Thanks for dropping by. You can follow me on Twitter – Nick too – and I hope you tell your friends about Lighting Essentials.

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I love to drive. Cars and motorcycles and trucks… I love to get behind the wheel and just go.

This weekend I drove to San Diego for the workshop there. And, BTW… it was a very fun and exciting workshop with a lot of talented photographers, some wonderful models, and fascinating conversations. I love to talk nearly as much as I love to drive. (Those of you who know me, are shaking your heads right now… just not sure which way… heh.)

I left pretty late in the day on Friday, having to clear some things before being out-of-pocket for a couple of days. The light was dreary and gray, but I am always on the hunt for something. All in all, fairly uneventful drive… and that let’s me think.

Think about photography and design and marketing and light and challenges ahead… that sort of stuff wanders in and out of my brain while wizzing along at 75+ MPH. I thought a lot about where my work is going and what I am doing this year. Thoughts of traveling to new and exciting places (because they are new) always gets me thinking about photographs. Light and texture and imagined images of places yet unseen… sort of a mind game with myself and the imaginary cameras.

I have never been to Santa Cruz or New Orleans… both workshops coming up soon. I am so excited to see both places and do a little shooting there. But it is the images I am seeing that are changed so radically from where I used to be image wise. I see light and texture and personal imagery more than the beauty / lifestyle stuff I have done for a longass time. Longass means more than a couple of decades.

And don’t get me wrong, lovely women in gorgeous wardrobe is still something I love to shoot. But I am more interested in jazz trumpet players, retired heart surgeons, the guys who cleaned up the stadium after the Superbowl, single moms who work three jobs… People. All kinds.

And places. I started as a landscape shooter and find myself returning to photographing a lot of still life and environments… not wilderness in my work, but environments touched by man… or with the visible influence of us humans on the environment. Not sure why… I just love shooting it.

There probably is no market for the personal work I do… and I LOVE that. I don’t have to worry about portfolios and culling through the images to find the very best of the shots… I just have to make the shots and enjoy them. Me… looking at moments in my life where I snapped an image of something that caught my eye.

Garry Winogrand said: “I photograph something to see what it looks like photographed.” I love that quote. I think about it a lot. It is becoming sort of my inner mantra… “shoot it so we can see what it looks like after you shot it” the inner voice says. So I do. As often as possible.

And sometimes the images make me smile and sometimes they challenge me to keep shooting till I get one that works. But more and more, the images are driving more images. I think that’s a good thing.

Restless is the heart these days. I love teaching the workshops so much that I miss it on down weekends. I have plenty to do with more and more client work coming up (and the design side is also getting busy), but the interaction with the students is so creatively invigorating. Whether they are newbies or seasoned professionals, I love to chat about photographs and lighting and the business. Seems that everyone brings something kinda fresh and unique to the table. We learn every hour of our lives… or at least we should.

But the restlessness comes from a desire to step my work up to a new level. One that I can see clearly in my head, and now struggle to get into the camera. Shoot, refine, shoot, refine, eat tacos, continue shooting and refining… that is a perfect day for me. How I envy some younger shooters who can shoot 4-5 days a week. And how I remember those heady days. I would love to shoot every day, but business is more than shooting for me, so I get in about 3 days a week.

I want more. More. More. More.

The thing about photography is that it wants to be made and made and made over and over again. Subtly changing from one thing to the next… moving and shooting and measuring and challenging and defining… quickly and with great deliberateness. Oxymorons for sure, but isn’t most photography oxymoronical in execution? (Yeah, I made that one up… sue me.)

We work temporally while seeking to freeze a moment in time to revisit throughout our own ever-changing time line. A still image that remains constant as time moves on. Like flowers that never wilt. Love that never dies. Skies that never darken. A representation of a point in time where everything was perfect – or at least perfectly presented – that we want to save.

I have always marvelled at the amazing ego of photographers. We have giant egos that need to be expressed. That isn’t a bad thing. That is actually what makes photography one of the great art forms… most anyone can do it, but only a small group can do it well. Those with huge photographic egos that scream for recognition.

I am not talking about arrogance. Arrogance is ego with no base or credibility… just an over-inflated sense of self that manifests itself in boorish behavior. Arrogance without passion and product is laughably entertaining. And, unfortunately, on display in way too many important places these days.

I am referring to the ego that we photographers have that lets us proclaim… “Yeah, I know you have seen the Grand Canyon 23 times… but look at this moment I caught a few years ago… 1/250th of a second during a week long trip. It caught my eye and I knew I had to share this miniscule sliver of a moment with you so you would see what I saw. My view of the Grand Canyon. My choice of the best 1/250th of a second the canyon has ever seen.”

Ego.

Thank God for it. Weston and Adams had it. Avedon, Penn and Winogrand had it. Winters, DeMarchelier, Elgort, Eggleston and many more have it. The beautiful ego driven desire to share with us the way they see tiny, minuscule moments of their lives and their vision. And what grand moments they become. And those grand moments live on.

A still image of a moment in time that is shared through the times of the ages. That’s pretty cool.

I have that ego thing. I have the desire… and the passion to make images that I love to share with folks. And sometimes I make images that were not taken to share. They were taken for me… to be seen by me. To make me remember. To make me smile.

But time takes us along on its journey regardless of our desire to hang out and catch the next ride. Each day passes with no regard to yesterday and no promise of tomorrow. Time simply is. And was. And will be. And where do I go from here is the question that seems to invade my thoughts lately. Not grandiose moves… little tweaks. Like moving the camera over a few inches to make a more classical composition.

Space and time and photography and Mexican Food and workshops and books are all so wonderfully intertwined in my life. And I wonder if the images are enough? I want more. I want so much more. I wonder if the days are getting too short… or maybe I am growing too slowly. Or simply too long for the ever-shortening moments that make up our personal journeys. It’s that damn timeline thing.

Like when someone moved your cheese. Or even wondering if the cheese was ever really there to begin with. Maybe they didn’t move your cheese… you were simply too stupid, or lazy, or busy, or self-absorbed to find it and it was eaten by the neighbors cat. Ya know…

Or maybe the cheese thing isn’t really what we are looking for anyway. It would really suck to find the cheese and then discover you were allergic to cheese. I know, too cheesy… I’m just sayin’.

This morning I drove out of San Diego in the dark. Sunrise began just before I got to the desert floor near Plaster City. The sun rose just a little before Yuma. It wasn’t a spectacular sunrise… just a gradual dark to light transition with momentary blinding peeps directly into the drivers window.

I made no photographs. Maybe I should have.

I do call myself a photographer. And that is what we do, we “photographers”. Make photographs. So what was I this morning? A driver? A passenger on the timeline of my own life? A violator of posted speed limits? A casual observer of a once in a lifetime occurrence with no interest in any saving of said once in a lifetime occurrence? A now-and-then photographer… then, but not now?

I know I am pissed that I didn’t stop the damn car and get a shot of some trailers that had a lighted courtyard with the early morning pre-dawn light. Or that tractor in the distance with the dusty trail behind his morning plow. Possibly the sheen of the sunrise over the misty Colorado River would have made a nice little 6×9 print… sepia with some texture. That shopkeeper in Yuma putting up a new sign… yeah… that would have been nice.

Not this time. Maybe next time? And… back to time again.

This fern caught my eye as we were heading back to meet another group at the Sunday shoot portion of the workshop. I loved the way the soft, cloudy light seemed to make the leaves shine. I also noted that the color of the leaves edges were the same as the model’s eye makeup. Instantly I knew a vertical shot with the leaf would be something I wanted to see. I took about 7 frames or so. This is the one I like the best.

This stand of trees against the wall just jumped out at me as we were walking by. It looks like a painting to me. The subtlety of the color, the formal composition and the geometry seem like modern art. A quick snap – adjust composition – snap – one more adjust. There… I got this:

My friend Christina now lives in San Diego and she joined the group for the Sunday shoot. We were leaving an area behind the Space Museum at Balboa Park when I saw this as a possible composition. Moving her into the light and keeping her framed to not allow the blown out sky to effect the top of her head was the challenge. I simply loved the juxtaposition of the tall tree and Christina in a red coat. Not a “big” picture. A quiet little portrait of my friend in her new home of San Diego.

I found these roof lines interesting. I shot them from a classical center-up stance and knew they would be used as a tryptich like this. I may do some different post on down the road, but for now I present them as a three photo image.

Hey… thanks for viewing Lighting Essentials. I am backlogged on getting stuff up here… bad internet in Seattle last weekend and nearly no internet at all at the La Jolla Hotel in La Jolla, CA where they advertise Hi-Speed WiFi but actually the La Jolla Hotel in La Jolla, California had no WiFi at all… at least any that would connect and stay connected. Hint… 1 bar ain’t hi-speed… nope.

So be watching this week. And as always, follow along at Twitter, and visit my workshop page for information on the workshops.

See you next time.

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Seems like a crazy thing to say… put the lens cap on. Lens caps make taking photographs impossible. They don’t let any light in. Maximum Density Filters ya know. They keep the lens clean and don’t let images be made unless the photographer wants them to be made.

But I am not talking about putting the lens cap on your camera… I am talking about putting the lens cap on your world… and controlling what comes in. Strictly and with absolute certainty… OK, with as much control as you can manage anyway. It is a noisy world out there, and so much of it is designed to keep us busy without letting us get stuff done. The lens cap on your world means you don’t have anything that distracts you and you control your input.

A few questions for you (and me).

How many times do you check your email during the day? How many times does that email that you are answering impact your life? How many minutes or hours are spent twittering, or facebooking (Mafia Wars and some farm thing seem to be very popular) or simply reading stuff you already know? Be honest. And be aware. Now write down how much income was made from those pursuits… number of emails vs number of gigs. Scary, eh.

How many TV shows do you watch a day? Other than “Burn Notice” and “The Closer”, there ain’t much else on (heh). Ask yourself if watching more than an hour of TV a day makes you better than your competition. I doubt the answer would be yes. And remember that many of your competitors are shooting and editing and showing their book while Oprah and House reruns take your attention.

I am not trying to sound like an ass, but we spend too much time simply spending time, not using time. Only have so many hours a day that we can spend working and being creative, and the hours we lose are lost. Forever.

What would it mean to our creative lives to start to prioritize the things we do into “need to” and “want to”. Want to things are many times the time wasters. Need to things are things that must be done. There is a heck of a difference between the two. Focusing our day on what needs to be done can lead to more shooting time.

Try this… or as much of this as you think you can handle for the addicted among us.

Email: check in morning, right after lunch, hour before end of day.
Twitter: using TeetDeck or any similar product, create columns of your most interesting folks and check them out for a few minutes 4 times a day. Then turn it off so the little ‘tweet’ sound doesn’t keep following you.
Facebook: Look, if you aren’t marketing but have time to play Mafia Wars, I think you need to check some priorities. Evening for 1/2 hour to get caught up.
Phone: We need to remember how to use that thing… it has been left to its own and has become a huge time waster toy… and all that is good, but, DAMN, folks. Voice mail is good.

The point of this? To get more photographs shot. More editing of them and more images into our books and portfolios and projects. I have been talking to too many photographers who aren’t as busy as they would like to be, but are not doing anything about their situation, or taking advantage of the opportunity given them.

Opportunity? Hell yeah.

If you aren’t shooting for someone else, you have time to shoot for yourself. I hear that is what so many want to do. Do it. Create a project, and finish it. Create something to Tweet about. Create something that you can use to show AD’s on your next visit. Make it yours. Make images that you want for your own creative endeavors… and show everyone what you are doing. So instead of looking at the slower periods as disaster, look at them as opportunities to grow.

Have you done a Blurb book yet? If you didn’t watch TV for two weeks, that extra time could have been a Book of your personal images. Or portraits of your kids. Or that migration project you have been working on for a few years… whatever. It would be a book. Your book. And all you had to do was put the lens cap on your world, and focus on what needs to be done. The book needs to be done, the TV wants to be watched. Easy.

Controlling your world means getting a hold of your time, and channeling that time toward endeavors that will grow your work, book and stature. And it has the advantage of opening up more time for those family things… so you can be right there and all there.

Put the lens cap back on some of the things that are keeping you from shooting and working on your own images. Put it over the TV, and the talk radio and the forums and the other distractions aplenty. It won’t hurt a bit… well, maybe a bit, but the scars aren’t permanent.

I am not suggesting being a workaholic, and of course there are things that we can do to eliminate stress (I play my drums or the piano when I need some stress reliever), and there are things we just want to do. My personal distraction audit found some places that were draining my energy and sending back no reward. Continuing to do those things would be silly, don’t you think?

Putting the lens cap on the extraneous distractions may actually give us more real time to create, and more real time to enjoy!

See you soon, and you can follow me on Twitter if you like. I occasionally take the lens cap off and have a few things to say. You can leave comments here.

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Branding Your Photography Business: A Realistic View

Brand. Branding. Words that we hear a lot about. “Brand Yourself” we hear from some quarters. “We specialize in Branding” we hear from others wanting to sell their expertise. And consultants want us to describe our ‘brand’ to them.

OK. Let’s talk about that thing called ‘brand’… one of the most misused and misunderstood words in the business. In the image above there is an old Mustang. No one refers to it as a Ford. It is a brand that still captivates a segment to lust for that car.

Coca Cola is a Brand. Scotch Tape is a Brand. Brand with a capitol “B”. People at restaurants may say “bring me a Coke” when what they mean is a brown fizzie cola, some other label may suffice. “Where’s the Scotch Tape” may actually mean, do we have any clear tape for this torn page? The original clear tape becomes the defacto term for all clear tape. “Get me a Xerox of this” means a copy of it, even if made on a Toshiba or Canon. No one says, “get me a Panasonic copy of this paper…”

Google is a brand. Yahoo is a brand of sorts.

And then we have the lesser brands… most of the other large companies we think of as being leaders. Nikon, Canon, Apple, Microsoft… all brands, small b. Well known, and powerful, they lead the industries they are involved in. But few people refer to all cameras as “Kodaks” or “Canons.”

We go down further to look at the micro brands of photographers and designers. We will never be household words, and rarely will someone refer to a photograph as a ‘Giannatti’. I’m cool with that (while maybe being a bit disappointed, but I’ll live.)

We have to create brands that work in a niche, or across a niche/market/channel to deliver something a bit intangible to those considering hiring us. And that ‘brand’ shows in how we look, act, and deliver. It runs the gamut from what car we drive to where our studio is located, or even whether we have one, to the colors and feel of our stationary. It’s how we answer the phone, our email, Twitter followers and FaceBook friends.
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Some important links from around the web.
Why I Photograph (Eugene at Erudite Expressions)
There are no snapshots anymore (Robert Wright)
Andrew Hetherington has a Week in the Life (start here and go forward)
Daron Shade explains CMS for photographers here on Lighting Essentials.
“A Passion for the Image” and all about “About Me” pages for photographers.
And don’t forget you can save $100 (1/2) off Selina Maitreya’s incredible audio program by entering FOSLE at check out. Our gift to our readers.
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If you are looking to get a workshop experience, take a look at the 2010 schedule at Learn to Light. We have the first half of the year all ready to go. I am also preparing some new web sites for photographers that will be online soon, so if you are looking for a website, send me an email and we can get something out to you right away.

Before we get into some specifics, lets look at what ‘Brand’ is not.

It is not your logo, even though your logo is part of the overall brand. It isn’t that gold foil on your business card or the 7-color, diecut, embossed and hand folded mailer… although, they can be part of the total brand. A part of the brand, but not THE brand.

Your brand is so much more than that.

And at the same time, it’s so much simpler. While you surely have to have a good looking presentation, you won’t be hired based on your collateral material. Your logo will not lose the gig for you. Picking the ‘wrong’ PMS color for the back of your business card will not lose you the job. And what is the ‘wrong’ color anyway? Wrong how? Wrong to who?

Font choice as well – does it matter? Of course. Is it a deal killer? No.

Toolbox:
45 Fonts for Modern Design
40 Fonts for Design from Smashing Magazine
50 High Quality Fonts for Professional Design

As long as you don’t choose Comic Sans, or Papyrus (hey, Adam) and choose a relatively good font for what you are trying to say about yourself, then it should be fine. I suggest working with a designer if you are not 100% sure that you have the chops to make something good. Great even. (Not every font is a winner, and the choice should be made with some long term planning as well as knowing what the font says about you. Consult some typography sites for good insights and information.) Be bold, but also be aware that font choice can reflect lots of personality and ‘brand’.

Does a nice paper for your ID matter? Sure it matters, but it won’t keep you from getting a job as a photographer. As a designer, maybe… but not photographer. Choose something nice, get your ID printed and get out there. You can change the paper stock later, but waiting to get out there while choosing between 40# and 50# is wasted time.

Am I saying that ID and collateral tools don’t really matter at all? That they can simply be crappy printer paper cards turned out on a home inkjet? With soda spills on the edges? Nope. They must rise to the level of professional. But they don’t have to be expensive or over-the-top to get noticed. They should be as good as you can get within the budget you set. A realistic budget, not an open ended budget.

Of course all the peripherals of ID matter, but in the end it is the imagery that really carries the day. That isn’t to say that throwing a bunch of inkjet prints into a folder and sending it to an Art Buyer will do the trick. There is a certain level that must be maintained, but it shouldn’t be something that holds you back.

I see too many photographers hanging back while they look for that ‘perfect portfolio’ or I see websites that are ‘coming soon’ for months while the photographer is having iteration after iteration of their sites designed. Never liking any one enough to pull the trigger and get on with it. And that is a shame. Those days lost cannot be gained back. Assignments were handed out, shot and delivered by photographers who in many cases have less cool websites as the ones that were nixed by the guy in search of perfection.

Were they assignments that could have been done by our recalcitrant photographer? I dunno. Maybe, but we will never know because he wasn’t out there showing his work. You will remember a few articles back I stated that the best way to become a successful photographer is to make really-really good pictures and show them to as many people as you possibly can. I didn’t say, “oh, and make sure the kerning on your phone number is tight and perfect.” There was a reason for that.

Now let’s look at creating your brand. And doing it with an eye toward the pragmatic and the other eye toward expediency.

1. Work with a designer on trade. This is a time honored way of doing it. Find a designer who will do your design work based on a tradeout deal where he can recoup his/her design fee by you working a gig for him. He bills for the photography and you are out only the time (think of it as interest) that it takes to do the gig. Make sure there is a contracted amount so you don’t get upside down. Trading a logo/ID for a 10 day AR shoot may be a little lopsided, so agree on a fee that you both can live with.

Show the work you are doing with the designer. Be prepared to discuss what you want to do, where you want to go, what kind of clients you are currently working with and what kind of clients you want to be working with.

It is important to make sure the work matches what you want to do. A grungy, “hip” ID and site may not work for a corporate/annual report shooter, where something more ‘buttoned down may not work for a celebrity/hiphop shooter. Knowing what you want to do can help you refine your approach, and give the designer something to work with.

2. Let’s say you have no idea what kind of look you want.

OK, that happens sometimes. Sit with the designer and look at the work, develop several rough, conceptual directions, look at and embrace/reject aspects of the people who are in the same groove as you are. Put all that into writing, something I refer to as a ‘Brief’ and study it. Many times the answer to where you want to go will reveal itself to you by simply doing the exercise.

3. Be realistic with your budget. If you did a million and change last year, it may be just possible that you shouldn’t be bothering yourself reading this… !! But if you are an emerging photographer who is getting settled into a rising groove, budget may be important… hell, it better be important these days.

You don’t have to spend a ton of money to look great. Concept and execution will carry the day, not expensive paper stock and handfed printing. Choose wisely, order quantities that make sense to you, and get the work out there.

4. Well, you say you have no designer friends, tried to find a designer on Twitter and FaceBook and Plaxo and LinkedIn and … OK… I got it. You are going to go about this on your own.

Well, be prepared to do your research. Spend a month pouring over design blogs, design books at the local Barnes and Noble, and design monthlies. Look at sites that you love, and the annuals that feature design. Communication Arts, and Print are two that I know my local library keeps.

Toolbox:
11 Tutorials for Business Card Design
A huge list of links to Business Card Design

I hope, actually insist, that you have some experience/skill in design, or you could fall below the base line for what is acceptable. Remember, the point of this article is that while important, collateral materials and the ‘brand’ they project are not as important as the images that lie behind them, but that doesn’t mean those items can be treated lightly or not reach the base level for a professional photographer. There is a line that they cannot cross. If you don’t know where that line is, it may not be a good idea to do this without some design consulting.

Once you have your ID/Collateral stuff figured out, and by that I mean business cards, invoice, letterhead, envelopes and delivery slips/envelopes, stickers, it is time to work on the website.

“Please notice that the subject of this post is not “don’t market”. The quote from the burnett art buyer is a reminder that we need to have our craft NAILED before we start making slick marketing materials. Because if you have slick marketing material and no real solid work to stand on you just won’t get hired even if you manage to get someones attention. Not only that, but if the visit ur brand because of some slick makeeting and your work is crap they’re NEVER coming back because they filed you as crap.”
Chase Jarvis in the comments on his post: Stop Worrying About Your Business Cards

The Web Site is so very important. Keep it simple. Keep it easily updated. Keep it focused on the imagery. Chasing navigation, trying to find the entry link, flying letters that spell out your name are all things to avoid. The vast majority of the clients want to see your pictures and know how to call/contact you if they like them. They are not looking for killer design, cutting edge navigation, or six different CSS switches to change the color. All that stuff is extraneous and gets in the way of getting to the images and making some decisions.

“And if artists or agents are planning their next direct mail promo: keep it simple! I have very little use for over-sized promos mainly due to space. I like to keep all promos together but when they are too large or cumbersome, they end up being filed somewhere that’s not frequently accessed.”
–Leila Courey, Art Buyer at Leo Burnett via Heather Morton’s Blog

Flash will not seal the deal. Neither will a fully CSS/HTML5/JQuery/Javascripted W3C compliant site. That is the architecture, not the product. Your pictures will seal the deal. Your website is the vessel to get them in front of as many people as possible. Your personal brand may have a lot of power as well, so make your site reflect you.

And the nice thing about websites is that they can be change quickly and easily as you grow and add images/clients.

Does that mean I am advising you to jump on over to some free service and ‘choose a template from the thousands we have’ or buy Dreamweaver and do it yourself? No, not at all. It means being aware of the architecture and control that you need to have to keep it fresh and bringing in as many possible clients as possible.

Make it nice. Choose a template if you must, but make sure it can be easily found by search engines, allows you the ability to update and maintain and is on a server that is up a lot more than Twitter, and doesn’t have that ‘free’ look about it. You know what I am talking about. (And if you don’t, it may mean getting that consultant in for some advice.)

Toolbox:
10 Photography Websites for Photographers (Use Flash knowing that it will NOT be found on Search Engines.)
Graph Paper Press has some great templates starting at Free. (More Blog than Website, they are still very nice alternatives to get you out there with a nice look – and they run on the power of WordPress.)
WordPress Websites for Photographers. We at LE have a line of inexpensive websites that are based on the power of WordPress. These are designed as Websites with a blog.
Daron Shade discusses CMS for photographers here on Lighting Essentials.

Then get your pictures on it and get it out there.

“External consistency is how you interact with clients on an operational level. This includes how clients can hire you, order photos, and how your respond to them. If I’m a client of yours and I refer my friend to you, I should be able to tell my friend the steps and procedures to schedule a session and purchase photos from you.”
How to Improve Your Branding with Consistency / FUEL

Two case studies:

One regards a client I had as a designer a few years ago. She was very professional, drove a very expensive car and had all the ‘right’ accoutrement that said ‘important’ and ‘business’. Her financial services company was poised to go on to a new level due to a rather serious infusion of cash. She came to us disappointed that another design firm had failed to meet her expectations. (This is always a red flag for me… Especially when the other firm/photographer is someone I know to be talented and professional.) I took a look at her design brief and we came to a deal. I would be on open ended retainer to create her logo/ID, Branding and Web Design. This did not include the production of the website.

Three months later and $12,000 into it we are still working on her logo. It was now getting stupid. Change the color, make this a little larger, no… make it a little smaller, move this, move that… wait, I saw this the other day…can we include something like this.

I fired her. I couldn’t keep working on something that was truly an albatross. It was never going to go anyway, and I was thinking about how incredibly difficult the web process was going to be.

Let me ask you… do you think that her choosing one that met her specs, looked great and played well in a focus group would have made or broken her financial service buiness? Would a change from PMS 123 to PMS 124 been the difference between being featured in Forbes or getting a free meal at the mission? Hell, Forbes is a 4 color magazine so matching her PMS would have been impossible in many ways.

She never got the business going, even though she spent nearly 60 thousand dollars trying to find the right look, and color to “really make the concept pop!” Personally, I don’t think she had any confidence in her product. A true entrepreneur would have made a decision and been on to round two of Venture Capital while she was still angsting over her logo.

Case Study 2.

After losing his job without warning, which led to his wife leaving, this photographer decided it was time to make his jump into what had been a weekend hobby and turn it into a full time business.

He had enough gear to produce the work that he had been doing (seniors, portraits, kids and families) and a decent enough portfolio. Looking at the amount of money he had available to him, he knew that spending it foolishly would be a mistake. He focused instead on what he could do to make himself more visible.

Working with a local designer he put together a logo, ID, Collateral piece and an ad to run in local media. His first market was to expand into what he had been doing, but on a more aggressive schedule.

His business cards featured a logo, website address and phone. The reverse side featured one of his best portraits. He had it run 4 up and had a different portrait on the back of each card. Shuffling before putting them into his wallet and presentation case. Each person would get a different portrait if he was handing them out in a group.

A simple website was created, a blog built and on he went. The website cost him about $1500, and the blog was free. He would feature images on the blog to drive clients to his site and pretty soon he was getting a lot of visitors. He poured every waking hour for months into producing great images. Some were of his clients who paid, and some he would do of strangers he would meet on planned short sojourns around his area. He was, in the minds of his friends, somewhat possessed.

His decision to move into more commercial came when he was contacted on his blog by a local designer. She was looking to get some environmental portraits shot for a large capabilities brochure she was working on. She saw his blog and wanted to see some more images. In person. He didn’t have a print portfolio that he felt was commercial enough so he ordered an inexpensive portfolio case and had it sent priority to his home. Assembling some images that he thought would fit the bill he made the appointment and got the job. He contacted some commercial shooters that he had met through social media and got some ideas on pricing and preparing the quote and got the job.

He got the job.
From his logo?
From his over-nighted and not custom portfolio?
How about the images on the back of his business cards?
His choice of fonts and the careful kerning of the capital letters?

Nope… he got it because of his pictures. The pictures he had been obsessing over. The work. He had the opportunity to show those images because he was doing it instead of sitting and kvetching over what font to use. He had used his limited capital to create images, not on a die-cut, fancy folded leave behind. Was his collateral nice and professional? Sure, but it wasn’t a design competition winner, it is simple, effective and presents a professional look for his images.

Were they of no use then? Heck yes they were of use. The ID/Brand gets you noticed. It opens the door… then you gotta dazzle them with the work.

Since that first brochure job, he has managed to build a pretty solid commercial business and is doing assignment work all over the region. (Santa Barbra area).

His stuff was nice, clean and professional. And it presented his work without getting in the way. Remember, and I have said it a few times to make sure it sinks in, there is an expectation of a certain level of sophistication. At the point where photographers are soliciting work in the commercial realm, there is, of course, a level of design and sophistication that must be reached. That does NOT mean that it the work must exceed all expectations of design and presentation and start to become ‘totally awesome’. Sometimes that happens anyway, but focusing more effort on the package than the product is not the way to build a brand.

And the ‘Brand’ of being professional, showing up on time, sending immaculate bids, perfectly assembled billings, answering the phone – with a smile, sending out thank you cards instead of emails, remembering to send a production still or two for the AD to share on her FaceBook, and more… much more – will do more for your business than a $2000 custom case for your portfolio. I cannot stress that more. Your personal brand of ethical and business like demeanor may mean the difference when two photographers are on the line for a gig.

So if you are sitting there today trying to decide which color your business card back should be, or whether you will have enough money left to add to the savings account to get that baddabing portfolio, remember my friend. He is out there showing his work and talking to clients. What are the chances he will get that job you may have been perfect for instead of you?

Pretty good, I would bet.

Toolbox:
Heather Morton discusses portfolios here (part one) and here (part two).

“And it’s a whole package: the quality of the portfolio itself and it’s case is part of this equation. Likewise the image reproduction- beautiful paper please and no more plastic sleeves!

Think of your portfolio as a unique new tool, figure out the best way to show only the best of your work and start making some phone calls.”

At Black Star Rising this short article on Branding hits all the high notes.

“You might think that visual branding — a logo and associated design elements — is not as vital for you as it is for other kinds of businesses. After all, your work product itself is visual, right?

But of all the channels that you use to interact with clients, how many of them actually display your product? Do you include examples of your work on your invoices or contracts, for example? Probably not.”
Wayne Ford – @ Black Star Rising.

Most of the things that can be done to help create your brand are no-cost to little cost. Adding images to your invoice, and making sure the paperwork.

Thanks for coming along on this ‘Branding’ discussion. There is more to consider as well. What you wear, how you present yourself, the ‘personal’ side of branding. But that will wait for another day. There will be a second ‘Branding’ article to come. Once you do get to a point where the business is sustaining. A change of Brand may be in order to move into new regions or client levels. We’ll talk.

If you liked this article, please tweet it or send it to any of the social media sites you belong to. Digg and Twitter icons are up top and if you want to follow me on Twitter, well… there you go.

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37,000 feet over the Great Plains of these wonderful United States and I find myself drifting off a bit, as the days have been long and nights short lately. The workshops are the most fun I have had in a long time, and they keep me pretty busy. As well, time must be given to this site and the other sites I manage. And I am photographing a project, working on a book, and running my design business.

I don’t tell you these things to complain (or brag), but as a preface to the words I am going to write below. Loving what you do means that even being dead tired from the multiple endeavors that one is working on, one rarely ever ‘works’. My workshop folks can attest to the fact that we go full out for two days. And when it is over, I wish I could stay and do another day with them. I love what I do.

That is the gift that creativity has given me. Most of the things I have ever done have involved creative work… I crave it. From building competition class model cars when I was a kid to playing drums for a rock band that traveled the Caribbean. My own jazz quartet led to some amazing play dates, and sessions with musicians both famous and incredible. And I have stood on the stage at Grady Gammage Auditorium and conducted three of my original compositions for orchestra and voices. I have also loaded trucks, short-order cooked, washed cars, hauled dirt as a landscaper, and sat my ass in a chair as Creative Director of the third largest Advertising Agency in Arizona (2000).

But the act of taking images holds some of the greatest memories for me. Making a still image is one of the most powerful and exhilarating things I have ever done. It is ego driving, selfish, self-centered, magnanimous, charitable, and selfless all at the same time. The world of dimension and time caught forever – with no dimension or time. A laugh, a glance, a moment that will never be seen again, and I captured it. My way.

Think about it. Most people have the gift of sight and can perfectly see the world around them. But photographers take it a bit farther… we want to show other people what WE SEE. “Hey, I know you have seen the Grand Canyon a dozen times, but look what I SAW there. And I captured it and brought it back to show YOU what I did.”

Ego? You bet it is. Without the self-assuredness to believe I can actually show something to you that you have’nt seen before, it would be a totally empty act. Devoid of the surety that I would give you a glimpse into a place you ‘thought’ you knew, showing a picture of your hometown would be met with smile and a nod.

I want more than that. I want to show you something that has an emotion tied to it. I want to use cropping and color and light and shadow and gesture and point-of-view and size and dimension and texture and saturation or the lack of it to make an image that the viewer has an immediate reaction to. It is all important to me for the viewer to be engaged.

I recently read on a forum this statement “…anyone with some knowledge of Photoshop can take any old crappy picture and make it great.” I was simply stunned (yeah, like them interwebs don’t continue to stun… I should be used to it). I think that statement summed up a lot of young approaches to photography. And by young I am not referring to chronological age, but the amount of time that one has spent working their craft. It is a shame. No other art form seems to have that low self-image from the artists that create it.

Imagine a musician showing up on a gig without having practiced or played his instrument for a year or two. (“Anyone with some knowledge of ProTools can record shit and make it really great.”)

Imagine a poet telling an interviewer “oh, I just write stuff down and then type it up over coffee while watching the soaps. (“Anyone with some knowledge of Word can type up shit, hit “Auto-Summarize” and have it sound pretty good.”)

Or imagine a world-class cook telling you “I rarely cook anything. It’s Taco Bell and Panda Express for me. Occasionally I make weenies and eat them with mustard. (“Anyone with some knowledge of a Wok can cook up gourmet food with world class appeal. Just add ‘sun dried’ tomatoes!)

Put me in the skeptical column when talking to the above ‘experts’.

Musicians play every day. For hours and hours. Poets write all the time, and we see maybe 2% of what they do. Cooks… well, they cook. A lot.

I am a photographer. I make images. I use tools to do that. Cameras and lenses, lights and the sun, film and bytes, papers, chemistry, inks, and a whole studio full of gear that helps me do one thing… make the best pictures I can. If it doesn’t help me make images, I don’t really need it. But tools are merely a medium for capturing, they are not the art. Without a camera, I cannot make a photograph. But without the best camera, I can still make a photograph that I love. I love my iPhone camera, and my little red Kodak P&S.

I take photographs with them. I make snapshots with them. I record moments and places to share with my daughter with them. I make pictures that help me relive the workshops or the shoot with that great model, and without any muss or fuss. They are capturing devices that let me make photographs everywhere, anytime and without thinking about anything but the image. They are practice tools for seeing.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book “Outliers”, talks about 10,000 hours of practice to get to a level of proficiency to make one a contender for being an expert. I don’t think he is referring to exact numbers, nor should it be taken in that black and white sort of way. (“Yep, next Tuesday will be 10,000 hours and I will be great on Wednesday.) If you are not great at this point, you most assuredly will NOT be great next Wednesday. I would bet the farm on that.

And if you think that you can approach the work with a half-assed, half-hearted attempt and amass enough time to put yourself over the top with the hours spent, sorry – that wont work either. A figure skater who practices a jump wrong for two years will do that jump ‘perfectly wrong’ when given a chance. If you practice crappy photography for 10,000 hours you will be a crappy photographer on 10,001 hour. Just a fact.

It takes focused practice, with levels of outcome expected and reached to become good at something. There must be a progression of competency, with deltas and points along the way to measure the result of the work. Is it getting better? Are there places to improve? Are there new things to try to help move the level up to the next? It takes even more and a little special thing called talent to be great at something.

Perseverance to stick with something difficult until it is no longer difficult, but something that is second nature, can be a challenge. It isn’t taught, nor is it revered in most of our culture. Working and practice are no longer held in esteem. At least that seems like the case to me. I see and speak to too many people who are looking for an easy, fast and simple way to reach the point where people recognize you for your achievement. Fame without excellence is fleeting and daft.

Wanna be a famous singer? There’s a reality show for that. Just show up and “baddabing!” You are America’s Next Top Idol/Model/Talent. Hell, it’s easy. Watch the show in the first few episodes and you will see dozens of people who show up with NO PRACTICE or PREPARATION then are devastated when they don’t make it. They suck, but they showed up and wanted it. Dancers who can’t want to be famous at it. Singers who don’t want to be famous at it. (And while this may say a lot about the insipid fascination with fame, I think the same correlation can be made in the search for excellence in the arts.)

I find those people to be pathetic, and insulting. Do they think that all Ella did was show up at Basie’s gig one night? Do they think that Bonnie Raite just picked up a guitar and BAM – she could write and sing music that touches people across all genres? Baryshnikov simply put on some ballet slippers one day… and flew? Is it really a stretch to understand how long the great creative talents in our culture have to practice and work and work and work to get to that level? What an insult to the great artists who work so hard to think that all it takes is a lunch-break audition to catapult one to the top. Morons.

(Caveat: Disney. As far as I can tell, one can be devoid of any talent at all and be a star on the Disney channel. Kids and adults who cannot deliver a line spew from the tube with the ever-present laugh track – needed, because the crap isn’t funny. (Why don’t you tell us what you really think – ed?) )

Sorry for the digression. We were talking about practice and hard work. It is the fuel for our successes. It is the only sustainable fuel. Fame wont do it. Money wont do it. The newest camera on the block wont do it. Neither will a bag full of gear.

You, a camera, and a lens. Making images. That is the essence of photography. Not “The” camera… any camera. A P&S, an iPhone camera, an old film camera… just a tool to transfer your vision of the world into a two dimensional representation… a photograph.

I talk about two different types of photographers in my workshops. One type of photographer loves the act of taking photographs. The gear, the tools and toys, the challenge of getting the image captured on card or film is fulfilling and exciting for them. The images may not have that emotional grab of an art piece, but the image is perfect for the challenge presented.

Many commercial photographers are in love with the process. The finesse it takes to shoot a jewelry shot, or food, or even a catalog of auto parts with lots of chrome that the client wants to see shot on a nearly impossible background. Get to work… struggle with it – get it – got it! Will that image go on someone’s wall? Nope, probably not. But it is a perfect image for the job it is to perform in the ad or catalog. It is a successful photograph. It is a point of excellence for the photographer. Pride in the work.

The other type of photographer is the one who is looking for a ‘final’ image. A print or final digital image that can convey what is in their minds-eye to a point to share with others. Utilizing the tools in the best way, and meeting the challenges of getting that image down is just as important as the previous shooter. This photographer wants to take it to one more level… an emotional level. A connection with the audience means success. Editorial, portrait and fine art photographers readily come to mind for this type of photographer.

Neither type is better, or more creative than the other, but the goals may be a little different. And most of us who do this for a living find that we shift between the two types of photographer depending on the job. I may want to connect with that portrait I am doing on Tuesday, and struggle to get the highlights just right on a tabletop setup of hard drives for a catalog on Thursday. Such is the nature of a professional photographer in a smaller market.

I know many of both types of shooters. The ones who are successful work very hard at what they do. And they are taking pictures when they are not Taking Pictures, ya know. Looking at, studying, taking workshops, giving workshops, reading and practicing. Finding new ways to do old things. Finding old ways to do new things. Striving, striving, striving to be better than yesterday. Every artist I have ever known was in a constant state of striving for excellence.

My kids often laugh when I will simply stare at the way light is playing against a wall, or highlighting the edge of a building. I love to look at light. My iPhone lets me capture the simplest things to simply delight me. Not earth shaking images that will rock the art world. Just a play of light, or an interesting shadow fall. I dunno, I just love to get that captured so I can look at it. I love to look at photographs. (My youngest is developing a pretty good eye…maybe she will inherit dad’s love of the medium of still imagery.)

So what is the point of this column? We have talked about creativity, perseverance and work ethic. Now we tie it together and we get:

Passion. A passion for the medium of photography. A passion for the captured moment. A passion for connecting with people, the still image and a passion for perfection of the craft.

It’s all passion, baby. Without it, there are no tears, no desperate longing, no amazing joy no glow of success. Without passion there is no striving. When the road gets hard, the gear goes up on Craigs List. And the challenges are many, and they come at all levels. Without something driving you to get from where you are to where you want to be, the climb can be more difficult than imagined.

So now it is time for the self-exam.

Do you have a passionate desire to make images? Images!

Do you take pictures, images, photographs every day? Or does it seem that there are thousands of “reasons” that you don’t?

I love it when one of my students, or a photographer I am working with one-on-one has that moment… an epiphany maybe… where they realize they would rather make photographs to nearly any other activity. The quest for images becomes insatiable, and the gear become the conduit… not the art. Focus turns outward from megapixels to dancing light, from transfer speeds to sublime smiles, from steel and glass to images that delight.

I read too frequently about how hard photography has become as a profession.
“There are too many photographers.”
“There isn’t enough work.”
“How do you compete against the CL guys who do it for free?”
“The bar has been lowered too low.”
“Digital means everyone can be a photographer.”
“I live in a place where no one will pay for photographs.”

Bullshit. A photographer with PASSION wont be stopped by that crap. There are lots of people with cameras, there are still few ‘photographers’ in relation to the GWC’s. There ARE jobs, there are. There is no reason to compete with CL shooters if you aren’t one. The bar has been lowered at the beginning level, no doubt… but it has been raised at the top. And at the top is where you want to be. That rarified air can fill the senses. Of course digital can make everyone capable of making a well-exposed image – so what… if you think that is the mark of a ‘photographer’ think again and research the great work being done by photographers all over the world. And if you live in a place that wont support you, and your work… move. Just move. Yeah, its hard to do and all that… Passion will sustain you if you have it.

Being passionate about the work and working hard to better oneself at any endeavor is probably one of the most successful methods of achieving more than one imagined.

Work hard, practice, revel in the successes, and learn from the failures. It is a recipe that has worked for creative people from the beginning.

Thanks for joining me at LE for a somewhat different post. I hope you enjoyed it.

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