I want to become a professional photographer! (pt 1)

This a cry I often hear from keen and enthusiastic new-comers to the profession. While I welcome all new entrants to the profession, I do offer a few words of caution as people tend to confuse their passion with 'hard headed' business decisions. A wrong mistake (or two) could cost you dearly and severely dampen the love you have for this subject.

Up to about 20 years ago, there was almost a structured career path that most pros could follow to achieve their career objectives. This usually started, as in my case with several years at college/uni, followed by a couple of years assisting several photographers prior to making the final jump. This route proved extremely effective and led to the creation of several generations of prominent photographers. The balance of structured study (key-skills and  technical theory) followed by several years of assisting (intense problem solving) led to well prepared, and industry focused new snappers. But with the demise of the larger studios and reduction of budgets, the assisting element has gradually diminished (particularly outside London).

In many ways the loss of assisting experience has greatly impacted on the industry, with a lot of the lighting and technical knowledge not now being passed on to the newer generations. Also with the gradual loss of assisting experience - awareness of the industry and its networking opportunities, are no longer so readily available.

For all newcomers, there are a serious of profound choices to be made and these can be critical to their success. Do you still consider education as option or do attempt to enter the industry directly using your existing knowledge base and self-directed professional development (strong motivation is essential for this course)?

Structured education still has a lot of value but careful research and selection of courses will reap you the greatest return. The cost of education, over the last 3 years, has risen tremendously, and the majority of 2012 entry courses will cost £9,000 per annum. Things you should consider, as well as the structure of the course, are:

  - is the course actually about commercial/advertising photography?
  - what links does the course have to industry?
  - what have ex-students achieved over the last 10 years?
  - who are the tutors on the course - are they still practicing pros  (there is no point being taught by
    an academic who has never worked in a commercial studio)?
  - does the course have a business studies element (teach Beyond the lens)?
  - is the course affiliated/validated to/by any major professional organisations (BIPP/AOP)?
  - have you visited their 'end of year shows' and do you rate the images produced?
  - have you spoken to any current students on your visit to the academic establishment (they will
    soon tell you if it is 'any cop')?

Successful completion of a course, which meets the aforementioned criteria, is no guarantee of success but it will at least assist you in the process. For those who really want work as a full-time practitioner in this field, the qualification itself is not worth the paper it is written on but the time (3 years usually) invested in the course is priceless. In those years, you should produce the basic structure of your working folio which will enable you to attract commissions. This folio should contain 12-15 images which should shout out to potential customers who you are and what you can achieve for them. The folio should really contain no coursework produced images but rather the self-initiated ones which really truly reflect your abilities and creative thinking. Coursework based folios tend to suffer from a 'repetitive look' which reflects the universal nature of course assignments regardless of where the student has studied.

I was always perplexed as a tutor as to why students are so reticent about shooting images - surely if your on a photography course, you should have no excuse to distract you from your principle passion but most students only seemed capable of producing  images for their assignments (and for many this a struggle). Your time at study is a golden opportunity which you will not happen again - free access to studio space and equipment and more importantly, time to play. Please, if you decided on this route, use every opportunity that is given to you (it won't happen again).

I have previously mentioned assisting, so I will dwell too much further on it. But I would like to state again I feel it is an extremely valuable resource for a young (be experience not age) photographer. You will learn more in a week with a good snapper than you learn in 3 years at an academic establishment (provided you already have a good understanding of the key skills). There are few assisting opportunities out there so persistence is key to success.  Draw up a list of the top 20 photographers you want to work for and then contact them (starting at the one you want most). Don't email/write to them - photographers are illiterate for the most part (apart from reading bank statements and checking customers cheques) and they won't respond. You need to ring them and then keep ringing them. Eventually they we will agree to see you or get a restraining order against you. Persistence will pay off but it takes perseverance -  most give up after the first batch of emails. Remember 90% of commercial photographers were assistants themselves, so they know exactly what you are going through.

Also speak to the AOP, as they readily support assistants in their career development and their transience to working as a pro. Photoassist is another useful resource.

For those who are now ready to 'make the jump' - you really need to put your 'business head' on and put your heart away. You have to be brutally honest with yourself because this industry is a great leveller. You firstly need to consider how motivated you are to becoming a photographer. Do YOU have a firm faith in your creative abilities and a good grounding in technical skills and common-sense (only YOU can answer this).

You really need to live, eat and sleep this as otherwise it won't work. You will need to dedicate every waking hour to this for at least the next 5 years and you'll need that 'itch' to push you through the hard times. Also I cannot stress the impact it will have on your family life - photography is a cruel mistress and there are plenty of ex-photography partners and bitter 'photography widows/ers' who will regale you with stories of cancelled holidays, essential camera buys and missed family events.

If you are still convinced this is the way forward for you, then you will start to have looking at the   following:

  - business plan
  - marketing strategies
  - Copyright/Usage 
  - USP
  - finance
  - folio/book
  - resources

These I will cover in my next 'rant'. Have a great Christmas :)

Richard
www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk

'I can't afford a professional photographer' - are clients lying to themselves?

Over the last few days, I have had some quite interesting and poignant conversations with several fellow professional photographers. These guys are specialists within their own fields whether it be fashion, cars, PR or architectural (me) but we have all been confronted recently by potentially new clients with the same cry 'we can't afford that? or 'it's just a photo - anyone can do that!'

It got thinking about how the industry and how clients perceive us has changed over the last 20 years. Also the ways in which our images are used and utilised by our clients. I think, until about 10 years ago, we were regarded as a vital link in the chain for a client to communicate their new service or product to market but this perception seems to have been somehow eroded by the introduction of digital imaging and web2.0.

I hear the arguments about photography has now become 'easier' with acceptable technical result produced by most compact cameras but nowhere recently do I hear about  the creative input of the photographer. With the growth of the digital economy, I have seen the decline of the traditional areas where my imaging has been used - brochures, ads,  journals, data sheets etc. But this has more compensated for with the growth on-line publishing and advertising. Now it is comparatively easy to distribute and view images of new products and services.

Which leads me to the point I began with, surely since people can easily access your relevant marketing materials (websites etc) or those of your competitors, surely having the best images on-line would give you the edge over your competitor and which will hopefully enable you to win that potential enquiry. Lets face it, we have all done it, once we have 'googled' a specific requirement and looked at a couple of result sites, we have nearly always have decided on a potential supplier before even speaking to them.

So why skimp on decent images that sell your service - what is this going to say to a potential client who is considering spending £2-3million or more on a project with you (either your poor pics will say your products or services are 'crap' or I don't really care how you perceive me as I don't care myself). So when you are considering spending £500/600 on servicing your BMW/Audi etc or installing new plotted plants around the office at £1000, could this money have been better spent on how people perceive you.

As one of my colleagues put it, he had been replaced by the 16yr old daughter of the chairman of major company who had bought her a £600 camera for Xmas. The chairman then couldn't understand the negative reaction of American multi-national who viewed the resulting catalogue/website and their subsequent withdrawl of their  custom.

So please think long and hard about how you want people to perceive you before selecting/commissioning the images you want to use - it could be a very dangerous false economy if you make the wrong choice..............

Richard
www.emphasis.biz
www.richardsouthall.co.uk