So You Want to Be A Photographer?

Really?
I've read a lot of stuff on being a photographer over the past few years of running my business and there's been none better than the text I'm about to share with you.
This is the bottom line in photography... it's kinda bleak, it's pretty depressing in its stark reality but also, it's up to you to make it work.   You ARE the bottom line.

Would you like to photograph anything you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want, any way you want, with a great professional camera system? Would you love to travel to luxury destinations and photograph whatever, whenever you want?

The only way to do this is to keep your real job and do photography on your own time.

If you want to photograph professionally you'll make less money, have to shoot the boring stuff in crappy locations for which you're hired, shoot it the way the client wants, and probably have to shoot everything as if it's some big emergency every time. You'll probably only be able to afford beat up old gear that's "good enough."

Making a buck in photography is a lot tougher than keeping a real job. The photo jobs and locations that pay the most are the most boring. Think you're going to have people hiring you as a travel photographer? Guess again.It's exactly like golf or surfing. Golf is fun, and it's almost impossible to get people to pay you to do it. Only one guy in ten million makes lots of money in surfing, photography or acting. Everyone else who makes the money does it in something allied to the field, like making or selling product or the dream.

We all know the few actors who pull in $20 million per movie. Did you know the average annual income of the many SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) members, the majority of whom we've never heard, is something more like $20,000? The SAG website's FAQ page offers this advice on how to become a performer: "Develop another career to supplement your income." People pay photographers less than actors.

A person who studied stage lighting in college and worked in Hollywood discovered that almost no one makes it in the fun job of lighting. The people who make more money more regularly are those who become lighting salesmen.

Who makes more: an actor, or an agent who earns 10% from each of the 20 clients they represent?

If you want to make money in photography, it's probably not by doing photography....

Read the rest of the article here.
With thanks to Ken Rockwell for the most down to earth, sanest post ever made in the world of photography.

Headshot time

Been very busy this week with headshots.

Now, headshots are commercial thingymabobs essential for everyone who wants to get their face 'out there' into the wide world of public land.  You want to look like yourself, but you also want to look dynamic and professional, right?
Well sure, but how do we do that?

Generally I shoot commercial headshots with a prime lens.   Nikon's 50mm lens is my weapon of choice for portrait shots, but when I take my tiny lens out of the bag, the client usually asks 'Is that it?' because they're expecting some all singing, all dancing piece of kit the size of the Eiffel tower. 
Well because it's tiny, doesn't mean it doesn't kick ass!

Try it some time.

I also shoot with a telephoto lens, because I love the depth of field it gives me (That's when the client says 'Wow - that's big!).  You'll really stand out.  It really depends on what look we're aiming for.

My client B has co-authored a very interesting book, entitled The Sixth Wave, and I highly recommend you add it to your reading list.   It's fascinating stuff.
In her case, we're looking to get nice and close up and keep the background as a relevant part of her shot.  It's lovely aged wood which has a great texture and colour.  It's a nice shot given her science journalist background which we're keeping relevant.  We're shooting outside using perfect afternoon light so no need for a load of lights and a softbox.

No teeth always makes a commercial headshot look better.  We're going for quiet professionalism here, not grinning like a chimp.  Whilst my client has lovely teeth, we keep them out of the shot.

The client wants something natural, a little relaxed and something that is 'her' - not too posed and not too 'studio'.

I keep close up, shoot rapidly whilst my client is relaxing into the session and we're done.
This shot to the above is taken whilst I'm on a ladder I bought with me - a pretty essential part of kit if you're going to shoot people - which we'll talk about later.


Next post, I'm going to talk about how you can achieve great results with your headshots or in fact, any session in front of the camera.

Style

Style has no formula, but it has a secret key.
It is the extension of your personality.
Ernst Haas

My eleven year old daughter has told me that she can always recognize one of my photographs, even when they're with a load of others, like on the Korowal school website for example.  This is because they have a certain style.
Someone who's just started in photography recently asked me how long it took to 'define' my 'style'.
The honest answer to that is that I don't really know though at a guess, probably two to three years if we're talking about what I present to you when I take a photograph right now.
But style is not just about 'seeing'... it's about showing who you are through your artwork.  It's an extension of your personality.

But how can you develop a style?  And why should you?  Is it really that important?

If I gave you a load of photographs from Ansel Adams, Yousuf Karsh and Jerry N. Uelsman, (three of my photographic gods) you'd have no problems sorting them out because of their difference in style.

Creating a style is about a unique way of 'seeing'.  The way you see things is the way no-one else sees... and the way you see is coloured by who you are.

 People don't watch enough. They think. It's not the same thing.
Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri, above, has it totally on the nail when he says people don't watch enough.  As a photographer, you need to see whatever it is you see and the only way to do that is watch.
It always amazes me how many photographers copy other famous photographers styles.  I see it time and time again in the exhibitions I visit.  There's nothing really wrong with this legally.  It's a good exercise to produce something 'in the style of', and you'd probably get asked to do this if you were at art school or doing a photography course... but for your photography it's not your vision you're using, it's theirs.
Developing your own style isn't about copying someone else's style, it's about knowing who you are, the way you see and letting your work become an extension of who you are inside.  If you make a living from copying someone else's work, you're not including your own personality in that.


Everyone seems to use Photoshop these days.  PS is full of filters, actions, and techniques.  These are not new and throwing the latest PS technique over your shots won't give you style.  PS is merely the software version of what has been available in the darkroom for many, many years.  Often, working in PS or other software manipulation can lead to new discoveries... new ways of processing, but PS is not a style in itself.  It's a medium... Something that can help you achieve your personal style.

I know of some photographers who PS the hell out of their shots, when the shot that came out of the camera first was absolutely fine and good.    Did it need to be re-coloured, softened, sharpened, actioned, etc?  Nope.  Leave it alone.  Let it speak for itself.
There's a pressure here... 'What do you mean, you don't use PS?'  'Really?'
Yes, really.  I have PS.  It sits here monolith like on my computer and wow, it's a great tool, but I rarely open it for any of my photographs.  It's not what defines my style.  If you'd be lost without digital manipulation tools, then why is that?

And as regards my style, I'm not sure that I have entirely finished developing it.  To say that I've finished would be an acknowledgement that I've stopped growing as a person, and that's just simply not true.  Whilst I guess my personality has pretty much set, my growth as who I am has not.  If I look at my very early photographs, they're very different to what I do now, technically and in style.
I'm still journeying.
My only advice to those who are developing their style... keep taking photographs, keep making mistakes, don't be afraid of making errors, keep learning, keep experimenting but most of all, enjoy it.

Style isn't a destination, it's a journey.

Weekend shooting...

I was shooting at Korowal School's fair last weekend.  Such beautiful children everywhere!  Now mine are growing up, well, older than toddlers anyway, I get to enjoy everyone else's chubby angels.
I couldn't get over this little girl's beautiful eyes.  Incredible!
Hope you enjoy these candid shots from the day.

Weddings - by Solitary Photographic

There's something quite lovely about a wedding ... especially when the shoot is in the beautiful Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia.

Welcome to Solitary Photographic's blog. I hope you enjoy your stay.