Home > Commerce > Business Resources > Speaking From Experience > What would you say?
A wealth of information comes from photographers discussing their daily experiences with each other in online forums and bulletin boards. The following thread (edited for this presentation) appeared in December 2003 on the APAnet forum managed by the Advertising Photographers of America. Permission has been granted by APANet and each individual to repost the material here.
What would you say?
Last week I was on a location shoot and I met an executive who mentioned one of her children was seriously considering attending one of the major, well known, photography/art colleges in the United States. The executive asked me what I thought about it. This business has changed so much in the past 5 years that I went a bit numb and only told her that this was a great school from what I understand but make sure your child learns lots about business and marketing his/her creative services before he/she graduates. I will suggest joining APA, ASMP or PPA too.
I will be contacted by the young person soon and would like to offer some advice other than “Go to law school,” something I was told years ago by a well known shooter from NYC when I asked him if he had any advice for an aspiring shooter.
My first recommendation would be to assist, volunteer or intern for a photographer he admires. Next, join APA or ASMP as soon as possible.
I appreciate any input!
Bruce Hershey
www.brucehershey.com
First, get grounding in history, sciences, culture
I would be very clear about the advantages of first going to a real four-year university and getting a good grounding in history, sciences, and what might generally be called the culture of ideas. I taught at a well respected & well connected commercial art school. Consistently, the students who did well in school and afterwards were the ones who came to our school with a solid college education.
If the kid wants to photograph wildlife and landscape — study biology or geology. If they want to photograph people — psychology, history & literature, or maybe even theology. If he or she wants to be a photojournalist — journalism, history, economics and languages. Business, finance and marketing should be part of everyone’s education, especially if they are going into an entrepreneurial business. But basic business and marketing are like developing film: Anyone can learn those skills. (Applying them is a different matter.) Try to figure out whether the child has some entrepreneurial sense. One of the most successful photographers I know showed this trait in high school.
Ellis Vener
www.ellisvener.com
Follow your heart
To paraphrase our good friend Ian Summers, “Follow your heart.”
As I teach a class or two each semester at Santa Monica College’s Photo Department, I have learned to never discourage someone, as I have seen numerous students blossom after an awakening of one form or another, or others who are really determined to hang in there. My advice would also be … be as well-rounded educationally as possible. Go through school, then assist or take workshops with those you admire. Get all the business and marketing info you can. Talk to others in your field and do not remain isolated. Stay positive.
Blue Fier
www.bluefier.com
Test your tolerance for cold calling
Over the past 8 years, my partner Mike and I have mentored countless high school and college students who want to become professional photographers. Introducing them to the trade associations is a great place to start. I also refer them to trade pubs (PDN, etc.) and source books — both hard copies and web sites. I encourage them to sign up for the various photo listservs and, more importantly, to search the archives of the listservs for keywords like “start” (getting started, starting out, etc.), “portfolio”, “assist”, “pric” (for anything related to price or pricing), “usage”, “buyout”, etc.
I also encourage them to use the member listings of the trade orgs to find qualified professional photographers near them and to call those photographers and try to get informational interviews and opportunities to assist or even just observe a shoot.
I suggest that, as they go through this process, they really pay attention to how they react to the experience of trying to get in the door. Do they handle rejection well or do they get hurt and angry when someone blows them off? Are they able to talk their way past gatekeepers? Are they able to sell themselves to the person on the other end of the phone well enough to get to the next step? How does this process make them feel? Could they cope with this being an important part of their job? I explain that self-employed photographers go through this exact same process to get clients and that, when you’re first starting out, it’s practically all that you do. I try to help them see that how they handle this process will have a huge impact on their ability to survive in this industry and that, if they hate this process or can’t bring themselves to even start it, then being a self-employed photographer may not be the best direction for them.
If they get an informational interview, I recommend that they ask questions about job security, what the photographer’s favorite and least favorite parts of the job are, costs of doing business, pricing, how much time the photographer actually spends shooting, what they do with the rest of their time, what working with clients is like — anything having to do with the business side or the actual work of being a photographer.
I tell them to read Michal Herron’s and David MacTavish’s book “Pricing Photography” and to visit the cost of doing business calculator at http://www.nppa.org/services/bizpract. I also give them a copy of “Photo Darwinism”, Stan Rowin’s ASMP President’s letter that appeared on page 5 of the January/February 2003 issue of the Bulletin. It cites the Bureau of Labor and Statistics on the fact that there are 61,260 people employed as photographers with an annual median wage of $23,040 in 2001 and of which only 10% made more than $48,050 that same year (http://www.asmp.org/publications/asmpbulletin.php). I tell them that if they want to be in that 10%, they need to know as much or more about running a small business — accounting, marketing, negotiating, selling, pricing and cost control — as they do about photography.
Using these tools, I’m usually able to help them get a pretty realistic an understanding of the profession. From there, the rest is up to them.
Judy Herrmann www.HSstudio.com
Expect it to take more work than you expect
Like the bumper sticker says: “A bad day fishing is still better than a good day working.”
It is true that our world is changing. It is also true that, in every time, there have been those who rose to the top, those who found a middle ground and those who couldn’t make a go of it.
I would advise he follow his heart. I would caution that it will take far more work and dedication than he expects — surpassing mediocrity always does. I would strongly recommend he learn the business of photography (sales, marketing, negotiation, etc.) as well as the art of it and that he joins APA, ASMP, etc.
He should continuously practice his craft; not only as a photographer, but also as a business owner. He should find someone to team up with to practice (role play) his negotiation and sales skills. It is far better to hone presentation and negotiation skills with a friend then it is to make mistakes when money is on the line.
And I would offer that he can call you in the future when he needs advice.
David McCullough
www.mcculloughphoto.com