Archive for Kevin Lock
Safe Travels
Posted: November 17th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] Make photo copies of your license, passport and credit cards and leave in each of your travel bags. You don’t want to end up stranded if your wallet goes missing. Kevin Lock is a current national director of ASMP. While Kevin does not get stranded he has been to change direction in [...]
Photography & Society; The Pro’s, The Hobbyists and Me
Posted: November 11th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] 182 years ago Louis Daguerre invented his eponymous daguerreotype and photography was born. With this new medium came a competitive and complex world that has conflicted the artist within and simultaneously seduced him/her into the realm of capturing the moment for financial gain. Fast forward to 2011 and you will find that [...]
Collections
Posted: September 15th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] Are they really clients if they refuse to pay up? I don’t think so. I have another word for them. Let’s call them what the court calls them: Defendants. I am not litigious, but I refuse to be taken advantage of. I’d rather not sue, but I have had to. As a [...]
Who’s on First….?
Posted: September 2nd, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] We all have our own reason for getting into this business. For me it just kind of happened. It was something I always did and to be honest I didn’t plan on making a living doing it. Perhaps you had a similar experience and find yourself in business struggling to make a [...]
Back to school
Posted: August 23rd, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] “Back to school, back to school… to prove to dad that I’m not a fool.” (Adam Sandler / Billy Madison.) Not sure about you but I for one don’t want to start over. I have too many years invested. Just like Billy, I do not want to repeat the first grade or [...]
Plan Early, Save Money
Posted: July 12th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] We are presently within “Daylight Savings Time,” where our clocks are set forward and I find myself forward thinking. I don’t know about you, but I plan on getting to the Photo Plus Expo this Fall, October 26-29. It is well known that hotels in NYC can cost a fortune and fill [...]
Anticipate
Posted: June 13th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] An assistant who can anticipate a photographers next act is an invaluable asset to any shoot. Being acutely attentive and acquiring the ability to ascertain the needs of the photographer, in advance, is an attractive quality that is always appreciated. In addition, your attentiveness will positively affect your client by aggrandizing him [...]
Thoughts on New Business Models for Photographers
Posted: May 24th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] I have been in the (“professional” photographic) business for almost 20 years. So let me ask you “what the hell do I know about new business models”? I imagine that I am not alone in my ignorance. While completing a Google search on “New Business Models,” (drum roll please…) number 4 of [...]
Personal work in Business Portfolios?… Yes. Absa*#$*inglutely.
Posted: May 19th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] I am taking that one step further. I have been slowly building a body of personal work in hopes that, in the future, it will be the only work I show. Why? I want to move in the direction of securing the work that I want to do…. not what I currently [...]
Time Management
Posted: March 28th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] Wikipedia defines time management as “exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase efficiency or productivity.” Ha. If only it was that simple. I put the question of time management to my daughter. She added “ and not procrastinating”. I am not sure but I [...]
Who is My Competition?
Posted: March 25th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] I am my only competition. That is a fact. I consider working as a photographer to be similar to being an athlete, say a sprinter, in the Olympics. Some would call that sprinter a competitive athlete. To back up this claim some might argue that the sprinter was in a competition and [...]
Take a Break, Take 30
Posted: February 18th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] Take 30 minutes a day to shoot something close to your heart. 30 short minutes, they add up. 30 (min) x 30 (days) x 30 (months). Pretty soon you will find your photography light-years ahead. Kevin Lock is a national board member of the ASMP. When Kevin is not taking 30, he [...]
Want to Find New Clients? Follow Me
Posted: February 7th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] Start with A, ASMP that is. Your first step in getting more work is working on your Find A Photographer listing (FAP). FAP… get it up, add to it, keep it updated, and buy more portfolios. (They are cheap.) That is what I did and it has bumped me up in the [...]
Change Everything
Posted: January 5th, 2011
[by Kevin Lock] I have to be honest with you. I text myself. Might sound dirty but it feels good. Might not be appropriate for all audiences, but it works for me. I have been texting myself the phrase “change everything” for months now. And it is working. I came up with this simple idea, “change everything,” on a cross [...]
Thoughts on Event Photography
Posted: November 22nd, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] Are you thinking that Event Photography is a dead end street? I say you are looking in the rear view mirror. At first glance, it might appear that event photography is just a way to make money, a way to survive in tough economic times. Of course there is money involved and [...]
Travel Homework Assignment
Posted: November 12th, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] When traveling abroad, I suggest that you do your homework. Don’t assume the airline or anyone else will do it for you. I recently spent a month traveling via Jet Blue’s “All You Can Jet” promotion. I was on the road photographing places that I had never been. I visited 4 countries [...]
Why Even Try?
Posted: October 7th, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] While in college I pursued my dream of becoming a documentary photographer and a photojournalist. I quickly segwayed into editorial photography. At the time there seemed to be an unlimited amount of opportunity. Magazines and assignment work was in abundance. Every day more and more magazines appeared. A lot has changed in [...]
Connect and Reconnect
Posted: August 9th, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] Want to boost your sales. Connect. Reconnect. Build a relationship. Connect with your clients. Really connect. Then reconnect. It is not rocket science. Be yourself. You are much more than your art, your imagery or your next possible job. You have to sell yourself. The sales will follow. If your client likes [...]
Pack Right the Previous Night
Posted: July 22nd, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] For every job, pack as if you were going on a family vacation. Lay it all out the night before, inspect it, cross it off a checklist and put each item in its proper place. This will relieve a lot of stress and besides the rest of your creative team will be [...]
Make Time to Meet Someone New
Posted: June 18th, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] Unless we introduce ourselves, “they” do not know who we are. It is time to make that introduction. Take a few days, put together a blurb book, pick up the phone, make some cold calls, set up a couple of meetings and jump in. Get out and meet someone. Kevin Lock is [...]
I am a Strictly Business 2 Grad
Posted: May 25th, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] The American Society of Media Photographers Strictly Business 2 was a defining weekend for me. It was the beginning of a series of significant and concrete ASMP experiences that continue to positively affect my business some two years later. That weekend I received a wealth of information, was introduced to leaders from [...]
Cold Calls?
Posted: May 7th, 2010
[by Kevin Lock] Having a hard time reaching out to new clients? Pick up the phone and personally reconnect with past clients that you may have not heard from or worked with in a while. You will be surprised how this will boost your confidence and assist you in making long over due “cold calls” [...]
