[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default”][vc_column_text]Michael Hart is your traditional, self-taught, ASMP professional photographer and problem solver. He started taking photographs at eight years old with the Brownie Holiday Flash that he got for his First Communion and was able to test it out on the floor of an NBA game in Indiana. In Junior High, he had graduated to a Brownie Super 27 and was taken under the wing of a yearbook staffer who noticed him taking pictures at a school sporting event. Within a short time, Hart had a contact printer and developer trays in his basement along with a makeshift studio so he could take pictures of friends and family. He was paid for the first time fifty-two years ago, and here he shares some important lessons (and horror stories) about being assertive.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default”][carousel script=”carouFredSel” easing=”linear” carousel_title=”Michael Hart Images ©Michael Hart Photography”][item id=”1494514926641-0-5″ tab_id=”1494514201337-3″ title=”Item”][vc_column_text]
Jimi Hendrix, February 1968 at The Houston Music Hall. The first of the three opening acts was a local band called The Moving Sidewalks featuring Lee High School Senior, Billy F. Gibbons, on lead guitar. They played “Purple Haze!” and Jimi seemed to dig it. Can you say chutzpah!?!
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This was done like an ad shoot. It was not done “in the field” but at an equipment yard south of Houston for the M-I Drilling Fluids Division of Halliburton. All the guys are models and it was for a poster.
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An editorial shoot for The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Magazine. Gideon Jones had two B-24 bombers shot out from under him in WWII, and spent his 20th birthday in a POW camp. At 92, he is still flight instructing in the Houston area, and packing heat on his right hip.
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Danny Everitt is a Texas singer-songwriter, and we played together back in the early 70’s. He is part of my previous and current CD project. I had the idea for this image for several years. The chimney and tank sit on 44 Farms; an Angus breeding facility. This shot became the inside spread of Danny’s CD titled “Dream Big”.
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A recent annual report shoot of the top executives for Cabot Oil & Gas. A good example of the corporate/executive suite work I now specialize in.
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A favorite personal photo from Hyde Park, London features a bit of whimsy.
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This was shot in Saudi Arabia and is an example of the kind of work I USED to do for oil companies.
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Another personal favorite. I wanted to start showing non-oilfield work and being a huge Scotch Malt Whisky aficionado, I contacted the Lagavulin Distillery on The Island Of Islay, and asked to come and shoot. I had the run of the place for 4-5 days. This image ended up being sold as stock to The British Tourist Authority for a US Newspaper campaign.
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Arriving
As a young photographer in the Houston market, he was inspired by the likes of Jay Maisel, Pete Turner, and locals Arthur Meyerson and Joe Baraban. Through trial and error, he learned about light, composition, flow and balance. He rode the B2B wave in Houston taking photographs for corporate annual reports during the days when companies were still flying people around the world to capture aspects of their oil and gas empires. Michael remembers when he finally felt validated as a photographer. “We all have that moment when you feel like you’ve arrived and mine was when Arthur and Joe referred business to me. ASMP helped me meet all the people I looked up to and I ended up being their peer” says Hart.
Although he was nineteen when it happened, he is really proud of the picture he took of musical icon, Jimi Hendrix. “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then” says Hart who plays bass guitar. In the 1970’s he was a part of an Austin band which, among other things, opened for ZZ Top a couple of times. “People inclined to a creative life tend to gravitate toward music” says Hart. He is momentarily taking a hiatus from live gigs but he and his former Austin bandmates are putting the finishing touches on their sophomore CD effort, 19 years after the first one.
Resisting the Race to the Bottom
Recently, Hart found himself bidding on a large project and the client’s process encouraged photographers to actively underbid each other. Hart had worked for this client before on the exact same type of project which involved shooting many product images for a catalog. Hart’s images from the previous project were actually used in the client RFP as good examples of what they were looking for.
Photographers planning to submit proposals were invited to participate in a blind conference call where all participants could ask questions to clarify requirements. After proposals were submitted, the client used an online tool to rank photographers and the #1 ranking was given to the least expensive. The rankings were visible to bidders but the actual numbers were not shared. Photographers were then given thirty minutes to submit a reduced bid that would influence their ranking. “This client’s payment terms were also 90 days” commented Hart.
Hart’s bid was the most expensive but he held firm on his pricing and consequently didn’t get the work. “This is what we are up against. It’s a race to the bottom. Clients say that price isn’t the only decision-making factor but when we are forced to bid against each other this way, it’s totally about price” says Hart. He found the process to be unnerving. “Now, I don’t do bids, I do estimates. I can do a really good signed estimate that is fair and addresses all the client’s requirements” adds Hart.
Resisting the Bully Tactic
Another project that taught Hart to stand up for himself involved the use of images he had shot for a cookbook. The images were licensed to the author for the cookbook only. A former business partner of the cookbook author used the images on her website without permission. Hart contacted the infringer and asked them to provide evidence that the author had granted permission to use the images and if so, he would need to be compensated or have the images removed from her website. He was surprised to receive an intimidating letter from an attorney suggesting he didn’t have legitimate grounds for this request. Hart wrote back bringing the cookbook author into the conversation. “The images were removed from the website the next day because they realized I wasn’t kidding. If you don’t think this stuff pertains to you, you are going to get taken advantage of and you won’t be in business very long. No one is going to look out for you better than you. Bottom line is that it’s a business and you spend more time on the business end than you do shooting” says Hart.
Hart’s advice on the importance of joining a community like ASMP:
- Meet people you can learn from. If I attended one ASMP event and learned one thing, I considered it a good investment.
- You can make your membership fee back in one year if you travel or buy a computer or use any of the other discounts available to you.
- I’ll share anything with anyone. I’m not intimidated because others won’t approach things the same way I do. If you help clients find unique ways to solve problems, your value increases.
- Photographers get taken advantage of but everyone has to make choices about their work. It’s helpful to be around others dealing with the same situations as you are.
Hart can be found at https://www.hartphoto.com/. Images ©Michael Hart Photography.
If this article was of interest to you, take a look at some of the other posts in the Board Members Give Back series.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]