Around this time of year, I get a lot of emails from photo students about to graduate. I think part of their curriculum is to go out and ask photographers they like how they got their start.

So, when Andrew Torres emailed me a few weeks ago, I decided to make a blog post out of it. Hopefully this answers his questions about how to start out as a photographer. At least it tells my story and I can reference it again the next time a photo student emails me.

AT: How did you get started in photography and what education/training did you receive?

LB: I learned the basics of photography in high school and did it as a hobby for a number of years. In 2001, I quit my web design job and started working as a studio manager/1st assistant for an architectural photographer by the name of Philip Beaurline. I knew some Photoshop from my design days, but I know nothing about professional photography. Everything I know today I learned by working for him.

It was a very lucky time to make the shift into photography. He was still shooting film and he was shooting with a view camera primarily. I learned to load film, label shot rolls, and how to set up a view camera. After the shoot, the film workflow became my responsibility. I took it to the lab, made selects on a light table, drum scanned the selects, cleaned it up in Photoshop, made prints and CDs, and then delivered the job to the client. So not only did I learn all the nuances of film and the look of film, but I also learned all the digital post production side of things, how to interact with clients, and to know how to properly deliver a photo shoot. It was really an amazing experience and I don’t think I would have learned as much had I just freelanced as a photo assistant.

AT: Would you recommend internships or assisting before starting your own business?

LB: Absolutely. I think internships are good place to start. It gets your foot in the door and there’s not a big commitment on either part. Once you move into assisting, make sure you assist a photographer who you admire or for someone who shoots the subject you’re interested in. If you like architecture photography, assist an architectural photographer. If you like food photography, assist a food photographer. If you like travel photography, assist a travel photographer. If you like all three, you can assist me.

AT: Are you a member of any professional organizations and would you recommend joining?

LB: Definitely start by joining ASMP. The main things you get from it are tons of business materials ranging from estimates, to copyrights, to legal documents; a national network of photographers that you can reach out to for help or advice; and amazing discounts on everything from computers to business Insurance. After that, if you want to shoot editorial, I definitely recommend joining Editorial Photographers (EP). The member forum has helped me so much throughout my career as a photographer. If you want to go more commercial, APA is a good place to be as well. They have a great find an assistant listing program as well as invaluable information and discounts.

AT: What piece of equipment could you not live without for your type of photography?

LB: Besides a computer, Lightroom and Photoshop, I could not live without the Canon 24mm TS-E II and the Canon 17mm TS-E. The TS means Tilt-Shift and these lenses allow me to shoot architecture almost as well as if I had shot it with a view camera. Architecture photography is all about perspective control. These lenses allow me to keep my camera level, yet rise and shift the lens to compose the without getting keystone distortion. Not only that, but these lenses are incredibly sharp and show very little (if any) chromatic aberration.  I just hope Canon release new editions of the 45mm TS-E and the 90mm TS-E. Nice lenses, but not sharp enough with for a 20MP digital SLR.

For digital, I’d say your lenses are more important than you camera. For film, they’re both important.

AT: What are the advantages/disadvantages of working out of a larger area like Portland?

LB: Portland (and Oregon) is fortunate to have all the support you need to pull off a really big production. Everything from an international airport to professional camera and lighting rental can be found here. Plus there are some amazing rental studios and great locations all over town. There are some great stylists living here as well. There’s a strong creative vibe here and I feel lucky to be a part of it. The downside of working here is the cost of living is pretty low and there are A LOT of photographers and assistants moving here all the time. With this much competition, you really have to work hard to make yourself stand out. I would not want to start my career here. Start someplace smaller and build up your portfolio. Then move to a medium sized market like Portland.

AT: What have you found to be the most effective ways to market yourself?

LB: You just can’t do one thing and expect it to be effective. You have to market everywhere and it has to be consistent of what you shoot (your brand). You must have an easy to use and fast loading website, a carefully edited portfolio, email marketing campaign, direct mail marketing campaign, social marketing network, all of it. It’s not cheap and it takes up a lot of your time. So you have to build it into your cost of doing business. Also, word of mouth is so important, so make sure you do a good job, deliver on time, and work well with others.

AT: Any other words of wisdom you would offer a photography student nearing graduation?

Being a working professional photographer is a job. It’s not romantic, it’s not glamorous, and you’re probably not going to make a living at it for about 5 years. But it’s a fun job and it can be very rewarding personally and emotionally. So, if you don’t have any business skills, start getting some. You’re going to need it.

Also, do your cost of doing business every year. I can’t stress enough how important it is to know the real costs of running a photography business.

I think one of the most challenging aspects to being a commercial photographer is the marketing. It’s ironic because we are in a commercial marketing environment, yet reaching the people we want to hire us can seem voodoo and difficult. In my experience, no matter how good you are or how “cool” you are, if no one knows about you, then you’re never going to get work. I’ve tried all kinds of photo business marketing and read many opinions about what you should or shouldn’t do. I thought I’d share what has worked for me.

1. Portfolio – It all starts here. What do you like shoot? How are you different than the million other photographers out there? Who do you want to shoot for? Does this shot suck? These are just some of the questions that you should ask when you edit your portfolio. And don’t try to do it alone. Ask peers and mentors to help you make the edit or hire a photography consultant and get an honest opinion on your work. A second pair of eyes will make all the difference
2. Website – Your website and your web presence is so critical. I can’t stress this enough. Your website should A) be easy to navigate, B) have big photos that download fast, and C) have your contact information on every page. If you’re site is in Flash, make sure you make your contact footer is in HTML so that visitors with smartphones can at least call or email you from your website. Better yet, make a mobile site to compliment your Flash site.
3. Blog – Blog about what you’re shooting. Blog about what new clients you have. Blog about anything related to your business. Google LOVES blogs, especially one’s that are XHTML compliant (i.e. Blogger, WordPress, Live Journal, etc.). The more your blog, the more search engines will visit your site and that makes you more relevant. Also, make sure you link out to specific phrases, not just “click here” or “this article”. For example, Lincoln Barbour is an awesome architectural photographer.
4. Source Sites – Here are some of the top sources sites you should get into: Wonderful Machine, Workbook, The Black Book, Alternative Pick, Le Book, PDN Photoserve, and Creative Hotlist. There are a bunch of others, but I would say these are fairly well known and trusted. I’m not even paying to be on PDN Photoserver and I’ve gotten work from being listed there.
5. Professional Photographer Organizations - You absolutely must join either ASMP, APA, EP, or (ideally) all three. It gives you credibility because not just anyone can join these organizations. They are only for working photographers and you have to peer reviewed before they let you in. ASMP, APA, and EP have built outstanding reputations as a source for excellent photographers and being associated with them makes you look like the professional you are. Not only that, but you’ll learn incredible amounts of photo business knowledge and get some pretty sweet discounts on everything from computers, to insurance, to car rentals.
6. Direct Mail & Email – A necessary evil, but you should do it. A good schedule would be a print mailer every 4 months and an email campaign every 2 months. Use Adbase or Agency Access to build a targeting mailing list and focus on clients you want to work for. For example, if you shoot food, don’t send a promo to Car & Driver.
7. Social Media – There’s a good way and a bad way to do social media and if you do it right, you’ll be rewarded with web traffic, great feedback, and a sense of interconnection to clients and colleagues. As a business, your social media interactions should stay on message, stay positive, and be useful to your followers. Nobody that will hire you cares what you had for breakfast, how rad this party is, or how much you hate rush hour traffic. And please, for all that is holey, don’t tweet about the weather. Use your judgment, be real, and keep personal separate from business.

The real trick is knowing that not just one marketing tactic will get you work. You have to do all of it, all of the time, forever and ever. It’s part of doing business. Yeah it’s expensive, but make it part of your CODB and charge a rate that covers it. As my Dad use to say, “It takes money to make money.”

It’s been a busy week here at Lincoln Barbour Photo. A great shoot yesterday, two shoots next week to get ready for, estimates and portfolios going out the door, my bookkeeping is way behind, I even have some web projects needed to get done yesterday. Not complaining, mind you, it’s a very nice change from last year. I’ve got some other posts in draft mode, but I don’t think they’re going to get done today.

But I wanted to post something. So, I’ve decided to make Fridays a links day. Every week, I pick up a lot of great photo business information on various blogs, social sites, etc. Instead of hoarding all this great knowledge, I thought I’d share what I’ve learn and then we can discuss them in the comments below.

• On Photoshelter’s Blog, I read about “8 Ways To Get More Work From Existing Clients“
• Vincent Laforet wrote a great post about the new Zeiss cine lenses with HDDSLR mounts. I haven’t enjoyed shooting video because accurate focus is so difficult on the standard AF style lenses. But these lenses make me rethink the whole video game. We’ll see…
• Knowing how to take a photograph is half the battle in commercial photography. Knowing how to take a photograph that gets someone’s attention may require scientific research. On PSFK, a great read on how Campbell Soup’s used neuromarketing to redesign their labels and you can see how it influenced their food photography.
• Black Star Rising is a great blog. They consistently post a great variety of marketing tips from photographers of all genres. I thought that these eight questions are something every photographer should ask themselves.
• The ad agency of the future will affect all commercial photographers. A very thought provoking read about how ad agencies should change is here on What Consumes Me.
• Finally, since Photoshop turned 20 this week, here’s a little humor on the invention of Photoshop from my very favorite online comic Achewood.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy those Rolos!

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