Five Things That Will Increase Your Chances of Getting a Photo Gig
And your camera gear has nothing to do with it.
Five Things To Do To Help Land Assignment Photography
We are nearing the end of the year at Project 52*, I wanted to discuss some truths that go along with this business. Some of these items are probably truths for almost any business, and some are narrowly within the creative realm of endeavors… but all are universally true.
Photographers working in the world of corporate marketing departments, designer agencies, and advertising agencies carry with some realities that may take a while to sink in. If you don’t understand this stuff, you won't understand why the business is ignoring you. No one likes to be ignored, and it can indeed be painful when you cannot even figure it out.
What is Professional Photography?
When people talk about Professional Photography, there are a couple of things that we need to clarify before we simply acknowledge the information as being relevant. Are they referring to direct-to-consumer photography like wedding or portrait, photojournalism (newspapers and news magazines), or the myriad of specialties within the advertising, corporate, and editorial area?
Does that matter?
Oh, hells yeah — because those areas of professional photography are wildly diverse from each other. In some ways, only the gear brings them together as a group.
There is a big difference between preparing to be a wedding shooter and preparing a career as a photojournalist. And even more differences between those two specialties and being a commercial shooter. Some are in the preparation and execution, and some are systemic to how the work is hired out or assigned.
And in the discipline of commercial, we have several other defining differences. Advertising is different than editorial, and both are different than art, or “fine art” as it is sometimes known.
I don’t write about wedding or PJ photographers specifically as those are specialties that I am not that familiar with. And there are lots of great material already for those disciplines. I write for the commercial shooter who may have to do a portrait for a magazine article on Tuesday, a still life shot for a designer on Thursday, and then spend three days on location for a corporate marketing firm to get pictures for a company brochure.
The budgets may be larger, there are more detailed parameters, and the ability to execute under pressure is always present. And while the same is true with wedding photographers and PJs, the advertising and design world has its own set of pressures and pain points that must be addressed at all times.
Getting hired to do an ad campaign, or an annual report, billboard, brochure, catalog, or editorial assignment takes a lot of portfolio showings, email blasts, phone calls, returned calls, portfolio drop-offs, deliveries, and absolute top-notch work that is easily definable for the assignment at hand.
These assignments range from workaday wages to incredibly lucrative gigs depending on the market, client, and usage of the photos.
Let’s examine five things to do to prepare you for getting an assignment.
1. Create Amazing and Compelling Pictures.
OK… I can hear some of you sighing… “well, of course, Don… that’s a ‘duh’ and we know that already.” And maybe you do know that.
But are you doing it?
It takes a steady commitment and brutal, killer, head-pounding, gnashing-of-teeth shooting, and editing to get to that point. How long does it take to get some killer shots? I dunno. Took me years before I was thought I was ready… you can do it faster, but I was shooting film on the weekends… and it was expensive.
Shoot something every day. It’s digital… film and processing costs are no longer an issue. If you are currently employed doing something else while planning on making your break, you should still shoot every day. What? You thought you would get a reprieve? Nope. Every day you aren’t shooting, someone else is. In your market. In your discipline. Carry a camera with you and shoot something at lunch or after/before work. Or in the living room or bedroom that you have converted to a tiny tabletop studio.
Come on… letting furniture stop your dream? Really?
Find ways to build your visual literacy and define your vision as often as possible. No excuses. Look at Websites and magazines that have the most amazing work and look for refinement of the photographer’s vision. Check out the NYT Photography pages — or ‘W’ Magazine, PDN, Aperture, Communication Arts, Graphis, and AdAge are but a few that come to mind.
There are more.
Hit the newsstands and magazine racks and study… not look at, study the work that amazes you. Find the similarities to your work and expand. I am not advocating copying, but rather steeping oneself in the work of masters can be a truly powerful way to pull out of oneself the power of creativity.
You could consider hiring a portfolio consultant to help you with your concepting, planning, and shooting of images that rock your book. There are many ‘consultants’ out there. Due diligence, and choose wisely.
2. Create a ‘Body’ of Work
Not a box of images, but a body of work — a cohesive collection of images that lets the viewer know precisely what it is you do. Without question. Without having to explain it. Without narration. Without any nonsense that will make you sound like an amateur.
This body of work is made up of images that speak to your craft, vision, and ability to execute, across a myriad of subjects and under a myriad of conditions.
These are YOUR images, and they should look like your work. So many things go into making a photograph and every one of them is a choice. The choices YOU make create the images that reflect your aesthetic. And therefore, that elusive monster called “style”.
Make sure that the images that you show are something you can repeat. No flukes or happy accidents unless you know you can reproduce them again.
On-demand.
See these photographers for very strong portfolios that I consider a body of work.
Dan Winters
Jake Chessum
Chris Buck
Andrew Hetherington
Robert Wright
Chase Jarvis
3. Create Confidence in the Art Buyer
Show up on time. Return phone calls. Deliver the paperwork. Line out the estimates. Create a distinct impression that you have done this before and that there won’t be surprises. Telling an art buyer that you can’t find the delivery memo for a half-million dollars worth of jewelry that was rented for the shot just ain’t gonna fly, ya know!
That is one of the scariest things for someone handing out an assignment to an artist for the first time. “Will there be any surprises?” In other words… will you do what you say you will do in the manner in which you have indicated you will do it in your portfolio and meetings? Cause if you don’t, the person who hired you could have consequences that run from messy to career-altering.
Art buyers as a group are not terribly cavalier. They are deliberate, studious, demanding, perfectionists and they hold the purse strings to a lot of assignment work. You need to build the confidence with them that you will deliver like the other shooters they currently work with.
They are not currently working with those who can’t deliver. Got that?
One way to instill a little confidence is to make sure all the things you should have on the bid are there. Don’t forget anything. Caterers? MUA’s? MUA Assistant? Rental for the scissor lift or special needs for construction? Is it all there?
No surprises, remember.
One way to do this is to sit down with your team and discuss the project, and what will be needed. A well-detailed bid, with all the items there, goes a long way toward letting that art buyer know you are prepared.
Blink Bid (http://blinkbid.com/) is a software that won’t let you forget what you need to have on the bid. You can find estimate forms at ASMP (you are a member, right?) and other professional organizations like APA.
You may even find mentors and consultants that will help you with your bidding and RFPs. Just do not overlook this most important area of practice.
4. Deliver.
Yeah… deliver.
Deliver the images as discussed. On-time. On budget. With all the wonderful coolness that is your work. Deliver more than promised. As much more as you can. Push the shoot past the point where you know you got it.
Here’s where surprises are good. As long as you got what they wanted, there is no reason to not show them something that kicks ass. Delivering something that was unexpected as well as expected keeps you on their mind.
We were shooting some leather goods for a client who made firearms protection for law enforcement. The previous catalogs had been shot by a very competent shooter and I was brought in because of a scheduling conflict.
I shot one holster to match the previous catalog and they were pleased. It was a single-light softbox setup and not a big deal. I then added a few fill items and some ‘magic’ to the typical ‘drop ‘n pops’ that made them look quite rich and showed the client all that chrome that was unseen in the other photographer’s work.
It took me only a few minutes to see how to light it to catch the reflections, but it netted me a whole lot more.
I shot the catalog for the next 5 years. Four per year… bigass gigs. Took me an additional minute or two per shot to make mine stand out.
Deliver the best of your ability on every job. Without excuses. Every time.
I have heard people of all industries say things like “They aren’t paying me enough to…” or “I am not making enough on this gig to go the extra mile.”
See… I think that is bullshit. Because you agreed to do it for that price. If you agreed, then the work should look like the work you showed. The effort to make a good photograph should be the same. It is the agreement you made… to do the work for that compensation.
And you only do the best work. Right?
If you don’t want to do the gig for the budget offered, decline it. For your sake. Seriously.
Doing less than your best in anything you do is not a good plan for growth. It simply isn’t. You step to the plate and you hit a home run… whether you are at “the show” or on a farm league. Could it be any other way? How do you get to the big leagues unless you hit homers on the farm team? For a hell of a disparate amount of pay.
Deliver. In all you do and to whoever you work with.
Bring it.
Every time.
5. Show your work to everyone, everywhere, all the time.
I know a shooter who is an unemployed tech engineer. He had worked for 15 or more years in an industry that simply went away in the current economy. He is a very talented photographer. In my description of him. In his description, he is an unemployed tech worker.
What’s up with that?
Sometimes you simply have to change your personal assessment. After what this guy has spent on gear it is simply astounding that he is sitting at a year of unemployment. But telling other people and yourself that you are ‘an unemployed’ person is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Being successful sometimes means stating that you are successful. It means making it known to everyone in your life, the sphere of influence, and casual acquaintances that you are a commercial photographer. You are a creative person who can make photographs that other people deem as worthy to hire you to make. Pay you handsomely to boot.
Declare yourself a photographer. A successful photographer. If you are not familiar with the term “affirmations” I suggest you read some work by Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, and Zig Zigler. What you are is what you perceive yourself to be. Be successful in your own eyes and it will help others see you that way.
Join networks, social groups, volunteer organizations, and other places that allow you to meet like-minded professionals who can become your fan club. Of course, this means becoming a fan of theirs as well.
Prepare your portfolio and make sure you get it in front of someone that is in a position of hiring you at least once per week. Sound easy? It isn’t. Getting your port or website or web folio in front of a potential client at least once every week will take a commitment to self-motivated work that is real. And it can take a toll.
Don’t let it. This is the nature of this business. It takes time and effort and time and effort and effort and did I mention it takes time to get to the point where it starts to pay off?
And when it pays off… you get to shoot things and places and people you may never have gotten a chance to do or meet.
That makes it all worth it.
I am a photographer, designer, and photo editor. You can find me at my self-named website or at Project 52 Pro System (enrollment begins January 6, 2023) where I teach commercial photography online. This is our tenth year of teaching, and it is the most unique online class you will find anywhere.
You can find my books on Amazon, and I have taught two classes at CREATIVELIVE.
