40 is a magic age for photographers
I wish someone would have told me when I was 25 and really upset that I hadn’t “Made it” yet, not to worry. When I was 25, I had no money and very little connections. Now, 15 years later, the opposite is true. There is almost no job I cannot do. I just get on the phone and I can put a crew together to make it happen. I am at ease with myself and know how to talk (serve) the client’s needs on any given job. If I need 25k to start a job… OK, no problem. If I need an amazing lighting tech to light a car…. I can get one. Studio? Gear? yes and yes. Retouching? (Oh so important…) yes, I have a great retoucher as an employee.
Again, it comes down to providing images for clients that need them, and giving them solutions to their image needs. If you can do those two things, you will be in business a long time. If a client needs an image retouched in a 24 hour turn around time: do it or figure out how to get it done. If a client needs video, offer it. Your business is only valued at what you can do for your clients. Think like a client would think and you will be a great business person.
Somehow, now that my hair is salt and pepper (more salt than pepper) and my arm is soon not going to be long enough for me to read small type…. the jobs are coming my way. No rep. No promos this year. Just face to face meetings and personal relationships that are building my business. And I’m having fun doing it.
Things are looking up. And the more time I am working on shoots and estimates, the less time I have to blog…. I’ll try to get some picture up soon of recent shoots!
–Greg
3 Responses to “40 is a magic age for photographers”
Jorge says:
May 25, 2010 at 7:53 am
Clients don’t need images 24 hours after a shoot! The client who wants a 24 hour turn around is better licensing a stock picture or eliminating the photographer all together. Just put a 5d on a tripod in front of a cyc and let the computer snap the picture. Then have a low end retoucher run a bunch of macros on the image, blur the skin, a few shortcuts. Fast and cheap!
David Strohl says:
May 25, 2010 at 3:20 pm
@ Jorge, I’m not sure what clients you’ve worked for in the past, but to say they aren’t increasingly demanding on turnaround time is completely offbase. Almost every job I’ve done in the past few years, I have been expected to turn things around to the client incredibly fast. I know it’s a bummer and all, but if you can’t keep up, then you’re going to get left behind. From a business standpoint, if you aren’t going all out in the realm of customer service (i.e. fast retouching, image galleries, email response, etc) then you will NOT be able to sustain. Agencies and other clients simply won’t work with you.
Bradford A. Ciecko says:
May 25, 2010 at 10:47 pm
@ Jorge again…
I agree with David here. If you can’t turn something around pretty quick you will get left behind; the digital age has spawned this expectation as the first photographers to relish the digital workflow produced amazing results faster and faster. Though I have never done a commercial shoot, or a paid gig for that matter, (as I am a photography student still) I have done some pretty intense assignments that leave very little time after a shoot for post work as I have to get back to my working life. With only two days off, working midnights, the first day off is eaten up with sleep. This leaves the second off day (from work) to do the shoot and run post for a series of 10. Working in these conditions is tough, yileds 18-24 hour work days but is possible. Again I am not a professional, but comparing a full scale photo shoot with sets and assistants is like comparing the smaller scale shoots I do without assistants but a work schedule outside of photography tossed in the mix–I get it done. I wouldn’t think the company that may have a 24 hour turn around expectation is not feasible. It might be asking a bit much but sometimes that the way it happens. I sure wouldn’t turn down a job that needed 24 hour turn around. I’ve done it for class several times and would happily do it again for a client.