I just got off the phone with a wonderful photographer in the Midwest. Bill is working the direct consumer market, but looking to break into the commercial market. His area is not the most cosmopolitan, being a small town about an hour or so from Memphis, but Bill is working it hard.
He has been approached to do some very cool executive portraiture for an ad agency. And he is ready. His experience in the run ‘n gun world of weddings and portraiture, as well as his very strong attention to detail will serve him well on this gig. The AD has already informed him that there may be some last minute ‘adjustments’ that may have to be made to accommodate the client. Bill can handle last minute changes… he does it all the time with the subjects and models he works with.
Where he will be challenged is not in making THE shot, but in not getting ahead of himself and his client to do many ‘THE’ shots. I have cautioned him to be very cognizant of the fact that they need ONE shot for the cover of this publication, and his job is to provide that shot with as much variation as possible within the AD’s direction. But not so many that he spins his wheels on doing variation after variation.
There will be some back and forth between Bill and the client as they get ready for the shoot day. The subject will be met on set, and the ideas from the AD will have to be tempered for the existing location they find themselves in. There will be no time to try to move the shoot to better digs somewhere else. The AD and the photographer will have to team up to make the shot – THE shot – the killer shot that Bill wants for the tear sheet that is so important to his work, right there at the location that was chosen.
The tear sheet cover shot is very important to Bill. He has worked in the photography world full time for a number of years. His clientele love him. He is making a nice living. And he wants to add commercial to the current client list for a number of reasons. He knows tear sheets and printed work are important to his growth.
But not all tear sheets are the same.
This cover for a prestigious in-house/consumer magazine is one that has good production and will provide a wonderful canvas for Bill’s work. It will be worth it to get his environmental and corporate commercial book in order. Bill has a full time photography business, but starting in commercial is just like every one else… you must build the book, the clients and the body of work to move into the bigger assignments.
If it was a small insert shot of a sign for a hotel ad… well, no. That will not be something that is valuable as a tear sheet. That is commercial work… for which we get paid. Most of what we do is not really ‘tear sheet’ quality for the first couple of years, so when one comes along… go all out for it.
Clients love tear sheets from photographers they have never worked with. They create a feeling of confidence. “Someone else hired this guy, and he delivered for them. He will probably deliver for me…” they think. And that is what makes them important.
Equally important is the understanding of what the business is really all about. Look, there are two ways to get your business off the ground. One is to work at some non-related job and do weekend stuff to save up for the move. The other is to actually DO commercial photography while working toward the bigger gigs.
That is where Project 52 fits in.
The idea is to train photographers in the real world of commercial photography. The approaches and tactics and terminology of commercial photography. Sure it is fun to watch other photographers do incredible shoots for clients who are household names. Budgets of 6-figures and more are wonderful to dream about.
Most likely we will be shooting stuff for local magazines, catalogs for widget companies and the occasional food shot for local hotels while we work toward the bigger stuff.
Project 52 – 52 weeks to go pro, has a real world edge that we like to work with. The assignments are very much like the ones you will get when you open your studio or start your business. We mix a synergy of business/art/production and more to give the photographers a chance to practice and hopefully create some awareness of what may be expected. Then when something similar happens in the real world, they will have faced it and dealt with it before.
This assignment was to shoot some electrical equipment with the focus being on a very close-up macro approach.
Macro Shot of Electronic Equipment:
Audio Critique of the Electronics Macro Shot Here.
This assignment was given to illustrate a theme. One word. “Power”. The challenge was to make an image that spoke that message… power.
Theme Shoot; “Power”
Audio Critique for the “Power” Shot is Here.
We took a very tight approach to this assignment: A CD cover for Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. Some opted to do the inside cover spread for the CD label. They were assigned to listen and make an image that worked in a square format.
CD Cover for a String Quartet:
Audio Critique of the Classical Music CD is Here.
It’s never too late to start. There are new assignments every Monday (or so) and there are audio and visual critiques all through the following weeks.
We do have a more advanced version coming along, but this one is free. Join in and have a blast for the next 40 or so weeks!
Follow me on Twitter, see what my workshops are about and find out more About.Me.
