How to get started

[Corey Jenkins]

I've been shooting for 2 years now, I like to shoot a lot and would like to shoot more. Next year I'll hopefully be busy taking a bunch of pictures of athletes at my high school for year book. But I was wondering is there any commercial style stuff I could do now, I'm only 17. I was thinking maybe smaller clothing companies with small budgets on advertising might be something to look into. Does any one have any tips for approaching these kinds of companies? Things to say, things not to? Also if some one could help me out with pricing it that would be great. Obviously I don't need to be doing it for free, although I don't really care about getting paid I just wouldn't want to undercut other photographers. Any input would be nice, I've only been taking pictures of my friends mostly and only a few things for actual companies.

[Matt Timmons]

Hi Corey-
Sounds like you're off to a good start already with your approach on what to do/not to do. This is a tough question, and the business side of photography is pretty tight -lipped so far I've seen. But I'll share what I do know.

1. Promote Thyself: Make some cards or half-page flyers that show your work and have some contact info on it. If you want to shoot clothing, make sure you show mostly sample shots of how you shoot clothing/models. Mail or walk these into the stores you want to work with.

2. It's a good idea to have a website. These are the modern day portfolio. If you cant make a website, then use a flicker page or something so that potential clients can check out your stuff online.

3. Make sure whatever you show potential clients is the best you can do. If anything is half-assed or misses the point completely, your phone will be silent.

4. Pricing. This is the toughest question and I am still asking it myself (HELP!!!) I don't know any standard industry rates (I'm still researching this), and a lot of it depends on where you are going to shoot. For instance advertising photography in L.A. is going to be a lot higher than in Wichita. All I can for sure say is this- you have to at least charge a rate that is worth your time to do the job. If that's nothing, than fine- charge nothing. Being the cheapest photog isn't the way to get jobs though, because there is ALWAYS going to be someone who will do it cheaper or for free. Businesses can take advantage of you if you are too cheap also. They can hire you, than make you work your tail off shooting for hours longer than you were told, do all kinds of post-production, make proofs, re-do stuff, make more proofs, tweak more stuff, make more proofs, then re-shoot the whole thing and start over. All for free or really cheap and you are getting screwed. So I think you must set up a deal where you will do a certain amount of your services for X amount of money. If more work is needed than the additional cost is added to the bill. You have to decide what way to charge a client is best for you. Some photogs charge hourly, some daily, some a set fee according to the job (the latter is my way). Doing a job for free can be beneficial if it's something that will elevate your status, such as shooting the cover of Vogue (I'd do that for free to have that tear sheet in my binder). But just a regular business wanting to get you to shoot for free is just exploitation and they will most always try to get away with it if you're a newbie. Also, if you're cheap, they will always expect you to be cheap. One day you raise your rates and they get offended and then just call the next cheap photographer.
I am against undercutting other photographers to get work. I believe that a business should hire me for my style, not because I'm just cheaper than everyone else. Besides, I couldn't make a living if I were just the cheapest, and cheap photogs get a reputation for just being hacks also. Many businesses expect to pay a fair rate to get good quality (except where I live), so if you walk in looking like you'll take whatever scraps they will throw you for a photo shoot, you won't be taken seriously. Good fashion photographers have no problem charging premium rates, and they probably wouldn't even be considered for their work if they were just "cheap".

5. Honesty: Your 17, business know you're not a pro. Show them your work, let them know you would love to shoot an ad for them, and tell them up front that want to do business (not a volunteer project or something). Let them know you are new to the business and are trying to get started. Some businesses will be turned off by this, but some will like it. Just don't lie about anything and be careful about business that seem to be lying to you.

6. Professionalism. Be a professional about everything you do. From your work, to your pricing, to your attitude on the job and on the phone with your clients. Even if you have no experience at commercial photography, you can still treat every situation with professionalism and every person with respect. That will do more for your business than any pricing structure.

Hope that helps and let us know how it goes! I'm off to go watch Moto GP! :sol:

[Corey Jenkins]

Thanks a lot for your input :) I'm going to look over it a few times to make sure I get every thing. But now I think I'll also turn on some Moto GP just realized it was on haha

[Nick Saglimbeni]

Hey Corey,

Matt's got some great input. #2 (getting is website) is KEY, since I haven't been asked to send my physical "book" out for over 2 years. All your best work should be available on-line, 24 hours a day.

As far as the age thing, I disagree slightly with Matt that they will assume you're not a pro. There are plenty of successful "hot-shit" young photographers, which can totally work for you if you become successful for your style (as opposed to your business sense.) This can actually REPLACE or TRUMP experience. Let me explain: if they are hiring you for your business sense/professionalism, there can always be someone with more experience. However, if they are hiring you because they love your work, and they feel your style is unique, then you are, in their eyes, one of a kind. In this case (which is the Holy Grail for any photographer) age means nothing, and you can get used to writing your own ticket.

As far as rates, I'm currently trying to incorporate an intense breakdown into PhotoKamp, in an attempt to demystify the secrets of professional photography, since a lot of people seem to have to the same question. The reason, honestly, that most of you are not finding answers, has nothing to do with you, but instead with the belief within the entertainment industry (which generally includes most forms of professional photography) that the less information you share with the public, the more secure your job.

Personally, I don't believe this is true. I believe the sharing of information is how successful people grow, build networks, and ultimately leave legacies. However, it must be done in a way that benefits all parties, otherwise you won't have enthusiasm (and hence sincerity) on both sides. If the teacher cannot benefit, he will withhold information, or worse, mislead you.

Also, you might be surprised at how little many professional fashion photographers make. The reality is that most aspiring photographers want to shoot fashion, so there is naturally much more competition. Remember that for every 10 fashion photographers that make $300K+/year, there are millions (quite literally) that can barely pay their rent. More on this later.

If I were to go back to 17, knowing what I know now, here's what I would do:
A) Shoot what excites you.
B) STOP thinking about money. You'll have your whole life to worry about that.
C) Better your style every day.

The rest, believe it or not, will simply come. It's very Zen, actually.

[Matt Timmons]

As far as the age thing, I disagree slightly with Matt that they will assume you're not a pro. There are plenty of successful "hot-shit" young photographers, which can totally work for you if you become successful for your style (as opposed to your business sense.) This can actually REPLACE or TRUMP experience.

In that case I stand corrected! :p

[Corey Jenkins]

Thanks for the great input. This is a little ot from the first post but it was something I was thinking about. I'm pretty into sports related stuff so I'm going to keep working on that. I have a whole lot of things coming up that are related to that which I'm excited about. Hopefully I'll be doing almost 2 shoots a week when school starts. In the future wouldn't it be better if you were just really good at one style of photography when you started out, seems like if you had something that stands out and was unique you would always be hired for that. There would also be less people in your market if you chose something that not every one is doing. I know Tim Tadder/Gary Land/Joel Grimes is the kind of work I'd want to be doing so I gotta come up with something different and that could possibly be better in the future.

[Nick Saglimbeni]

Very perceptive. I can say that even though I started shooting "Maxim-style", I went through a period where I tried to emulate every major photographer, looking to define my style. Ultimately, however, I became successful, both artistically and financially, for shooting exactly what I started out being PASSIONATE about.

You're on to something, Corey. Keep following your instincts.

[Corey Jenkins]

Sounds great, I'll keep working on every thing. Thanks again so much, there's nothing like getting feedback from an actual working and very successful photographer like your self.