The Uncomfortable Truth
“Can I be successful as a photographer?” This question is usually asked of me as an unpublished shooter hands me their portfolio. I usually give them my honest personal assessment of their book, but there is a truth that always seems to go unspoken. Your photographs are a very small part of whether or not you will be successful.
Professional photographers like to think (or at least act like) their work is better than others and that is why they succeed. Most know that there is one key element that is actually far more important than the quality of their images- social skills.
Yes, I said far more important than the quality of their work.
You have to have “game”. Just like courting a potential mate you must also be attractive to a potential client. “Game” can’t really be taught. You either get it or you don’t.
Fellow professionals, especially workshop organizers don’t like to admit this. The truth is that there are many photographers more skilled than them that will never find success at their level. They don’t know how to do business. They may know how to crunch numbers. They may know how to plan and organize. They may be amazing with a camera. They will fail miserably as a photographer because they don’t look right, dress right, speak right, smell right or just plain have people skills.
Your photographic skills are important, but whether they are as important as your people skills can easily be debated. You definitely must be “good enough” to succeed consistently, but we have all seen bad photographs published, and sometimes even lauded.
It’s the same thing as when you were in high school. The cool guys got all the girls. Adults just know how to dress the same game up a little better. A photographer with phenomenal photographic ability that smells bad or looks “uncool” or has a big “creep factor” is going to have a more difficult time getting the jobs. We like to think that it’s all the bottom line when we do business, but the bottom line is not the only factor in who gets a job.
My advice is that as you develop your photographic skills you need to be developing your social skills. You need to learn to little things that seem like they shouldn’t matter, but the truth is that they do.
Wear the uniform. As I teach workshops I amazed at the absolute slobs that show up. They dress in their cheapest logo screaming shirt that they probably won at a local wet t-shirt contest. The “Follow Me to Hooters” t-shirt is accompanied by loose legged short pants that bring attention to what they are exposing with their shorts and not their camera. Why do they dress this way? “It’s hot and this is comfortable.” This very clearly shows that the photographer is more interested in immediate comfort rather than networking and approaching things professionally. “But it’s hot.” Yes, and you are lazy and don’t REALLY care about how you come across to others. “But it’s just a workshop!” Yes, it is. You have just guaranteed that you are just another attendee. This is a reflection of a mindset. It’s a parade of “reasons” why you aren’t standing out on top.
Companies like to hire people that project their image. Models like to work with people that care how they look. Successful photographers are always projecting a hirable image. It isn’t just how you dress though. The most uncomfortable part of all of this is that sometimes the problem isn’t your clothes. Sometimes it is the photographer themselves. Some photographers are just creepy not matter what they do. They shower, shave, say nothing inappropriate and yet that feeling is still there.
“Can I be a successful photographer?” Sometimes it is easy to answer that without ever even looking at that portfolio. That is the uncomfortable truth.
Basics of Retouching Faces
Developing Your Style
Have you ever looked at a photograph and immediately known who shot it? That photographer has a style so clear that it is unmistakable. Herb Ritts had a style so identifiable that it launched him from his still fashion work into music videos for artists as renowned as Michael Jackson at the peak of his career. David LaChapelle has a style like that.
There is no real way to define what a photographer’s style is. You can identify characteristics of an individual style, but I don’t think that I have ever heard any style completely defined. A style is as unique as a snowflake. Can you tell me how one snowflake is so radically different from another? It isn’t…yet it is.
The ultimate question is what is YOUR individual style? How do you develop it and refine it?
When I started shooting 20 years ago I used to look at my work and think it had no style. Sometimes black and white, sometimes color, sSometimes higher contrast and other times flat. No discernable style. At least that is what I thought. A few clients came to me and made comments that opened my eyes to what my style actually was. I like to shoot very clean images. I gravitate towards beauty crossed with both fashion and glamour.
While I struggled trying to decide what style I would settle on, one emerged on it’s own. Others could see it before me and the same will go for you. Your style will emerge. You DO have a style. You don’t need to adopt one. Just shoot and it will emerge. Don’t make the usual mistake of trying so hard to adopt a style that your lose what is uniquely you.
Look at photography books and magazines that show the kind of photography you like. Shoot images similar to what you like. Don’t be afraid to fill a folder with pages that you have torn out of magazines and keep it in your camera bag for inspiration when you shoot. You are not copying a shot that inspires you unless you are truly copying absolutely every element in the shot. Take a shot that you like and tweak it. Make it your own. Your style reveals itself.
Some people like black and white and shoot it almost exclusively. Some people have embraced the whole tattooed pinup model genre. Even within those types of shooting there are subtle, but clear differences from one photographer to another. Look at your images. What do you see that you genuinely like? What do you want to improve?
If you spend the bulk of the time looking deeply into your images and the images of others you will find elements that you like. There are poses, lighting techniques, colors, tones and shades, expressions that ring true to you. Experiment with those things and your style will emerge. You already have a style just allow it to come out by not giving up. Pick up that camera and fire away!
Equipment Envy
What weapons do you carry in your arsenal? What equipment is in your bag of tricks? How new is your camera? Your lenses? What lenses do you have?
I have had the opportunity to work with some pretty amazing equipment. Whether a lighting company allowed me to use their gear for free or a different company put a fantastic medium format digital camera in my hand, there is one thing that I have come to realize: The equipment will not make you a better photographer.
Save yourself a little money and understand that the latest and greatest camera to come out is probably not going to make or break you as a shooter. It is your talent that makes a huge difference. Place more emphasis on fine-tuning your talent and less time updating your equipment.
I am not saying that your gear is completely irrelevant. You do need good equipment, but price is not always the benchmark for quality.
When I first started to shoot models 20 years ago, I had a very inexpensive Nikon 35mm film camera. I constantly lived in a state of camera envy as I looked at the equipment other photographers around me were using. Slowly but surely I upgraded. A little here. A little there. Then came the day. A photographer brought in his camera bag and opened it in front of me. Sitting inside the bag was not one but TWO brand new, shiny Nikon F4 camera bodies. I swear when he opened his camera bag, light shot out of it and angels sang! I remember the day so clearly. I knew I would NEVER get equipment like that. I would never be THAT good.
Several years later, after working day after day and fighting, biting and scratching to make a go at it, it happened. I picked up a phone, called B&H, and placed the order of a lifetime. I ordered an F4. My F4. I then waited forever for the delivery. Finally that magical day arrived, and I became the proud owner of an F4. Angels sang again.
You may think I am about to tell you I was disappointed by the camera. No, I wasn’t. I think it is still my favorite camera of all time, although the Canon 5D certainly competes. What I did realize is that my pictures did not get markedly better. The camera felt nicer in my hands than my old camera. I felt more important, but my pictures were not really affected. Just like before, I still had to know how to see light. Just like before, I still needed to use the shutter and aperture to capture a moment with impact.
Let’s be honest. Equipment is not entirely irrelevant. Your lenses are more important than your camera, but you do need a camera that can capture a good image. A good 24-70mm lens and a good 70-200mm lens will pretty much get you by. You don’t need lenses that talk, beep, vibrate, play mp3s, or have a GPS attached. You don’t need a camera that shoots images so big that your hard drive chokes at the input.
I no longer hear angels when I see the latest and greatest equipment. I hear cash registers screaming “cha-ching!” I DO get impressed when someone shows me a great image. If you feel the resolution of your images is good enough for the work that you do, then don’t be dazzled by the latest and greatest. You don’t have to have it. You simply WANT it.
When you are awed by images, and they are better than the ones you take, don’t think the equipment took the shot. Remember, the photographer did.