Mixing work on web sites or splitting them.
Q: YOU OFTEN MENTION HOW YOU HAD A WEDDING/PORTRAITS WEB SITE AND A MUSIC WEB SITE WHEN STARTING OUT THE SECOND TIME AROUND. I’M VERY INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW THESE WERE SEPARATED: WERE THEY UNDER THE SAME DOMAIN/URL OR WERE THEY SEPARATE? I’M THINKING OF DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR AS I’M STARTING OUT AGAIN AND NEED TO COVER SIMILAR INDUSTRIES AT FIRST, BUT I’M CONCERNED ABOUT BRANDING AND ANY POSSIBLE NEGATIVE EFFECTS IT MAY HAVE IF THEY ARE ON SEPARATE WEB ADDRESSES. AND TWICE THE MARKETING, POTENTIALLY!
A: I had two different URLs. One URL for family portraits. One for music photography. They both looked different because they were targeting different kinds of people. The wedding work I was doing was for my friend Marc Climie, and so all of my wedding stuff was on his site.
You’re right—having two sites doubles your marketing. You have to have two sets of business cards, two kinds of promo cards, and keep up with two sites with two blogs. It’s kind of a mess, really. That’s why I decided early on that whichever genre grew feet first would be what I pursued, and I would ditch the other. Thankfully the music photography took off first. I didn’t, and still don’t, want to run two sites and have two brands and two business cards. I sure as heck don’t want to have to deal with two blogs.
I think some genres can be mixed onto one site. Weddings and Portraits make sense together. Weddings and Music don’t. Musicians typically don’t want to hire a wedding photographer for their press and promo work. I’ve only seen maybe two photographers who were able to mix things like weddings and commercial/music/editorial on one site and have it work well. I’ve seen hundreds try. Few can make it work. If I were to start my own wedding business today, I’d make a new site for it.
The worst genre combinations I see are when people are mixing “fashion” and family portraits. There are pictures of moms, dads, kids, seniors, and then half-naked or fully naked bad models draped over headstones with blood running down their chests. No, really. I see that shit all the time. All. The. Time. I’ve seen those types of pictures in one gallery! Cute four-year-old kid playing in the park—and then the next photo in gallery—bondage/fetish girl tied up with a dildo in her mouth. How many families are going to feel comfortable calling that photographer? I sure wouldn’t call them. Separate sites, folks. Separate sites. You’d think it would be common sense but, alas, I see it all the time.
It’s hard to run two sites, though. I’m not a big advocate for it but sometimes it’s what you gotta do. What I am an advocate for is finding that one thing you absolutely love to do, throwing caution to the wind, and going after that one thing you want to do with everything you have. Laser-vision focus. Be great at one thing and the rest will follow.
GET THE MOST OUT OF BORING JOBS
When you get started in photography, you will most likely take any and every job you can possibly get your hands on. It’s not a time to be proud and selective with what you shoot, who you shoot it for, and how much money you are going to make. You need experience and a bowl of rice, so you get out there and do it. As you gain experience, at some point on your career path you can become a little more picky as to what you will and will not shoot.
Case in point. I was called by a friend at a PR company who was working with the equestrian/acrobatic performing arts show Cavalia. The daughter of cable media mogul Ted Turner was riding in a special performance of the show, and they were seeking a photographer to shoot grip-n-grin photos of Ted, his daughter, and the organizers of the event. Snooze fest photography dot com. I hate grip-n-grin photos. I was ready to turn it down, but...traveling horse circus shows are cool! There are jobs, and then there are opportunities, and you need to be able to find the opportunities in an otherwise boring photo request.
I asked about the job, got more details, and then asked if there was a possibility I could get an all-access pass for before, during, and after the show. You have to ask. Always ask. They want grip-n-grins; you want access to something different for your own portfolio. As luck would have it, the night Ted’s daughter was performing was a rare press evening. They were allowing a few photographers all access. Bam! I let my friend know that if she could get me all access then I’d take care of her photo requests. All access plus a check? Score.
I shot a whole portfolio piece that night that was different from anything I had shot to that date. I’m still showing that work. Now, due to the agreement I had with Cavalia, I can’t show specific images that are distinctly “Cavalia” in this Q&A book. The costumes and some specific set pieces are copyrighted, and they request I only show those images in personal portfolios. I can show these, though, to illustrate my point. Take the job you might not want, but always look for other photos that you can use.
Canon 5D Mk II / 24mm / f2.8 @ 1/160th @ ISO 3200 / Available light.
I shot this at a time when I had half Nikon and half Canon in my bag. I didn’t have a longer fast lens for Canon, so I shot this with my Nikon 105mm f2 lens. Also note that sometimes a photo is not of the action but of something just off to the side of the action. The shadow of an acrobat caught my eye. :: Nikon D3 / 105mm / f2.2 @ 1/80th @ ISO 3200 / Available light.