CHAPTER 3:
LEARNING YOUR CRAFT
There are about as many ways to learn to become a photographer as there are McDonald's restaurants along the freeway. Some take years; some take eight weeks. Some are by the book, and some are unorthodox. One (or more) will be right for you. Since in modern life time commitment is often a big consideration, I will list them in order from the quickest to the lengthiest.
HIRING A CONSULTANT
A fast way to start your photography business is to hire a consultant — usually a successful photographer who operates an established studio in your chosen specialty area — to show you the ropes. Consultants generally charge $200 to $500 per hour, and that probably sounds hugely expensive at first blush. But consider the savings in time and money over attending even a two-year school — I've consulted for people starting their own portrait studios who learned all they needed after just three days to two weeks and a few follow-up calls.
Chris Darbonne's college degree is in engineering. But after taking online photo courses at BetterPhoto.com and study-ing intensively with established professionals, she opened up her own portrait studio, now called Darbonne Portraits LLC.
“This is only for people who have the resources and who are positive they know what specialty they want to pursue,” says Julie Floyd. “You don't want to get through an $8,000 stint with a portrait photographer and say, ‘Oops! I guess I really want to be an accountant.’”
Kerry Drager's education was in journalism. He only took one photography course in college, but by reading books, taking live workshops, and intensive practice, Kerry was able to become a professional photographer.
INTERNET CLASSES
Photography classes available on the Internet would seem to be a perfect solution for those who have day jobs and/or family obligations that make it difficult to commit to a regular in-the-flesh class. The lessons come to you via e-mail, and you complete them at your convenience. Then you e-mail your results back to the site and receive critiques and feedback from your (highly credentialed) instructor, as well as from the rest of the class, which is usually chock-full of those talented amateurs we mentioned earlier in this chapter. You are free to remain relatively anonymous or to network and chat with fellow students as much as you like. I am, of course, biased, because I teach several classes at a fabulous site: www.BetterPhoto.com. While BetterPhoto.com was the first site to offer such classes, others have followed suit.
CAMERA STORES
Working at a professional photo store is one way to learn photography, make contacts and get paid all at once. Knowledge flows back and forth between store patrons and employees. And many professional shooters look no further than the guy or gal who sells him his film and equipment when he's in need of an assistant or apprentice. Sometimes clients will refer work to their favorite camera store helper when they get requests for shoots that are outside of their specialties. For instance, a commercial shooter who's asked to do a wedding might just pass along the business card of the person who sold him a new lens last week.
Stephanie Adams never even considered a career in photography until she became “a camera-happy mom!” A book she read led her to BetterPhoto.com, where she took numerous courses. She also attended live workshops. She started her location portrait business in 2003.
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
Some studios, especially portrait studios and photo mills, will hire employees with no experience and teach them to shoot. There are advantages and disadvantages to this.
“You learn one standard style of posing people,” says Laura Dizon, who once was a trainer for a national portrait studio chain. You learn how to handle the camera. But you don't learn how to be creative on your own. You have to shoot a certain number of head shots, with the head in a certain part of the frame … you don't get to touch the lighting and you don't learn what an f-stop is, because you don't have to know.”
But there are parts of her training that Laura found very useful. “They teach you about the ability levels of kids at different ages. At six months they sit up, at nine months they crawl, a year they walk. I actually think I benefited a lot from my time at that portrait studio.”
One perk: You get paid while you learn.
MENTORS
Finding a mentor, someone who is established in the business and is willing to show you the ropes and help you network and find clients, is a fantastic way to jump-start your career.
Minneapolis photojournalist Stormi Greener is mentoring a Maine wedding photographer who wants to learn to shoot weddings with a journalistic style.
“I was traveling up the East Coast on a job and stopped to shoot, and there was this woman standing in the middle of the road fiddling around with her camera,” says Stormi. “I struck up a conversation with her.” And that was the beginning of a great mentor/student relationship. But not everybody can rely on this type of serendipity to land a mentor.
Wedding photographer Hilary Bullock has dominated the Minneapolis wedding market for eighteen years, and she still solicits mentors from other complementary fields. “It's a great way to learn,” she says. “I have a business mentor right now I'm working with. He's great, and I've learned so much from him.” Bullock recommends sending your potential mentor a letter that is brief and professional. Be very specific: Tell the person what you are looking for in a mentor and why you chose them. Then follow up with a phone call. “By getting straight to the point,” Stormi says, “you are showing that you have respect for the person, you understand that he's busy and you don't want to waste his time.”
Kathleen Locke graduated with a B.A. in art history and worked in marketing and public relations — a perfect basis for starting a photography business!
SELF-TEACHING
Many of the photographers whose opinions you're reading in this book are self-taught. They had no formal photographic training whatsoever. That's not to say they didn't have teachers; many had very generous colleagues who showed them the ropes, but it was on an informal basis.
A photographer who is home schooling himself typically spends a lot of time pursuing all the informal avenues listed in this chapter, along with applying Karen Melvin's tech school mantra: Shoot, shoot, shoot.
Kathleen Carr was an art major when she realized that her true path was in photography. She transferred to a university that allowed her to use the color darkroom as an undergrad (something most schools wouldn't do).
“You shoot a lot,” adds Lee Stanford. You try to re-create some technique you've seen or to create a technique to express an image that's in your head. The great thing about teaching yourself is that you make mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are great — better than what you were trying to accomplish. I've heard it said that a good photographer is not one who doesn't make mistakes, he's someone who can repeat his mistakes.”
The big drawback to selfteaching is that if you're not incredibly motivated, or if you're not 100 percent confident in your vision, you can fizzle out. While any method of learning photography requires strong motivation, the lone wolves among us need to be especially self-reliant in this regard.
APPRENTICESHIP
An apprenticeship can be a great thing for a young photographer. An apprentice assists a photographer for little or no pay and in return gets a mentor.
“I most certainly share more time and knowledge with an apprentice than with an assistant,” admits an anonymous fashion shooter. “Even though I know they're both there for the same reasons — they don't just hope to archive my files, they want to learn the business — the assistant goes home at the end of the day with his $175 to $250. But all the apprentice goes home with is whatever knowledge and encouragement he gets from me. I take that seriously. I don't take on apprentices for slave labor and let them just scavenge whatever scraps of learning they can. That's why I only take on apprentices at certain times of the year, because when I'm too busy I just won't be able to hold up my end of the relationship.”
Not all photographers take this commitment seriously, so if you choose to be an apprentice, meet with at least three or four photographers and interview them while they're interviewing you. You don't necessarily want to let them in on what you're doing. Don't start the interview by saying, “So, just what do you intend to do for me?” This will guarantee you don't get the job at that studio. Instead, listen to the photographer talk about photography.
If he's passionate and excited about it, if he gets that fire in his eye, he'll probably be a good and generous mentor.
ASSISTING
Working as an assistant to an established photographer either after or during school is considered by many to be de rigueur, especially in the field of commercial photography. But while many shooters insist it's a necessary part of any budding career, others are equally passionate in their opinion that if your ultimate goal is to be a selfemployed photographer, you should not assist.
These opinions seem to come from two different schools, similar to the schools of advice from which generous, concerned individuals volunteered guidance to me as I was entering college.
“Learn to type!” a well-meaning uncle encouraged me. “Then you'll always have something to fall back on.”
“Never learn to type!” A female executive (and this was back in the days when there were few female executives) told me. “You won't succeed if you have typing to fall back on!”
“Some people do become professional assistants, and never go on to be photographers,” acknowledges the anonymous fashion shooter. “But, hey, if they don't ever make it to the bigs, who's to say it was because they assisted? Maybe these guys wouldn't have had the gumption to do it in any case. And some people seem to like assisting. It's certainly less pressure than shooting.”
Patrick Fox points out another less obvious drawback to assistant work: “A young person just out of school coming to work for an old workhorse and seeing a huge studio with lots of billings might just jump to the conclusion that that's how his life is supposed to be. It can be kind of a mindblower.” Nonetheless, Patrick says assisting is an absolutely necessary step toward becoming a commercial photographer. “When I was coming into the business, you only had to assist for one to two years. Now it's five years, maybe more.”
Fine art photographer Doug Beasley assisted at some very highend studios at the beginning of his career, and he found the experience invaluable. “Whether you become a freelance assistant and work with a number of different people or choose one person whose work you admire to assist in-house on a semipermanent basis, learn how they do everything. Not just how they set up lights — learn how they get and keep clients, how they make an estimate, how they bill every aspect of the operation.”
Fashion shooter Lee Stanford agrees variety is key. Though he never personally worked as an assistant, he sees it as a good way to learn if you stay freelance and work with a variety of studios. “Everyone does everything differently. Every studio has a different ambiance, a different way of relating to clients. Pay attention to the little stuff. I was at a shoot once where the client had to have Diet Coke. That was his biggest priority. So the shooter had Diet Coke there. On that shoot, the Diet Coke was more important than the take. As a photographer just starting out, I never would have guessed that could be an issue.”
TECH SCHOOL
Lee Stanford is a truly self-taught photographer with an emphasis on commercial and editorial fashion.
While tech school may not be as prestigious as fine art school or liberal arts college, it offers some real advantages for the aspiring photographer. You get hands-on experience with a full range of equipment and media, and you get to shoot a variety of subjects in the studio and on location. This is especially good for those who haven't decided what area to specialize in because you get a little taste of everything.
There are other advantages to tech school. The tuition is considerably lower than at other types of schools, and the programs are shorter (two years as opposed to four or more).
“I'm very, very happy with the education I got at tech school,” says wedding and portrait photographer Kelly McSwiggen. “We got to shoot constantly. I think I got an excellent technical background out of it. My only complaint is that there was absolutely no creative emphasis. We were taught only how to shoot what the teachers imagined our future clients would want and not how to develop our own style or technique. I had to teach myself that part. I guess they cram so much technical teaching into two years that there isn't room for creative theory.”
Says architectural/commercial photographer Karen Melvin, “I'm thrilled with my choice to go to tech school. I wasn't going to wade around through a lot of theory. I wanted to get my hands on equipment! I wanted to shoot, shoot, shoot. And that's what I got to do.”
Brenda Tharp has a degree in computer science and worked full-time at Hewlett-Packard for years before she quit her “real job” cold turkey and began her photography career in earnest.
PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL
Brooks Institute offers two-and four-year degrees in various fields of photography, film-making and graphic design. While a degree from Brooks bestows a certain status, it tends to impress other photographers more than it does potential clients. It's also expensive and intensive. Many photographers go to a liberal arts college for two to three years, and then transfer their credits to Brooks to complete their photography major.
ART SCHOOL
Where tech school emphasizes the correct way of doing things and tries to anticipate the desires of the ultimate client, an art school education will typically bestow a great deal of creative theory and practice, with no consideration of the client or end user of the photographs.
“Quite frankly, the art students can be great at fine art photography, but they tend to make lousy assistants,” says the anonymous fashion shooter. “They want to do things their way, and they're not concerned about pleasing me or the client. They seem to be shocked at the typical day rate for an assistant, and their work ethic isn't the greatest.”
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Photographers need to learn new techniques and business practices throughout their professional lives — not just at the beginning. The following are some suggested methods to help hone your skills and creativity whether you're starting out, building up or maintaining your photography business.
CLUBS AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Clubs for amateur photographers are easy to join, both on the Internet and in the flesh. While the word amateur may put you off (you are, after all, working to go pro), there are many exceptionally gifted nonprofessionals at these chat rooms and meetings who love to talk shop and who will answer all your questions until long after most pros would have gone home. Not everyone who's gifted actually makes it into the business. Some don't want to take the risk. Some are gear heads who like the equipment and media but don't have the motivation or the creativity to put their knowledge into action. Whatever their reasons, these folks are very accessible and happy to be of help.
Professional organizations can be harder to join — generally they want you to be in the business already — but check them out anyway. Even if they don't let you join, they may let you sit in on some meetings featuring topics of particular interest to you. And while you're there, you might make connections with some of the members. One of the great things about clubs and professional organizations is that they can be invaluable to you at every stage of your photography career, from the earliest to your golden years and all the years in between. And you can participate while you pursue any and all the other avenues listed in this chapter.
Stormi Greener had no background in photography and a portfolio of self-proclaimed “awful pictures” when she hounded a newspaper editor to give her a job as a photojournalist.
Lewis Kemper knew he wanted to be a professional photographer from the time he was in high school. The closest Lewis ever got to a job outside the field of photography was washing dishes at a hotel for four weeks.
READING BOOKS
Reading books on the creative, technical, and business aspects of photography is a very helpful learning tool whether you choose some form of schooling or self-teaching. But I never recommend just reading books. You need to apply the theories and techniques you find in them. If they include lessons or workbooks, do them! Don't expect to retain what you read without hands-on experience to back it up.
Not every word of every book is going to apply to you. So when you read, keep a highlighter and a pencil nearby. Highlight the ideas and theories that are germane to your place on your creative journey. Write comments in the margins. Tab or dog-ear the pages that hold matters of interest so you can find them again. If you're one of those characters who likes to keep your books in pristine condition, get over it. Reading a book is like mining for gold. You have to sift out the sand and rock to find what you're looking for. The sifting part is critical, because if you don't wash away the silt, there could be chunks of gold in your pan but you won't be able to see them.
Books don't always teach us new things. Sometimes they remind us about things we already know but have neglected to act on. Sometimes an idea in a book will inspire you to get your own idea and act on it.
READING PERIODICALS
Some wonderful photography magazines are available. Some are general — Shutterbug and PopPhoto, for instance — and some are specific to various specialties, such as Studio Photography and Outdoor Photographer. You can find some real gems of information in these magazines, and it's fun to get something in the mail besides bills!
PODCASTS, MESSAGE BOARDS, ONLINE CLUBS, AND YOUTUBE.COM
The Internet is an amazing place! A wealth of free information and instruction awaits those who are willing to search for it. For instance, my friend and colleague John Siskin, who teaches lighting courses at BetterPhoto.com, has several excellent lighting videos available on YouTube.com. Ibarionex Perrello hosts a highly rated podcast, “The Candid Frame.” And Audri Lanford hosts the podcast “7 photography questions.” These are all wonderful sources of information, and all absolutely free!
You can also find valuable information just by entering key phrases into your search engine such as “studio portrait lighting, aperture priority, shutter speed,” and so on.
I just entered “photography how to” into my Internet browser and came up with over eighty-four million entries. That's the good news and the bad news. Good because there's a lot of great information out there; bad because there is a lot of questionable content to sift through. Remember to always be a discerning consumer — even when the product you are consuming is free!
WEBSITE HOPPING
You can also learn a lot by simply visiting the websites of other photographers. Aside from exposing yourself to visual trends and a variety of ways of seeing, you can get a sense of standard fee structures and prices in your market and around the globe. Many photographers have blogs and articles that can be very inspirational and instructional. Bookmark the websites of the photographers whose work you particularly admire, and return to them periodically as you develop your own skills. You will find that you will be able to learn more and more from these images each time you return to them. And remember that it's fine to be inspired by another photographer's style but to be successful you will have to develop your own.
INFORMAL OR INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
Another method to garner more information from established, successful photographers is the informational interview. Photo students or wannabe photographers call an established shooter and request a fifteen- to thirty-minute meeting in order to ask business, creative and technical questions. Sometimes the underlying objective of the interviewer is to land a job with the interviewee. Sometimes the interviewer is really just learning about the business, and sometimes he is fishing for a mentor. In any case, you can get a pretty interesting earful this way — if you can get your foot in the door. Be prepared for polite rejection. There are many, many people requesting this type of interview. I get three or four requests a week, and I can't possibly accommodate them all. Expect to be turned down by nine out of ten photographers you call. That's the bad news. The good news is that if someone does agree to see you, she's most likely willing to share a good chunk of time and knowledge with you, probably will give you a tour of her studio and perhaps will allow you to observe a shoot. Who knows — you might even get a job offer.
Any connection to the photographer you're trying to get in to see, no matter how tenuous it seems, will improve your chances. “I'm much more likely to see someone who calls me and says, ‘Hi, I'm your friend Joanne's friend, Susie's daughter, and I was wondering if you might have time for a brief informational interview,’ than someone who says, ‘Hi, I'm Jane Doe, and you have no idea who I am, but would you clear some time on your schedule to meet me?’ So don't be afraid to drop a few names. You probably have connections you aren't even aware of. Ask your friends and family if they know any professional photographers — I think you'll be surprised how many do. Just as with clubs and professional organizations and reading books, you can do informal interviews while you pursue other avenues of study.
Jennifer Wu graduated from college with a degree in photography. She jumped from food to weddings, and finally to her true love, landscape and nature photography.