Shooting In The Sun At Noon

April 29th, 2008 Dave Scott

I read quite often on forums and hear in person how so many photographers feel they cannot shoot in midday sun. I was recently out on a senior portrait shoot. We started in the morning and went till about noon. The sun was high in the sky. There was a shot that I wanted to get on a bridge.

To create the shot seen above, I positioned Mariah with her back to the sun. This made perfect sense because, in the studio, I normally use strobes with 20 degree grids for hair and accent lights. For a main light I used a 20 year old Vivitar 285 HV flash mounted on a light stand. The flash was fired through a shoot through umbrella at full power. It was positioned to camera left and about 5 feet from Mariah. The strobe was fired the old fashioned way… with a sync cor.

The dark eyes are not from lack of light. It is from eye liner which is applied a bit heavy. Nonetheless, that is the way Mariah does her make-up and this shoot is all about capturing her.

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Posted in Equipment, Shooting | 1 Comment »

What Goes Around, Comes Around

April 14th, 2008 Dave Scott

Do you shoot every type of photography under the sun? I don’t, and chances are, you don’t either. Since we don’t cover all types of photography, we will be asked quite often about jobs that we don’t desire to take on.

I like to keep all interaction with my clients and potential clients positive. Even if I cannot provide the service(s) that is asked of me, I don’t let anyone go away wondering. I make it easy on them. They leave our conversation ready to move forward with their desires.

The way I accomplish this is by always having a list of a few photographers that shoot subject matter that I don’t. By passing the name on of a different photographer is shows that I am confident enough in myself to refer someone elsewhere. I’m also being helpful and bringing a positive ending to having to tell someone “No.” Face it, none of us like to be told “no.”

Get your list together and keep it handy at your desk and in the planner that you keep on your person. You’ll be surprised at how many referrals you’ll get back. Referrals given out bring referrals in. Don’t forget to get together every four to six months with the photographers that you trade referrals with.

I don’t shoot fashion shows. The image at the top is from a fashion show and was produced by my friend and colleague, Sheba Wheeler. Check out Sheba’s website here and her blog here.

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Posted in Business, Marketing | No Comments »

Shooting Business Portraits - My eBook

April 12th, 2008 Dave Scott

One of the best types of assignments that I shoot are business portraits. Yes I shoot giant, 20 to 40 foot vacuum pumps that gets the testosterone pumping in any guy that stands near one. Yes I shoot Playboy style glamour and have so many guys asking me if they can be my assistant I’ve lost count. But from a BUSINESS standpoint, nothing beats the business portrait for jobs that lead to more jobs.

Why? Aside from the fact that a percentage of the companies that you work for will have other photographic needs (product, business lifestyle, company parties, seminars, etc.) you are also going to get queries from the business people that are having the portraits shot. This is especially true if you are very personable and able to put them at ease for their photo session. Bring plenty of business cards because you will hear “Do you shoot [weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvah, family portraits, senior portraits, birthdays, reunions, boudoir, babies, etc.] ?” Essentially, you are getting paid to do a shoot and you are marketing yourself just by being there.

Because this is such a great way to jump start your business, I’ve written an eBook called Shooting Business Portraits. The final editing is being done now and it will be released on June 10th 2008.

So, what will the book cover? Well, it’s not a brag book with a ton of useless information. It’s lean and straight to the point, NOT bloated with extra pages to try to make buyers feel they’re getting their money’s worth. I want you to be read through the material, practice, and begin booking shoots. Shooting Business Portraits describes the details of how I produce business portraits including:

• My Equipment List
• 3 Lighting Set-Ups With Lighting Diagrams
• How I Do My Marketing
• Samples Of My Marketing Mailers
• How I Deliver The Final Product
• Posing Tips

My Shooting Business Portraits eBook will cost $27 (US) when it is released. Small cost when you consider that I’ll be showing you exactly what I do.

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Posted in Business | No Comments »

OTW - Picture My World Photography

April 8th, 2008 Dave Scott

It’s easy for me to see, from all of the questions and emails that I receive, that readers of this blog are from all skill levels. I would like to introduce you to a fellow photographer, fellow blogger, and my new friend, Sheba Wheeler. Sheba has been a staff writer for the Denver Post since 1996 and she is now photographer of about a year.

I encourage everyone who reads this blog to subscribe to her blog at Picture Your World Photography. If you are new to photography, many of Sheba’s concerns and issues will be coming up for you yourself. If you’re a seasoned pro, you will certainly appreciate all that Sheba is going through to consistently move her photography skills and her business to the next level.

Additionally, Sheba posts regularly and, because she is a writer, her content rocks. I cannot say enough good things about her upbeat attitude and her passion that comes through so easily on her blog.

For you newbies that like to complain about the fact that you don’t have a studio, check out Sheba’s home studio and be sure check out the images she is creating with it.

Keep Shooting!

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Posted in On The Web | 1 Comment »

Know the Project Expectations Ahead of Time

April 3rd, 2008 Dave Scott

I recently had to send an email notification out to many of my clients. To explain, let me take you back to the situation that led to my email. I was contacted by 2 interior designers to photograph a few of their recently completed projects and by a model to produce some glamour images for her portfolio. All of these images were to be completed within the same week. At each of the shoots, all of my clients mentioned that they wanted to enter an image or two into a contest for their respective industries. I didn’t really think much of it and wished them luck.

A couple weeks later I delivered the completed images and everyone was happy. A week after that I was contacted by each of them to get together to sign the releases allowing them to enter the images I shot into their contests. Well, it didn’t take me long to literally see it in black and white. In order for the interior designer to be able to enter the images in the contest, I didn’t need to give my permission. I needed to sign all rights away. Yes, the corporate entity would retain the rights to use the images any way they wanted, not just the contest but even in corporate advertising campaigns. Additionally, I would not be able to use the images in any way. I know what some of you are thinking but no, I didn’t send them on their way with an unsigned contract and an earful of wisdom on the dollar value of image usage rights for advertising. I’m a man of my word and I did know that they expected to enter the images in the contest when I was producing the images. I cut my losses, signed the contracts and later suffered through seeing the images used in ads in a trade magazine as well as a men’s magazine.

Another unscrupulous tactic has been going on with architectural magazines. The architectural firm submits some images on spec to a magazine. The magazine likes the images. They inform the firm that they do not pay for image usage and that they will need to work it out with the photographer. Essentially, they want free image usage when they know that that is not normal business practice and they are willing to pit a photographer and client against each other to get it. Part of the problem is that there are more and more uneducated photo buyers (the architectural firm in this case) that believe that once they pay for a photo shoot, they should be able to do as they please with the images. While we, as photographers, have more and more buyers to educate there will also be more and more pressure from third parties to acquire free usage rights of our images by going through our clients.

I don’t believe in allowing companies to profit from a photographer’s images without compensation. Usage of an image is part of the equation in determining what we charge. For example, a image used in a 1,000,000 circulation magazine fetches a higher usage fee than the same image used in a weekly newspaper with a circulation of 1,700.

Now, in the part of my estimates, quotes, and invoices that define the image(s) usage rights that are granted, there is also a line that reads “Third party usage negotiated separately.”

I was caught completely off guard by these policies. In 26 years of shooting, I have never been asked by corporations that are national in scope or internationally distributed magazines to provide images free of charge. I will never allow it again.

The image above was produced for one of Portland’s best interior designers, Chuck Arbuckle. Chuck is available for projects nationwide. You can visit his website by Clicking Here.

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Posted in Business | No Comments »

Using Postcards In Your Marketing Campaign

April 1st, 2008 Dave Scott

Are you using postcards to market yourself? I’m not a marketing expert but I will share with you, the system that works for me.

I get up every day at 5:00 A.M. I spend that time getting the family off to school and work. That includes making breakfast for myself, my wife and two teenage sons as well as preparing our lunches. Once they are all out the door I am wide awake and ready to work. It is still a bit too early for most shoots so I spend 30 to 60 minutes on my postcard marketing. I do this EVERY DAY!

I shoot a lot of business portraits, corporate portraits, and executive portraits so I mine the local business journals for bad business portraits. Most business journals are published weekly or every two weeks. You’ll find a steady flow of people needing good portraits in the “On The Move” section. Different publications will have different names for this section but it is basically the section that passes on the PR info from area companies. I also shoot interiors for interior designers and builders. I am always on the lookout for new designers, builders, etc. that I can begin getting in touch with. I like to send out between 5 and 10 postcards per day. I have different postcards for each type of target client that I want to attract.

Now, the way I do this may be different than what a marketing professional recommends but it does work for me. Sometimes I’ll get a response after the first mailing but this is not the norn. 45 days after the first postcard was sent, I send a second. Within a couple business days of the second card being sent, I make a follow up phone call to see if they’ve received my cards, to say hello and see if they have any photographic needs we can provide for them. I never try to make a sale during the phone call. The majority of companies that contact me, do so from 4 to 7 months after they receive my first postcard. Remember, they are busy with their regular tasks and most need time to coordinate a shoot.

I’ve heard many people complain about the cost of using direct mail to market. One thing many folks forget is that you will be targeting who you seek as a client AS WELL AS following up with a phone call. This greatly increases your success rate over a huge spray and pray method. Also, when I consider my return on investment, I include the income from referrals made by the clients I landed with my direct mail campaign.

One last item. When business is good keep up your marketing. There will be a lag time between first contact and actual gig. Stop marketing now and you’ll be hurting sales in the future. If your services become so In-Demand that you have to turn away work it will be time to raise your fees.

The image above is one of the postcards I use for business portrait clients (sans the copyright notice).

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Posted in Business, Marketing | 4 Comments »