Hey CRP team! I know you guys are crazy busy, but I have a question. I am trying to get my commercial/outdoor photo business off the ground, but I’m having trouble getting the companies I want to shoot for to talk to me. I hear other photos talking about having agents. Do you think that would help, and if so, how do I go about finding a good one? Thanks so much! —Jeff S., via Facebook.
I’ve always said that the way to get noticed, get people to talk to you, and get your photos published is first to go out and make great pictures.
This is true whether you’re trying to shoot for a magazine or for a company. Go out and shoot stories and/or advertising campaigns on your own budget, on your own time. When you show that elusive editor or potential dream client a hundred images that are way better than what they currently have, guess what, they’re going to fall out of their chair backwards and call you as fast as they can.
All magazines and companies are short on great content. They’re hungry for it! The key is to produce, produce, produce.
One common, widespread myth people seem to believe in is that writing a really witty e-mail or just “knowing the right people” will land you a job. Certainly that is true in some cases, but most of the time, it’s not about how well you write, what a nice guy you are, or who you know. It’s about can you produce work in the style the client needs, and can you produce that work consistently?
Put together a portfolio of 20 to 40 signature images. Put together a submission of a few hundred amazing images specific to what your client is after. Shoot first. Find a home after. When you’ve done that a dozen times, you’ll find yourself in a situation where your phone keeps ringing.
7 comments
Very insightful indeed Corey! What you said here re-affirms my believe!
It’s like finding a perfect match between our ‘style’ as a photographer and what the Client needs / wants at the time. And every Client / Company is different from one to another. We can’t and won’t satisfy everyone, but if we stay true to our own style and passion, and what we do best, we’ll land somewhere where we are meant to be 🙂
TO CONSIDER FOR ANOTHER “ASK COREY” POST –
Do you use any of the “auto-focus” settings with your Nikon cameras (and how?) when you are a one man band shooting video on remote trips and you are in bright light, making it difficult to see your LCD screen in “live view”?
Hi Dr. Medford, Thanks for reading the blog and offering up the great question. We will definitely throw it into the hopper and get back to you with a new Ask Corey post. Have a great New Year!
Wow, I thought those words looked familiar! Thanks for answering my question! I have started putting this plan into action and it is slowly but surely working. Thanks for the words of wisdom. -Jeff S.
Very useful. Just one question.
When you say; “Go out and shoot stories and/or advertising campaigns on your own budget, on your own time.”, what do you mean? What can we advertise if we do not work for anybody?
Cheers.
I started my career by going out and shooting “advertising” photos for Patagonia on spec. I just went out and funded my own adventures shooting images of my friends climbing, surfing, traveling, etc. Admittedly I was living out of my car and had very low overhead 😉 Often times I even bought them Patagonia clothes for my self-assigned shoots. And over time, those very images that I shot on spec were published in the Patagonia catalogs; printed and hung in retails stores; and even ran as print ads in magazines. The point is use your imagination and find opportunities to shoot images that commercial and advertising clients will want to buy.
So Corey I have a question regarding clients.
Once you have gathered an amazing portfolio of images, what would you suggest is the best way to contact your dream clients?
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