Photography School

Photography school - photography tips they don't teach in photography school (10-12)

10. You can learn to pose photography models at the mall, faster than you can in Photography school.

If you’re sure that you’re going to leave photography school and be a top fashion photographer, then you probably don’t need to read this, but if you’re going to try and make it as a commercial photographer, then one of the skills you’ll need is the ability to pose models.  No, not fashion models, but commercial photography models, everyday people. 

The fruits of your commercial photography will usually end up in brochures, on web pages, on billboards, and on posters, and the pictures are usually of semi-good-looking people doing everyday things like working at a computer, talking to friends, and  boring stuff like that.  The trick is to make these models look natural doing what you need them to do. 

You don’t always get to work with professional models either.  Often times, to keep budgets under control, the models in the photo will be the wife and kids of the owner of the business.  While I’d prefer to working with professionals models whenever possible, sometimes, I just don’t have a choice and have to do the best I can with what I’m given.  Even when working with “professional models”, there’s no guarantee that my model will be good at looking “natural” in front of the camera. 

So, it will be your job, as a professional commercial photographer to pose the models in such a way that they look natural in the shots you’re doing.

So, where do you learn to pose models?  Sure they’ll give you a few clues in photography school, but I can give you a sure fire way of learning how to pose models for commercial photography.  The trick is to simply go to the mall, find a chair, or even just walk around.  You can go to pretty much any place in the mall and learn different posing techniques.  For example, the food court is good for learning how to pose sitting modes, and the checkout line at Macy’s is good for learning how to pose models interacting with each other.  The mall is full of opportunities to observe people “looking natural”.  The key here is to observe just what it is that they do that helps them to look natural. 

Since all these people you’ll be observing, won’t know that you’re observing them, they will be the definition of “natural looking”.  Watch what they do and now they do it.  To maximize your learning potential, you’ll need to break your observations down into components:  legs, arms, hands, head, feet.  Sounds a little silly, but it’s not, you’ll be learning to observe, and observing is the first skill a photographer needs to master.  Show me an observant photographer, and I’ll show you a good photographer. 

Lets go over an example… 

Our example here is of people sitting together eating lunch together in the mall’s food court.

What follows are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself…  What are their legs doing?  Are both legs crossed?  Where do they cross?  If they’re not crossed, is one leg further forward than the other?  Are the knees together or apart?  Are the heels of the foot touching the ground?  Are the feet crossed?  Are both feet parallel or going in different directions.  How far apart are their feet?  Is either foot’s toes off the ground?  Is either person leaning against the seat back or sitting forward?  Is their butt forward on the seat or way back?  Which person looks more natural and why do you think that is?  Are their elbows on the table?  Both or just one arm?  What is the exact configuration of their fingers?  How exactly are they holding their fork? Is either person leaning on their hand, resting? Is the chair on all four legs or are they leaning back on two legs?  Does that look natural?  Are they holding their heads inline with their body, or is their head tilted to one side or another?

There are probably dozens more observations you can make at just this one table.  If you can take the time to do this observing over and over again, you’ll find that your ability to pose modes will become better and better.   Each time you got to the mall, keep in mind the question, “does this make them look natural?”, you’ll soon be on your way to being a professional commercial people photographer. Then, one day, you’ll be asked to help pose a couple of models for an assignment, and you’ll know by then, exactly what looks natural and what doesn’t. 

11. Professional Photography is not a 9-5 job, no matter what they tell you in photography school.

When I was in photograph school, I really didn’t give it much thought…  I guess I just assumed that a photography job would be a 9-5 kind of job.  (you know what they say about assume…)  The reality is, my work hours are more like 7:30 – 6:00, and that’s okay.  You see, I love what I do.  I feel like I’ve been blessed with this career I’ve chosen.  Yes, the hours maybe longer than I expected, but I put in the time because I want to.

Here’s the typical job…  I get to the studio before the client and make sure that everything is ready so when they walk in, the place looks like we’ve already begun work.  Of course there are emails to answer, hopefully estimates to kick out, and maybe an invoice or two.  There are other things to do like return merchandise, deliver jobs, circulate portfolios, return telephone calls, visit my social networking web sites, and stuff like that…  Hopefully, I can get most of that done before 8:30, when most clients show up for their shoot. 

Most shoot last until 5:30 or so and then there is usually some post-production work, like burning disks and archiving jobs.  I usually get out the door after 6:00.  That’s a normal shoot day.  For a typical non-shoot day, I usually get to work around 8:00 and busy myself the best I can, doing as much productive work (usually some type of marketing) as possible, until 5 or 6.  I seldom shoot weekends, but I spend a ton of time working on my articles and simply thing about my career and ways to improve things.  It’s amazing, if you like something, you can spend all kinds of time dong it, and thinking about it, and not resenting that time as poorly spent.  I love what I do, but just realize that this job you’ve chosen, really isn’t a 9-5er, no matter what they’ve told you in photography school.  And if they didn’t know about that fact, they weren’t REAL professionals.

12. It’s harder to find new clients than it is to keep old ones.

Most photography school students spend they’re time thinking about what it will be like being a professional photographer.  They see themselves shooting gorgeous models, clicking away at a celebrity wedding, or even setting up for the next Absolute Vodka advertising shoot.  What they seldom see themselves doing, is the sales and marketing necessary to be hired for those projects. The truth is that, to build a business and to get to those dream projects, you must accumulate clients that come to you again and again for their photography needs. 

The truth is, that marketing / sales is expensive to do.  If you count your time and the actual marketing dollars needed to find a new client for your services, you soon realize that finding clients will cost you more than even your photo equipment does.  To find new clients, you’ll need to develop a web page, buy a fancy portfolio case, make portfolio prints, design and print postcards, and you’ll need to buy a mailing list of potential clients.  Then you’ll need postage for the postcards and a service to send out your emailer.  It all adds up, and I haven’t even mentioned the opportunistic cost involved in doing all this crap.  You can spend many months each year, doing nothing but marketing and sales, just to find a couple new clients. 

Let me repeat myself…  It’s expensive to find new clients.  That’s why it’s so damn important to keep the ones you have.  The idea here is for you to realize that because it’s so expensive to find new clients, you’re well served to do everything possible to keep the old ones. It’s worth going the extra mile to make sure your clients are so happy, that they don’t even think about working with someone else.  Go the extra mile: do them favors, bend a little on a budget if they need you to.  In other words, give them the value that they just can’t find anywhere else.  This is especially true if you’re just starting out in the business.

Chances are, if you’re just starting out, you’re probably not all that good of a photographer yet, and truth be told, any number of photographers in your market could probably do as good a job as you could do on any given project.  If that’s true, you need to give your client a good reason to keep giving you those jobs.  Maybe it’s extra post-production that makes their job a little easier, or maybe it’s the fact that you’re willing to drop the job off at their house when they need the rush service.

What I’m saying is, that in order to keep the clients you’ve worked so hard to get,  you have to give them a reason to return to you with another project.  Go the extra mile, of course, do your best work every single time, but do the extra shot, make them want to work with you because they know that if they hire you, the job will be done right, and the extra little things will get done too.  Extra service, even if it costs you a little more time and effort, will save you thousands of dollars in marketing costs needed to find a client to replace them.

Without return clients, you would spend the vast majority of your time selling, instead of shooting. Marketing is a necessary evil for all photographers.  It’s something that most photographers would prefer not to do, but it’s something that has to be done, so, when a sale is made and a client finally gives you a chance, it’s important to make sure that the client is happy so that when the next they need a photographer, they remember you. 

What They Don't Teach In Photography School - Professional Photography 101 - Photography School - Photography Career Guide