One of my clients knows that when he hired me he was getting more than someone who took photos. Actually this is why he hired me. “Please don’t go home and think about this all night long–I don’t need it right away,” is something I hear from this client.
Lasers are something that are not visible when you are in a lab, so how do you make them visible and cool? That is one reason my clients hire me. |
My obsessive behavior of not letting go of a thought until I can work it out makes me strange in many situations–but a blessing to my clients. Most photographers can photograph what they see in front of them and even light it to look cool. As you can see from these two photos is that the client gets a photo of something that didn’t exist.
Sports
The closest I got to playing high school or college sports was my freshman year in high school where I played on the golf team for a while. I never played in a tournament. In college I did get to photograph my college’s sports and at East Carolina University we had some incredible sports. Our football team at the time was great and so too was the women’s basketball team.
My love of sports has helped my clients get photos that tell a story and communicate the athleticism of their teams. This requires special equipment and knowledge of how to use it to capture those moments that make your team look like they should be in Sports Illustrated. Some of those photos for my clients did find their way to the pages of Sports Illustrated.
In sports you usually want to see the ball, both teams, peak action and the expression of the athletes for the best photos. While you don’t always have all the elements, you know this is what you are looking for to make the photo have impact.
When the client hires me to take these action shots they often need more than just the game shots. They need head shots of the players for their sports programs. They also need team photos or stylized images to use for the posters to be put up around town to help sell tickets.
Faith
Proven Track Record
Soulja Boy |
Kid Rock |
Former President Jimmy Carter |
What do pictures of Soulja Boy, Kid Rock and former President Jimmy Carter do for my clients? Help them relax. I have heard it over and over when the person who hired me takes me around to meet their bosses or other important decision makers at their company they will name drop who I have shot for before and who I have covered.
Their neck is on the line often because photography is expensive. By letting folks know they had investigated me and that I had experience it not only helps them feel better, but relaxes them and this translates into great images for me. The people around them pick up on their mood.
When you hire the best you know you can relax and know you are going to get the best images for your company.
People Skills
Capturing moments that help communicate by using body language isn’t something that everyone is capable of doing. Many people just know how to handle themselves and pick up on the mood of others, but they do not know what those visual cues are always.
Paul Ekman has inspired the latest crime series TV show “Lie To Me” by decoding the traits of liars for more than 40 years. That work concentrates on the meaning of human facial expressions, body movements and speech patterns, which Dr. Ekman, a psychologist, has researched and cataloged.
While I am not an expert, this is what my social work undergraduate degree helped me understand is important. Through training and experience of using this to help capture those moments I understand how to use gestures and face expressions to help tell a story.
People understand it when they see it, but they might not even be able to tell you why the photo makes them feel a certain way. Photographers who want to make you feel and respond in a certain way need to understand body language in order to predict what will happen next so they can capture it, because if you wait till you see it you will miss the moment.
My Network
When a client calls and needs me for something, I cannot always fulfill their request, but my client never has to look for someone. I help them find someone who can best meet their needs. The great thing is those folks I recommend don’t try and take my client away. This impresses the clients as well as me.
I am the member of American Society of Media Photographers, National Press Photographers Association, and Christians in Photojournalism. I have not only been a member of these organizations but served on their boards and in roles of leadership.
Each year I am part of a team that helps to organize the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference where photographers who believe this profession to be a calling come together for a few days to learn and fellowship with each other.
A few times a year I help organize the local chapter of Christians in Photojournalism in the Atlanta area to get together for meetings.
Due to these organizations I have developed a good network of professional colleagues. I have seen their work and worked with them enough to know about their character and how they conduct themselves. It is from this network I pull upon to help my clients find the best photographers for the job if I am not available. Sometimes a client calls and I send them directly to one of my colleagues. I want the best for my clients.
When you hire a creative are you hiring the whole person or just someone to push the button? You may have thought you just needed a photo, but you are always hiring the whole person. Are your creatives thinking about you even when you are not calling them?
My clients often will get emails or phone calls where I have thought about something they might be interested in doing. If your creatives haven’t called you with ideas maybe you need to find those who are going to do more than just show up and get what you tell them to do.