“Can you shoot this style?”– That is the one question rarely asked of a photographer. However, if you have been in the industry for a while, this is the one question you wish your clients would ask.

Your clients are more likely to go and hire a different photographer because they like their “Style.” If you are like me, there is a perfect chance that after 35+ years of shooting, I have done that “Style” in my past. The problem is that it isn’t on my website, because I changed to the latest “Style” to get clients and haven’t changed it to a different “Style” lately.

Now the only time I have seen clients go to a photographer and ask them to copy a “Style” is when the person they want to hire is out of their price range. This happened to many who wanted to hire Anne Geddes. Today, many try and copy her style, but few are really good at it like her.

Many pros can do many different styles. Through the years, I have done photojournalism, research photography, portraiture, and many more.

For a client looking for a “Fresh Look,” it is easier just to hire someone that they like their “Style” than to try and communicate to a photographer what they are looking for in a photo. Can you shoot some pictures for us like the photo on your website?

So, what do you do if you are a photographer and see some of your clients leave you?

Personal Project

Throughout my career, I have been to so many workshops and conferences to learn from the masters that I can no longer count them all. What is a common theme these experts shared as wisdom? YES!!!

Everyone has said you always need to have a personal project you are working on. Another way to put it is you need to push your unique “Style” and try new things.

I posted some of the variety I have shot here so you can see how much I have tried different things through the years.

I rarely used flash for the first five years of my career. I shot available light. I learned to see the light.

After years of using flash, the latest cameras have let me return and do natural light photography, but this time in color.

Today I mix light sources and do what I can to make the subject look the best and communicate quickly.

Most likely, you will never get clients to come to you asking you, “Can you shoot this style?” You can shoot a different style than they are used to seeing and send them your new work.

By the way, trying to do something new and different will stretch you, and you will often find ways to improve your eye and portfolio.

Red-Tailed Hawk [X-E3, XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 400, 1/60, ƒ/4.8, (35mm = 300)]

but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31 

Life is just difficult for everyone. When we look at our own lives, these struggles can be overwhelming. My colleagues in photography have gone through many years of turmoil.

Making the switch from film to digital was so tricky that many left the profession due to all the frustrations of learning what amounted to a new language involving computers.

Since the introduction of the SmartPhone, where anyone can take a photo and post it right away on the internet, the industry has changed.

I am constantly trying to figure out how to be of service to my clients. The problem is that much of what I have done in the past with supplying photos is less and less important to clients. Many of the things they would call me to do, they now use their phones to capture those images themselves.

Most of my profession feel daily like they are in a crisis. They have bills to pay, and the number of clients seems to be shrinking.

Do you try to understand others before trying to have them know you? Success is not about you; it requires others. You need to help others reach their dreams if you want to get yours. It would help if you connected to their memories, their desires.

My wife and I enjoyed watching “Call Me Francis” this past weekend. It is about Pope Francis’s path to becoming Pope; Father Jorge Bergoglio pursues his religious vocation in a country ravaged by a brutal military dictatorship.

It is a four-part series. There is this one point, after going through so many struggles in Argentina, he runs into a lady praying to Mary Undoer of Knots Novena. This resonated with him. When you see the story, you understand how difficult it was to help lead the church in a country run by a dictator. More than 30,000 people were killed by the government when he was helping lead the Catholic church.

The devotion to Mary, Undoer of Knots, has become more popular since Pope Francis encouraged the belief in Argentina. He then spoke about it during his first year as a pontiff. The theology of devotion goes back to the second century. Saint Irenaeus wrote, “The obedience of Mary untied the knot of Eve’s disobedience; what the virgin Eve bound by her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith.”

I pray to God for all my requests. I do find that a book of prayers sometimes helps me find the right words for where I am in life. Here are some daily prayers for Mary Undoer of Knots.

“We’re taught how to raise our hand to answer every question. The problem is that leadership, that building an organization, is all about knowing how to help others raise their hands and answer questions.”

GE CEO Jack Welch

We get so busy with our stuff that it’s easy to forget others’ needs and our effect on them.

There is another way you [, especially me] that we are too inwardly focused while we think we are outwardly focused. Can you imagine a business that never focused on reaching new customers? However, many of us [myself included] are focused only on those we know.

Strategy Question for You

Do you have a strategy to reach out to new people for your company? What are you doing this week to talk to someone new? Do you have a list of people to talk to you don’t know?

Maybe the knot you need to pray for God to untie is your resistance to actively looking for new clients.

Twenty-six years ago, in 1993, I started my new job at Georgia Tech after just graduating with my master’s degree in communications. The first project I was assigned was to use the new Nikon Scanner to help start a computer catalog of the photos shot for our department at Georgia Tech.

I tried to design a system using Filemaker Pro but found the software that came with the Nikon Scanner. That software was Cumulus.

Using that software, I created the first computer photo catalog system for Georgia Tech.

In 2008 I pitched to Chick-fil-A’s corporate communication team to use PhotoShelter as the system to handle the photos online.

PhotoShelter did a story on how we implemented their online database system. Here is that link.

I have consulted many businesses, nonprofits, and colleges through the years, helping them set up their photo catalog.

This week, I saw online that Andrew Wiard posted a great article, “THE FOUR CS – METADATA MUSTS.”

I have written about Metadata and the International Press & Telecommunications Council a few times on this blog. I recommend using PhotoMechanic to embed your text into your photos so they are searchable. You can also use the Adobe products Lightroom and Photoshop to do this as well. I find that PhotoMechanic is the fastest and easiest way to edit and, most of all, deal with embedding metadata.

When you are adding content to the metadata and you click on the triangle on the right of the Keywords, you will get the pop up you see with what I use is the Structured Keywords.

You can type each of the words or use a database that is much faster.

Carl Siebert has created two videos I recommend to help you speed up the process of creating keywords with PhotoMechanic.

I have created structured keyword lists for my clients and used a generic list for my tagging. For example, Chick-fil-A needs what I call industry-specific lingo for their searches. This would be true for any business.

Google is the Gold Standard for search. Google continues to work on its system, so you find what you need when you search for something. Now Google is very advanced. If you had ten people search the same word, they would likely get a different result.

You see, Google knows your past searches and goes to great lengths to be sure your search results fit you the best way possible.

Most photo search fields for photo databases look similar to the Google search bar, and you can refine those searches as I show here with PhotoShelter.

Andrew Wiard’s “Four Cs, Five Ws and an A” is missing what I think is critical. Keywords will help your clients find your photos.

Client Searches

If you shoot an assignment for a client, they will likely not need you to find those images. Clients will call and ask if you have a photo. They will then describe what they are looking for from your collection.

Do you have back-to-school photos? Do you have beach photos? Do you have bad weather photos?

While you can remember shooting a photo and finding it, you will improve your ability to see your images had they been tagged with keywords and not just a caption.

Link to blog post explaining that, “Photographers need to understand difference between Captions & Keywords”

Too often, photographers do a poor job because “We Assume and Use Our Own Words.” We have to think about the client looking for a photo. Not the words we would use to find it, but they will use.

We often create databases that communicate something beyond the target’s comprehension level. Use words your readers will be comfortable with. 

Avoid using jargon or acronyms – and if you absolutely must use them, make sure you explain them in simple terms. Think about the client. Be clear on what you’re trying to say and structure your words to make sense to your audience.

Click on the image above to go to fotoKeyword Harvester if you want to buy a keyword generator. It works great, especially if you are new to putting keywords with your pictures.

Summary

You need to embed words into your images to make them searchable. The words you use need to be the words that clients will use to find the photos, not the ones you would use to describe the images.

It would help if you had good Keywords besides writing a good caption – that’s the 5 ‘W’s. Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Without this information, a picture is useless for editorial purposes. There is no limit to additional details, but these five are mandatory.

I suggest buying a Keyword list to start with and then learning to create custom structured keyword lists for your clients and using PhotoMechanic to embed these into the photos.

One of the best ways to create a custom keyword list is to ask your client to do this for you. Can you give me the search words you would like to use to find photos in your image library? I did this with Chick-fil-A, and this helped me to help them find the images they needed. You can combine that list with a traditional keywords list.

When you take these steps, you will make your images easier to find for your clients and you.

There is a process to finding and telling stories about how a company changes lives.

Before you can tell stories for a company, the company needs a strategy. This strategy is most always built around increasing profits. If you are a nonprofit, you are still most likely trying to raise funds.

Start with the question, “What does the company do for its customers?” Usually, this falls into two categories from my experience.

First, they help their customers with a problem they are having and cannot fix on their own. A great example is plumbers, which help unclog people’s pipes.

Second many companies provide an experience for their customers. A great example of this would be Disney World.

Decisions are primarily emotional, not logical. Even with what we believe are rational decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion.

Companies want to inspire their customers. This involves changing the way people think and feel about themselves so that they want to take positive actions. It taps into people’s values and desires.

The best thing to do is to tell a story. Stories don’t tell people what to do. They engage people’s imaginations and emotions. They show people what they’re capable of becoming or of doing.

The key is to find the best story that illustrates how your company played the hero by helping a customer.

Make a list of customer stories you have played a part in and get these elements for each level.

1. Identify your customer crisis and the needed help
2. What would have happened if the help was not received?
3. How bad was it for them? Bump in the road, or was this life and death?
4. Are they available to capture their story?
5. Will they be willing to tell their story?

Once you have a good list of possible stories, please go through them and rank them from the most emotional to the least dynamic.

While you will try and do the story with the emotional impact that pulls on people’s heartstrings, you must be realistic and see which one is doable. Which one can you get the best visuals to support the story?

[NIKON Z 6, Sigma 35.0 mm f/1.4, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/200, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]

Many of us may feel like Joseph, son of Jacob & Rachel in the Bible. His story was made into a Broadway show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Joseph repeated two of his dreams to his brothers, in which he was portrayed as ruling over them. In the first, the brothers were gathering wheat in the field, and the brothers’ bundles bowed to Joseph’s bundle. In the second, Joseph envisioned the sun, the moon, and eleven stars (symbolizing his parents and brothers) turning to him.

This prompted feelings of jealousy within his brothers.

You can read the story in Genesis 37 if you haven’t heard it before or need to review it.

While all those dreams would become a reality, they didn’t happen immediately.

The FaceApp, which takes a photo of you and ages you, was popular this week. It was a quick way to see into the future. It wasn’t long before someone read the fine print and realized you might be giving your data to a foreign government like Russia.

Patience Young Grasshopper

“Patience, young grasshopper” comes from a 1970s TV show called “Kung Fu.” David Carradine played the role of Kwai Chang Caine, a half-American half Chinese character in the old west who had been trained as a Shaolin monk in China.

The opening line to every show was the Master telling David Carridine, “When you can snatch the pebble from my hand ‘Grasshopper,’ it will be time to go.” The show continued for years before he finally snatched the pebble out of his hand. This, in turn, produced the saying to a young person, or any person trying to learn something that would take more than a day or two to know, “patience, young grasshopper,” and it stuck all of these years.

Seeing the Prize vs Getting the Prize

Both Joseph and Kwai Chang Caine saw the prize. Joseph, through his dream, and Caine could see the pebble right before him.

I see all the time how I can help a client using my skills to help them attain their goals. So, why can’t they see how I can help them? I can save them money, time, and headaches if they let me.

Does that sound familiar? I think all my photographer, writer, and storyteller colleagues see daily with their clients how they could help, but the client is, for some reason, unwilling to let you do your thing.

Getting 20/20 Vision

I have found that often when I look back over my career, that had I not had to wait to do what I thought I was ready to do, I would have missed out on some experiences that prepared me to do an even better job for the client.

Had I not lost my job with the International Mission Board, I couldn’t have then worked for Georgia Tech. I wouldn’t have gone back to school for my master’s in communication.

Without the master’s degree, I wouldn’t have been able to be an adjunct professor teaching photojournalism at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Georgia this past year.

My skills were limited when I started working at the Hickory Daily Record in 1984. When I went to the International Mission Board, I didn’t have things in my portfolio that said send Stanley to cover that story.

While working on my master’s degree, I had to work full-time to pay the bills. I was one of the first photographers hired with a new concept Glamour Shots. That was before PhotoShop days. I learned so much about posing and working with people to do headshots.

Going After What You Want vs. Letting Things Come To You

You do need to set goals. Going to college, for instance, is necessary for many jobs. It would help if you went after that goal to get the job you want.

Then there comes that point where even if you’ve done everything in your power to make it so; you discover you can’t make it happen. This is where the letting things come to you part enters the conversation. At a certain point, we need to release control. Loosen our grip. Allow things to unfold. Please give it up to a higher power, the universe, whatever. For me, I pray about it and give it to God.

I believe what you need comes to you at the right time, even if you don’t quite understand it. My faith has taught me that God is in control.

I am learning that you need to let some things happen organically. This is where when a client brings up something; you are ready to speak. It also means that you back off after speaking.

One of the best things I have learned is that Great Ideas also require the right season. Putting seeds in the ground is a great idea to grow something. However, it has to happen at the right time of year, or they never will develop into anything. They actually can die.

Another thing I have learned is that if you plant grass seed in the late fall, it will grow in the spring. If you plant it early or later, the grass will not burst from the soil until the conditions are right. The right temperature, sunlight, and water.

Prayer for Anxiety/Patience

Father, sometimes the wait is long, and impatience gets the better of me. Forgive me and grant me the patience to await your blessings upon my life and not question your power.

Meghan Duncan & James Dockery have been catching up since their time together in Kosovo a couple of years ago. This is Meghan’s second storyteller’s workshop. [NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 140, 1/200, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 24)]

We have a teaching schedule that requires the subjects to be available to the storytellers for 3 to 4 days during our first time in the field. Meghan’s person had some job come up at the last moment which through her whole project either out and we find a substitute or as Meghan pushed for was to pack all the process into a couple of days.

Since this was Meghan’s second workshop, Jeff Raymond decided to let her, along with the support of Bill Bangham, go with her on getting the b-roll to meet that deadline.

The project’s success dramatically affected how motivated Meghan was for what would require all-night editing.

Meghan was given this paragraph about Cesar:

Cesar became a believer while he was in prison. He became a spiritual leader within the prison and now wants to continue ministry as a pastor. He has started studies at the Facultad but is taking a break to get married. He is involved with a new church plant and will hopefully become the pastor of that church.

Watch how she got more by peeling the onion, as we say in storytelling.

If you are passionate about theological education, start the conversation with ABWE here at abwe.org/go.

Maybe you work in the media industry and want to explore telling mission stories. Go here to learn more about the Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Missions Workshop.

Storyteller Courtney Gille is getting a b-roll of the family she is working on for her story. [NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 4000, 1/100, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 52)]

This is Courtney Gille’s second time doing the Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Missions Workshop. She went with us to Nicaragua.

Each storyteller is given a paragraph on what the team knows about their subject. Here is what was given to Courtney.

“Erika Fucaraccio is a Chilean graduate from SCA. She began attending in 1989 when she was in the 6^th grade. Now, her boys attend SCA to receive the same Christian influence she received.”

Doing a pre-interview before sitting down and capturing her subject on camera helped Courtney dig deeper and find the emotional impact of the school on her.

Listen to the final product here in this video.

Maybe you feel the call to missions after seeing Erika’s story. Go here to learn more www.abwe.org/go.

Maybe you work in the media industry and want to explore telling mission stories. Go here to learn more about the Storytellers Abroad Multimedia Missions Workshop.

Storyteller Ken Robinson listens in class to James Dockery teaching Adobe Premiere Pro. [NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 8000, 1/100, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 105)]

Storyteller Ken Robinson was assigned Christian Aracena for his story. Here is the paragraph that he was given.

“Christian Aracena is a Facultad graduate leading a thriving church plant in Las Condes. They have an English translation available for their service, which ministers to ABWE short-term missionaries and other ex-pats (not just from the US). His one daughter is currently attending SCA, but his older daughter is struggling with English impacting her ability to attend SCA. They are currently homeschooling her.”

Ken wrote on Facebook, “Well, it is finished! The Storytellers Abroad Missions Multimedia Workshops are complete. The finished product is more than just this video; it is the friendship and connections made and the difference in the lives of everyone on our team. We may never know our work’s full impact until the other side of heaven!”

Watch the final story that Ken captured.

If you want to support the Facultad Teológica Bautista ABEM so they can help more students like Christian Aracena, go here to learn how to do just that.

If you want to do a workshop like Ken did to capture this story, go here, Storytellers Abroad.

Storyteller Catherine Gray is out early, capturing the b-roll of the Ciliniroglu children being dropped off at school. [NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 1400, 1/100, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 35)]

Storyteller Catherine Gray was given one of the stories to help ABWE missionaries run a school in Santiago, Chile. We asked the missionaries what they needed. One of the primary needs was funds to use as scholarships for the students to attend the school.

We then asked the team to identify some students/families who benefited from a scholarship. They then gave us this information about one such family.

“Cuneyt & Claudia Cilingiroglu are parents of four students at SCA. He is from Turkey, and she is from Chile. Several years ago, they began a local business making muffins and desserts, but it had a slow start. As a result, money was tight. Through the Student Fund, SCA reduced tuition to allow their kids to continue attending while the business started.”

Watch the video captured by Catherine to see how ABWE stepped in and gave them more than just financial help.

If you want to support the Santiago Christian School so they can help more families like the Cilingiroglu family, go here to learn more on how to do just that.

If you want to do a workshop like Catherine did to capture this story, go here, Storytellers Abroad.

Cole Buchanan is off to get the B-Roll of pastor Rodrigo Cisternas. [NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 800, 1/100, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 82)]

Storyteller Cole Buchanan was given this small paragraph and asked to flesh out the story.

“Rodrigo Cisternas is a seminary graduate (Facultad) in Santiago. He is now the pastor of a church in Recoleta that was planted by ABWE missionaries. That church has grown to almost 300 people, and they have worked to start three different churches. He also teaches at the Facultad and has children attending Santiago Christian Academy at a reduced cost thanks to the Student Fund.”

Watch the final video here:

If you are interested in this type of storytelling, join us on future trips, then go here to learn more http://storytellersabroad.com.

If you have an organization and would like to do something like this with you, contact me, and let’s see what we can do for you.

Storyteller Jennifer Nelson works with coaches Bill Bangham and James Dockery, putting the final touches before our showing to the missionaries who helped us produce these stories.[NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 3200, 1/100, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 28)]

Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, sent their former staff pastor Julian Pizarro to Santiago, Chile, to do missions. Pizarro went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for his training.

He is planting a church in the upper-income neighborhood of Los Ciruelos.

Storyteller Jennifer Nelson was assigned to the Pizarro family because they are sending their children to Santiago Christian Academy, founded by ABWE [Association for Baptists for World Evangelism], to help missionaries educate their children while doing missions.

Without the school, Julian’s wife was staying out of the ministry to do full-time home schooling for their children.

Listen to the story that Jennifer captured telling how Santiago Christian Academy is helping them be more effective in their church plant.

If you are interested in teaching in a missions school around the world, like in Chile, go to www.abwe.org/go to learn more about serving opportunities.

Maybe you are interested in learning how to tell stories like this one. Go to StorytellersAbroad.com to learn more about workshops in the future.