Category: Photography

Are you experiencing professional photographer burnout?

by Stanley LearyPhotography
Do you feel burned out? How often are your pitches to your clients landing on deaf ears? Do you feel like your clients no longer care about quality?

While in the best of times I felt like there was a disconnect, when the economy tanked I understood the lack of funds. Today I am seeing money spent, but from my perspective unwisely. I see the possibilities of how I could really help clients.

If you are thinking like this maybe the key is to rethink how you are doing business.

There are three sides to every story—yours, the truth and mine.

I have been coordinating a group of photographers for a few years now. We meet quarterly in the Atlanta area. We started giving everyone the opportunity to give a two-minute presentation. So few could adhere to the time limit I changed it to five-minutes and still most cannot get their material presented in the time frame.

Frankly this is a key insight into why so many photographers are failing today—they waste people’s time. If you are not clear as to what you do and can help others do then no one else will understand as well.

Your Elevator Speech

You should be able to tell people what you do in an “elevator speech.” This is a very concise short summary of what you do and has a value proposition. The name comes from the amount of time it takes to ride an elevator to your destination, which is usually thirty seconds to two minutes.

If you do not have an “elevator speech” I would recommend putting one together. It is very similar to a Mission Statement or Vision Statement.

Start with these parts:

•    Define who you are
•    Define what you do
•    Define how you are different
•    Define your audience
•    Call to action
•    Why should they care

Refine each of these and then assemble this and start with the why. This is the hook to pull them in. Here is one example I have used a few times.

Have you ever given your elevator pitch and realized they just need to see it to believe it? This is what I help companies do everyday. I help them with visual storytelling.

I have on my phone, iPad, computer and website a quick slide show that is my two-minute elevator speech. When I am talking to someone I am showing a few examples of what I do to accompany my narrative.

Time to Listen

After you have done this long enough you will get clients that know you and recommend you.  Once you have some people using you, then you can go to them and see how they would describe you. In a way you are looking for your two-minute speech, as they would give it on your behalf. 

I recommend going deeper than this and really get to understand how others define you.

You can hire a professional coach who will help you do a 360 where they talk to people and find out how others see you. If you don’t have the resources to do this, then you just need to approach some clients and ask them for some time to help you out. 

You could do a focus group. You can choose to get a group of people together or you can do this one-on-one. The key here is to treat this like a focus group. Most people are compensated for their time.  My suggestion is to have a game plan and timetable.

Be upfront with what you are doing and respect their time. Maybe offer to take them to lunch and tell them you need about 90 minutes of their time. Set aside 30 minutes to eat and then take the time they agree to remaining, ask your questions and when time is up, not when you finish your questions stop.

Some people may not want to be all that honest and upfront, so you may have to bring up touchy topics by saying some people say that you are strategic but not good with follow through, and then ask them if they agree or disagree.

You might find out that you come across as an arrogant person. All this time you thought you were being helpful and now you are finding out you were sabotaging your brand.

Whatever you find out remember they think highly enough of you to meet with you and want to help you.  This is why after you have heard some weaknesses you might want to ask what are some things they suggest to make a change.

Look for a consensus before making changes. The patterns are what you are listening for and not each individual comment alone.

The Truth

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

My mentor, Don Rutledge, used to say to me that the best judge for a photography contest is the public, because they will judge the photograph merely on the impact it has on them. He went on to say that as practitioners of photography we should study which photos have the most impact and understand why.

If you take the time to listen to how you are perceived then you are now ready to make the necessary adjustments to help you grow in your business.

Take all those positive comments and be sure those are now part of your “elevator speech.”

Take the constructive criticism and make some changes. Let’s say people think you come across as a know-it-all or arrogant. Maybe instead of just shutting down all your comments, you ask nonthreatening questions.  Have you ever thought about …?

You may need to practice this new way of bringing up your concerns or ideas. Remember it will take time to make these adjustments.

When you lack a hook

You maybe fully aware of your brand and what you offer, but you still are not getting business.

Your business model is not addressing the needs or desires of the customer or they would be using you.

A few things can be happening here and you need to be honest with yourself.

Possibilities:

•    They need what I offer, but can get this somewhere else
•    They don’t see what I offer as a need
•    What I offer isn’t desirable. Think luxury here

Be sure your elevator speech is not about facts but is about emotions. When you are able to hook into people’s emotions, then you will be successful.

Some wedding photographers say they take pictures of weddings, some say they are helping families write the first chapter for their new family. Which one is getting to the core of what they offer?

Covering events: The Fashion Show under a tent

by Stanley LearyPhotography
Figure 1—Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/160

News Coverage

When your space is limited, like in a newspaper, it is quite common to just use one photo with text. Pure Fashion’s Spring Fashion Show was sponsored by Belk’s located at the Forum in Norcross, GA.  A few hundred words and the photo above [Figure 1] and you are done. I have communicated the core of what happened at the fashion show.

This is the lighting diagram for the above photo taken under a white tent outside while it was raining.

In Depth Coverage

Sometimes the best images and content is behind those headlines.  You may even hear magazines talk about the story behind the story.

Figure 2—Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/160, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.

One of the stories behind the scenes was the models all got a chance to meet Pip from the second season of The Voice. Now this photo here [Figure 2] is typical that many people will take. they may like this better than when they finally are set in the pose, you can pick up on the excitement of not just the model but the enjoyment of Pip knowing he was having just as much fun.

Posed pictures are OK, but compare this photo of them smiling for the camera to these where you see Pip taking time with the models.  Now pay attention to the faces and the eyes. You will see more than just “nice to meet you smile.”

Figure 3—I like the hand gesture, the expression of the model and most of all you can see those looking on noticing the excitement of the moment as well. Do you see it? [Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 900, ƒ/5.6, 1/125, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

The cool thing was Pip didn’t over react and embarrass the models. He just maintained eye contact and most of all he ask each person their name.

Figure 4—Notice the models shoulders and both hands. You can tell she is loving this moment.Two of the girls are just as excited and one is already posting her photo of Pip to social media. [Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/125, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

I was loving these moments, because usually teenagers are trying their best to remain calm and cool, but here we see them acting on the outside how we would feel meeting a real star.

Figure 5—Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/125, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.

I hope you are seeing how much body language is communicating the moment. It isn’t about the composition and lighting, but that is important, the thing making these photos is the expressions and body language.

Figure 6—This is my daughter talking to Pip. Her friends keep telling her she needs to try out for The Voice too. She is telling Pip she wants to try out one day and Pip starts asking questions and encouraging her.  I can tell she is loving the moment. Now look at the lady in the middle. She is the makeup artist working on my daughter. you can tell she is listening and even tho she isn’t talking to Pip she too is enjoying the moment. [Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 1800, ƒ/5.6, 1/125, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

I think the photos behind the scenes with Pip are better than the Fashion Show itself.  For promoting Pure Fashion these are great photos. Get to model and maybe meet some stars.  How many young girls wanting to be models wouldn’t love this experience.

But wait there is more.

Figure 7—This was shot with the 85mm ƒ/1.4 and while most everything other than the makeup artist is out of focus, there is just enough detail that the makeup counter and background become more abstract art. [Nikon D4, 85 mm lens, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/80, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

The models get professional makeup artists to help them look their best. Everyone loved how they looked after some of this professional attention.

Figure 8—I shot a little wide here to help show the environment. Since Belk sponsored the Fashion Show showing off their brand helps to recruit them in the future to do more shows. It promotes their products as well. [Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 3600, ƒ/5.6, 1/160, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

Figure 9—I shot this with an 85mm ƒ/1.4 to isolate the models in this very busy environment. [Nikon D4, 85 mm lens, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/125, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

Figure 10—While you can show all the models having fun, it is important to show how serious these professional makeup artists and hair stylist are about their jobs. [Nikon D4, 85 mm lens, ISO 220, ƒ/1.4, 1/60, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]

Figure 11—Can you see how precise and detailed the makeup artist is with applying the makeup? [Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/160, Custom White Balance with ExpoDisc.]
Figure 12—Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/160

While I could have just snapped and had a photo of the ladies on the runway, I was looking for those moments where they looked great. Pure Fashion is about instilling confidence into young girls helping them.  I think they look like young confident women in this photo [Figure 12].

Figure 13—Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/160

My daughter really had fun with this program and did a great job showing her outfit off.

Figure 14—Nikon D4, 28-300mm lens, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/160

I think this photo captures the emotion of how Pip performed for everyone.

My spin on the coverage

I hope you are seeing that it is the details beyond color correct images, good exposure, composition and variety of images that I deliver. I am focusing on the details of emotions which show through body language and microexpressions.

Do you think the photo will make young high school girls and their families want to get involved from these photos?

Here are some more photos from the event. Here is a link to learn more about Pure Fashion.

http://www.StanleyLearyStoryteller.com/Pure-Fashion2/index.html

Helping hurts when communication is overlooked

by Stanley LearyPhotography

I believe photographers need a good PR agency, and since no one is volunteering to do it for us, we must step up and take on this responsibility. One such area I want to address is a photographer who wants to help use their talent to help humanitarian organizations or faith-based organizations.

Please bear with me as I walk through understanding the elements and then try to put together an action plan for photographers.

The Humanitarian Photographer

If you were to Google the definition of what is a humanitarian photographer, you would not find a definition in everyday places like Webster’s dictionary, Wikipedia or Google. It is a new term used to describe not so much a style as the humanitarian organization.

When you Google “humanitarian photographer,” I have a few friends that will pop up at the very top of the list: Gary S. Chapman and Esther Havens both do humanitarian photography.

You will see every photography style for humanitarian organizations that primarily distribute aid.

Three ways that humanitarian organizations distribute aid

  1. Relief
  2. Rehabilitation
  3. Development

In the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, they say, “A helpful first step in thinking about working with the poor in any context is to discern whether the situation calls for relief, rehabilitation, or development. Unfortunately, failing to distinguish among these situations is one of the most common reasons poverty-alleviation efforts often harm.”

They say, “One of the major premises of this book is that until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good.”

Relief is the easiest of the three things humanitarian organizations do. It is easier to raise money and distribute materials during a disaster than to do more in-depth rehabilitation or development. However, all three can hurt those trying to help and those receiving the service.

Do you know where I am going with all this? Will I be addressing how entitlement programs are the problem? But, on the other hand, maybe I will talk about how we need income distribution to solve the problem.

What is Poverty?

Wikipedia definition—Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute Poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly include food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care, and education. Relative Poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live. In the book When Helping Hurts, “Development expert Robert Chambers argues that the materially poor are trapped by multiple, interconnected factors—insufficient assets, vulnerability, powerlessness, isolation, and physical weakness—that ensnare them like bugs caught in a spider’s web.”

The book says, “Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings.”

Based on this definition, everyone suffers from Poverty in some way.

Where the photographer can help

If broken relationships are the core issue in Poverty, then communication is key to rebuilding these relationships. With the fractured relationship between two people, they must come together and listen to one another.

Often counselors can help with the facilitation of restoration. However, when it comes to groups, this is where I believe the professional communicator refines the role of the counselor and helps each group better communicate and move groups closer together.

Leaders of humanitarian organizations and their donors are often to blame for the failure organization’s goals.

Donor and CEO Problem

A philanthropist decides to give a huge amount to an organization with strings attached. “I want all this gift to go to something and none of it to go to operating costs of the organization” is one such gift.

The organization will often take the gift and reorganize it so that they can use it. Taking an advantage that wasn’t a priority is where the organization fails to educate the donor. A good CEO will inform the donor.

I see way too many humanitarian organizations focus on relief. We can give them food, or we can teach them to fish. Learning to fish is a more significant investment in time but not money.

Photographers must understand the relief, rehabilitation, and development and how this applies to the organization. In addition, they need to have a strategic vision to help an organization achieve its vision.

Way too many photographers want to go and travel to take photos. They are in it for themselves and are hurting and not helping.

Photographers need to know as much as possible about the area a humanitarian organization is addressing. What are other groups working in this area? Are they duplicating efforts? Is their approach helping the long-term goal of no longer being needed?

The expectation is once you start becoming strategic and not just a button pusher of the camera, you will help in ways beyond your camera. For example, you may help leaders of different organizations know about each other. In addition, you may help them network due to your work for different groups.

PR for the photographer

Blogging

One of the ways I am watching photographers with PR for themselves is to tell stories through their blogs and be sure they are letting humanitarian organizations leaders know they are blogging.

If you have a blog, you may want to ask some of those organization leaders to do a guest blog for you.

Newsletter

You can create a printed or online newsletter that you send out to your distribution list. This method is different than the blog; it is pushing your message. A blog pulls people to the content.

Gallery

You can put your coverage up in a gallery and invite humanitarian organization leaders to the show. You can also encourage the humanitarian organizations to have a gallery where you could be there as the artist at the opening to help bring in donors.

Social Media

Get involved in groups. Many humanitarian organizations have active group discussions where a photographer could easily be part of the discussion. Give some tips of your own, or maybe you offer links you discovered as a good resource. Be a part of the discussion.
Hold organizations accountable

I would encourage all of your discussions always to be trying to be sure the organization is helping the problem and not hurting. Sometimes it is just asking a question with an attitude of innocence. Sometimes you may need to call attention a little more forthright. Remember, your purpose is to be part of the solution, not hurt. Ticking everyone off is not the best solution since you will quickly discover yourself no longer a part of the discussion.

Photographers: How to Avoid Obsolescence

by Stanley LearyPhotography
We need an overview of the industry and beyond it to make decisions on how to build a successful and sustainable business model.

Three elements in visual communication:

  1. Message
  2. Messenger
  3. Audience
Message: There are many ways this can exist. The message could be everything thing from a person, a group of people, a topic, or an industry to many descriptors.Messenger: For this blog, we are talking about the Photographer or Visual Communicator

Audience: This is the group for which creating images that communicate the message.

My advice is to explore each of these three for all the possibilities.

Become an expert on the Audience—The more you know about your Audience, you understand what they need and want. In addition, it will be much easier for you to plug your subject into the Audience when you know how it impacts them in their daily lives.

Become an expert on the Audience—The more you know about your Audience, you understand what they need and want. In addition, it will be much easier to plug your subject into the audience wheAudienceow how it impacts them in their daily lives.

Become an expert messenger—You master not just photography but all the possible communication tools to help you reach the audience witAudiencessage and vice versa.

Common Mistakes

In response to my earlier blog, “Photographers are becoming obsolete, unless …” many comments were way too linear and short-sighted.

Here is one comment that was typical of others:

“… the only thing saving us professionals is a better ability to understand/use composition and lighting.”

The key thing I want to point out is how too many people are focusing on one thing, which is, in my opinion, what is a sure way to obsolescence.

Just taking this comment, I can see the person has no clue as to understanding anything about the subjects they are taking photos of or the Audience. MaAudienceincredible photo of an issue that the audience hasAudiencerest not sustainable.

I believe a few things will happen over the career of a highly successful visual communicator as they grow in understanding of subjects, visual communication tools, and their Audience, thAudiencemake changes.

Changes you may need to make

Message—I want you to consider this your photograph’s subject. However, over time you may discover that the issue has a shrinking market. In other words, you will find from your expertise on your audiences that few people have an interest in your subject. When this happens, you need to find another topic or issue to sustain your career.

Audience—Some great examples of this change include how the web has impacted communication outlets. You may have only been able to shoot for a local newspaper in the past, and today, you may have a very successful worldwide audience due to online blogs, forums, or social media outlets. Unfortunately, some publications [audiences] have gone out of business, so you must change.

Messenger/Medium—As a professional visual communicator, you need to make changes due to the available mediums. For example, you made changes from film to digital and now are changing from older digital devices to newer ones.

Mediums and Audiences are blurring.

A professional visual communicator would consider a publication as an audience just a few years ago. Today blogs are a great example of how the medium is closer to you, thus bringing audiences ever closer to you. As a result, you can interact in a dialogue with your Audience.Today the connectivity we have between all of these is opening up new avenues for communication. It is no longer one way as in the past. Your Audience will tell you what they want and comment on what you are giving them in real-time. You don’t have to do focus groups to find out what the readership thinks—they are commenting on social media and if you allow it on your packages online.

If you focus on mastering photography and how to light things and compositionally capture something alone, then you are on your way to obsolescence.

Those who are growing their business are expanding their horizons and learning more about the world in which they live. They are becoming experts on subjects and learning more about what interests people.

As you grow in your knowledge of the message, the messenger, and the Audience, youAudienceve eureka moments like Steve Jobs, who brought us the technology we didn’t even know we needed.

Bicycle Wheel as a Metaphor

I like to think in visuals, so my visual for going forward is a bicycle wheel. My focus is on the spokes that, when they are equal and have the appropriate tension, help keep the wheel accurate and wobble-free.

I see each of the spokes as another way you can strengthen your business.

How many spokes?

The number of spokes in a bicycle affects its performance. Fewer spokes tend to have aerodynamic advantages. On the other hand, more spokes usually mean more strength and durability.

I see those new faces in the industry getting a lot of visibility as having fewer strokes. But, on the other hand, I see those with long-sustaining careers as those with more spokes.

My advice

Master a subject. Master a medium. Master an audience.

After doing this, add another subject, medium, and Audience.

If life is pretty shaky right now, your spokes may need some adjustment.

Photographers are becoming obsolete, unless …

by Stanley LearyPhotography
How we are becoming obsolete

Professional photographers are becoming increasingly obsolete because their work is becoming a commodity. In addition, technological advances have made it easier for one to take a photograph. For example, Facebook’s photo collection already has a staggering 140 billion photos, over 10,000 times larger than the Library of Congress.

Let’s look at some of the advances in photography:

    • Autofocus
    • Auto Exposure
    • Auto Image Stabilizer
    • Auto ISO
    • Auto red-eye reduction
Increasingly we are seeing photography becoming driven by algorithms. These advances in camera technology are giving photographers more images that are pretty acceptable.

When I teach photography, many students ask me to tell them which button to push. So now we are hearing more about which app to use on their phone to make it all happen for them.

No longer is photography intimidating for the masses, but relatively easy to produce an image. Kodak’s founder George Eastman created the slogan, “You press the button, we do the rest.”

When he said this, producing a print you can hold and cherish forever was pretty challenging. However, the consumer can now press the button and see it immediately.

CPI, which ran the photo studios in Sears, Walmart, and Babies “R” Us, closed on April 5, 2013, after 60 years in business. However, you could get a portrait done for $9.99 plus prints, so these prices didn’t put them out of business; instead, people didn’t need help making portraits as in the past.

In the LA Times, I thought these statements were telling:

“The whole digital world has changed everything so much,” said Chris Gampat, editor in chief of photography blog the Phoblogapher. “People are very happy taking pictures of themselves with their iPhones and putting them on Instagram and sharing them instantly on Facebook and Twitter.”

Gampat, 26, also said that more consumers are buying the digital single-lens reflex, or DSLR, cameras once used nearly exclusively by professional photographers for top-quality images.

Consumer Demand has changed

Photographers need to understand the marketplace as much as they know to survive. Consumers of professional photography in years past have not stopped enjoying pictures. They no longer pay photographers to produce them when they can do it themselves.

How photography looked years ago for the professional.
How many think photography is today

The example assumes that while many people are now taking photos, the number of those making a good living is about the same.

I no longer believe that is the case. On the contrary, I think the number of professionals making a living is also shrinking.
Tips on how to avoid becoming obsolete
Today, people are letting technology handle so much of the process that we have diminished our observation, creativity, and interpretation abilities.

Pictures without context and compassion are dull.

Photographers must work even harder than in the past to survive. They must constantly observe, work on their creativity, and interpret situations to outperform the logarithms of today’s modern cameras.
You cannot make a full-time living today as a photographer because you know how to use camera gear to produce an image. Therefore, you must be offering something more.
  1. Produce images that auto everything camera cannot
  2. Become a hybrid photographer. Hybrid is where you combine other skills to create a package. This might be writing, video, audio, web design, or something that moves you from just pictures to a box.
  3. Consider working with other professionals to create packages. Maybe you need to delegate some of the pieces of projects to other professionals. Maybe work with a writer, video editor, or someone else and offer something you cannot do alone together.
  4. Become an expert on something other than camera gear. If you are an expert on a subject, then you can use your photography to help you carve a career in that subject matter using photography. A great example of this is Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who did a great deal of photography and film due to his knowledge of marine biology.
  5. Be a lifelong learner. An unquenchable thirst for knowledge will drive you to seek new ways to communicate using visuals. Being a lifelong learner may lead you to be not a follower but an innovator.
  6. Workshops and seminars. It would be best if you continued to go to venues exposing yourself to what is going on in the field of photography and outside of photography in your niche.
  7. Create your projects. To get that first paying gig, you had to have a portfolio. To continue to propel your career, you must always create a new portfolio. You will seldom have the opportunity to develop a new approach for a client. They tend to hire you based on what you have produced.

You may think of more things to keep your career moving forward. But, unfortunately, when you stop growing is the day you start dying.

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

God reveals Himself to the world through His work. Through natural revelation, God’s existence is made known to every person on earth. Thus, work shows something about the one doing the work. It exposes underlying character, motivations, skills, abilities, and personality traits.

Ephesians 4:28

… let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Work is done not just to profit the worker but others, according to the Bible. Therefore, we need to do work that is not just for us but for those we serve through our photography.

Shooting a photo package on a person

by Stanley LearyPhotography

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Shooting a package

This is the bread and butter assignment for the editorial/photojournalist. You get a call from an editor and they have have a story on a person and want some photos to go along with the story.

While it would be great to just hangout with a person for a week and then pick the best images, the budget is just not there for those type of coverages. What is typical is to talk with a subject about all that they are doing and to stay focused on what the story is all about.

A health clubs national office contacted me and wanted me to show how their health club was helping people in the community live healthier lives since becoming involved with the club.

The environmental portrait

I photographed this engineering professor at Georgia Tech. We wanted to show that their clients have great leadership positions in the community. I knew I needed something that read Georgia Tech quickly. Having the sign behind the professor seemed to be just the thing to work.

I also photographed him at one of the icons for the campus, a steam engine, located in the center of campus.

I wanted to also show you that I shot some available light like this vertical shot here. I also wanted you to see why it is so important to use off camera flash as I did in the first two photos. The off camera flash really separates my work from so many GWCs [Guy With Camera].

At Work

I made several photos of the subject at work. Here he is in a team meeting with some colleagues. If you look at the slide show you can see some others as well.

At the Gym

I photographed the subject working out. I turned in photos from each thing he does at the gym. Now mind you I shot literally hundreds of photos and then had to go through those and eliminate all the ones where face expressions were just not good, or something may have blocked a good view of his face.

By the way to be sure these images were the best color I used strobes in the gym to help with color, but also freeze him and get the sharpest images I could of him working out. Notice the detail in the clothing of the instructor wearing all black. That is the clue this was not available light.

Click on this to see larger

I turned into the client 391 images in two folders: 1) Edits & 2) All the photos. They will probably only use three images; 1) portrait, 2) At work shot, and 3) workout photo.  By shooting as many photos and narrowing down to capture the best expressions and best moments I am able to give the art director choices and they feel like they can then have some variety to show in the end to their audience.

In the contact sheet above you just see a very small number of photos that I turned in. I wanted you to see this is after I have already eliminated all the blinks and funny expressions. Hopefully this will let you know how important it is to shoot enough photos to be able to have a selection that shows off the subject in the best way possible.

How to recover when project doesn’t go well

by Stanley LearyPhotography

Types of clients

I believe there are two types of clients—Educated and uneducated. I am not talking about how bright the client is or how many degrees they might have. For example, when hiring me, I am talking about their experience working with photographers.

Sometimes, clients will have naive, impracticable, or inappropriate expectations. Most of the time, this is done with clients who need more experience hiring photographers.

I generally have little communication problems with those who hire photographers regularly because they are better at communicating their needs, and we establish a solid paper trail together.

The first place the client relationship needs to be corrected is often in communication. When dissatisfaction about something from the client arises, the best thing you can do is look at the paperwork.

A written contract is best for helping resolve these disputes. The second best to a written contract is written documentation that could be as simple as emails. 

Even with a written contract, the one thing plaguing client relationships is more planning. The better the planning, the better the results and satisfaction for all involved.

With the ability to scout a location and walk through the assignment, it is possible to anticipate all the needs that might arise.

How do you know you have a problem?

Your client will need to tell you about a problem so you can fix it. Sadly, I have found that in my career, many people will never tell you there’s a problem. They don’t hire you again.

If no one ever tells you, there is a good chance your personality turns them off, and they don’t want to fix the situation. I advise seeking counseling; it will be worth every penny you spend knowing how to stop certain behaviors from undermining your career.

If you are lucky and get a customer complaint, this is good for you. Often, this means people think you need to know so you can both correct this and continue to work with them, or they think you need to know so you can avoid this in the future—either way, you see no problem that needs to be addressed.

How to handle the conflict

Listen—the best tool you have is the ability to listen. Listening is not just being quiet. Good listening requires you to respond appropriately to the comments.

Apologize—A genuine apology lets the customer understand that they have been heard and understood. This should be carefully worded. If you don’t feel that you have done anything wrong, then be sure to convey regret for the other person’s experience due to what you did. This is assuming it was unintended. Apologizing for the effect this caused doesn’t mean you will resolve. Be sure you take responsibility for the impact you caused, or it will not be sincerely taken.

Take Action—After apologizing for what has taken place to cause this problem, move on to letting them know you want to correct the problem. You can say, “Obviously, what we have done is very upsetting to you, and you need to know that I am going to get to the bottom of this.”

Take the emotion out—Now that you have expressed your concern with emotion, the next phase is exploring the facts. This is where you are just getting the facts of the situation. Often, clients may state what is wrong and how this complicates their ability to solve the problem they brought you on to help. Remember, sometimes they have already concluded that this is not fixable, and you have wasted their time. The tendency is to fix things quickly, but be sure you fully understand what they think is wrong at this stage. Once you have all the facts laid out, restate them in your own words and ask if everything is correct. It would be best to put it into your own words because it will help them know you heard them and understand.

Empathy and not sympathy—Focus on actions and not words. You need to come to the client with ideas and not problems. Remember, time is money, so don’t waste theirs or yours.

Patience—It is best to stop after getting all the facts and tell them you need time to process if required. “Do you mind if I take a few minutes to see what I/we can do? I will call you back with our ideas in the morning,” this is one way to give you time to process all that you have discovered.

Deliver on your promise—The genuine apology you started with entails a resolution. It would be best if you delivered on this promise to be sincere and complete. Without this, you will undermine your reputation and brand as not trustworthy. 

Fire the client

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY]
When clients have naive, impracticable, or inappropriate expectations, it is time to fire them. Sometimes, ending a relationship with a client is better than making your life miserable.

Here are some things I know I have and other photographers have let their clients go:

Slow or no payment—I have had a few clients where the company policy was to be slow paying, and then I have had clients that had such severe ADD that they regularly forgot to pass along my invoice to the accounts payable department. Use this paragraph with your invoicing to avoid this problem:

Administrative Fee – We are now building into the invoice the cost to repeatedly follow up with accounts payable departments on past due invoices and float the payment cost to our vendors, which requires 30 days’ payment. This fee is approximately 15% of the total invoice. If payment is made within 30 days, you may deduct this amount. A notation will be made to this effect on the invoice.

Lack of boundaries—You have a client that expects to own you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sometimes, clients do not respect that you have other clients and a personal life. To avoid this, put the times you are available in your contract.

Challenging to work with—They are just tricky to work with. Maybe they tell off-color jokes. Try to say politely but firmly that you don’t appreciate the off-color jokes. You may not get a positive response at first, but you may. You’ll also benefit from speaking your mind and at least getting the message out there for everyone’s consideration.

Poor Time Management—The client has trouble keeping appointments or is constantly late. This can become a problem when it starts to affect your bottom line. You have trouble getting things from the client that you need to complete a job. Be sure your contract spells out that missing deadlines or whatever you need from them that there is some penalty. The problem you are trying to address is doing work and delayed payment due to the client dragging out a project. You can put the full payment into the contract by a specific date if the delay is due to the client missing something.

Unwilling to accept price increases—Over time, your prices need to go up due to increased living costs and other expenses. When the client is reluctant to adjust their budget, you must let them go; you cannot afford to work for them.

It is all about perspective

by Stanley LearyPhotography

I learned about this phenomenon from Jay Maisel. Look at this photo, which way does the foot print go? In or out?

How about this foot print? Is it in or out?

Actually they are the same photo, just flipped. Your eye expects patterns a certain way and flipping the photo can change the topography.

The above photo of me is how most everyone sees me. I really never felt like it looks like me.

This is the photo as I see myself. What is the difference, it is just flipped or the mirror image that I see each morning in the mirror.

I suggest taking a digital photo of yourself and flip it and see if it feels more like yourself.

I showed this to a few of the students I was teaching lighting to in Kona, Hawaii and they all were amazed. 

Vacation Photos: Compose Background then add family and friends

by Stanley LearyPhotography
Nikon D4, ISO 12,800, ƒ/5, 1/100, 28 – 300mm [No Flash]

Today I was touring the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California. We made a stop to see the set of the Friends TV show set.

While I enjoyed seeing the set and took many photos.  I took this shot and then put my wife and daughter into the photo.

Nikon D4, ISO 12,800, ƒ/5, 1/100, 28 – 300mm [No Flash]

I had my wife and daughter get as close to the camera as possible without totally blocking the background.

The diagram shows how their was neon sign lighting my wife and daughter just over my shoulder.

Had we had more time and no one else in the room with us I might have tried a few other angles.

Nikon D4, ISO 12,800, ƒ/5, 1/100, 28 – 300mm [No Flash]

My tip is simple, first compose the background and then get the people as close to the camera as possible. This means they are most likely between three to five feet from the camera at the most.

Nikon P7000, ISO 128, ƒ/2.8, 1/250, -1 EV flash

Earlier we went to Disneyland. Here I just carried my Nikon P7000. I have a already programs my U1 [User Setting 1] where the flash is -1 EV. So in this last photo I used similar technique and got everyone close to the camera. I popped up the on camera flash and because we are so close to each other the subjects faces don’t have those nasty raccoon eyes due to the sun directly overhead.

So the only last tip is to use a flash outside to fill in those shadows. 

If Photographers had union like the musicians …

by Stanley LearyPhotography

I am in Los Angeles this week on our family vacation. We stopped by our family friend Pam Goldsmith’s for a visit.

I shared how photographers discuss the triangle to describe those working as pros. Many years ago, that triangle base was not as broad as it is today. The tip is still tiny, and many believe it to be smaller for those earning a living as full-time photographers.

Pam Goldsmith, the world-renowned violist, works with my daughter, giving tips to improve her playing.

Pam Goldsmith then shared how the Professional Musicians Local 47 has about 13,000 members, of which less than 1,000 are doing enough gigs to make a living full-time as a professional musicians.

She said she thinks this number is smaller than the 1,000 and smaller group than years ago.

If photographers had a union

I am not advocating forming a union for the primary purpose of knowing how many of us are working, but the union was created to help people get work in the music industry and for a fair wage.

If we had a union, we would have similar numbers, if not even more members than 13,000. But, even if we, too, helped with regulating rates, we still would have dismal numbers of those who have invested time and money to pursue this as a career.

My daughter, wife, and I visited with Richard Bugg, who works with Meyer Sound. Their sound systems are what was used in the Beijing Olympics and other major productions throughout the world.

Later in the day, we went to Richard Bugg’s home office studio, where my daughter was getting to see what it is like to do sound mixing. Richard had the Broadway musical Wicked tracks and let my daughter listen to the different orchestra parts and vocals and how they can be mixed.

We learned from Richard that to stay employed; he had to continue to be flexible, adapt to new situations, and apply his problem-solving skills to unique problems.

My takeaway from today

After visiting not just average professionals in the entertainment industry, but the top in their respective fields, each talked about getting jobs. They had to be the best they could be.

Pam talked to us about when playing in the orchestra; there is a different approach than when in the recording studio for a movie. It would be best if you were exact with the film because the editors have the scenes timed down to Milli-seconds. So she had to be 110% accurate with the beat.

Richard shared about equipment breaking and fixing equipment in pressure situations.

Richard also talked about how he and my wife’s brother Richard Zvonar determined that laptops have stage fright. They would have sound systems running with their notebooks, and everything worked great in rehearsal, and then they would crash during a performance.

This led them to help design systems that ran separately from the laptops.

Too often, Apple would upgrade an operating system that would crash their software. They would spend so much time trying to fix the problem that this is why the separate systems were designed to work design systems soundly. They don’t fail.

Again, I hope you see the importance of not just people; equipment must be perfect.

If we had unions, photographers would be even more aware of how many call themselves professional photographers and how few make it. The difference is in the nuances of details.

Photography Tax Tips

by Stanley LearyPhotography

Bookkeeping??? I want to shoot.

If you don’t like keeping track of your spending or budgeting and can never see yourself doing this, then read no further.

However, if you want to make money with your camera and do this as a profession, you have no choice but to keep track of all your expenses and income, or you can go to jail for tax problems. It is just that simple.

Even if you hire an accountant, you must keep records to give to them.

This blog post is for those who hate taxes and are interested in a simple way to do it.

The IRS needs to know where all your income is coming in from and what are all your expenses. By the way, you need documentation to back this up in receipts and record keeping.

Here is what I do for my record keeping for the IRS. 

These are some tips I have to offer for photographers to help with taxes.

First, a disclaimer: I am not an accountant or lawyer, so please check anything I say with a Certified Public Accountant.

I recommend using Quicken Home & Business. Here is a link. [UPDATE 9-2-22] I am using Quicken for Mac to keep track of expenses and FotoBiz for Invoicing. Link to blog on FotoBiz

Why do I use Quicken Home & Business?

When I got my first computer, it came with Quicken, and I just started using this back in the 1980s.

I liked a few basic features, which for the most part, are the same as the first version I ever used.

 

The template looks just like your check register. You have a box for  Payee, the amount, and, most importantly, the category.

Categories

Quicken helps you set up categories based on IRS Schedule C for your business. Out of the box, you can select the default and be pretty close to being done. I suggest paying a CPA to consult on the categories you need to use for your business.

Now there are a few cool things that Quicken can help automate your bookkeeping. One of the best things is that many credit card companies make it so Quicken can talk to them and download all your transactions. So the only thing you will need to do is to be sure you are assigning the correct category to each transaction. But after the first time with a vendor, it goes to your last category the next time it comes up.

Using multiple categories for a vendor will let you choose which one from a pull-down menu.

Receipts

You can attach a receipt to any transaction. Receipts are essential for bookkeeping.

You may also be wondering about what the IRS thinks about digital receipts. The short answer is that digital receipts are as acceptable as paper copies. According to Rev. Proc. 97-22, the IRS allows taxpayers to save electronic images of documents and destroy the original hard copy.

You are meeting the IRS requirements if you scan your receipts and attach them to the transaction.

 

You can see here a scan of a cash receipt. I put this in my Cash Transactions.

Vehicles

Quicken even comes with Vehicle Mileage tracking.

Tips for tracking your mileage.

You will need the odometer reading for the beginning and end of each year. So, on New Year’s Eve or Day, you must write down the odometer reading.

Think of tracking your mileage like you would do a checkbook transaction. It would help if you wrote where you went for business. You need the starting odometer reading and the end reading. You can track your tolls in the same place and your parking if you like. I choose to track all my receipts for tolls and parking in either my credit card or cash account.

The IRS will want your actual business, personal, and overall mileage for the tax year.

Also, keep track of actual vehicle expenses. You can deduct whichever you want–mileage or actual expenses.

TripLog is a fantastic and easy way to track your mileage if you have a smartphone. I recommend you check out TripLog for use with your Android Device or iPhone.

TipLog Highlights

  • The most popular GPS mileage tracking app with over 300,000 downloads
  • The only app that AUTO STARTS when connected to power or Bluetooth devices
  • The only mileage tracking app that reads a vehicle’s odometer from OBD-II devices
  • Sync and merge data to TripLog Web from multiple devices with Fleet Management
  • The most comprehensive reports compliant with IRS TAX returns

Since I am tracking all my personal and business expenses, I can easily see my actual costs for a vehicle in a given year. The note field is where you specify which car was at the shop. So you can use actual expenses or mileage for the IRS forms. The good thing is that TripLog and Quicken Home & Business help you decide the best to use in any given year.

Invoicing

I like the ability to use your logo and customize your invoices with Quicken.
 
To get paid, I must invoice clients for the work I did for them. I have set up a few categories of billables that I use for invoicing.

You can have, for example, an unlimited number of ways to charge for your services. Once created, it will automatically drop all the explanations you use to describe what you did for them.

If you have taxable items that you invoice for, then you can set up those categories to automatically tax at the rates for your area.

It is pretty common to have some billables that are taxable and others that are not. But, again, this reminds you why you need to talk to a CPA to get your setup.
 
Another cool thing with the software is you can put in the due date for invoices, and Quicken will help you avoid late paying. Knowing late payments is critical when you are short on cash due to slow payment.     

April 15th

🤝

If you have used Quicken Home & Business throughout the year to track all your expenses and income, then TurboTax Home & Business can import all this data. Then basically, you click through questions to verify that it is correct.

Filing my taxes has never been easier.

How Photography Helped Me: Part 2

by Stanley LearyPhotography

 

Don Rutledge, pictured here, is the person who helped me to see and understand body language in ways that Social Work didn’t teach me. [photo by Bill Bangham]


What I was learning with Photojournalism:

While a freshman in college, I got my first SLR camera and began shooting for the school paper and yearbook. I would take my work to my uncle, who was a professional photographer and who worked as a photojournalist, to review.

He taught me how to improve my images through my contact sheets. While I was somewhat learning about body language in Social Work, it was with my uncle and later with Don Rutledge that I would be schooled in the finer points of body language.

Instead of watching a movie of me during the day and analyzing my social awkwardness, I was learning by observing others with my camera.

While many think that those with Asperger’s Syndrome lack sensitivity to others and lack empathy, I believe just the opposite. While their outward social skills are lacking, they know many things people do not see.

I believe their desire to avoid social situations is because they often feel things about others and do not have the innate ability to process and articulate these feelings spontaneously. My experience is that I overthink, which can often cloud my social skills and make it challenging to respond in a moment. It is much easier to avoid situations than to embrace them and learn from them.

Knolan Benfield with an environmental portrait of the pastors of leading congregations in Hickory, North Carolina, in 1985.

Knolan Benfield

In 1985, my uncle, Knolan Benfield, was excited to show one of his series of photos of ministers. His excitement and telling me all he had to do to make these photos captured my attention. I had never been interested in what other people do like this before.

Knolan had combined photojournalism with portrait photography using lighting for the first time in his career. He took environmental photos of senior pastors in their church buildings. With each pastor, he worked hard to find those architectural settings that made each congregation different.

One of the things he was most excited about was the composition. He had learned from Don Rutledge how to pull the audience into a photo by creating layers. These layers pulled you from the front to the back of the photograph.

This is an example of where there are layers from front to back in a photograph helping to create more interest.

One of the things that are pretty different in Knolan’s portraits from his days as a photojournalist was the use of lights. He rarely used lights in his photos when shooting for magazines.

Knolan combined the existing light with the strobes to help create depth and interest. To do this in 1985, he would get the light settings using a handheld meter and then add a flash to be a little brighter than the rest of the scene, maybe 1/2 to an absolute stop difference.

Knolan repurchased a unique film for his Hasselblad system that would let him shoot a Polaroid to do a test shot. This was revolutionary for him and entirely new at the time.

It was early in my career, and I could not take all this and do it myself until some eight years later.

In the meantime, I would leave my first job at a newspaper, where I was perfecting my understanding of making a photograph and telling stories, to work with Don Rutledge and Joanna Pinneo.

While learning how to see social situations using my camera, it would take years of shooting before it started to sink into my personal life.

Sensory Perception

I was naive in my early jobs that when higher-up people asked me for my input, I spoke directly and with such candidness that it would hurt me.

Those with Asperger’s tend not to see the point of superficial social contact, niceties, or passing the time with others unless there is a transparent discussion point/debate or activity. Their allegiance is to truth, not people’s feelings.

While those with Asperger’s are not good at explaining why they did something that appeared to contradict the social codes, equally, typical people are not good at explaining the exceptions to the principles and reasoning for their social behavior.

Today there is a remarkable DVD, an encyclopedia of emotions, entitled Mind Reading: The Interactive Guide to Emotions. Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the University of Cambridge identified 412 human emotions (excluding synonyms). They examined the age at which children understand the meaning of each emotion and developed a taxonomy that assigned all the distinct emotions into one of 24 different groups. A multimedia company then developed interactive software designed for children and adults to learn what someone may think or feel.

On the DVD, actors (including Daniel Ratcliffe) demonstrate facial expressions, body language, and speech qualities associated with specific emotions.

In essence, the DVD does some of what I had to learn on my own through Social Work and Photography.

Problems with Non-Verbal Communication

According to the National Institute of Neurobiological Disorders and Stroke, adults with Asperger’s syndrome may have problems with non-verbal communication. They display awkward body gestures, inappropriate facial expressions, and an odd stiff gaze. They rarely look people in the eye and do not show any form of joy, such as smiling, winking, or hugging.

This may sound harsh, but your odd behavior may look a little more normal when you have a camera around your neck. Maybe the way you appear is that you are looking for a photograph. This may be true, but it allows me to study the situation harshly.

When I was young, I ran around almost all the time in an army uniform, playing to be G. I. Joe. My other attachment was to this tractor, which I rode everywhere for a few years.

Intense Specialized Interests

According to the Better Health Channel, adults with Asperger’s syndrome tend to have intense, time-consuming, specialized interests. These individuals usually become experts in one or two areas and excel in their chosen careers because they choose jobs that best fit their interests. They are often referred to as eccentric, which sometimes causes social isolation. An example of an intense specialized interest would be someone who spends extended time studying science and statistics but has little interest in anything else.

I am interested in photography and explicitly use photojournalism to help causes. I read a great deal and studied nuances to help me be a better storyteller.

Many people are surprised as to how much I get done. Asperger’s has helped me stay on task to do tedious business and marketing tasks. It has enabled me to problem-solve computer issues related to my photography.

People with Asperger’s syndrome are often perfectionists, are exceptionally good at noticing mistakes, and have a conspicuous fear of failure. I have been able to channel this to help me perfect my photography, and the fear of failure has kept me busy with marketing. These are some examples of how Asperger’s has helped me with my photography business.

The Portfolio

The funny thing that is important in photography more than in other professions is the portfolio. Your work must be at a certain level before you get an interview. This works to the advantage of a person with Asperger’s. Generally, we do not do well in job interviews where you need to sell your abilities to an employer. My work is the first foot in the door, which my personality alone might not make it through.

Resource

Because I am wired, I am very good at picking up anything to do with the computer and photography. Also, because of the way I had to teach myself to understand things, I have discovered I make a good teacher. This is because I have had to break things down into parts and then put them back together to construct the whole.

Today I spend a great deal of time problem solving the teaching of technical concepts. I have also discovered over time there are so many ways to approach a problem because I often come things different than others do, and because of this, I know there needs to be more tolerant of others.

I remember crying as a young boy because the model motorcycle I was trying to put together was missing a few steps in the instructions. My mother made me wait to ask my dad if he could help. What happened was no one could figure it out. I spent hours until I found a way to solve the problem.

This emotional feeling of not being able to figure something out and no one could help me was depressing. I keep this in mind when I teach today. I encourage students and let them know I believe in them. I give them space and will come alongside them so we can process the problem together.

I realize that if they can figure it out with someone encouraging them, they will feel better about solving it than if someone just gave them the answer. I know that because I was proud of that motorcycle when I finished it.

Where I am today on this journey

I love to take on a problem that hasn’t been done before. One of my favorite jobs was photographing research projects of engineers and scientists. In those situations, you usually photograph a one-of-a-kind that hasn’t been photographed before. You have to figure it out. It is not a cookie-cutter solution.

Adults with Asperger’s syndrome can be renowned for being honest, having a strong sense of social justice, and keeping to the rules. This has been what keeps me focused on storytelling on social justice issues.

Asperger’s Syndrome people can acquire The Ability of the Mind abilities using intelligence and experience rather than intuition, which can eventually lead to an alternative form of self-consciousness as they reflect on their mental state and the mental state of others. This is a highly reflective and explicit self-consciousness similar to that of philosophers.

I have learned to use this awareness to help me be a storyteller of other people’s stories.