Where the magic is.
One of the things I see too much of is “like them” shooters cloning or borrowing heavily from other photographers in order to create a faux style of their own.
What may even be worse is the group of photographers who are presenting totally unoriginal and middle of the road work expecting to be noticed.
They won’t be.
Not anymore.
The bar has shifted higher and then shifted up again.
Where once a photographer with an F3 and a view camera would be considered a professional, you now have a client who may have better and more extensive gear than you do… and the deciding factor is no longer “pro equipment”.
It is vision, presentation, style, and that ethereal quality – uniqueness.
Now that is not to say that good old middle of the road, pedantic imagery will not make you money – it will. From catalogs to consumer advertising, just good enough photography is being shot every day.
Right now, even.
Someone is shooting something that anyone could have shot for a lot of money… for reasons other than the photography itself.
Loyalty, process, comfort, personal relationships, contracts… so many other factors are factored in for getting gigs.
Alas, we also have a lot of clients who want their work to look just like everyone else’s stuff. We see them all the time.
Pick up any local or regional magazine and look at the work in there.
How many images can you count that are unique, or that you instantly recognize as being something from a specific photographer?
And how many images can you count that you couldn’t do?
Or someone you know couldn’t have done.
Wanna know one reason fees have been going down?
Because the availability of ‘good enough’ photographers has increased exponentially.
And we have a lot of clients for whom ‘good enough’ may actually be overkill.
Google “Flatware Advertising” then hit the “images” button.
Prepare to have your breath taken away by the incredibly bad photographs on the page… and scrolling won’t make it better.
So if you want to be seen in the arena of still life, I would NOT recommend the peer work you see in front of you to be your jumping off point.
What difference would you make in this niche?
Oh yeah, you could be a couple of nickels cheaper.
That is not really a great business plan.
As you scroll, you will undoubtedly notice an image or three that jump off the page because they are interesting, bold, different, and technically excellent.
This is not from the middle… this is from the edge. Those places where the envelope was pushed, the box broken, the expected and comfortable destroyed.
This is what you want your work to do.
Your portfolio should be a compendium of excellence and surprise. Of vision and uniqueness.
Something they haven’t seen a bazillion times, or could get from someone else.
Cheaper.
Here are a few photographers that are delivering work that is far more unique than is expected, far more surprising than the middle of the road stuff we usually see.
Jake Stangel
www.jakestangel.com
Jake takes us into the imagery, and seems to introduce us to the people and the events we are witnessing with freshness and a fun attitude that is both technically astute, and visually accessible.
Peter Lippman
https://peterlippmann.com
Textures and colors mixed with unique and interesting POV’s and lighting makes his still life work stand out in a crowded field.
Finn Beales
http://www.madebyfinn.com/
A storyteller with a camera, Beale’s work brings us to the environments he is shooting and we feel the wind, water, heat, and elements that are so perfectly captured by his camera.
Look, it isn’t about your gear.
It isn’t about your ‘experience’.
It isn’t even really about any single image in your portfolio.
It’s about your body of work… the overall visual excitement and passion that is presented to the viewer.
Does it cut through?
Does it make a difference?
Are you another ‘me too’ photographer or do you have something unique to bring to the shoot?
This is how you stay visible to clients who are looking for something they can understand has value.
And you may be hired to do some miserably boring shit that looks like someone traced it off a composite of bad shit… but when you finish, do something extraordinary with the shoot.
Spend a few more hours shooting it YOUR way. Spend a day or two if you have to.
Fight for the right to make your best work. Stand up for your desire to deliver even more than they expect. Assert your passion to make something that will blow them away.
Make the mundane into something inspiring.
Push yourself – then push your client.
Who knows, maybe they will be inspired to do something awesome instead of something safe.
And either way, you will have something pretty cool for your book the next time someone is looking for what you bring to the table.