How to become a qualified photographer

While I was making a living as a photographer's assistant, I knew how hard it was to be a professional photographer. At times, this transition seemed impossible, but after years of struggle, I made it. During that time I often felt like I was just working blindly, except for the occasional guidance from peers. Because everyone has different goals and works in different ways, some of the advice is valuable and some of it is useless. What I'm proposing is just a status quo - for my current job (as I often make mistakes). But what follows may help you avoid making the same mistakes again.

For some, the transition from a diligent, satisfying photo assistant to a photographer is a source of frustration, depression, and depression. Because there are many difficulties that need to be overcome and many problems that need to be solved. If I jump into action and spend tens of thousands of dollars on new instruments and studios, will clients magically appear? If I opened a fashionable but vain exhibition, would I be able to successfully become a photographer? What’s more, opening an exhibition is impossible for me. Because I have no money to "spend" (not just the assistant's salary of 150 US dollars per day), I don't have a bank account, and I am not as well-off as some photographers I know. I started photography with nothing.

There are indeed two easier things that I need to do. The first is: when finances allow and other conditions are ripe, I should try to shoot personal works. At this time other people were still preparing for the future and wanted to get some of my published work in the process, while I was already earning a low salary for my interest in photography.

Another thing I should do is look for photographers that I admire and in related fields. I worked hard to be a good assistant, and I started to gain their trust and be treated well. Through their advice and generous opportunities to work, I began (albeit slowly) to gain clients of my own. When I hear about young people around the age of 22 who have successfully transitioned from assistants to fashion photographers or creative directors, it doesn't drive me crazy. I'm still an assistant making $150 a day. But I have been taking pictures, and sometimes some of the pictures I take are quite good, and they are bought by others. Eventually, after several years of constantly photographing and assisting others, I ended my career as an assistant.

So, for those who are struggling, I offer the following suggestions:

As a photography assistant, you need to pay attention to a lot of things. When I first started working, I worked with anyone who could get me experience and make money. -- This is a bad start. If you can reduce your work load and work with some photographers in the field that interests you, you will benefit a lot to avoid going astray and wasting unnecessary time and energy. Otherwise you will keep making errors that will interfere with your work. If you have to work 10 hours a day and you don't get enough pay, then you should learn to stay happy and try to acquire some knowledge. If you don't know what you are interested in, you are bound to make some small mistakes. If possible, don't work for some sleazy guy. Unless he is an amazing photographer and you can learn a lot from him, it's definitely not worth it.

As I mentioned before, I have been shooting with the help of some young, unknown, but very talented people (makeup artists, designers, assistants and others) My personal pieces and collecting them together. In New York, I began to realize that in this city, like other cities, there were potential customers for new magazines, newly opened companies, etc. They are often willing to work with unknown photographers for little or no salary, however. The benefit is that your work can be published and your creative abilities can be developed. Furthermore, it is possible to continue working with them as their business expands. For new clients, a well-known photographer is very important. Beautiful photos are not enough, clients also want to see your ability and responsibility in handling matters. Sufficient market experience can be gained by working with clients with smaller budgets. The Vogue shoot was just a job for people like Steven Meisel and you were just a clown.

Opportunity is critical. If you regularly participate in various activities, you have a better chance of getting a job; or you can cooperate with an excellent photographer. For example, for a period of time I assisted an editor who submitted stills from a film I had shot due to his work requirements. Photographers are generally reluctant to show off their work because film companies don't have the budget to give them. However, if the movie is popular, the photos will be published in magazines (Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, etc.). I also have countless negotiations with the people who hire me. Of course the film company had to pay for all the expenses, including film, food, and everything I needed.

After "Amy the Sculptor", there were many similar jobs, even if sometimes the benefits created by a job are not very obvious.

I have not been involved in assisting for three years. Currently I have 12-15 clients, and many, many clients who have only made one transaction. 80% of my revenue comes from a small subset of all my clients. Some clients ask me to do work that interests me, and some work just drives me crazy. Throughout my time away, I managed to complete my own personal work, as well as some media-related images of well-known people and that I had discussed earlier.

It seems impossible to make the leap from assistant to photographer, but it’s not. It’s just like I want to be a photographer, and I also want to make a lot of money, without having to use other people’s equipment to make a living. I'm facing some other problems now. I am trying to make the next leap forward, the premise is: instead of what the client asks you to do, you try to create the image you want to create. My goal is to find clients who will hire me because they appreciate my work, not because I can take the same photo that 10 other guys can take. One of the problems with ordinary photography is that it's easy to lose sight of your goals because you're so busy. Too many photographers are trying to make a living without caring about the reason they got into photography in the first place (creating perfect, irresistible images).

When you already have regular customers, then you hope that the business you are engaged in will snowball and your name will continue to spread among customers. Your works can be seen everywhere in the city, and you take them to new clients for reference because they need this type of work. Customers already know or have heard of your name, and you already have a certain reputation. The downside to the snowball effect is that you keep doing the same type of work. It doesn't matter, but you must remember: continue to shoot what you love and continue to improve.

In addition to taking great photos, if you want to get a job, you have to make your presence known. Without visibility you are like a lone tree in the forest. You may be the best photographer in the world, but if no one knows you exist, then you have to "wrap up and walk away." So how do you handle this situation? As far as I am concerned, I let people know and know me through self-promotion and mailing cards, etc. I work for many people, such as magazines, book publishers, art directors and icon designers, etc. I provide them with my best work, which actually doesn’t bring me much financial benefit. There are many good business card printers out there that can produce 4x6 color business cards with images in the size and image you want. Just add your name and phone number and that's it.

The other option is to design your own business cards on the computer and print them using Epson drawings on a 4-color or 6-color Epson printer. It will look much better if you print the image smaller. If you use Photoshop, there are no big restrictions on this type of design. The advantage of using computers is that you can use different methods for different customers. If you want to make 500 cards for a company, you can do some appropriate promotion for this, not all potential customers, some you can ignore. I don't know about you, but when I started, I knew 500 people wasn't 500 customers. If you design some new images through the computer, you can do some promotion and give it to those customers who appreciate you the most.

It is necessary to make a phone call within 5 or 6 days after mailing the work, so that you can confirm whether the customer has received it and create a direct communication with the customer. opportunities, and you can also introduce your work to clients. In New York, direct communication is difficult. Typically you will have to give away your work, and you should keep a record of the following items: you contacted the client, when you contacted them, what you gave them, etc. Photographers who have been looking for clients for a long time (sometimes a year) quickly go for it as soon as they get some employment information. If he didn't get an answer right away, he would disappear.

Now let me tell you about an experience I have had successfully: It was a large broadcasting company. After sniffing out who would be a good candidate to contact, I sent my promotional card and then made a phone call. Of course, they didn't call back. However, I left a recording of the phone call. Finally someone called me and when I asked them if they wanted pictures the answer was "Yes!" and they were happy with my pictures. I used to keep pictures that they needed, which helped me get a job. Before I was hired, I didn't ask for a job right away. I did some publicity. During this time, I only called them occasionally, which gave them room to "breathe". This is a good start for the future. I got several clients through phone calls and publicity. Of course this won't work all the time, it takes time.

Don’t give up, when things get a little easier, success won’t be too far away.

UP's answer time is 2007-12-16 19:06

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Satisfactory answer

First of all, you must cultivate yourself To develop aesthetic concepts, you must have a keen eye and unique insights. You must look at things in two, and associate them from a point, or even a grain of dust, to a garden and a square of soil.

Secondly, you must understand the elements of composition. , such as diagonal segmentation composition, golden section composition, plane contrast composition, etc...

After having these theoretical knowledge, you must also be familiar with the structure of different models and varieties of cameras and the functions of each component purpose, and you must have a heart to take care of your camera; because the lens is as impervious to wind and sand as your eyes;

The next step is to understand the principles of object imaging in optics.

Be good at making bold discoveries, focusing carefully, and pressing the shutter calmly, and you will get an unexpectedly good photo.