Hello /p/!
I have been browsing and posting here for a couple of years and have to credit this board for helping me land my first real photography gig. I'm now working for a large company as their commercial photographer, building their studio and photographing all kinds of products for e-commerce.
Here are some things I think will help others looking to get full time gigs.
1. GO TO SCHOOL. I didn't neck still get finish my degree when I got hired but I did get into a good photography program at a local college that taught me the fundimentals of studio shooting.
2. If you want to break into commercial work, start photographing all sorts of mundane items and make them look great. Measuring cups, dishes, thumbtacks, furniture etc.
3. Buy a speedlight you can shoot off-camera and some white foam board. It's easy to setup great shots with less than $30 in supplies when you don't have a full studio (excluding the speedlight)
4. DO NOT WORK FOR AMAZON. Even if you think "oh this will let me gain experience" it won't and its slave labor.
5. Make your web portfolio specific to the job you want. If you want to shoot products, don't mix landscape and portraits in with everything else.
1/2
>>2785343
2/2
6. HAVE SPECIFIC GOALS. Don't think "I can shoot anything! Hire me for all of it!" While you will have to branch out, you want to hone a specific and valuable skill so capitalize on being a macro shooter or a portrait shooter or a corporate shooter, etc.
7. You may have to travel for working interviews and yes, it will be on your own dime. This is the toughest part. As an unemployed photographer money is tight so try your best to negotiate travel costs or make sure the company pays you for the working interview.
8. A LOT of the in-studio e-commerce jobs are located in undesirable places like Shepardsville Kentucky. Be prepared for that.
9. Use Thumbtack os something similar to take small jobs for local clients. People who want to sell stuff on eBay, auction companies and small business all need product photos and so search for photographers.
10. If your work independently on sites like above, keep your fees low like $50 per retouched photo. My experience has been that people usually want completely finished photos in groups of 4 or 5. That's decent money starting out for small jobs.
11. Don't have a backup plan. You do what you do because you love it. Keep moving forward and don't pretend you want to fall back on some other plan because you're not immediately successful.
12. LISTEN TO /p/. The board is honest and rude but rarely wrong about shitty work. It might hurt your feelings bit take all criticism and analyze how you can improve. Product photography is more science than art and your job is to present a product in a clear attractive way that appeals to a large number of people. Less is often more.
Hope these tips help and thanks again, /p/!
why would anyone want to be a commercial photographer ?
>>2785359
This.
Here on /p/ we're all locally successful fine art photographers.
I sold a framed 24x36 of this image for $300 at our Sunday markets last week.
[EXIF data available. Click here to show/hide.]
Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make Canon Camera Model Canon EOS 550D Camera Software Digital Photo Professional Image-Specific Properties: Image Orientation Top, Left-Hand Horizontal Resolution 300 dpi Vertical Resolution 300 dpi Image Created 2013:11:04 15:20:06 Exposure Time 1/160 sec F-Number f/6.3 ISO Speed Rating 400 Lens Aperture f/6.4 Exposure Bias 0 EV Flash No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length 30.00 mm Color Space Information sRGB Image Width 1200 Image Height 800 Rendering Normal Exposure Mode Manual White Balance Auto Scene Capture Type Standard
>>2785482
Beutiful
>>2785482
>>2785482
Hope her mom's check didn't bounce.
>>2785343
>Make your web portfolio specific to the job you want. If you want to shoot products, don't mix landscape and portraits in with everything else.
This is something that I find myself having to tell people all the time, and is a mistake I made myself back in the day too. A portfolio that's too varied is the mark of an amateur.
>>2785359
It's steady work that pays decently. Commercial photography, especially product photography, is one of the only fields left where you can make an actual living with a camera, and will be able to keep doing it for the foreseeable future. Camera tech can't replace the staging, lighting, and editing skills of a commercial pro.
Another benefit is that commercial work is something that pretty much anybody who isn't an idiot and is willing to build the skills can do. To be successful in a lot of other fields these days, you have to be really creative, bursting at the seams with cool ideas and artistic vision, be great at working with models, etc, because tech has taken much of the technical skill out of the equation. With commercial work, it's all about technical skill.
>>2785667
>A portfolio that's too varied is the mark of an amateur.
Or an artist.
>not understanding the difference between art and business
>>2785715
99.9999% of "art" photographers ARE amateurs.
Most of the serious, successful ones actually have very defined styles and subject matter, and their portfolios are just as focused as commercial photogs.
But that aside, this thread is CLEARLY about photography as a business, not art, so art photographers are irrelevant here.
>>2785749
yeah thats bullshit
most of the greats have many different subject matters, even if they have an overarching theme to their work
dont believe me? start naming.
>>2785805
Are you talking about art greats, or commercial ones?
I honestly don't follow art photography enough to come up with a list of names.
For commercial photogs, though, the point holds up. This thread is about making it as a commercial photographer, not about being an artist, so that's what I'll focus on.
First of all, I think you're confusing "subject" with "genre." You hold to the latter, not the former. Joe McNally's portfolio has tons of subjects, but they're all within the genre of feature photojournalism. Annie Leibovitz's portfolio is full of gritty portraits of famous people. I was looking at the portfolio of a successful large-format commercial photog recently, and there were all kinds of subjects, but all of it was high-detail and involved elaborate lighting setups.
The point isn't pigeonholing yourself or only having one subject, it's demonstrating to a client that the kind of photography they want is what you specialize in.
>>2785817
cool story my dude
commercial, lol
Personally I want to get into show/concert photoraphy.
For at least a year I've been running around Orange County doing it on an amateur level but I want to be legitimate with it now. I've made friends in bands and other photographers along the way so at least my name has been circulated in the scene Im in
Also have gotten certain publishers and venues to follow my instagram (Which is mainly just all pictures of shows) But i'm unsure where to go from here
>>2785856
Sometimes I really wonder why I even bother on here.
Oh well, have fun with your galley opening or whatever.
>>2785891
Because you're a narcissist?
>>2785859
What's the best way to get into show/concert photography? I used to know a few people in bands, and even outside of them there's a lot of music I'd like to shoot, but I have no idea how to do this.
>>2787429
Show up and shoot.
Talk to people about showing up and shooting
etc.
Just networking man.
