Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Career Connundrums

For some time now, I've felt like I'm at a crossroads or an impasse or some turning point in my photography career. With more and more intensity, I feel the need to venture forth and boldly go, photographically, where I haven't gone before. I'm not referring to the artistic or stylistic aspects of my work, whatever they might be, it's more about the career itself. Make that, it's more about money. I suppose I'm getting materialistic in my old age. And to get more of what I want, I think I'm going to have to move into a whole different area of photography.

It's true I make my living photographing pretty girls in varying stages of dress and undress. Sometimes I feel like I make a fairly decent living doing this. Other times I feel like my career is in the toilet. It's been real up and down that way. And lately, it's been more down than up. It probably has more than a little to do with me: I simply don't go out of my way to hustle the work like I once did. Lazy? Maybe. Bored? Certainly to some degree.

I know there's a lot of shooters who would love to be making their livings doing what I'm doing. After all, when I get up to go to work it means heading off to some location where someone's going to pay me to photograph a sexy young lady in her birthday suit. I'm not complaining about that. I love having sexy young ladies strutting their stuff for me in their birthday suits. I just feel I've gone about as far as I'm likely to go in the business of shooting sexy, naked, pretty girls.

So what to do? Where should I focus? What genre of photography should I pursue?

I've thought a lot about this and, recently, I've tried my hand at a few different things. For instance, I've shot some family and event photography. But I'm not really sold on the financial future of doing so. These days, it seems like everyone has a friend or a relative with a digital SLR who is willing to shoot their wedding or children for little or no pay. I've written before about the bar being lowered--the quality bar--and nothing, in my mind, has changed regarding my opinion that fewer and fewer consumers these days seem able to recognize the difference between good photography and mediocre snapshots, albeit properly exposed and focused mediocre snapshots. (Mostly due to advances in camera technologies, thank you very much.) Or maybe they can see the difference and they just don't care as long as the price is right? (Right being cheap or free.)

Fashion is one area I'd love to pursue but breaking into that industry seems almost insurmountable for a guy my age. (Anyone who doesn't believe ageism is alive and well, especially in a youth-driven market like fashion, is probably someone who would vote for George Bush--assuming George could run for President again--because they believe he and his cronies are doing a first class job leading this country into the 21st Century.)

I'm fairly sure I'm also too old to become a photo-journalist. The entry-level positions in that industry are hotly pursued by a new batch of recent college grads every year. Besides, I have very little personal interest in photo-journalism as a career for myself.

Two areas of photography I'd like to pursue are editorial and commercial. (Both of which I have some experience with and a fair amount of interest in doing.)

Commercial photography seems the easier of the two to break into. The kind of commercial photography I think I'm going to go after is corporate work. I've done a fair amount of corporate media work over the years and I know something about how that game is played. And it still seems to be an area of photography where excellence is valued. A fair amount of corporate work is portrait photography (both environmental and traditional) and I think I have a good eye for that kind of stuff. My lighting skills will be a great asset there as well.

Editorial is another matter and it presents far greater challenges in terms of scoring gigs. But frankly, if I can get a few photo editors to look at my work--and they like it--I think I could realistically take a shot at it.

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking a lot about these days. It doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to quit what I'm doing. I ain't stupid and I still got some mouths that count on me for feed, my own included. I think it's going to be a transitory process where I continue shooting pretty girls while, at the same time, I actively pursue both my editorial and corporate photography goals. Hopefully, the latter two will slowly become the mainstay of my income and the former will continue to fill in the gaps, if that makes sense. In a nutshell, I'm looking at options and searching for opportunities and I'll go wherever the yellow brick road takes me and the almighty buck beckons me.

The pretty girl at the top is Lorena from a shoot last fall. She had some clothes on when we started shooting but all of sudden... BAM! She was nekkid! Go figure. (If I was paying more attention, I would have had her take that thing off her wrist. 20/20 hindsight and all that.)

6 comments:

joshua said...

I found it interesting that we posted on the same day about the same subject. That is finding or 'finding a different' career in photography. It's a subject appearing in many photography blogs these days. Maybe we could all switch to each others job and it will all work out? ;)

I think the 'thing' on her wrist kicks ass. It gives the image a S&M twist of some kind. Not saying that I'm personally into *points!* HEY LOOK A PUPPY!!

-joshua

Lin said...

Good luck in your career change Jimmy!

Corporate does indeed appear to be more lucrative, in the UK as well. There are always opportunities (and decent money) for portrait-style corporate work, particularly relevant to advertising the companies in their trade magazines and so forth.

Another idea we've been rather taken with was on Ed Verosky's blog recently. http://www.veroskyphoto.com/myblog/?p=122

Ed linked to an article about silly amounts of money being made photographing posh homes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/garden/21portrait.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ref=style&oref=slogin

That idea would probably work around here, but I don't know about your area?

Anonymous said...

Yikes, corporate work. Sounds horrible.

So how old are you anyway?

If it makes you feel any better, I work as an Art Director in advertising and at age 35, I'm starting to be dumped in the Over-the-hill bin. I should add that I work with some 'old' photographers who still are fucking great and earn lots of cash.

Although these days in advertising the retouching budget is more than the actual photography shoot and I find myself often when looking at photographer's porties, asking who the retoucher was. I hate Photoshop.

Anyway, nice pics

Ryan

Anonymous said...

I think editorial is da bomb, but I've always heard it doesn't pay well -- it's more about the relative freedom and prestige given by magazines for these spreads. I do some editorial work regionally, and I enjoy it.

People like Seth Godin will tell you that niche is where it's golden. How to translate that into a photo career is the trick.

But, many people will tell you that child portraiture is lucrative. I believe that is true. Not everyone's cup of tea, and not everyone can do it well.

So many options. And yes, a huge part of the market doesn't know or doesn't care about quality professional photography. But the market doesn't have to be huge for you to make a decent living. You just have to have a little sliver to yourself. Then grow it from there.

Anonymous said...

I recently went to New York to knock on doors of magazines...at one place, I showed my book - most of it are to corporate or advertising clients and at the end, the photo editor asks me why I'm even looking into editorial !


And yes, she is right to an extent - there's not really money in editorial....I've known this for years. Flaunt and Interview have no budget for photographers ? Bullshit ! Sometimes I laugh at the amount I'm offer....I can make more being a photo assistant !!!!

by the way, I feel you....I feel trap in this new digital world and I'm not sure I like it here anymore. I started in film and now with the onslaught of digital, the middle ground of photography is quickly quicksand-ing into the lower end....I don't like where I am and I'm not sure where I can go.

I have a few clients but still have to do other work to help pay bills....

it's a new world out there.....*sigh*

eric

Keith Alan K said...

Your reasoning is sound. The skills you have will translate well into those markets, and the workload will be about the same, just faster. You can squeeze a quick corporate job into your day nicely, especially since the subjects keep tight schedules compared to the flakes you already know about.
Good Luck!