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Developing a Career in Photography
by Jennifer Mulrean
Inspired. Prolific. A master of color and composition. These are just a few of the labels associated with wildlife photographer Art Wolfe. You can add hard-working to that list.
Though he's already published more than 50 books, a dozen calendars and a number of videos, Wolfe still spends a good six months out of the year on the road tracking animals and photographing scenes most of us only dream of (or, well, experience through his photos). He also works out of that place so many aspire to: a true love for his work. So you can add lucky to that list of labels, too.
"It's like Christmas every time I get a roll of film back," says Wolfe. "It's addictive--that creative process translated onto an image that if it's successful will be seen by people around the world."
Wolfe didn't have many role models when he started down his career path back in the late 1970s. He says it was a good couple of years before he even realized there were other people specializing in nature photography. But he seems to have found his way just fine. Within three years of graduating from the University of Washington in 1977, he worked for Audubon and National Geographic magazines and published his first book. Over the course of his career he's been awarded with honors including the Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award, and was named Photographer of the Year by Photo Media magazine.
Wolfe's talent is well established, but he also attributes his success to his intensity and knowledge of his subject.
"I'm very focused on what I want to do and in tackling any project," he says. "And I was always able to find animals--that's aided me really well--and I know one bird from another."
Still, he says it hasn't been a straight shot to the top.
"I haven't had a meteoric rise to fame and fortune--and there still is no fortune," Wolfe laughs. "It's been a continuous uphill gradient--it wasn't sensational but it was solid."
Offer: Programs in Photography
•The Art Institutes•American InterContinental University - London•Brooks Institute of Photography
How to get started
If you're an aspiring shutterbug, Wolfe's kind of success probably sounds pretty darn good. So how do you get started?
Well, before you dash off to art school, you should know that while solid camera skills are a must, where you build those skills is less important.
"Truthfully, you see varying degrees of talent coming out of all those [art schools]," says Ann Monteith, president-elect of the Professional Photographers of America. "There are good schools that produce mediocre photographers and there are mediocre schools that produce good photographers."
You can also build your photography skills through workshops and seminars given by professional organizations, such as the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), the National Press Photographers Association, or local community resources. But, Wolfe cautions, "Don't feel you've just got to take every photography class out there." More important is to simply start shooting--the good old learning-from-doing approach.
Photography competitions can be a good way to get critical feedback on your work as you progress. Monteith says they provided the best feedback she ever got when she was starting out. They can help you get an idea of how you measure up against other photographers.
B-school or P-school?
If you want to work for yourself, you'll need to have business chops, too. Having a good eye is not enough to pay the bills.
"That's really the biggest mistake most people make--thinking they just need the technical skills," says Monteith, who has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years and teaches extensively on how to run a photography business. "It is not nearly important as a background in business."
Tim McGuire, photographer and owner of Seattle-based Tim McGuire Images, agrees. "I'd tell [prospective photographers] to go to business school and then go work for a professional photographer."
McGuire studied photography as an undergrad, but says he really learned the business after college, when he marketed himself as a freelance photographer's assistant. Over the course of five years, he worked for more than 100 photographers.
"A lot of people will work for one person [as an assistant], but I wanted to learn from everybody," he says. "I learned a lot about running my own business because I had to promote myself. I had to keep my own books and do my own taxes."
Now McGuire shoots stock photography for some of the biggest agencies in the world. He credits another photographer, the late Jim Cummins, with showing him around the stock photography industry. "That was one of the best things that happened to my career," McGuire says. Cummins also introduced McGuire to digital photography--something that's increasingly changing the way many photographers do business.
Offer:
Digital distortion
Probably the biggest misconceptions about digital photography are that it's easier and cheaper than film-based photography.
"It's easier to get your foot in the door (with digital photography) but it's harder to make a living at it," Monteith says.
Costs are incurred in a couple of ways: First, it's simply expensive to keep up with a technology that's constantly changing. And second, many photographers who used to send their film to processing labs are now spending their own time and energy processing their photos.
"The trouble is, you have less time to get more clients and take photographs if you're bogged down in production," Monteith notes.
And the "digital workflow"--processing images from the time they're captured by the camera to transferring them to a computer for organization, storage, and editing to the final output--has its own learning curve. It was one of the top concerns of new photographers recently surveyed by the PPA. But McGuire thinks you can actually shoot more photographs with digital than with film, provided you've worked out an efficient workflow.
One career, so many career tracks
Photography is everywhere, and subsequently, the career choices can feel limitless. You can make a living shooting stock photography or high fashion, covering weddings and little league games or news stories. And, yes, you can pursue a career as a wildlife photographer, though Wolfe notes the field has become increasingly competitive since he started. (He doesn't want to discourage anyone, though: "If their heart is set on it, they'll make it happen," he says.)
The big advantage of stock photography, where you sell your work through agencies that take a cut of your profits, is that you're harnessing the often-huge marketing power of these agencies. A photo you took in Smalltown USA can show up in marketing materials half a world away. "My pictures are working for me night and day," McGuire says.
The big growth area right now, according to Monteith, is event photography. "There's a lot of money to be made photographing someone's dance recital or little league game," she says. Studio photography is another big source of work--it's where the majority of photography is bought and sold, according to Monteith. "There's really no limit to the amount of people who can get into that," she says.
Have a plan and a portfolio
Whichever track you decide on, do the prep work and have a clear plan of action. McGuire found it helpful to write a business plan where he calculated exactly how many shoots it would take per year to stay in business and bring in an amount of revenue he was happy with.
Early on, you'll also need to create a portfolio that demonstrates your skills to prospective clients or employers. Depending on the type of photography work you're trying to scare up, Monteith says samples of your work can include brochures or Web sites, but there needs to be some way people can evaluate your work. McGuire created a few copies of his portfolio so that he can have them in circulation to several people simultaneously. He also has a Web site but says his physical portfolios are still what sell his work.
While you're getting on your feet, Monteith recommends having a part-time job that can pay the bills while you build your knowledge and experience. Figure on three to five years, she says, before your photography business will bring in enough money that you can devote yourself to it full-time.
"What I hate to see is someone who quits their job and says, 'Now I'm a photographer,'" Monteith says.
Developing a Career in Photography
by Jennifer Mulrean
Inspired. Prolific. A master of color and composition. These are just a few of the labels associated with wildlife photographer Art Wolfe. You can add hard-working to that list.
Though he's already published more than 50 books, a dozen calendars and a number of videos, Wolfe still spends a good six months out of the year on the road tracking animals and photographing scenes most of us only dream of (or, well, experience through his photos). He also works out of that place so many aspire to: a true love for his work. So you can add lucky to that list of labels, too.
"It's like Christmas every time I get a roll of film back," says Wolfe. "It's addictive--that creative process translated onto an image that if it's successful will be seen by people around the world."
Wolfe didn't have many role models when he started down his career path back in the late 1970s. He says it was a good couple of years before he even realized there were other people specializing in nature photography. But he seems to have found his way just fine. Within three years of graduating from the University of Washington in 1977, he worked for Audubon and National Geographic magazines and published his first book. Over the course of his career he's been awarded with honors including the Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award, and was named Photographer of the Year by Photo Media magazine.
Wolfe's talent is well established, but he also attributes his success to his intensity and knowledge of his subject.
"I'm very focused on what I want to do and in tackling any project," he says. "And I was always able to find animals--that's aided me really well--and I know one bird from another."
Still, he says it hasn't been a straight shot to the top.
"I haven't had a meteoric rise to fame and fortune--and there still is no fortune," Wolfe laughs. "It's been a continuous uphill gradient--it wasn't sensational but it was solid."
Offer: Programs in Photography
•The Art Institutes•American InterContinental University - London•Brooks Institute of Photography
How to get started
If you're an aspiring shutterbug, Wolfe's kind of success probably sounds pretty darn good. So how do you get started?
Well, before you dash off to art school, you should know that while solid camera skills are a must, where you build those skills is less important.
"Truthfully, you see varying degrees of talent coming out of all those [art schools]," says Ann Monteith, president-elect of the Professional Photographers of America. "There are good schools that produce mediocre photographers and there are mediocre schools that produce good photographers."
You can also build your photography skills through workshops and seminars given by professional organizations, such as the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), the National Press Photographers Association, or local community resources. But, Wolfe cautions, "Don't feel you've just got to take every photography class out there." More important is to simply start shooting--the good old learning-from-doing approach.
Photography competitions can be a good way to get critical feedback on your work as you progress. Monteith says they provided the best feedback she ever got when she was starting out. They can help you get an idea of how you measure up against other photographers.
B-school or P-school?
If you want to work for yourself, you'll need to have business chops, too. Having a good eye is not enough to pay the bills.
"That's really the biggest mistake most people make--thinking they just need the technical skills," says Monteith, who has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years and teaches extensively on how to run a photography business. "It is not nearly important as a background in business."
Tim McGuire, photographer and owner of Seattle-based Tim McGuire Images, agrees. "I'd tell [prospective photographers] to go to business school and then go work for a professional photographer."
McGuire studied photography as an undergrad, but says he really learned the business after college, when he marketed himself as a freelance photographer's assistant. Over the course of five years, he worked for more than 100 photographers.
"A lot of people will work for one person [as an assistant], but I wanted to learn from everybody," he says. "I learned a lot about running my own business because I had to promote myself. I had to keep my own books and do my own taxes."
Now McGuire shoots stock photography for some of the biggest agencies in the world. He credits another photographer, the late Jim Cummins, with showing him around the stock photography industry. "That was one of the best things that happened to my career," McGuire says. Cummins also introduced McGuire to digital photography--something that's increasingly changing the way many photographers do business.
Offer:
Digital distortion
Probably the biggest misconceptions about digital photography are that it's easier and cheaper than film-based photography.
"It's easier to get your foot in the door (with digital photography) but it's harder to make a living at it," Monteith says.
Costs are incurred in a couple of ways: First, it's simply expensive to keep up with a technology that's constantly changing. And second, many photographers who used to send their film to processing labs are now spending their own time and energy processing their photos.
"The trouble is, you have less time to get more clients and take photographs if you're bogged down in production," Monteith notes.
And the "digital workflow"--processing images from the time they're captured by the camera to transferring them to a computer for organization, storage, and editing to the final output--has its own learning curve. It was one of the top concerns of new photographers recently surveyed by the PPA. But McGuire thinks you can actually shoot more photographs with digital than with film, provided you've worked out an efficient workflow.
One career, so many career tracks
Photography is everywhere, and subsequently, the career choices can feel limitless. You can make a living shooting stock photography or high fashion, covering weddings and little league games or news stories. And, yes, you can pursue a career as a wildlife photographer, though Wolfe notes the field has become increasingly competitive since he started. (He doesn't want to discourage anyone, though: "If their heart is set on it, they'll make it happen," he says.)
The big advantage of stock photography, where you sell your work through agencies that take a cut of your profits, is that you're harnessing the often-huge marketing power of these agencies. A photo you took in Smalltown USA can show up in marketing materials half a world away. "My pictures are working for me night and day," McGuire says.
The big growth area right now, according to Monteith, is event photography. "There's a lot of money to be made photographing someone's dance recital or little league game," she says. Studio photography is another big source of work--it's where the majority of photography is bought and sold, according to Monteith. "There's really no limit to the amount of people who can get into that," she says.
Have a plan and a portfolio
Whichever track you decide on, do the prep work and have a clear plan of action. McGuire found it helpful to write a business plan where he calculated exactly how many shoots it would take per year to stay in business and bring in an amount of revenue he was happy with.
Early on, you'll also need to create a portfolio that demonstrates your skills to prospective clients or employers. Depending on the type of photography work you're trying to scare up, Monteith says samples of your work can include brochures or Web sites, but there needs to be some way people can evaluate your work. McGuire created a few copies of his portfolio so that he can have them in circulation to several people simultaneously. He also has a Web site but says his physical portfolios are still what sell his work.
While you're getting on your feet, Monteith recommends having a part-time job that can pay the bills while you build your knowledge and experience. Figure on three to five years, she says, before your photography business will bring in enough money that you can devote yourself to it full-time.
"What I hate to see is someone who quits their job and says, 'Now I'm a photographer,'" Monteith says.
"A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
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