Look at Ben Baker’s work. Look at the people he’s photographing. He has 10 minutes max with a lot of those people I’m sure. Especially political figures but, you sift through his portfolio and he has amazing pictures of these people. Moments that seem like he has known these folks for years(Warren Buffet’s photo stand out especially to me). That’s not luck. He knows what he’s doing and he knows how to get people to relax.

I think more than anything it’s about knowing how to communicate with people and building a rapport. More about establishing a comfort level for the subject than exquisite lighting or anything else.

There are two completely different sets of rules.

The goal is to be Matt Mahurin or Dan Winters.

Can you imagine some PE calling up Matt Mahurin and saying, “Uh, we’ve got this GREAT story, and this really fun middle manager at a hedge fund, and we’d just love some really bright, happy colors, and we’d love her swinging from a chandelier”.

“Click”.

You touch upon something that’s always seemed like a factor in doing Editorial. There seem to be (at least) two types of jobs out there — “the good jobs”, usually the major stories in the issue, that usually involve flying a New York photographer to where the story is, and then, “the quarter page stories”, where there’s no money and it’s a small story, and then the PE calls a local guy and tells him what to do.

Since I’ve lived in a B-Movie City most of my life, the calls I would normally get were usually the latter — they always started out the same: “Uh, we’ve got this story in an upcoming issue, and the subject is in Nashville/Memphis/Atlanta/Dallas/Louisville, (fill in the blank with the closest regional city), Can you shoot a portrait for us?”.

At that point, I usually ask what the story is about, and if it sounds interesting, I continue the phone call, (unless it’s a WFH magazine, and I immediately end the phone call).

It just seem like the only assignments worth doing are always given to the NY guys. Yet another reason to move to Park Slope.

If the magazine starts in with their list of “how they’d like it shot”, I end the phone call also. It’s just a delicate dance, when the fee is $500 plus… You gotta bring something else to the table.

Also, many times use American photography (the book) website and PDN 30 and PDN photography annual. SPD sometimes and LE Book rarely.

Once saw a photo director on the train ripping pages out of the source book to remember photographers he liked.

Most of the older PD’s are still very much analog. I’m very much more digital. Obviously.

That is hilarious. This happens to me all the time. My assistant is an ex-ballerina, so she has a grace to her that 99% of the subjects don’t have when they get in front of the camera.

Jeff

Where do you find photographers when you need to find someone. I know you have your own list in your head and you get recommendations from other AD/PE/AB, etc. But when not using one of those options, where do you go?

Are source books worthwhile any more? Which ones? Which web portals do you like (workbook, blackbook, lebook, photoserve)? Ever use google?

Jeff

How did we every get into this phase of turning everyone into a circus performer? What does swinging from the rafter or jumping of an high dive into the the pool tell you about the person?

There are ways to embrace the drab surroundings in an interesting way and still have the portrait be about the person in front of the camera. Too often we learn more about the person behind the camera instead of the one in font of the camera.

I can tell my own story on my time. When I’m on an assignment my job is to serve the reader.