If you are fans of The Daily Edit you’ll love the new magazine Heidi Volpe created out of all the posts from 2012.
We have two versions available, a wire bound magazine printed on the mag cloud by HP that will be printed and shipped to you for $35: http://www.magcloud.com/thedailyedit2012
Perhaps the secret of great photography lies in that ability to be simultaneously in the moment physically and removed from it by the camera. If that sounds coldly dispassionate, then Iām not describing it right, because war photographers are the most emotionally alert people I know. As these images will show, it is their ability to capture humanity in the most inhuman circumstances that makes them the best at their craft.
You can anonymously submit (here) what you were paid to shoot for a magazine along with some of the terms and conditions. There’s a spreadsheet of all the results on the blog and (here). If you’ve been in this business for awhile it’s mostly what you already knew or thought someone paid. If you’re new to photography you might be a bit shocked.
Winners of the third Hearst 8 X 10 Photography Biennial, an international competition that recognizes the work of eight up-and-coming artists whose vision will shape the future of the creative media landscape
Laura Morton, California
Michael Massaia, New Jersey
Jordan Baumgarten, Pennslyvania
Karen Miranda, New York
Tomasz Lazar, Poland
Al Palmer, U.K.
Kiana Hayeri, Canada
Caleb Cole, Massachusetts
We emailed Art Buyers and Art Producers around the world asking them to submit names of established photographers who were keeping it fresh and up-and-comers who they are keeping their eye on. If you are an Art Buyer/Producer or an Art Director at an agency and want to submit a photographer anonymously for this column email: Suzanne.sease@verizon.net
An image from my personal project "Decaying Roses" printed on Cibachrome.An image from my personal project "Decaying Leaves" printed on Cibachrome.Pharrell Williams for Blackbook magazine.An image from my Personal project nudes on polaroids. Shot with Impossible project film.This was one of my first projects for Blackbook magazine when I first started shooting editorials. My art director wanted to find a way to keep my black and white style but blend in color. So we toyed with the idea of CMYK layering through out the story with Jason Sudeikis.I enjoy shooting mens fashion. You can always be a little more rough and raw with the style.
I was shooting Poppy Delevingne when this lady in red walked by. I had no clue she was going to pop out so much but it worked out so well.I constantly shoot for myself. Anytime I have free time I pull models to shoot. I find working with people I don't know helps me learn how to deal with different circumstances.This is from a 16 page fashion story for Oyster Magazine out of Australia. I love red.Brayden Pritchard for Numero Homme #26. We juxtaposed the patterns of the fall season with the organic shapes and lines of a leafless forest.I often shoot to the side for stories. This image is an outtake from a cover story for WWD magazine. It was a story on the science of hair.I always keep the camera ready to go for those happy little moments when a hair stylist is making changes. This was my opener of Marloes Horst for Oyster magazines issue #101. You never know when it will work out well.Heather Huey was shot by Billy Kidd. This is an image from my recent show at Clic Gallery. A series of nudes showcasing Heather Huey's body cages and my photography. The series of images show the maturing female body in different states of form.
How many years have you been in business?
I have been shooting professionally for 4 years.
Are you self-taught or photography school taught?
I attended university late in life for computer tech and dropped out shortly after finding photography. I would say self taught since I didnāt fulfill any formal education past a basic photo 101.
Who was your greatest influence that inspired you to get into this business?
There isnāt one person ā there are many that inspired me to get into this business. My mother is a painter who has served much inspiration for as long as I can remember. The music of Iron & Wine and Andrew Bird often drive me on set. The works of Irving Penn, Stieglitz, Steichen, Weegee, Helen Levitt, Man Ray, Andrew Kertesz and Jacques-Andre Boiffard have all been incredibly inspirational. I do have to point a finger at my girlfriend Heather Huey for lighting an inspirational fire under me when we met 3 years ago.
How do you find your inspiration to be so fresh, push the envelope, stay true to yourself so that creative folks are noticing you and hiring you?
I actually try to shoot for myself, to create pretty things. I donāt shoot to be noticed or hired. I figure that if I find it beautiful then Iām probably doing something right. In the end, I need to be happy with what Iām creating. Being hired based on that body of work is a byproduct.
What is your advice for those who are showing what they think the buyers want to see?
Aristotle said, ābeauty is what I believe beauty to be.ā Itās a great quote that, in my opinion, sums up what art buyers are looking for ā what you think beauty is. Everyone has different tastes and not all art directors will agree with you, but thatās ok. Some of them will, and those are the ones you want to work with because they think in the same vein and likely share a similar vision.
Do you find that some creatives love your work but the client holds you back?
If they do, Iāve been lucky not to feel it. Iāve always had great art directors. They hear what the client wants, then translate it in a way that I can understand and embrace.
Iāve also had the good fortune of working with clients who not only share the same vision, but also think and feel the same way I do. I just had a wonderful experience in Paris with a client who had such impeccable taste in beauty, that when she did step in to say something, I jumped at it.
Having said all of that, I am young in the business and have yet to experience some of the situations others have. Hopefully I can stay the course Iām on and continue to work with great, creative, clients.
What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?
Social media. Tumblr has been a huge part of sharing my vision with everyone. It played a pivotal role in my early success ā thatās how many of my first jobs came about. Even my agent found me through a blog that was linked to Tumblr. Often when my rep sends me to an art buyer, photo editor or creative they have heard of me before through Tumblr/blogs reposting me work.
Are you shooting for yourself and creating new work to keep your artistic talent true to you?
Always. When Iām hired on a project I usually try to shoot a few things on the side, which are often incorporated into the job afterwards. I just wrapped up and showed a series of nudes in Soho, which culminated in a limited edition book designed by Buero NY. Iām also currently working on a project called āDecayingā, photographing various flowers and leaves in the process of wilting. Iāve always had a fascination with flowers and death ā how we cut them, love them and then throw them aside when they start to show signs of age.
How often are you shooting new work?
Almost every day. I shoot 2-3 times a week for various clients and then 2-3 times a week for myself.
Billy Kidd is a young photographer based in Brooklyn, NY and represented by Walter Schupfer in NY, LA and Paris.
APE contributorĀ Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s, after founding the art buying department at The Martin Agency then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies.Ā She has a new Twitter fed with helpful marketing information.Ā Follow her@SuzanneSease.
I think the key factor is a growing realisation that online ads are not going to pay the bills. Online ad revenue growth at most publishers has slowed to a trickle. What many interpreted as a blip is now an established pattern over several years. As a result, many publishers are revisiting strategic plans and concluding that they have no hope of building exclusively ad-funded online businesses. Paywalls and content revenues are the obvious alternative.
a fundamental rule of online subscriptions: there is zero correlation between value and price. There are lots of incredibly expensive stock-tipping newsletters which have a negative value: youād be much better off if you didnāt subscribe to any of them at all. And of course thereās an almost infinite amount of wonderfully valuable content available online for free, starting with Wikipedia and moving on through
Photographer James Hodgins of Sudbury, Ontario has come up with a creative visual solution for a perennial marketing challenge: Convincing clients who think they can shoot their own photography that they will get better results if they hire a professional photographer.āPeople are visual. When you start talking lights, they tune you out,ā Hodgins says.Ā One day it dawned on him to invite a client to tag along on a shoot with her own camera. āI said, āYou take the picture you would have taken, and then Iāll take mine the way I would.āAnd thatās how his Crappy vs. Snappy showcase was born. He dedicates a page on his Web site to side-by-side comparisons of his pictures and clientsā pictures, mostly of mining and industrial subjects.
A good photograph is a good photograph in such a way that the process itself might be an integral part of it, but itās not the focal point. In other words, the moment you can almost separate out the image from the process – just like youād think about Hipstamatic as picture plus filter – youāre in trouble: Suddenly, the process itself becomes part of what is being evaluated. But who cares whether it took you three days to make a picture or whether you got that great picture seeing something and then snapping it very quickly?
I donāt make big plans because they run a high risk of failure. Instead, I make small plans and let them grow. So I have no big plans but about a zillion small ones. I am very curious to see how far they will grow.
We’re launching a new list today based off our popular Agent List: theagentlist.com which has nearly 700 agents worldwide categorized by location and genre. This time we’re going for a smaller segment of the industry: Architectural Photographers. And we’re hoping anyone who shoots architecture and/or interiors will go here:Ā http://photographyandarchitecture.com and sign up so we don’t have to put all the listings in by ourselves (any who specialize in renderings too). Brittain Stone is managing the list again and will look at each submission to verify that you do have a gallery on your website dedicated to architectural photography. He will also add the genre tags based on hisĀ assessmentĀ of the style you shoot.
Once we have a healthy list we’re going to market it to the architect clients who’ve become a part of my website business. They’ve expressed interest in more resources for finding photographers and we figured we could provide that service with a nice curated list and expert advice. If you have any questions send Brittain an email (under the help section of the site). Should be beneficial for everyone.
Over the years he had simplified the technical part of photography to suit his unobtrusive shooting style and still create a technically perfect photograph. For instance, he judged the light by eye, although he carried a small light meter in his pants pocket. Since he mostly shot in shaded areas he set his F stop at 5.6 or 8 and shutter speed at 1/60th to 1/125th of a second, so he could quickly pay attention to his subject matter. He made it clear that, ātechnique is not so important to me, but people and their activities areā. He said, āThink about the photograph before and after, but not during. The secret is to take your time but also to be very quickā.
Like many young, aspiring photographers I thought I’d move to New York from Colorado and start reeling in the ad campaigns, editorials and magazine covers. That was six years ago. And while I’ve shot some cool editorials and ad campaigns here and there, photo assisting is still my bread and butter, like many other photographers I know.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I’ve found it’s a steady way of earning some decent cash in the photo industry while building up my portfolio. It can help you get your bearings in the highly competitive business of commercial and editorial photography, help you build your network and allow you to work alongside some excellent photographers. Plus, it’s a great “first step” in deciding whether or not you actually want to pursue a career in photography (4am call times are not for everyone and you’ll find that out pretty quick).
So if you’ve decided that you want to foray into the crazy world of photo assisting, whether it’s to earn some money or your photo stripes or both, here are a few tips I’ve learned on how to succeed as a photo assistant, thanks to my six years of assisting photographers like Sheila Metzer, Finely MacKay and Doug Menuez.
One: Forget pricey photo schools
Yeah, you heard me. Ditch those photo schools and programs you’d drop thousands on to allegedly “learn the ropes” and just get out there. Technical expertise is taught best on the job. So go out and get yourself one: go to your local photography rental house with an equipment room, or hit up photography studios. (In big cities like New York and Los Angeles, there are literally hundreds). These are great places to learn the ins and outs of lighting, digital and the latest professional camera gear. Slog it out long enough at these places and you’ll meet like-minded photo assistants and photographers that you’ll find can be some of your best resources. Which leads me to my next tip.
Two: Network with other photo assistants
I got my first photo assisting gig through another photo assistant who I’d met at a studio where I’d been putting in some hours. See, photographers will often ask the first assistant to pick his second and third assistants. So if you have some good contacts in the industry, it’s safe to say that you’ll also get some decent and regular work. I’ve learned that a network of a few solid photo assisting buddies goes a long way. And it goes without saying that when you start to book your own photo assisting gigs (or better yet, your own shooting gigs) you’ll throw a bone their way, too.
Insider tip: If there’s a particular photographer you want to assist for, then do some casual research. Look them up on LinkedIn or Facebook (Photo Assistants Association on Facebook)Ā and find out who their studio managers or first assistants are (these guys are the ones who do the freelance assistant hiring). Chances are, you’ll have a common friend or two. Go buy them a drink. Everyone likes a free drink.
Three: Get on the radar of production companies
Contact production companies that specialize in photo shoots, tell them you’re a photo assistant and you’d like to be placed on their assistant’s list. After some vetting on their end, you’ll be placed in a database. It’s sounds overly simple, but from personal experience there is a lot of work that comes directly from production companies. Why? Because photographers are lazy. They don’t want to worry about minutae and trust their producers to handle all of the logistics of a photo shoot. This will bode well for you.
Four: Check your ego at the door
Seriously. ‘Assist’ is the key word. You are the photo assistant, not the photographer (you’ll have your time soon enough). In the meantime, learn how to respect someone else’s shoot and follow instructions. This includes checking your cellphone at the door. Don’t answer your phone on set, don’t Instagram, Facebook or text. This is not your set. This is surprisingly hard for some photo assistants to learn.
Five: Do your homework
Research your photographer. Go online and find out their style of photography, the kinds of lighting and camera they use, and ask other assistants they’ve worked with about their digital workflow. As you continue to work with the same photographers, you’ll begin to anticipate their moves and requests before they ask you: but before you get to that point, it pays to do some research.
Go out and get some of the basic tools you’ll need on set. The more you work, the bigger your kit will grow, especially if you’re working on the digital end of things – assorted cables, cube taps, tape, tools will quickly fill your kit bag – but in the meantime, get yourself some set gloves, and a multi-tool, like a leather man. Trust me.
Before you go on set, make sure you’re an expert at your equipment. Ensure you know how every piece of equipment works, and if you don’t know, ask. Small mistakes can cost time and therefore money – remember you’re there to help speed the process along, not hinder it.
Have an eye for detail: little things like double-checking the photographer’s camera to make sure it’s set to .raw and not .jpeg. Take note of where power settings are on flash packs. Have small reflectors, nets and other light-shaping tools on hand at all times to accommodate subtle light changes as needed.
Six: Learn and remember
Though it’s easy to get caught up in the fine details of the job, it’s also important to actively take stock of the things you learn as an assistant – from the business of making a production work, to how to achieve certain lighting, to adopting techniques for creating certain types of images – so that you can apply them to your own shoots one day. You learn so much about the business and technical side of the industry just by being around sets all day, and this knowledge will serve you well.
I believe content drives success, that along with perseverance and passion. I can’t stress that enough. I did not self publish as I believe partnering with a good publisher will yield much better success in distribution, promotion and credibility. Self published books or vanity presses don’t achieve much for a first time author. I see them as a waste of time and money which would be better spent making pictures that a publisher will want.
When I was 16 years old and in high school, all my friends were in bands. I could never sing (Iām beyond horrible) or play any instruments, so instead I became the photographer. I would help them build press kits and band profiles for their websites, experimenting along the way and learning everything I could about the technical side of photography.
Those early images slowly built a portfolio of portraits, and to make a long story short: this slowly translated into the entertainment and advertising style work I do now.
There are so many wonderful photographs in the world and so many wonderful photographs in my life, whether they are on the gallery walls or they are home on my own walls, so Iāve learned not to be too greedy about it. You have to let things go sometimes and itās OK because you can replace it with something else and love just as much.
