Commercial Photographer: Your Guide to Marketing, Creativity and Growth

Every episode has an extra bonus tip that we give only to newsletter subscribers. For the show about fashion Marcus’s tip as if you want to shoot fashion, don’t shoot fashion. And now Marcus has a whole show on this principal.   When Marcus was working in fashion lecturing, students would come up with great fashion work. But he would say remember editors commissioning this work see pictures all the time. So if you want to get noticed, do something different. Sam says this reminds him of the interview with Joe Giacomet. He spent ages making football cards as a personal project and it was almost these that made his name. Marcus thinks that if you shoot fashion then getting out and doing street photography. This is so different to fashion. You have to be much quicker and be in a much less controlled environment. It will really improve your craft. It then means you have some photos to show to the fashion editors as well as your fashion work. This can help to get you noticed. Marcus spent a lot of time taking street photography which he really loved. Richard Avedon was one of the first photographers to get the models out of thestudio and out into the streets of New York, which at the time was quite radical. Marcus suggests that portrait photographers should think of trying still life as an alternative genre. Still life photography is all about the lighting, composition and attention to detail. The skills learnt here can then be applied to your portrait photography. If you are product photographer perhaps try landscape photography. When you are in the studio with a product you can control everything, while you have no control over the environment, which makes it very different. Marcus and Sam discuss that wedding photography has changed greatly over the last ten years with it becoming much more documentary style. Marcus suggests that wedding photographers should go and try fashion photography. Fashion photography is all about style and making the models looking great, which are perfect skills for wedding photographers.   Marcus’s other suggestions are: Street photographers try portrait photography. Landscape photographers could try art photography, the sort of thing in galleries and museums. Marcus suggests looking at Jem Southern, Beckers (Bernd and Hilda) John Davies, Edward Patinksky. These are people taking images with a political message. Family photographers could try painting. Looking at them for ideas, styles and light.

This week Marcus and Sam speak to Sonya Dove who is Wella’s Global Creative Director and Marcus’s big sister. Sonya has been with Wella for 40 years and hairdressing for 45 years. On a day to day basis Sonya travels around the US and Canada educating and mentoring hairdressers. She also does classes and photoshoots. Hairdressing has given her the opportunity to travel the world. She still travels at least two to three times per month.   Sonya says photoshoots can be for hairdressers, or for consumers. She used to work in a salon, but now with all her other work she does not have time for that. Sonya has had her work on the front of almost every hairdressing magazine. Sonya says it’s hard to find the right photographer for a hair photoshoot. Most photographers don’t focus on the hair in the right way. Lighting the hair right is really important. With darker hair colours this becomes harder. Getting the texture, colours and dimensions, especially with dark hair is very challenging. All other parts of the model and shot are extra. The hair is key. Sonya says she has done photoshoots where the detail of the hair is lost. However she realised that this was as much on her as the photographer as she hadn’t explained what she wants. As a solution to this she suggests mood boards are a great way to discuss this type of thing before the shoot. Marcus says there is lots of work out there for hair and beauty photographers. If you think about all of the hair dressers and salons out there who need work, as well as manufacturers, the number of potential customers is huge. At the moment Sonya works with Richard Monsieurs. She has also worked with Marcus many times, Robert Lobetta and many more. Sonya says the personality of the photographer can make or break a photoshoot. They need to be calm, get on with everyone and really understand what is needed from the end result. Sonya says there is huge amount of potential work as a hair photographer, even at a local level with all the salons. Studio photography is safe as you can totally control the lighting and environment. But Sonya also says this can be very sterile as sets need to be build or use green screen. So these are great for some shoots, but she prefers location shoots for the atmosphere. But for the photographer there is less control. That background provides so much for the shot. But outside there can be issues with heat, rain, wind, etc. Sonya says she did a shot in the desert which was quite complex and the poor model started to get sun burnt. Marcus asks if hair shoots are moving to more on location out of studio shoots. Sonya says yes. Campaigns are getting out of the studio and moving to more editorial, lifestyle of shoot and campaign. The idea is the campaigns try to look like getting great hair is simple and easy to do. Marcus asks how a photographer could get into hair photography. Sonya says going to shows is great for building a network. The next thing is putting you out on social media as a hair photographer. Explain you are looking for hairdressers to help them show off their work. Competitions are great to enter and can help boost your visibility.  If you go to a brand they will want to see your portfolio and you’ll need at least twenty stunning shots. So the best thing is start with this and move on to brands once you have experience and a great portfolio.   Sonya explains that hair photography is lots of fun and a very lucrative area of photography. She has worked with a range of photographers with a lot of different approach to retouching. Some people she works with do very little retouching , but spend a lot of time getting the initial shot perfect. Other photographers do lots of retouching. And during a shoot the photographer needs to be talking to the team on a photoshoot to ensure everything goes as they want.   You can get hold of Sonya here Insta @thesonyadive FB SonyaDove

SEO Part Two There are going to be three podcasts on SEO. Planning External SEO Internal SEO This episode is looking at External SEO. This episode is sponsored by Website for photographers. Website 4 photographers help photographers get more leads from their websites. You can get in touch here ⁠⁠info@website4photographers.co.uk⁠⁠ ⁠⁠01482 765871 This week Sam is talking about external SEO. That means things you can do, external to your website, to help your SEO. One of the most important things you can do is get a Google Business account. A Google business account gives you a pin (or area) in Google maps. It also gives a table of information within Google about your businesses within the Google search. It is worth spending time setting up a good Google maps account. If you work from home Sam suggests you set it up showing the area where you work, so it’s not a pin at your house.  Posting on Google business is useful, but don’t expect engagement from this. You can add products to your business account. If you don’t have any packages, come up with some. The most important thing you can do is get as many reviews as you can on. Lots of reviews and recent reviews are both really useful. As you always need fresh reviews you always have to stay on the ball with this. Marcus manages two business accounts promoting different sides of his business. Social Media is another  vital part of your SEO. Google isn’t checking every post. But it is keeping an eye that you are active. To ensure this helps with SEO you need to make sure your social media profile shows your website. The one social media account you need to treat a little differently. That’s YouTube, that is owned by Google. Videos can be a great way to bypass the website search. When you search for a term Google will often put Google map entries and videos ahead of websites. So that’s one reason why having a good Google business profile is so important. It also means you can create videos to target specific search terms. Back links. This means other websites linking to your website. Google thinks if other high quality websites are linking to your site then your website must be good. So trying to get links to your website is important. A simple way to do this is get on as many free business directories as possible. As a warning reciprocal links don’t really work. So don’t trade where two businesses link to each other. Guest blogging and guest podcasting are great ways to build backlinks. If you do a podcast or guest blog ensure you get links get back to your website. Links from high quality sites provide more kudos than links from low quality websites. Over time back links will build over time if you keep producing high quality engaging content.

Paul Cooper has been a professional photographer for over 30 years. He is currently a commercial photographer. But, in the last 30 years he has shot most types of photography. His photography business Baily-Cooper Photography is run with his wife. They also have a photography education business called Master your Photography. Master your photography caters for everyone from someone who wants to buy a photographer and doesn’t know what to buy, to professional mentoring. Before Paul was a professional photographer, he was an amateur photographer. His parents got him a camera when he was 18. Him and his wife married, and photography was still a hobby. Paul worked for ten years in IT working on the first PCs that came out. After ten years Paul took the leap and setup the business. As the business grew, they realised they needed a second photographer in the business, so Paul’s wife left her job and joined him. Paul then got his professional qualifications with the British Institute of Professional Photography and the Master Photography Association. This process was back in the days when the training available was through face-to-face meetings in the associations. Marcus asks how Paul and his wife divide up the work. Paul says that Kate his wife tends to do babies, young children and families. He tends to do corporate work, and then they come together for big projects. But they can mix it around as they wish. Sam asks why they are a limited company as many photographers don’t do this. Paul said they did this years ago on the advice of their accountant. He also thinks for larger jobs it can give more kudos. They discuss style and developing a style and having a passion for it. Initially photographers tend to copy other photographers and then go on to use those influences to develop their own style. Paul says that many photographers don’t understand lighting and it is a very important factor. He says his business has spent more money and time on lighting than on cameras. There is another podcast about lighting here. Sam asks Paul about the teaching side of the business. Paul says customers tend to come from the photography work they do anyone. For example, clients chat about a camera they have and don’t know how to use. He does offer videos etc. but many people want to come into the studio and lean how to use their camera face to face. They will also go into business and work with a group of people to help them do things like get their own PR shots.  Paul says that with just a little training people can take much better photographs. Paul’s main advice for students is just to go out and use your camera as much as you can. Marcus asks Paul if he has any favourite photographers. Paul says Bob Carlos Clark. Bob gave Paul the inspiration to become a photographer. Later Paul went to his studio and Bob made him a frittata in his studio! He was a boudoir photographer before that was really a “thing”. Marcus asks Paul to explain his roll with the Master Photographers Association. Paul has been on the qualifications side. Photographers can put a panel into the qualification panel for judging. Paul says the two reasons a photographer would want to get a qualification. Firstly, it pushes you creatively. Secondly, it’s good from a marketing perspective. You can shout out about the qualification, and it differentiates you from other photographers. The qualification process is that a photographer has to put together a “panel” of around twenty photographs. All of those should be photographs you have been commissioned to take. They can’t be from personal projects.    

The ten principals of Flash Photography These apply to all types of light including natural light. 1. There are only two types of light, hard light and soft light. Hard light is the sort of light you would get at midday in a sunny place. Very contrasting light. The imagine it’s a cloudy day then the light becomes soft. 2. The closer the light is to the subject, the softer the light. And so the further away the light is to the subject the harder the light. 3 As you move the light source from the subject, the light intensity drops very quickly. If you double the distance the light is from the subject you quarter the amount of light that reaches the subject. 4. The harder the light is the more contrast you have. Contrast is highlights and shadows. The harder the light the further away from each other the highlights and shadows become. So in soft light the highlights and shadows are closer and have more variations in between. 5. A shadow will have a hard edge with high contrast from a hard light. It will have a soft edge and low contrast from a soft light 6. Light can be direct or indirect / bounced. A direct light comes straight from the light source. Indirect light is often bounced off something like a ceiling or reflector. By reflecting the light you are changing the size of the light source. 7. Light travels in straight lines, unless it meets an obstruction. So particles of light behave like snooker balls, they bounce off objects. Grids are objects that go over lights to channel the light to prevent it spreading out and as hard light is becoming more popular, so are these. 8. Light coming from the side of a subject will show more texture than a front on light. You can see this in landscape photography, when photographers tend to like early morning or late evening light, when the light is coming from the side, which gives more texture. 9. Flash light varies in speed. The speed of a flash is measured using it’s T number. If you are capturing moving subjects, like sports then you need very fast flashes so that you freeze the action 10. If using flash outside, especially on a sunny day you will need a much more powerful flash than you would indoors. So for indoor photography you don’t need that much power from your flash.  

This episode is an interview with Fiona Scott a PR specialist. To start Sam and Fiona discuss the difference between PR and marketing. Fiona says public relations encompasses every type of marketing as public relations is about any time your business contacts the public. Fiona says that means if someone says they can help you with all of your PR be very wary, that is a very wide field. Fiona’s specialism is in press communications. Fiona suggests that when you are starting business, get some advice about marketing and PR. You probably can’t afford PR or marketing, but get advice to help you get through the first few years. Marcus asks about the history of PR. Fiona said that Queen Elizabeth the first was one of the first people to control the images that went out of her. Marcus was thinking of Edward Burtynsky who took the ideas of Froid and applied them to PR. Sam bring in the idea that images and photography are vital to PR. Fiona says she will only ever work with people who have photos that re renewed every 18 months at the most. Fiona has a retained photographer in her business as photography is so vital to PR. So PR could be a good source of work. And offering a retainer to regular clients can be a great way to get a regular income as a photographer. It’s important when working on a retainer that you make it very clear what is covered in the retainer deal and what is not. Fiona says the best photographers she has worked with do a wide range of photography, portraits, weddings etc. She also says that photographers are often awful at getting their own headshots done. They need to ensure they keep their photographs up to date. Marcus asks how photographers can get involved in PR. Fiona says start localm and get in touch with PR companies within your own communities. Call them up and ask to meet. Fiona says there can be issue with copyright and PR. PR businesses need to pass photos on to other businesses, like newspapers. Therefore the PR business needs the right to do that and so the copyright for the photograph. Fiona says that a PR business can send the photographers details with images sent to press. But, the press do not have to credit the photographer. But a photographer can of course share on social media when their work has been used in the press.   Marcus asks what makes a good PR photograph. Fiona said that if you want to work with the media your photographs need to be media friendly. No plain backgrounds.  The background needs to help tell the story. Landscape only, portrait is rarely used unless you are being used for the front page of the magazine.  Usually they want a 1 to 3 Mb jpg. High end lifestyle magazines may ask for higher quality. Having lots of photographs to hand that you can send at a moments notice can really help you get your photographs published.  Product photographs are a little different and do need a plain background. Fiona suggests photographers should get out on strong weather days, snowy, windy etc. Get out there, get some images and then very quickly send them to newspapers, and other media in your community. You can get hold of Fiona here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thefionascott https://scottmedia.uk/

Are you a photographer who's ready to finally get found on Google? This week's show is the first in a three part series on SEO, revealing the most important step in the entire process.• Why doing any SEO work without a proper plan is a complete waste of time, and how to create a strategy that actually works.• You'll learn how to choose the right keywords and geographic areas for your business and use a simple tool to check if they’re worth going for.• What your domain score is and why it's a vital number to know before you start any work on your onsite or offsite SEO.

Maureen helps elevate peoples Linkedin profile. She helps them create more opportunities and visibility. That creates more leads and more business. Maureen tells her story. She started off in the world of sales and marketing. She went from telemarking to field sales. To then running sales teams working with tech startups. As a Sales and marketing director LinkedIn was always her go to platform. She has always known that it is such a great tool. About 12 years ago Maureen had a son and wanted to work for herself. She started being a general marketing consultant. Before lockdown she was 50% marketing consultant 50% Linkedin work. During Lockdown this moved to being 95% LinkedIn marketing and only 5% marketing consultant. And this has stayed ever since. Sam asks about LinkedIn recent restrictions for those not paying to use LinkedIn. LinkedIn are now heavily restricting the number of people you can follow. So Maureen says it is getting harder to use, but is still a great platform to use. Marcus asks the difference between Brits and Americans using Linkedin. Maurenn thinks this just reflects the difference between US and UK culture and business culture. People are happier promoting themselves in the US than they are in the UK. Sam says photographers do like to hide behind their camera and really need to come out from behind it. Maureen says this is very understandable, but photographers do need to try and get over it. Maureen says having packages can really help, so you can get out onto LinkedIn and sell your package rather than have to sell yourself, which is harder to do. Maureen says Linkedin is used to give clients value and build a community. But she does do one sales post per week. It might be subtle but she always has one. Marcus said for a commercial photographer then LinkedIn is amazing as it is B2B. which Facebook and Instagram isn’t. Maureen says focussing on a sector really works well on Linkedin. Send out posts for your niche, use relevant hashtags. And connect to people in the right sector. She says with a connection message you should get 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 connections. But connection messages are being limited. But, you can still connect with more people without the message. Maureen says that if you spend an hour a day on LinkedIn you can achieve a lot. Send time posting, making new connections and follow up messages. Marcus says also that business people need photos for Linkedin for posts, headshot, banner images and more. So photography for people to use on Linkedin is a great area for photographers to work in. Sam asks Maureen some top tips for their LinkedIn profile. She says a profile photograph is a must. She has 5 pillars of success on Linkedin and the profile is one of them. Look like the top dog that you are. Your LinkedIn profile needs to be generating work for you. It needs to have an amazing tag line. It needs to really shine. Your banner needs to be excellent. As a photographer you can feature things like images you have taken recently. The more visual your profile is the more you will stand out.   One of Maureen's other pillars is let the other steal the show. So tell stories about other people you have been working with. Maureen says she gets customers by giving out hints and tips and talking about people she’s been working with.   You can find Maureen on LinkedIn (big surprise) or at her website https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureenlkane/ https://linkedinbreakfastclub.co.uk/  

Marcus has been using three pieces of software for a long time in his career. Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture one. But initially Marcus goes back to the history of retouching, which started only a couple of years after photography was invited. So “photoshopping” has been around from well before photoshop. Adobe photoshop was early photography software that started in the 1990s. Marcus remembers using this for the first time while he was at university. But back in those days it was slow to use due to the speed of the computers.  Marcus even had to do a photoshop exam at one stage and became an accredited expert! Lightroom came out after Photoshop. It is a very easy to use intuitive piece of software. Lightroom and Photoshop are complimentary pieces of software both made by Adobe. The difference between Photoshop and Lightroom is that Photoshop is designed to work at one image at a time, while Lightroom can do bulk editing. You can chose to edit a photo in one way, then apply that editing to lots of other photos. The terminology used in light room was the terminology of the dark room so photographers easily understood it. Photoshop also has many more uses than photography. Marcus uses it for all sorts of areas of his business such as making reels for Instagram or making posts for Linkedin. Photoshop has so much functionality that it can be overwhelming initially. Also it means it’s very easy to spend a long time on photoshop editing images. This can be a challenge for professional photographers, making sure they don’t spend too long using Photoshop. Capture one is the third piece of software Marcus uses. Marcus uses it’s ability to tether. That means Marcus works with his camera plugged into his laptop and the people he photographs can see the photos as they are taken. Lightroom can also tether but Marcus thinks this works better on Capture one. But Capture one is not easy to pick up and use.  

This week on the podcast, we're joined by renowned British advertising photographer and director, Joe Giacomet With his unique and vibrant style, Joe has created an impressive body of work for major clients. He joins us to share insights on his creative process, the importance of personal projects, and how a unique style can be your greatest asset.What you'll learn from this episode:Discover the secret behind Joe's distinct photography style and how it sets him apart in the competitive world of commercial photography.Find out why dedicating time to your personal passion projects is the key to unlocking major commissions and commercial success.Learn about the meticulous process and attention to detail that goes into creating a high end advertising photography campaign.