Professional Portraits vs. Happy Accidents - We're Making Photographs, not Taking Them

There's a term that applies to a certain type of photograph that you may be familiar with. The term is "happy accident". It's generally a pretty loaded term. It can be an insult directed at a photographer who may have created an image that is good, or even great, but the person wielding the phrase feels that the good image is an exception rather than the rule, based on that person's perception of the artist's work. It can also be used by a photographer to describe his or her own photograph, implying, not so subtly, that the image in question was acquired by luck, clean living, or some other reason not directly related to skill or artistry.

Hobbyists tend to thrive on happy accidents. I don't mean this as a criticism! If photography is something that you love, just for the fun and satisfaction that it brings, there is nothing at all to be ashamed of! For professional photographers, happy accidents are things that you will certainly take if they make themselves available, but cannot be relied upon to pay the rent. Its a little like winning the lottery; I'll take it, but lottery winning is not a livelihood.

As a professional portrait photographer, your goal is to 'create a photograph'. I really prefer that phrase to 'taking a photograph'. The difference is one of mindset. Am I showing up, putting up some lights so that the subject won't be in the dark and then snapping away, hoping for some kind of intervention? Not a chance! You need to walk into the studio or onto a location with a frame of mind totally focused on making a great photograph. You are creating a work of art, no matter how mundane or commercial the assignment might be. The location is sized up. A series of shot options is internalized, discussed with assistants and possibly the subject, any lighting that is necessary is set up, furniture is almost always moved(*). Then, photographs are made.

There are so many things to take in and consider when you are about to create photographs at a professional commercial level: how subjects or models will be portrayed, composition, lighting, style, props, distractions, etc.. You can't just walk in and start shooting, hoping for some happy accidents. You need a concept, and an ability to execute it. Once things are starting to fire on all cylinders in a given context, the shooting can commence in earnest. I make a lot of shots when I am creating portraits. But the activity is directed and intentional. Often, when discussing an upcoming shoot, the subject may ask, "how long will it take, a few minutes?". Um...no. It's important to explain to the subject that this takes preparation, must look great, both for the client and the subject, and while accidents happen, both happy and otherwise, we are making photographs. Really good photographs. Which is my job.

Just Some Photos that I Like!

When I blog, I like to write something that readers will hopefully find interesting and will compel them to read and look further. It's often a challenge, as I don't feel like a writer. As photographers, we communicate with our images. Ultimately, that's what I hope will draw people in. I know it won't be my words, but I hope that my words will serve as an introduction to my work.

This time, I only have my images. As a commercial photographer, I spend a lot of time creating photographs that are not strictly artistic. While artistry is involved, their role in life is largely utilitarian. That is true in a business sense, but the discerning client knows that they are more than that; they serve to evoke an emotion in the viewer. The esthetic value may be subtle, but it's there. That's why I can only shake my head in disbelief when I see a cell phone self portrait or a red cup party shot used as a business headshot. People! Potential clients are judging you, possibly unfairly, based on an initial impression. You've heard this rant before, I'm sure.

So since I have nothing to say today ;-), I thought I would post some business portraits and some actor headshots that I did recently and that I really like.

The first bunch of shots are of a young actress and dancer.

I also had the privilege of photographing this Boston attorney, who also does legal commentary on a TV network. She really understands the value of good images!

A Western Avenue Studios Neighbor

Liz, one of many excellent artists at Western Avenue Studios, in Lowell, who works in ceramics asked me to photograph some of her work. I have been so impressed with the colors in which she works, and with the enthusiasm and energy with which she makes her creations, so I asked her if she would pose for a portrait session. As I always like to do, I photographed her in her environment, on location in her studio, surrounded by her work.

Mike O’Malley - Merrimack Valley Magazine Cover Story

Buy this magazine!

Mike O'Malley - Merrimack Valley Magazine Cover

This month's Merrimack Valley Magazine cover story features Glee star Mike O’Malley, written by Beth Daigle and photographs by this blogger! Mike plays Burt Hummel on the hit TV series. We shot the cover photo, along with an inside spread and several others, at the Ritz Carlton in Boston, when Mike was in town working on a new film.

Seriously, buy this magazine to see this article, as well as several others on which I worked, including Chris Markuns' Coffee Talk interview with Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s Executive Director Steven Leon, a story about Christmas decorating, and a piece about the great work of the Angel Flight Northeast.

Mike O'Malley

Not Just Academic Marketing

I spent most of this summer working with the excellent web team at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on their web site redesign project. As a location portrait photographer I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to create environmental portraits of a wide spectrum of administration, faculty members and students for the web site's many profiles. Here is one of several : http://www.uml.edu/Profile/Donna-Lannan.aspx

Academic marketing has changed quite a bit since the days when you would request a catalogue in the mail that would contain five or ten year old generic photos of happy students. The landscape today is very competitive and the UML team members take their jobs very seriously.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from this summer.

UMass Lowell

I spent most of this summer working with the excellent web team at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on their web site redesign project. As a location portrait photographer I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to create environmental portraits of a wide spectrum of administration, faculty members and students for the web site's many profiles. Here are a few of my favorites.

Got Style

I have just finished a couple of very intense weeks of shooting and am trying to collect my thoughts and analyze what parts of that work really 'worked' for me. What was it on a particular assignment that felt right, or didn't?

It's really about style. Do I have one? What is it like? I know that there are things that I want to show and say, and when I shoot, if I have those things in my mind and am successful in making photographs that bring those things to life, I am happy. I know that I have done something. I know that that's my style. It may not be my style a few years from now, nor was it my style a few years ago, but it is today. I need to have a connection to the idea and to the subject and the rest is making art.

That's why I love to work with subjects and clients who want me to create photographs for them that are in my style. It's simply a matter of creating the environment and working with the subject to make my ideas into reality. I'm happy, and when they see the results, they are happy. That's what it's about.

If you're being hired because you are a photographer, but the client is simply looking for a commodity shot, and not what floats your boat, take your life jacket! (sorry ;-) You may be a capable, competent professional, but if it's not the kind of work that you feel is your style, think twice. It will probably work out perfectly well! But will you be happy?

This is why we specialize. Right? You want your visibility to reflect where you want to go, not wherever you might have been, unless of course you've been on the right track for a while. I don't think Coca-Cola is inclined to show images of their famous mistake, "New Coke", in their marketing materials. Like most/all photographers, we have have several of those efforts somewhere on our hard drives, but they probably should stay there. Your style is you and you want people to want you to create for them what you do best. I like to create interesting, informal studio portraits in my small space in Lowell, but I also really enjoy location portraits, which anyone who does this kind of shooting knows, come with a whole bunch of logistical fun, but the results can be worth it many times over. But it's important that I show that kind of work because it is my style, what I love to shoot, and what I want people to want me to create for them.

Lawrence YMCA Music Clubhouse

Recently, I shot a story for a magazine article that profiled a program at the Lawrence, Massachusetts YMCA, called the Music Clubhouse. In the basement of the Y, kids are invited and encouraged to learn, practice, perform and to exercise their musical creativity. This is one of several Music Clubhouses sponsored by the Music and Youth Initiative, a Boston non-profit that has established seven others in the Greater Boston Area. The Lawrence clubhouse exists with the help of numerous collaborators, such as Avid, my alma mater Berklee College of Music, and numerous other donors and volunteers.

Recently, I shot a story for a magazine article that profiled a program at the Lawrence,

Massachusetts YMCA, called the Music Clubhouse. In the basement of the Y, kids are invited and

encouraged to learn, practice, perform and to exercise their musical creativity. This is one of

several Music Clubhouses sponsored by the Music and Youth Initiative, a Boston non-profit that has

established seven others in the Greater Boston Area. The Lawrence clubhouse exists with the help of

numerous collaborators, such as Avid, my alma mater Berklee College of Music, and numerous other

donors and volunteers.

The (money) Machine

A few weeks ago I was assigned an editorial portrait of Mad Man and film maker Erik Proulx for a magazine article on people who have "survived" layoffs. The article, for Merrimack Valley Magazine, focused on several people who have chosen to thrive in spite, or maybe because of their experiences in being jettisoned from the corporate world. Erik allowed me to see one of his films, Lemonade, which, at the extreme risk of sounding patronizing, really REALLY resonated with me. While never having experienced a layoff, I was one of those people in a cubicle farm working just to make a living so that I could continue to work.
Erik Proulx
I was very happy for many years doing the corporate peon thing. It paid very well after all! But after several corporate takeovers, the last company for which I worked was bought by the mother of all corporations in its field. I tried to make the best of it. I even remember being Mr. Pollyanna at the big meeting where they told us how much worse our benefits were going to be. The culture set in after a while though and I went through several years of being miserable. I know, many people would kill for a job like that one, or even any job at all. I told myself that every day. I had no right to complain. My wife always reminds me of the day that she came home to find me with my forehead on the desk in front of the computer. We both knew that I was done. With her support and encouragement, I was going to get out of there. It was over for me and The Borg.

It has been an interesting transition however, and in spite of palpable ups and downs, things seem to get better every year. I wasn't laid off but I did lay myself off. So many of the people in Erik's excellent film were speaking my language. Things can be tough at times, but like them, I have no regrets.

Get Erik's film! See his blog here: http://www.pleasefeedtheanimals.com/about-me/

Location Portrait Photography That Tells a Story

I love working with professional people who understand the value of story telling with their on-line photography. This executive wanted a traditional head-shot for certain applications, but also wanted a series of location portraits that would tell a story about who he is, what he does and would present a professional, sophisticated image. Photographing at an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the goal was to show him instructing and interacting with his clients, as well as simple portraits in an office environment that would convey his professionalism and friendliness.

What's The Difference?

As a freelancer, two of my roles in this operation are marketing and sales. I hear all of the experts: branding blah blah blah differentiation blah blah blah engaging blah blah blah. Can you hear it? Obviously that's all important and unless I or someone I hire does that for me, I will be a very lonely freelancer indeed. It's a given that exposure to the right audience is essential. There is a ton of advice out there on the tubes of the internets as to how to go about making that happen.

But what makes what I do different from all of the other photographers out there who are marketing to the same people? I have actually read articles that say things like: 'you don't have to be the best photographer to be a success'. While that may seem encouraging if you, like most of us, have insecurities about your work, it's also a really convenient excuse to let up on pushing yourself to create more and better work. The race to the middle! Is that where success lies?

If 5 photographers make themselves visible to a potential client through their effective marketing and sales efforts, and they all seem to be the same in the eyes of that potential client, which one does she choose? (If no one raises their hand I will have to call on someone!)  The answer is: they choose one at random, or one who answers their email request for a bid. Clearly, there are other factors that, in the real world, come into play such as a usable web site, as opposed to one that re-sizes the browser, plays music, has slippery, ever moving and morphing navigation controls that scream: GET ME OUT OF HERE! What other factors might make a potential client choose one photographer over another, all things seeming equal? Proximity of the photographer, referrals and references, the consistent message put forth in their web presence, etc.

Have I led you up to the precipice of the obvious yet? What's the real differentiator? Remember, if no one raises their hand...  Answer: It's the work!  Photographer Nick Onken has written a good piece here that you should take a look at, BUT COME BACK! http://nickonken.com/blog/2011/01/the-quality-diversity-of-your-product.html

People have a penchant for sameness much of the time. Kids don't want to be different. It seems to be an instinct at some point in our human development. At times it does makes sense to emulate success. That's clearly valuable as a learning tool. I think where it becomes destructive is when it is a mantra, such as the misguided conventional wisdom that standardized testing of school children is going to generate a well educated population. I can tell you that if there had been a standardized test to graduate from high school when I was that age, I might still be there now trying to pass it. But say such a methodology were to be successful. What has been accomplished? Millions of identically informed people who have never been encouraged to be different, to think critically or to be creative. There's a prescription for success...

Assuming that your marketing and sales thing has been taken care of, although it is always ongoing, and the presentation of your work is of a high quality and consistent, both on-line and in person (read: have a great book*), THE most important thing is the work and how it is better, more creative and different than all of the others from whom a client might choose. It's so important to keep pushing yourself, to keep growing and stretching, both technically and artistically. And equally important is to push yourself to do personal projects as well as the work you do for business. Hopefully, you soon will be able to see the two come closer together so that the work that people hire you to do is the kind that you love to do.

*If you are not sure of what I am referring to at the asterisk, please call my friend Selina Maitreya, or read one of her books!      http://selinamaitreya.com/

I have sprinkled this post with some recent work that I like, for no other reason than to show it. Plus getting it out there will force me to go out and create more :-)  So here are even more!