Note: I recently published an article with the same title, so I am updating it here. This is a new article.
More About The Business Of Photography-Update
By William Lulow
The business side of making photographs is really distinct and separate from the actual process itself. You won’t be a success in the photography business unless people buy your work or commission you to make images for them. So, it really doesn’t matter how good your photographs are unless people are willing to buy them or hire you to make them.
This all might go without saying, but if you plan to make a living by taking pictures, you had better find out not only how to make the best images you can, but how to get them to the right people, those who will be in a position to actually do the hiring.
But then, let’s assume that you’ve done all the studying you can, you have amassed a great portfolio of images, you have displayed them on a well-thought-out and put together website, you have done some outreach to art directors and photo editors and you have some consistent presence to these folks who are in a position to hire you. You then receive an inquiry about your services from a prospective client. They have a job to do and they want to know what you would charge to execute it. They sketch the parameters for you and you get back to them with a quote or estimate. You then learn after a couple of weeks go by that they have hired someone else to do the job that you know you were “right” for and that you could handle easily.
There are myriad reasons that this kind of scenario might play out. (1) They thought your price was too high or too low. (2) They had someone else in mind from the beginning but wanted to get other bids. (3) They found another photographer’s “personality” to be better suited to their needs. (4) They found another photographer’s studio closer to their offices. (5) Even though your images were great, they liked another photographer’s images better. (6) They wanted to use a “name” photographer just for the experience of working with them. (7) They had an established procedure and a “list” of photographers from which they could choose.
These are only seven reasons I came up with for why you didn’t get a particular job, but there could literally be dozens more. Each and every time you are being considered for an assignment, many reasons can come in to play for why you do or do not get the job. So, as photographers, we have to be prepared for these things and not take them personally. I have said many times that it is harder for models and actors not to take rejection personally because they are trying to sell themselves as well as their work. As a photographer, it is very possible and probably likely that there are folks out there who won’t like your work. It is part of what being an artist is all about. We have to prepare ourselves for these kinds of eventualities and just keep going.
Here is a shot I did for a client who actually liked the image, but didn’t use it because she thought it didn’t “look like her” :
This image was made in the studio with complete hair and very little makeup.
This is her old shot which she says looks more like how her colleagues see her: (I kind of wonder why she came to a professional photographer in the first place.)
The point of this article is that there is really no accounting for taste on many levels. Different people have various ideas of how they like to work and the results they want. Communication is very important so that you really understand what is wanted from any assignment. Photographers and other artists who do their art commercially have to be ready for all eventualities and simply continue to persevere with their own art.
