Photographers’ Websites

Photographers’ Websites

by William Lulow

When I was just starting out as a photographer in New York City back in the late 1970s, I had a nice portfolio that I would carry around on various interviews with ad agency and magazine art directors. Most of the time, these folks were so busy that they really didn’t have time to sit down and have a conversation with photographers AND look at their “books,” (as portfolios were dubbed in those days). They would arrange days when photographers could “drop off” their books for the art directors to review. So, even back then, your book would have to speak for you and itself. On one such drop off day, I counted roughly 200-300 books in the hallway outside one creative department’s office. They promised to get back to you if they were interested. If they weren’t interested they would just call and tell you that they were finished looking and you could pick up the book. This was, more often than not, an exercise in futility. I did it more than a few times and never landed any substantial jobs from it. Most of the jobs I did get were from word of mouth or some AD seeing my work in a publication. (I did a few jobs for PEOPLE MAGAZINE in the late 1970s). 

Sometimes art directors would look at books when they were looking for a particular kind of image or when they just wanted to see what the latest crop of new photographic talent created for them to view. 

Then, there were the established publications in which photographers could showcase what they could do. Probably the most famous of them was the old “Creative Black Book” which was a “go to” book that was delivered free to agency and magazine art directors, but pages cost photographers sometimes $1,500-$2,500 or more to place their ad page in 1980 dollars roughly (which is almost $6,000 today for a one page ad. This might just be an entire year’s ad budget for a small studio operation. That would be roughly 5% of a yearly gross of $50k which would be the equivalent of $200k today). As an aside, only one photographer I worked for in those days, took out an ad in the Black Book, and 5% of a yearly gross is a common figure for what a small studio should pay in yearly advertising. 

These books were thick indeed, filled with examples of work from photographers mostly in New York City, but from around the globe as well. Some well-heeled photographers often bought multiple pages or spreads in the Black Book. At the time, those ad rates were probably too expensive for beginning photographers. And, of course, you couldn’t just place your ad page just once. Ads have to be run several times before they’re even noticed. 

So you could imagine an art director who had to illustrate an ad for some company leafing through this book until he or she found just the kind of image they were looking for to use for their ad. Most of the time, they would be searching for a “style” of photograph but often they would find just the kind of product or service they were selling and decide to call the photographer’s studio. The next steps would include a discussion with the photographer and the photographer’s “rep” (someone who represented him or her and, of course, earned a commission which was often 50% of the job). Often, the art director wouldn’t know much about a “new talent” she hired. All she saw was the samples of her work. Many times the art directors would know of a famous photographer and want to work with them on a project, no matter what the project was. I have sometimes said that a good photographer could probably photograph anything and get some great images. And this was sometimes the case. But until a photographer got recognized from enough assignments, how was an art director to know if he or she could produce what was wanted and on schedule? 

Fast forward to the digital world of today! How do prospective art buyers know what you can do? There are no more “hard copy” portfolios. Today there are only WEBSITES! 

WEBSITES

These days your website must speak for you. It must show prospective art buyers not only the types of images you produce regularly, but it must also try to let them know who you are as a person, not just the human behind a camera. So the website must contain some type of clue to the photographer’s personality. Sometimes the photographer’s subject matter will offer a clue to his or her personality but when you are dealing with images on a screen, you really don’t know much about the way the photographer does business. 

Websites should be indicative of the kind of photography being offered. They should show that the photographer is able to produce the same result under different circumstances and for different clients. Repeat business shows not only talent but professionalism as well. If you do different types of images on a regular basis, it can demonstrate your versatility and ability to handle assignments professionally. People will look at your work and expect the same kinds of results from any assignment that might come your way. 

Since I am also a photography instructor, I endeavor to make that fact known on my “Home” and “What’s New” page but on my “Blog” page as well,  that is published every Tuesday & Friday. So, people who are interested in finding information about me, hopefully will attempt to delve a bit more deeply into the website. Those who are cursorily looking at the images might not find out things they should know before hiring me. I have also noticed that many people tend to search for services, especially talent, on their smart phones. Websites do not display the same across the various platforms (desktop computers, smart phones or tablets), so photographers need to do the best they can to have websites that can be accessed easily on all such devices. Since mine has a fair amount of information on the home page with a SIDEBAR, I have noticed that the sidebar is displayed AFTER all the home page images on my iPhone, therefore, I have put a notice for smart phone users that sidebar information is displayed at the bottom of the page to facilitate more people accessing it. My current banner shows me teaching with only one of my typical portraits because I have been doing much more teaching than I have in the past. As I mentioned, information comes after the images on my home page, so I wanted to convey my teaching abilities in the banner. The middle image shows me on the floor, shooting pictures of my oldest granddaughter for her parents’ announcement card. 

This is a representation of the kinds of assignments I do on a regular basis:

It shows that I have worked for the same publication many times, and therefore can be relied upon to produce the results they need every time – an important consideration for any commercial photographer.