Sunday, April 8, 2018

Is Not A Professional Portrait Photographer Nanaimo Supposed To Be Glamorous?

By Ryan Graham


Everyone s rather pensive relative to the festive atmosphere but moments prior. Soaked to the bone, he wiggles them hoping to shake the numbness taking hold of his fingers. Resigned to play on, reminiscent of musicians on the sinking Titanic, the organist gradually retakes his seat at the instrument. Thumbs through the sheet music for the appropriate organ score, and gently lays his trembling fingers on the keys. He looks over, and once the groom makes eye contact, he raises his eyebrows. The gesture requesting permission to start his rendition of Here Comes the Bride. Nothing s going as planned! But when operating a portrait photographer Nanaimo, you have to learn to prepare for the unexpected.

At the outset, it comes across as quite a glamorous profession. You get invited to events celebrating very special occasions in people s lives. Everyone s dressed in their Sunday best, and you are included as the witness to the most memorable moments. And at the end, you get paid for it! Say whaaat? It is no surprise everyone with a digital camera and a pc are queueing up around the block trying to get in on the action. To some, becoming a wedding photographer would be winning the lotto. Little do they know, the odds of succeeding in the profession are just as unlikely.

With clients having very specific sets of preferences and expectations, one has to learn to roll with the punches and just take it on the nose when it comes to rejection. But all too often, aspiring artists, apologies, photographers, take the blows to heart, and they lose all sense of proportion. The true test of one s mettle is how well they are able to adjust to the fact that as good as they are, not everyone s going to like their work.

Staying committed and refining your abilities, in spite of rejection, becomes an almost alchemical process. One s trials are the flames that transform the lead of one s doubts into gold, the pressure that converts the coals of one s character flaws into diamonds, developing the distinguishing quality that separates the wheat from the chaff of, feel free to insert any appropriately half baked analogy here. In essence, in order to stay ahead of the pack, one has to keep pushing ahead.

That is why a special effort must be made to always make a good impression. When around 80% of a cameraperson s business is based on the referrals of past clients, knowing how to put one s best foot forward becomes the name of the game, Tom Brady. When it comes to occasions celebrating holy matrimony, a wholly collaborative affair, networking and treating everyone respectfully, besides being the right thing to do, opens doors to future prospects too.

Despite the financial implications, one should be wary of booking every person interested in one s services. It is typical for a cameraperson to only accept half the jobs they are offered. The nature of the beast is primarily relationship based. So, delivering clients a consistently high standard of service places some massive commitments on one s time. That is why the pros raise their rates. Overbooking, and therefore overworking, is a rookie mistake.

Generally, making your services more exclusive, places them in higher demand, justifying a higher price. Economics 101. Everybody wins. At the end of the day, keeping everyone at the shoot happy while still having time for all the post production aspects of the job, soon becomes a juggling act that would make Bozo proud. When one s profit margin takes priority, job satisfaction soon takes a backseat.

One of the main perks of being self employed is it affords you the ability to set your own schedule. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. As much as you love your career, there is so much more to life than earning a paycheck. You owe it to yourself, and your loved ones, to dedicate at least a few days of your week to something other than turning a profit. After all, you are an aspiring artist and art cannot be rushed, so enjoy the process!




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment