I've got four things you can do to get
more work as a photographer on today's
episode of everybody welcome back Here I
am as always answering your photography
questions don't forget to go to
askDavidBergman.com
you can ask your own photo questions
right there.
Today I've got two questions on a similar topic.
The first one is from Craig W and he asked
I'm a venue photographer, and would like
to work with the bands so I can
photograph more than the typical first
three songs from the pit or soundboard.
Each time I reach out the request is
ignored, how can I make the right connections?
And then I have a related
question from Keith K. who simply asked
how did you become Luke Combs tour photographer?
Alright what both these
questions are is really about how to get
work as a photographer, I love talking
about this stuff, it's not just aperture
shutter speeds and lighting, it really is
about the business things you can do for
any kind of a service-based business to
separate yourself so that you can get work.
Of course you need to produce
excellent images, that's a baseline,
that's a given, you have to be a very
good photographer, we're always working
on our craft, as an artist, as a creative
person, you're always going to be
developing that, but once you get to a
certain point, a certain skill level, then
you're going to be competing with a lot
of other really good photographers.
There are so many great photographers out
there that you are competing with.
So how do you stand out?
Well I've found that there are really four
general things you can do that are equally
important to help you get noticed,
the first one is be persistent.
Back when I was in college I
wanted to work at the Associated Press
and this was in Miami, and they were the
big game in town, those were the big
photojournalists, and so I went into the
office and met with bureau chief Phil Sandlin.
Phil I hope you're still doing
well down there in Florida, and what I
did was I bought a box of prints that
was all I really had at the time.
I didn't know how to put together a really
solid portfolio, this was a long time ago,
pre digital, so I brought in a box of
prints and he was very kind and he said
you know your stuff looks good, call me
in the morning, and if there's anything
available, any assignments, I'll give you one.
I thought oh great I'm in right, this
is this is what I've been wanting,
and I said what time do you get in in the
morning he said 7 a.m.
Oh man, anybody who knows me knows I'm
not a morning person, but nevertheless I
set my alarm 6:45, I'd call him in the
morning.
Hey Phil, David Bergman, anything going
on today?
Nope.
Okay thanks, and I'd hang up next day
called him again 6:45 hey Phil Dave
Bergman...
Nope still nothing.
All right, so here's the thing after three or four
days of this most people give up right?
That's where you say... oh man he was just
being nice, he really didn't want to give
me any assignments, he doesn't like my
work, he doesn't like me, whatever.
So I'm gonna give up, that's what most people do,
but if you are persistent, what I did on
day four or five ... I asked Phil,
I said hey is it okay if I keep calling,
he said - yeah no problem, I was like okay,
be careful for what you wish for right,
so I am very persistent, so I called again every
day, this took three weeks right, I
actually don't remember exactly how long it
was, it felt like forever, but it was two
three, four weeks, something like that,
calling every morning 6:45, and
eventually I don't know if he felt bad
for me, or if it was just an assignment
that nobody else wanted..
that was probably the case,
he gave me am assignment...
yeah if you want to do this thing,
down in Key Largo,
it was a drive and it was a
long drive, nobody else probably wanted
to do it.
I said yeah man, I'm in, and I did it and I
did it as best I could.
That picture wound up running in USA
Today the next morning,
and then Phil called me that morning and assigned me
to go photograph Don Shula at Dolphins
Training Camp and that began my next
level of my career at the Associated
Press, so eventually I got the job full
time with the Miami Herald.
So that really is what kicked it off,
and it was because I didn't give up,
and I kept being persistent,
I gave him an out, I sort of asked him if it's okay,
and he said fine, all right, and so that's why
I kept calling, I didn't want to be
obnoxious about it, but I just didn't
give up, when most people would have.
Alright that's number one, number two,
you want to follow up, follow up his key in
this kind of a business right again back
when I was in high school I wanted to
work at a movie theatre, and that was
just the thing to do I guess,
and what I did was, I went in and I filled
out an application,
a paper application and they
said yeah okay thanks and they put it in
a stack, and I saw them put it in a stack
of papers that high, and I went home and
and as expected I didn't hear anything
from that big stack, so about a week
later I went in, I went back and I said
hey you know I applied here about a week
ago, I was hoping I could get an interview,
and she said oh what's your name
Bergman.
Okay she found my my paper in that pile,
and said you can go up now and have an
interview with management, and what I
realized was nobody else who came in and
followed up like that, was going to get
an interview,
there were just too many people,
so they couldn't possibly,
they weren't just gonna go randomly
down that giant pack, right,
so by going and taking the advantage of
you know going above and beyond and
doing that,
and making that follow-up,
I was able to get that interview,
and wound up selling popcorn
at the movie theater, so whatever it is,
you know just following up is key,
all right, that's number two, number three
as I just mentioned,
go above and beyond doing things a little
bit extra that most people won't do,
for example in my business I like to give
thank you prints.
I like to make prints when a client is..
goes you know, is a little bit helpful,
they do anything nice for me, a manager
of you know a band member, whoever it is,
a publicist, whoever it is,
I want to go above and beyond,
and give them that little extra thank you.
So I've done this many times in my career,
make a nice,
I have the Canon Pro 1000 printer at
home, I'll make a nice 11 x 14 print on
matte paper or fine art paper, and leave
a border and sign it and date it, and
send that to somebody.
By the way,
if you don't have a good printer like that
there are some great companies out there
like Printique I really love Printique
they make great fine art prints.
So I'll put links to all this stuff down in the
YouTube description,
but you know you can
have that stuff printed and then have it
sent to you so that you can sign it and
package it up really nicely, and send it
to your client, I can't tell you how many
times you know, a year later I run into
somebody they say oh man, thanks so much
for that picture, I have it hanging on my
wall I look at it every single day I
didn't even know they received it, they
never acknowledged it, I didn't want to
be pushy about it, but you know I find
out later they've actually been seeing
it, and then when I do see them again
that clicks, and it all comes together
and we're best buds at that point right.
So you just never know, it's just good
karma to do that, you never know when
that stuff's gonna come back around, so
that's just one example of going above
and beyond all right, and then number
four you need to develop a thick skin.
Here's the thing you're gonna hear no
a lot more than you're gonna hear yes,
that's just the nature of the beast,
there are way more photographers than
there are clients out there, so you're
gonna get a lot of no's, I still get a
lot of no's, this deep into my career.
Let me address Keith question about
becoming Luke's photographer,
whether it's Luke or Bon Jovi or Sports Illustrator,
or any of my best clients, these took years and years
of persistence and going above and
beyond, and I got a lot of no's with Bon
Jovi - I was after every possible band
that I could, I really wanted to tour
with a big Stadium band around the world,
and they were just one of the many bands
that I was reaching out to, and if I, over
the years have I met somebody who said
they were Jon Bon Jovi's brothers
cousins, uncles, attorney, I would give
them a PDF or a print or something,
and hope that they could pass it along and
then honestly mostly, most the time never
led to anything right, but it's just you
just got to keep pushing and keep
putting stuff out there.
That's gonna be no's and it was constantly
no's with Luke's... with Luke Combs...
his manager is somebody I met,
an old friend who I met 15 years ago
when I was working for another band..
so I was able to make that connection,
and again when I wanted to do
these photo workshops,
these 'Shoot From The Pit' workshops,
I approached every band that I ever worked
with, every manager, every producer,
anybody I ever knew about
this idea, and it was all no's until I
got to Luke's manager, and then they were
nice enough to say yes, and it's been
very, very, successful for them, and for us.
So you just got to develop a thick skin,
there's all kinds of reasons why people
would say no, that have nothing to do
with you, and you just can't possibly
know what it is, but if it's just, if you
put it up enough of it out there,
eventually you're gonna get that yes, and
that's the only thing that you're gonna
see on my social media, you're only I'm
only going to talk about the jobs that
happened right, you know I'm not gonna
tell you about all the ones that didn't
so, and then Craig's question in
particular about getting to the bands as
a venue photographer, here's the thing
you were playing the long game man.
You're not just, you can't just contact
them once and they say no, and that's it,
right, you've really got to be in this
for the long haul.
It doesn't happen overnight,
so you have an advantage in
that you already have access, so what I
would do is, when you're at the show
maybe come early and introduce yourself
to the tour manager or the production
manager.
You don't want to talk to the band you
don't want them to think you're
a fan necessarily, that's not the perception
you want to give off, this is business.
You're a working photographer, so
meet the people behind
the scenes who are really the important
people to meet, so the tour manager,
whoever it is you can get to, tell him,
tell him or her that you,
you'd love to send them an image or two
after the show, then follow up the next
day, make sure you send one or two killer
frames, they have to be really great you
can make them web size with a small
watermark, so that they can post it on
their socials.
I wouldn't send high-res files for free,
I wouldn't send a hundred
pictures just one or two great photos.
Size down so that's really all they can
do is and tell them, you know feel free
to post this on your show, so if you'd
like I'd really appreciate it and then
hopefully that goes well,
they write you back that you know they
post it, you write them back,
you follow up...
'hey thanks so much for posting'..
that it looks great - can you can you give
me a mailing address I'd like to send you
something right,
and then you go ahead and make a
beautiful print and you mail that to
them right, if they're going to be in the
same city two nights in a row for
example that's even better, you can go
back the next night and give it to them
personally, but maybe they're even in the
same region within a couple days, and you
can make a road trip and go to their
next show, if you can do it in person
it's obviously better, but if not go
ahead and mail them that print, if you do
go back the next night or something, you
have no intention of shooting, you don't
want to assume that you're there to
shoot, you just want to give them the
print, just do something nice for them
and that's it, of course be prepared have
your gear in the car or whatever, just in
case you know.... it comes up... hey we might as
well shoot tonight, sure you can do it,
but you don't want to do it for that
reason, you just want to do something
nice for them, don't expect anything to
happen right away, and then one more
thing, the next time they come to town
whether it's six months, a year, two years
later, you want to follow up with them.
Again, don't be too pushy,
but when you contact maybe say,
hey remember you know,
we made that great picture you posted
last time, hope you really liked it, I'm
gonna be shooting this show tomorrow
night, maybe I could have a little more
access, maybe I could shoot the whole
show, I think I can make some great
pictures with just a little more time,
or a little more access...
if you can do it that'd be great,
I really appreciate it...
right something really nice like that, if
their response is positive then you're
in, right, so there's a fine line between
being persistent and being annoying.
I know I've probably pushed that line a
couple times in my career, but once in a
while you're gonna actually get better
access, it's gonna work out,
so then again make sure to follow up,
yet again when they give you that better
access, make that print,
do something else, find a way
to thank them for that.
After developing a relationship over time,
then you can pitch the ideas to actually
do some work right,
things that are going to help them.
With Bon Jovi we sold photo prints and we
made coffee table books,
and we I generated revenue right.
So I was able to pitch them with that,
with Luke it's about the workshops,
and so once you can find a way to help
them, instead of just -
hey I'm a good guy, and a good
photographer, you're going to hire me...
it doesn't work like that, so it's a
business, find a way that you can help
them, now imagine doing all of that.
That was one band,
imagine doing that with every band you
photograph right, it's going to build up
over time, and eventually you're going to
get somewhere with one of those bands.
Now if you're not a venue photographer
like he is, you can just apply all of these to
your own business,
really with any kind of service business,
remember those four things.
Number 1. Be persistent do not give up.
Number 2. Follow up try to help them -
don't only reach out to ask for something.
Number 3. Go above and beyond.
They'll remember people who did
something extra or unique, and then
Number 4. Develop a thick skin, don't
equate your self-worth with whether
someone says yes or no, there are lots of
reasons why they may not be able to get
to hire you at that time.
I've been doing this for 30 years,
these qualities build on themselves like
compound interest, so this and many
other businesses are
really all about relationships.
People like to work with people they know,
like, and trust of course, you have to be very
good at your job,
you have to be a very good photographer,
but if you apply these other four
principles you'll be on your
way to a long successful photo career.
Thanks Craig and Keith for asking that,
I really appreciate it, don't forget your
own photo questions, go to
AskDavidBergman.com
There is a forum there you can
fill it out,
you can also see all my gear on there,
all the old episodes as well,
and then of course you're here on
Adorama TV there's so much great free
photo content from a bunch of great
photo hosts.
So thanks for joining us here on Adorama TV,
don't forget every Monday morning,
Ask David Bergman comes out.
I'll see you back here next time.