A Photo Assistant » take action

PDN and PDN Online Photo Assistants Survey

Tim Olsen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:49:06 +0000

PDN and PDNOnline are conducting a survey of photo assistants: what they earn, what skills are in demand, how they find work, what skills they would like to learn. PDN’s editors want your input if you have assisted in the past 18 months. The survey results will be published on PDNOnline in March.

It’s a totally anonymous survey, and takes about 10 minutes to fill out. Here’s the link.

After taking the survey, respondents have the option to enter a prize drawing to win a $100 gift certificate to a mail order photo retailer. To enter the drawing, survey participants can provide an e-mail address on a separate Web page that guarantees the confidentiality and anonymity of their responses to the survey. (In other words, survey responses go anonymously to one server, while e-mail addresses are collected on another server.)

PDN thanks you for helping us-and your fellow professionals-by participating in this important assessment.

A Photographic Benefit for the Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake

Tim Olsen — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:49:50 +0000

From MagCloud:

Several photographers including the iconic photojournalist Mary Ellen Mark, have donated the use of one or more of their works to help create this issue as a fund-raising photography magazine to benefit Haiti. The title Haiti: One Respe comes from a traditional Haitian greeting meaning “honor and respect.” See the article at OneMag.

How To Email Photographers To Get Assisting Work

Tim Olsen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:17:57 +0000

Email Campaign example

This is the second installment of the Attracting Work and Staying Visible in the Photo Community series.

Now that we have some photographers that we want to contact, we can start thinking about HOW we want to get in touch with them. There are many ways to do this, of course–phone calls, snail mail, knocking on doors, working at rental and camera stores–but I have found that sending an email is the best ice-breaker.

There are basically three important reasons to start seeking photo assisting gigs with email.

First, by sending an email, you are introducing yourself to the photographers you are trying to get to know. You are showing some initiative to the photographer that you are interested in working for them in a way that the photographer can handle with their schedule. It’s easy for them to read your email whenever they have time. Photographers are usually very busy, and some may find it distracting when, assistant after assistant, is calling on the phone or knocking on the door without an appointment. Obviously, this won’t help you. I find that an email gives the proper amount of “urgent discretion” that most photographers find agreeable. Also, once you’ve established some rapport with a photographer or studio, by continuing to send occasional emails helps you to stay on their radar. Many times, it’s the most recent assistant who has contacted a photographer who gets the job.

Second, is that it gives you total freedom to express yourself. You have total control over what you send, who you send it to, and when you send it. You can send out the same layout to zillions of photographers, or just a few. You might customize your template for a few special photographers you really want to focus on. You can attach a few shots of recent work. You can link to your blog and your website. You can just send out a letter with a resume. It doesn’t matter, just do it, but do it well. I started out just sending text emails, illustrating my skills and experience in a sort of advertorial. Then I started adding some images. Now, I use a program called Email Campaign, which allows me to create an HTML page with color and image and text options.

The third reason email is so appealing is that it’s basically free! If your ISP limits the amount of outgoing messages you can send each day, just send out 20 less per day than your limit, and send out all your bulk email over the course of a week or so. Otherwise, you can pay an inexpensive monthly fee ($2 or so) to increase your daily outgoing limits. The purchase of Email Campaign, or other software, will help you in designing and managing your emails, and is just a one time purchase (about $50-100). Or, you might use an email marketing service like Constant Contact or MailChimp, which will also incur some expense, but at least you won’t be licking or sticking postage stamps! The point is, that, sending emails can be free, or at least very inexpensive, and give you ultimate control.

As I began accumulating photographers in my address book, I would send out a simple text email to five studios at a time. My email was essentially a mini bio, highlighting some of my skills and background. Resume writing skills come in handy here, as you want to make yourself shine and be the star that will really help the photographer. Be honest, positive, and resourceful. Make your message unique and stand out from all the other emails that will also be in the photographer’s in-basket. Keep it simple, easy to read, and to the point. Give the photographer or studio manager a call-to-action. You want them to call you and find out more about you and have you come in for an interview and then hire you! Make it happen with an awesome email that will illustrate your character, skills, and passion for photography.

Add a photo of your own work into your email. It doesn’t have to be anything pertaining to working as an assistant, but it could be a shot of you working on-set or on-location somewhere. A shot of your own best work, which shows your own abilities as a shooter is great. It shows the photographer that you are serious, knowledgeable, and able-bodied. These days, I am creating assignments for myself, which work into a design or layout with a particular art direction or brand that I am creating for myself. Ultimately, this is what you will be doing as a shooter for your clients. So why not start practicing now? Look at the emails you get for ideas. Research what other photographers’ are using for their own publicity and marketing materials and try to emulate them with your own style and flair.

If you want to take this a step further, design an email campaign, which will encompass multiple emails over a period of time. A photographer does this to show a body of work on a particular subject matter, or previous ad campaign, to art buyers and ad agencies. You can choose a subject to explore photographically from different approaches, and incorporate a creative art direction using text, graphics, and color.

Send out your emails regularly–maybe every three to eight weeks. There is no right or wrong time-frame, but you ultimately want to stay on everyone’s radar without being like the kid in grade-school who is always raising his hand, squirming in his seat, and begging to be the one to get called on. Perhaps the best way to accomplish sending out your emails regularly is to make a schedule and stick to it. This will create a sense of urgency and help you keep creating new content for your emails.

Here’s a few other things to consider while creating your emails:

•   Use the words “photo assistant” in the subject line.
•   Personalize “Dear Photographer,” so that you insert the photographers first name into the greeting.
•   Illustrate at least one of your skill sets with an example of how you achieved a task or solved a problem.
•   Include links to your website or blog, and always include your phone number in your signature so it can be found easily. I have designed and built different text signatures, as well as graphical banners in Photoshop, then include them at the end of my emails. Many times I’ve gotten jobs because a photographer found my recent email with my phone number on it.

Keep in mind that sending an email to a photographer that you want to work with is just the beginning of the process. As the Attracting Work and Staying Visible in the Photo Community series continues, we will look at more ways to begin, develop, and continue relationships with the great photographers we want to work with.

A Photo Assistant Gets MetaSmart

Tim Olsen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:57:58 +0000

Last Friday night I attended an overview presentation about the use of metadata in digital files at MCAD, presented by David Reicks and made possible by the Stock Artists Alliance Photo Metadata Project, thanks to a Digital Preservation award from the Library of Congress. I had posted last spring about the getMetaSmart website and the upcoming presentations around the country. I was unaware that Minneapolis had been added to the tour, and found out last minute and decided to attend.
The meeting was informational, going into into uber-geek depth, much of which I was unable to absorb. No worries, everything is on the website at photometadata.org… videos, tutorials, and tons of articles. Make sure you check it out and get MetaSmart!

10 Ways to Attract Work and Stay Visible in the Photo Community

Tim Olsen — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:38:07 +0000

A few weeks ago, Brian, a photo assistant in Minneapolis, emailed me and asked how I had been keeping so busy with work over the summer. He mentioned how slow things had been for him and how frustrated he was getting because the phone wasn’t ringing. He was besides himself, worried he was doing something wrong.

All I can really say, right off, is just hang in there. It probably has little to do with anything you’re doing. It could be something you’re NOT doing, but, I believe the biggest issue affecting Brian, and many of us in the photo industry these days, is the recession. It has definitely upset the scales, as far as supply and demand goes, so you just need to be patient, but stay disciplined and diligent in seeking work. You still have to go through the motions to let the photo gods know that you’re still available, willing, and able. Until there is more work, we all just have to weather the storm.

Now, I don’t know what Brian, or anyone else, is exactly doing to attract work. There are many things that a resourceful and proactive photo assistant can do to stay visible and communicate their availability. But, at the same time, if you’re just listing yourself on the ASMP and APA websites, and making a couple calls and sending a few emails, here and there, you can’t really expect everyone to be busting down your door with job offers… especially in a recession. At any rate, I figure this is a good opportunity to share with everyone some of my techniques for seeking work. They aren’t that revolutionary, but I do believe them to be tried-and-true. My methods are simple and require just a little creativity and resourcefulness. So, over the course of the next few weeks, I will share my thoughts, ideas, and techniques for attracting work for photo assisting, through a series of blog posts titled Attracting Work and Staying Visible in the Photo Community.

The following is an approximate list of topics I will cover in this series, so you can perhaps do a little pre-pro of your own. If you don’t see something you think I’ve omitted, and want to see covered, let me know in the comments.

Emails.
Phone calls.
Website/blog.
Online networking (Twitter, Facebook, Linked-in, etc.).
ASMP, APA meetings, networking, and membership.
Flyers, post cards, and biz cards at professional camera stores and lighting rental stores.
Classifieds in PDN and workbook.com.
Online Forums — prophotoforums, ASMPproAdvice, APAnet, APAdigital.
More online resources like Photocrew.com, 1ProPhoto.com.
Even more online resources such as Craigslist, OMP, model mayhem (to find models for trade, stay active shooting, keep visible).

As the Attracting Work series unravels, you will begin to understand how every action supports all the other actions, creating a sort of a universal magnet. If you work just a little bit of each technique into your daily or weekly routine, over time you will expose yourself to many photographers, studio managers, producers, and other industry professionals which will eventually lead to more work.

Until then, happy shooting!

How to Find Opportunities to Shoot

Tim Olsen — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:04:06 +0000

Last week, I was at a local coffee shop meeting with a friend who I had done some head shots for. We were doing a little editing on the fly and talking about how to make our picks–what to look for, what to throw away, etc. The morning barista was closing out her till and asked us what we were doing. After I explained to her about the head shot session I had done with my friend and now his interest in hoping to use a few of the photos to assist him in his job search, she offered some feedback, and a dialogue opened up between the three of us. Turns out she is a theatrical costume designer.

After our little meeting of the minds, Megan, the costume designer, asked me what I shoot. I always struggle with this question because it means it could lead to some work, but answer it wrong, and maybe I’ll blow it… who knows. My shooting tends to be of the generalist variety, but I always like photographing and working with people, no matter what the application, and this is usually my response. I have found it allows me to find out more about what the person is looking for, and then let me adapt my answer to hopefully fit their needs. Turns out that Megan was just looking to get some on-stage (theatrical) production shots of her costume designs, so naturally, I could accommodate her needs. She informed me that there might be some other photographers there to shoot also, and that she couldn’t pay for my services, which is fine, at this stage of the negotiation. She was just looking to get some telling shots showing her designs at work. The hope here is that this little shoot will lead to bigger and better things. Bear in mind that I will retain the copyright on all images and any further usage will still be negotiated. Perhaps the production company, director, or the play-house will see something they like and approach me for other work or want to purchase rights to an image I shot.

The point here is that you must always be on the lookout for shooting work, either paid or unpaid, and whether or not you’re still assisting. Continually developing your skills and developing your portfolio as a photographer is a must. Always keep your eyes sharp and your ears peeled! Networking opportunities are everywhere, even when you least expect it.