Commercial Photographer: Your Guide to Marketing, Creativity and Growth

Paul Cooper has been a professional photographer for over 30 years. He is currently a commercial photographer. But, in the last 30 years he has shot most types of photography. His photography business Baily-Cooper Photography is run with his wife. They also have a photography education business called Master your Photography. Master your photography caters for everyone from someone who wants to buy a photographer and doesn’t know what to buy, to professional mentoring. Before Paul was a professional photographer, he was an amateur photographer. His parents got him a camera when he was 18. Him and his wife married, and photography was still a hobby. Paul worked for ten years in IT working on the first PCs that came out. After ten years Paul took the leap and setup the business. As the business grew, they realised they needed a second photographer in the business, so Paul’s wife left her job and joined him. Paul then got his professional qualifications with the British Institute of Professional Photography and the Master Photography Association. This process was back in the days when the training available was through face-to-face meetings in the associations. Marcus asks how Paul and his wife divide up the work. Paul says that Kate his wife tends to do babies, young children and families. He tends to do corporate work, and then they come together for big projects. But they can mix it around as they wish. Sam asks why they are a limited company as many photographers don’t do this. Paul said they did this years ago on the advice of their accountant. He also thinks for larger jobs it can give more kudos. They discuss style and developing a style and having a passion for it. Initially photographers tend to copy other photographers and then go on to use those influences to develop their own style. Paul says that many photographers don’t understand lighting and it is a very important factor. He says his business has spent more money and time on lighting than on cameras. There is another podcast about lighting here. Sam asks Paul about the teaching side of the business. Paul says customers tend to come from the photography work they do anyone. For example, clients chat about a camera they have and don’t know how to use. He does offer videos etc. but many people want to come into the studio and lean how to use their camera face to face. They will also go into business and work with a group of people to help them do things like get their own PR shots.  Paul says that with just a little training people can take much better photographs. Paul’s main advice for students is just to go out and use your camera as much as you can. Marcus asks Paul if he has any favourite photographers. Paul says Bob Carlos Clark. Bob gave Paul the inspiration to become a photographer. Later Paul went to his studio and Bob made him a frittata in his studio! He was a boudoir photographer before that was really a “thing”. Marcus asks Paul to explain his roll with the Master Photographers Association. Paul has been on the qualifications side. Photographers can put a panel into the qualification panel for judging. Paul says the two reasons a photographer would want to get a qualification. Firstly, it pushes you creatively. Secondly, it’s good from a marketing perspective. You can shout out about the qualification, and it differentiates you from other photographers. The qualification process is that a photographer has to put together a “panel” of around twenty photographs. All of those should be photographs you have been commissioned to take. They can’t be from personal projects.    

The ten principals of Flash Photography These apply to all types of light including natural light. 1. There are only two types of light, hard light and soft light. Hard light is the sort of light you would get at midday in a sunny place. Very contrasting light. The imagine it’s a cloudy day then the light becomes soft. 2. The closer the light is to the subject, the softer the light. And so the further away the light is to the subject the harder the light. 3 As you move the light source from the subject, the light intensity drops very quickly. If you double the distance the light is from the subject you quarter the amount of light that reaches the subject. 4. The harder the light is the more contrast you have. Contrast is highlights and shadows. The harder the light the further away from each other the highlights and shadows become. So in soft light the highlights and shadows are closer and have more variations in between. 5. A shadow will have a hard edge with high contrast from a hard light. It will have a soft edge and low contrast from a soft light 6. Light can be direct or indirect / bounced. A direct light comes straight from the light source. Indirect light is often bounced off something like a ceiling or reflector. By reflecting the light you are changing the size of the light source. 7. Light travels in straight lines, unless it meets an obstruction. So particles of light behave like snooker balls, they bounce off objects. Grids are objects that go over lights to channel the light to prevent it spreading out and as hard light is becoming more popular, so are these. 8. Light coming from the side of a subject will show more texture than a front on light. You can see this in landscape photography, when photographers tend to like early morning or late evening light, when the light is coming from the side, which gives more texture. 9. Flash light varies in speed. The speed of a flash is measured using it’s T number. If you are capturing moving subjects, like sports then you need very fast flashes so that you freeze the action 10. If using flash outside, especially on a sunny day you will need a much more powerful flash than you would indoors. So for indoor photography you don’t need that much power from your flash.  

This episode is an interview with Fiona Scott a PR specialist. To start Sam and Fiona discuss the difference between PR and marketing. Fiona says public relations encompasses every type of marketing as public relations is about any time your business contacts the public. Fiona says that means if someone says they can help you with all of your PR be very wary, that is a very wide field. Fiona’s specialism is in press communications. Fiona suggests that when you are starting business, get some advice about marketing and PR. You probably can’t afford PR or marketing, but get advice to help you get through the first few years. Marcus asks about the history of PR. Fiona said that Queen Elizabeth the first was one of the first people to control the images that went out of her. Marcus was thinking of Edward Burtynsky who took the ideas of Froid and applied them to PR. Sam bring in the idea that images and photography are vital to PR. Fiona says she will only ever work with people who have photos that re renewed every 18 months at the most. Fiona has a retained photographer in her business as photography is so vital to PR. So PR could be a good source of work. And offering a retainer to regular clients can be a great way to get a regular income as a photographer. It’s important when working on a retainer that you make it very clear what is covered in the retainer deal and what is not. Fiona says the best photographers she has worked with do a wide range of photography, portraits, weddings etc. She also says that photographers are often awful at getting their own headshots done. They need to ensure they keep their photographs up to date. Marcus asks how photographers can get involved in PR. Fiona says start localm and get in touch with PR companies within your own communities. Call them up and ask to meet. Fiona says there can be issue with copyright and PR. PR businesses need to pass photos on to other businesses, like newspapers. Therefore the PR business needs the right to do that and so the copyright for the photograph. Fiona says that a PR business can send the photographers details with images sent to press. But, the press do not have to credit the photographer. But a photographer can of course share on social media when their work has been used in the press.   Marcus asks what makes a good PR photograph. Fiona said that if you want to work with the media your photographs need to be media friendly. No plain backgrounds.  The background needs to help tell the story. Landscape only, portrait is rarely used unless you are being used for the front page of the magazine.  Usually they want a 1 to 3 Mb jpg. High end lifestyle magazines may ask for higher quality. Having lots of photographs to hand that you can send at a moments notice can really help you get your photographs published.  Product photographs are a little different and do need a plain background. Fiona suggests photographers should get out on strong weather days, snowy, windy etc. Get out there, get some images and then very quickly send them to newspapers, and other media in your community. You can get hold of Fiona here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thefionascott https://scottmedia.uk/

Are you a photographer who's ready to finally get found on Google? This week's show is the first in a three part series on SEO, revealing the most important step in the entire process.• Why doing any SEO work without a proper plan is a complete waste of time, and how to create a strategy that actually works.• You'll learn how to choose the right keywords and geographic areas for your business and use a simple tool to check if they’re worth going for.• What your domain score is and why it's a vital number to know before you start any work on your onsite or offsite SEO.

Maureen helps elevate peoples Linkedin profile. She helps them create more opportunities and visibility. That creates more leads and more business. Maureen tells her story. She started off in the world of sales and marketing. She went from telemarking to field sales. To then running sales teams working with tech startups. As a Sales and marketing director LinkedIn was always her go to platform. She has always known that it is such a great tool. About 12 years ago Maureen had a son and wanted to work for herself. She started being a general marketing consultant. Before lockdown she was 50% marketing consultant 50% Linkedin work. During Lockdown this moved to being 95% LinkedIn marketing and only 5% marketing consultant. And this has stayed ever since. Sam asks about LinkedIn recent restrictions for those not paying to use LinkedIn. LinkedIn are now heavily restricting the number of people you can follow. So Maureen says it is getting harder to use, but is still a great platform to use. Marcus asks the difference between Brits and Americans using Linkedin. Maurenn thinks this just reflects the difference between US and UK culture and business culture. People are happier promoting themselves in the US than they are in the UK. Sam says photographers do like to hide behind their camera and really need to come out from behind it. Maureen says this is very understandable, but photographers do need to try and get over it. Maureen says having packages can really help, so you can get out onto LinkedIn and sell your package rather than have to sell yourself, which is harder to do. Maureen says Linkedin is used to give clients value and build a community. But she does do one sales post per week. It might be subtle but she always has one. Marcus said for a commercial photographer then LinkedIn is amazing as it is B2B. which Facebook and Instagram isn’t. Maureen says focussing on a sector really works well on Linkedin. Send out posts for your niche, use relevant hashtags. And connect to people in the right sector. She says with a connection message you should get 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 connections. But connection messages are being limited. But, you can still connect with more people without the message. Maureen says that if you spend an hour a day on LinkedIn you can achieve a lot. Send time posting, making new connections and follow up messages. Marcus says also that business people need photos for Linkedin for posts, headshot, banner images and more. So photography for people to use on Linkedin is a great area for photographers to work in. Sam asks Maureen some top tips for their LinkedIn profile. She says a profile photograph is a must. She has 5 pillars of success on Linkedin and the profile is one of them. Look like the top dog that you are. Your LinkedIn profile needs to be generating work for you. It needs to have an amazing tag line. It needs to really shine. Your banner needs to be excellent. As a photographer you can feature things like images you have taken recently. The more visual your profile is the more you will stand out.   One of Maureen's other pillars is let the other steal the show. So tell stories about other people you have been working with. Maureen says she gets customers by giving out hints and tips and talking about people she’s been working with.   You can find Maureen on LinkedIn (big surprise) or at her website https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureenlkane/ https://linkedinbreakfastclub.co.uk/  

Marcus has been using three pieces of software for a long time in his career. Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture one. But initially Marcus goes back to the history of retouching, which started only a couple of years after photography was invited. So “photoshopping” has been around from well before photoshop. Adobe photoshop was early photography software that started in the 1990s. Marcus remembers using this for the first time while he was at university. But back in those days it was slow to use due to the speed of the computers.  Marcus even had to do a photoshop exam at one stage and became an accredited expert! Lightroom came out after Photoshop. It is a very easy to use intuitive piece of software. Lightroom and Photoshop are complimentary pieces of software both made by Adobe. The difference between Photoshop and Lightroom is that Photoshop is designed to work at one image at a time, while Lightroom can do bulk editing. You can chose to edit a photo in one way, then apply that editing to lots of other photos. The terminology used in light room was the terminology of the dark room so photographers easily understood it. Photoshop also has many more uses than photography. Marcus uses it for all sorts of areas of his business such as making reels for Instagram or making posts for Linkedin. Photoshop has so much functionality that it can be overwhelming initially. Also it means it’s very easy to spend a long time on photoshop editing images. This can be a challenge for professional photographers, making sure they don’t spend too long using Photoshop. Capture one is the third piece of software Marcus uses. Marcus uses it’s ability to tether. That means Marcus works with his camera plugged into his laptop and the people he photographs can see the photos as they are taken. Lightroom can also tether but Marcus thinks this works better on Capture one. But Capture one is not easy to pick up and use.  

This week on the podcast, we're joined by renowned British advertising photographer and director, Joe Giacomet With his unique and vibrant style, Joe has created an impressive body of work for major clients. He joins us to share insights on his creative process, the importance of personal projects, and how a unique style can be your greatest asset.What you'll learn from this episode:Discover the secret behind Joe's distinct photography style and how it sets him apart in the competitive world of commercial photography.Find out why dedicating time to your personal passion projects is the key to unlocking major commissions and commercial success.Learn about the meticulous process and attention to detail that goes into creating a high end advertising photography campaign.

Sam and Marcus discuss consistency in your marketing. Sam says the basic idea is decide what you want to in your marketing, and do it consistently and well. If you look at businesses that are doing well through their marketing, they are being very consistent. That doesn’t mean that all businesses that consistently market, do well. This episode is sponsored by Website for photographers. Website 4 photographers help photographers get more leads from their websites. You can get in touch here info@website4photographers.co.uk 01482 765871 Planning The first stage of marketing is planning. You need to have your ambitions first of where you want your business to be. You then need to think about what you need to do to get there, in terms of marketing. But, be realistic about what time you have for marketing or the budget you have for marketing. So be ambitious in your targets, but realistic in the time and/or budget you have for implementation.  Marcus says things take way longer than you plan for. But, Sam said this can happen initially, but, if you are being consistent and doing things again and again, you get quicker and more efficient at it.  Implementation Once the planning is done you need to think about implementing it. Sam says a daily or weekly plan is essential for this. If you have a clear plan for your day or week then you can ensure you make time for your marketing, or whatever else it is essential to do in your business. Marcus thinks that with photography this is challenging as you have to do photo shoots. Sam says it’s the same for every business. Having a weekly timetable that is the same for every week, like a school, doesn’t work. It needs to be done on a week by week basis. This can be done by photographers the same as everyone else. It can be easy to spend all your time processing photos. It is important to set time aside for marketing, accounting and other essential business tasks.  Use your weekly plan to help you implement your marketing plan consistently.  Sam talks a little about the sort of thing your regular marketing might be, like building a community on social. As you do marketing you need to be monitoring your sales and leads and seeing if your marketing is working. Make sure you ask everyone who comes to you as a customer how they found you. They won’t remember every time they have come across you, but they will remember something. Use the data to help focus your marketing and trim away the stuff that isn’t working. But ensure you have been consistently doing your marketing for a good while before you judge it. It needs more than just a couple of weeks before you can judge it. Marcus and Sam discuss touch points and how many touch points clients have before they will contact you. Different books say you need a different number of touch points before a sale. But you certainly need a good few. And the closer together you can get those touch points the quicker you can move people to a sale. Remember when you are assessing your marketing, that some touch points will not  be mentioned by clients and if you remove it, it might be detrimental to your marketing. For example they may have forgotten about seeing yuoir posts on Linkedin. But, that doesn;t mean they didn't help in the process of moving them towards becoming a customer. Marcus mentioned the idea of accountability groups. Where you hold each other to account. These can work really well at helping you getting stuff done. If you write a goal down its better than being in your head. If you add a deadline that’s better. But it’s a lot more effective if you then share these goals to someone that means you will put much more pressure in yourself to meet those goals. Marcus and Sam finish by discussing common marketing mistakes. One of them is of course, not being consistent in your marketing.

Toby Lee Toby is a headshot photographer in the UK. His business is called Headshot Toby. He has been a Headshot photographer for 7 years. He started out working with actors and those in the entertainment industry. He is now in Lincolnshire working more with businesses. Toby started out as an actor and went to one of the top acting schools in the country. During his final year at acting school, it was essential to get a professional head shot. His headshot was done by Robin Savage. Toby felt he really enjoyed the process. He happened to have a DSLR he bought to make films. And he started to use it to take images of his friends on the course. He felt that friends were spending lots of money on headshots. He ended up taking lots of headshots of his friends on his course and got great feedback. Gradually he was spending more and more time on the photographer while nothing was really coming in on the acting front.  Eventually he decided that photography, not acting was the way to go. This was Toby’s business for about six years. Covid put a stop to this work with actors not work. At that time Toby and her wife made a decision to relocate to Lincoln and Toby transitioned from photographing actors to working with people in business. Toby feels the styles he was using for acting headshots, he is now using in business headshots which means he has quite a unique style. Marcus and Toby discussed that not that long ago a business headshot was a simple head and shoulder shot with a plain background. While now it has evolved into something much more. When Toby first started to work with businesses, while working with actors, he found it difficult trying to take those dull simple headshots. But now he does much more interesting ones for businesses.   Sam and Toby discuss the fact that people will make snap assumptions about you from your headshot. The headshot also becomes like a logo that people will recognise as they scroll through LinkedIn. Also this images needs to be updated and kept fresh from time to time. There is a balance in using these images between recognition and over exposure. Marcus asks about the process. Toby says it’s all about the interaction with his clients and the photos are almost a bi-product of this. Toby has to build up the client to a point where the client will feel positive about the photos, but also positive enough so they feel able to use them on social media. He finds that on arrival customers tend to come with five minutes of “verbal vomit” where they make lots of negative comments about how they look. Toby lets them get this out but then starts to talk to them and build them up. Toby things it’s important to play for time. So gradually build them up let them get comfy in the space. He also spends more time than he needs faffing with equipment and getting “test shots”. During this time Toby is just building a relationship with them before he starts taking the photos. Then before long Toby can feel the trust has grown enough and he can start. Sam and Marcus said this reminds them of the episode about listening with Colin D Smith where he said it was important to listen when people speak and relax into the space. Toby says when his clients leave they say they have had a great experience and are really looking forward to seeing their photographs.   Toby thinks he has lost some work to people using an AI app. But, Toby says he is not really concerned about this as the personal element in the headshot is so important. That building of confidence is so important. But Toby thinks also that AI will help with the post photoshoot work. Toby said lots of photographers in the APHP helped him. Robin Savage, Nicolas Dawks, Gareth Bailey and Adam Hills. They let Toby come to sessions and assist on shoots, which really taught Toby an huge amount. He found these more inspirational than photographers he found online. You can find Toby at https://www.headshottoby.co.uk/

Marcus has a wide experience in fashion having worked in it for many years, and then being a fashion photography lectures.   It’s a team sportFashion photography involves a team of people, not just the photographer. This might include hair and make up, stylist, model and assistant. Marcus says as a fashion photography there is no need to know anything about clothes. This is the job of the stylist. Stylist As a fashion photographer you need to build relationships with a good stylist. We have a podcast episode where we interview mens stylist Nick Hemms. Hair and make up people who are good at fashion shoots are hard to find. It’s important to note that fashion make up is very different from other types of make up. Assistants are very helpful on a shoot. They mean you are able to focus on the model and the look, while the assistant is working in the background on the setup. Models are a vital part of the fashion shoot. Marcus says fashion models often look a little different, have a striking look. It is vital to find a model that helps you get the end look you are looking for. The simplest way to find a model is to talk to a model agency. Marcus says they often have new models on their books who are looking for gaining images for their portfolio. But before an agency lets you work with them they will want to see some of your work. Fashion vocabulary Look book. This is a photograph usually with a plain background where the garment is front and centre.   Editorial This is a series of shots that often are telling a storyShooting ahead In the fashion world the photography is for items coming out 6 months ahead. That means that in the summer you could be shooting ski wear and bikinis in the winter Edging / street look vs. episode Catwalk / print The look is very differentCall sheet This is a list of everyone on the shoot and all the information about the shoot. Ready to wear vs haute couture Make sure yuo know the difference The September issue – This is a film about the fashion world that Marcus recommends watching.