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Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog

Exploring the World of Outdoor Photography with Tips, News, Imagery and Insight

Dan Bailey's Adventure Photography Blog
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Category Archives: Emerging Pro

The Art of Business, by Camrin Dengel

Posted on December 7, 2012 by DanDecember 7, 2012

Today another guest post from emerging pro photographer Camrin Dengel. A talented shooter who seems to have a solid head for business and marketing, she’s someone to keep watching as she forges ahead with her career.

The Art of Business, by Camrin Dengel

Like most things in life, the outdoor photo business often becomes about who you know. This is true whether it means knowing models/athletes, editors or marketing specialist, or peers/mentors/big names in the industry. But when you’re just starting out how do you begin to make these connections? It takes a bit of work, as I’m finding out myself. Establishing contacts is much harder if you’re new and unknown. I’ve found that it’s extremely helpful to have connection to respected, well known adventure photographers.

They’re people that can help with reviewing work, getting you gigs, and sometimes just to ask for advice or show you the ropes a bit. Having those connections might even get an editor, peer or athlete to give you more time. For me editorial connections have proven to be such a big helps as well. Editors or other work relationships can help in similar ways by passing your name along to other individuals in the industry or by giving you credibility as a professional. Eventually this little web of contacts will turn into a larger pool to pull from and companies, editors, and the rest of the photo world will start to recognize your name and your work for being your own… I’m still working on this.

When you’re first starting out there is also the predicament of making yourself appealing to a client without lowballing the competition. When everyone and their mother has a fancy camera and are willing to give their photos away for free, how are you supposed to make a career out of shooting? I’ve found marketing my work to smaller companies is often much more rewarding at this point than aiming for the big names right away.

However, I’ve noticed a trend in nonexistent photo budgets and offers to trade photos for gear with these smaller companies. This seems AWESOME at first and then a few months into it you realize that while all these goods are nice they don’t pay the rent or help buy for groceries. So what do you do? Do you say no to the offer for free gear and keep your images for what seems like a rainy day? My opinion is yes and no. When bouncing my thoughts on this off one of my friends she said, “Come on Camy, we know you’re going to blow a big part of your pay check on gear anyways.” and she’s right.

As a photographer in the outdoor industry there’s a closet … or a garage full of toys that you need/want to have on hand, especially when you imagery bounces from whitewater kayaking to skiing, mountaineering/climbing to biking, and so on with additional subheadings under each sport. So the truth is that new, nice, expensive backcountry/outdoor gear in the mail feels like Christmas and that gear it is an important part of this business, but so is a dependable income to pay for gas, winter heating bills, plane tickets, and the occasional meal here and there.

My observations have lead me to believe in sometimes saying no. While editorial work most of the time has fixed rates, and is a take it or leave it kind of deal, working with individual companies requires negotiation. You can’t let them get away with throwing you free swag as payment or extremely low rates.

While breaking into the business has a huge learning curve, I’m realizing that it’s just a process of building that base. A base of a solid archive of work to pull from, connections in the photo world, a knowledge of marketing yourself, pricing your work, and a growing plethora of photo skills. Everything builds on itself. You’re just climbing the ladder. Every once in a while it gets overwhelming and I have to take a breath, break it down to the very basics and remember why I’m doing this.

Because I’m an artist.

——————-

An outdoor lifestyle and adventure photographer, Camrin grew up in Valdez, Alaska where she developed a passion for the outdoors. Whether she is skiing in the mountains, kayaking on the river, or just about anything in between, there isn’t much in the way of adventure that she’ll turn down. Along with her passion for photography and playing outside, Camrin enjoys brewing her own kombucha and window shopping gear stores. For more of her work check out her website and see here featured work in Women’s Adventure Magazine.

Follow @Danbaileyphoto
Posted in Emerging Pro, Guest Post | Tagged adventure photographer, adventure photography, Camrin Dengel, guest blogger, outdoor photography, photographers, photography, photography business | Leave a reply

It’s Not About Success, by Anne McKinnell

Posted on September 6, 2011 by DanSeptember 6, 2011

Today, a guest post from Emerging Pro columnist Anne McKinnell, who is currently enjoying an extended road trip away from “real life.”

———-

During my 17 years of self-employment, I always organized my work so that I could take a month off every summer. I renewed my interest in photography a few years ago and noticed that some of my best images were made during these vacations when I had time to experience new places, find inspiration, and experiment with new techniques.  It’s just not the same when you only have a day on the weekend to create your masterpiece.

When I started planning my career switch into photography, it was hard to take people’s advice to keep my day job. I know it is tough making a living in photography. But I also know that, for me, doing it part-time would not equate to giving it my best shot.  To give this a fair shake it needs my full attention.

So I decided to take a risk. I sold my house in Victoria, BC, took half of the money and put it away for the future, and I’m spending the other half taking a year-long travelling adventure with the goal of photographing as many national parks and beautiful places in North America as I possibly can.

I get different reactions when I tell this story around the campgrounds: all the older people tell me I am wise to take this adventure when I am young while I still can; all the young people look at my like I have two heads and ask me what I’ll do when I get back.

I think the older people understand something that most younger people do not: it’s not about money or success, it’s about enjoying your life, and if you wait until retirement you might not get to do it at all.  There is more to life than money and owning stuff.

So many times I have looked back and wondered where the last year went. Often I would have memories of that month long vacation, a few boating trips, and some visits with the family. All in all I could account for about 2 out of the 12 months being memorable. The rest of it sped by.

So far, in my new life, I have been travelling for 3 months. It seems like a lifetime ago that I lived in my house in Victoria. I have made so many new memories since then. People say time flies when you are having fun, but it seems to be the opposite for me. Years fly by when I’m wasting them doing the same thing day after day. When I’m making new memories, time slows down. Now I am inspired, I have time to imagine new creative ways of expressing myself, I have time to experiment and play.  Now I’m living!

If you want to make a similar change in your life, I have one valuable piece of advice for you that has been the key to the whole thing. Without it there would be no adventure. No Debt. Debt is the one thing that keeps you tied down and prevents you from making choices. Start paying off your debt. Stuff doesn’t matter, sell your stuff, it owns you. When you have no debt you are free.

You don’t need to have a ton of money saved up to travel or to quit your day job to pursue your dream. You can afford it as long as you have no debt. Many people have found ways of travelling or making other life changes with no savings at all. And with a little time on your hands to think, I have no doubt you will find your own creative methods of accomplishing what you really want.

I don’t know if I’ll be successful in my career switch, but now I understand that it isn’t about success.

Take risks:  if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.  ~Author Unknown

To find out more about Anne’s journey, follow her adventures on her blog: http://blog.amckinnell.com

Follow @Danbaileyphoto
Posted in Emerging Pro, Guest Post | Tagged guest blogger, landscapes, outdoor photography, photographers, photography, travel photography | 11 Replies

The Benefits of Negative Thinking, by Anne McKinnell

Posted on January 26, 2011 by DanJanuary 26, 2011

The most difficult thing on the road to going pro is figuring out where you want your road to go.  I started off on the road because I love photography and am ready for a change in my life.  I want to do something creative and spend more time outside so I started thinking about how I could make a business out of it.

My experience in project management came in handy as I worked through some business ideas.  One of the ideas combined my boating experience, business experience and photography into one exciting marine photo tour adventure.  My clients could be tourists or amateur photographers.  I would need a bigger boat, which is a significant investment and sent me further down the planning path to make sure I wasn’t making a mistake.

One key ingredient in any good business plan is the risk assessment.  I tried hard not to think negatively at first, but my business experience told me I should, at least just for a moment.  Thinking hard about the risks to my personal satisfaction I came up with these:

  • I might not become a successful photographer if my focus is running a tour business
  • I might end up in the poor house with a giant debt from buying the boat
  • I might hate working with people because I am a loner at heart
  • I might do all this work to change my life to something I like better, and then not like it better

…and then the worst risk of all came to me …

  • I might stop liking photography.

This is when I realized I might be on the wrong path.  It stopped me dead in my tracks.  Not only because I like photography and it would be a shame to loose all enjoyment in something I like, but because photography changed my whole outlook on life.

A person’s inherent characteristics have to be taken into account.  I have to be honest with myself: I am a negative thinker, a depressed person, a loner, and I see all the bad the things in the world.  The world is an evil place and a lot of nasty stuff happens.  I have to put real effort into seeing anything good.  And that’s where photography comes in.

To help myself become a happier person, I decided to photograph only beautiful things.  No more graveyards, homeless people, and injustice like I used to shoot way back in my university days.  I leave the darker side of life to other photographers.  (I also had to stop watching crime shows on TV.) Using the camera to focus only on good and beautiful things helped me change my outlook on life. If beauty and goodness exist, the world cannot be entirely evil.  I am trying to follow the advice of Dewitt Jones and “celebrate what is right with the world”.

If I lost the one thing that helps me see goodness in the world because I can’t stand working with the public, because I am stressed out over debt, or because photography becomes a J.O.B. and not a passion, I risk loosing all the happiness and appreciation for the world that photography has helped me find.  I would go back to seeing only bad things.  That is a risk I cannot take.

So, with a big sigh, I started my planning all over again from the top.  I have done a big round trip, but one I think was worthwhile and probably saved me a lot of grief.  I would still like to create a successful photography business but it has to be done in a way that relates to  my ultimate purpose: to create beautiful images that inspire me to believe in the world whether I make money or not.  After all, if the goal is making money, I would be better off staying in my current career.

If I want to live my dream, I have to carefully define my dream so I don’t end up on the wrong path.  There are much worse things than ending up in the poor house.

————

Anne McKinnell is an emerging photographer based in Victoria, BC. She shares her insight here each month as a voice to other aspiring pro photographers. Read Anne’s other articles on this site.

photos.annemckinnell.com • blog.annemckinnel.com • Anne on Twitter • Anne on Facebook

Follow @Danbaileyphoto
Posted in Emerging Pro, Guest Post | Tagged articles, guest blogger, outdoor photography, photographers, photography business | 11 Replies

Losing Balance: A Guest Post by Anne McKinnell

Posted on November 30, 2010 by DanJanuary 26, 2011

I’m excited to welcome my first guest blogger to the site, Anne McKinnell. Anne is a talented photographer from Victoria, British Columbia. Not only does she shoot beautiful images, she’s got some great insight about being an emerging pro, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Pro, Guest Post, Personal and Pro Insight | Tagged architecture, blogging, guest blogger, landscapes, outdoor photography, photo industry, photographers, photography, photography business, social media, social networking, Twitter | 1 Reply

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