February 9, 2017 / For photographers
The harder you squeeze, the less you get.
Luckily for me, I work in an industry where information, help and advice is ‘usually’ shared freely.
When I started my career as a photographers’ assistant in London in the 90’s, there were the professional photographers that would take the time, that would help, share and advice their assistants. These had nothing to fear, they were at the top of their game; they were masters of their craft and were successful.
Then there were the other photographers. The ones that expected you to rip of their clients, the ones that never helped or showed you their techniques. The ones that squeezed everything they could and yet ended with very little.
Which ones do you think are still working now?
In an age where there will be a Youtube clip of anything you need to know and a million and one forums that will help anyways, why should you be so guarded?
I’m the photographer that during a wedding fair, I’ll go and say hi to all the other photographers. usually, they are as open as me and as welcoming. Sadly, recently, I went and said hello and the photographer completely blanked me, in a completely rude way.
Shocked and perturbed, I explained this to the other photographer who was exhibiting there and he explained that the exact same thing had happened to him too.
During the wedding show, this other photographer and I fed clients to each other. If I couldn’t do a job, I would take the clients to him and vice versa. It worked.
Being a photography can be a solitary existence. Surrounded one day by a huge team of other creatives, only to land back at our offices and studios with only a couple of monitors for company.
So, my advice to you is share. Share all you can, share your experience, share your knowledge. No one is going to rip you off, or go behind your back and steal your clients, in fact you will gain much more than you ever thought.
I am going to write a lot more about my experienced in both film and digital, in both studio and weddings – drop me a line below in the comment box or contact me and tell me what you want to read about.
