My amazing friends, Coco and Breezy have recently inspired me to write my story and keep sharing my journey. They have an amazing one that y’all should follow. Being an artist for a living, even a commercial one is definitely a journey of passion, sacrifice, and joy; and I’ve experienced them all. Someone once said, to really know what it means to be a successful artist, you have to have been able to cook breakfast while sitting on your bed. It’s more hard work than you’d ever think as everyone tells me I live the dream, and I do.. But living the dream also requires extreme drive, motivation, hard work and sacrifice, but most of all passion for the actual craft.

So, lets start here.

Chapter 1: The Early Days & Design Days
Back when I was a kid, I always had some sort of an artistic bone in my body. I started drawing and painting in middle school and did AP art in high school. The only part of those cards that photography played was an intro class in high school and college that were required parts of the programs. I never thought anything about it. I always had a passion for graphic design, and from high school, that’s what I loved and chose as the track to set myself on. I never even knew really, what a professional photographer did, nor really thought about it much through out my design career. After a couple years of working as a book cover designer at a small publishing company in Seattle, I went off on my own to freelance design. I started picking up small projects, but too small to have any sort of photography budget. Around that time, digital cameras started getting to a decent quality so I saved my pennies and bought one. The Sony f707, a glorified point and shoot camera. After shooting a bunch of random abstract images over a few months, I put them up on my design website. At that point, my friend had just returned from Africa because he volunteered to help an organization set up a computer network for them. That made me wonder how I could give back to the world and travel at the same time. The thing with design was you didn’t HAVE to be there. Then I had a thought, what about taking pictures? You kinda have to be there. So I pitched a non-profit client that I was doing design work for, the idea of splitting the expenses on a trip to Africa and Europe to shoot a photo library for them. At that point I had no clue what I was doing, but had the ambition to make something happen with little risk to the client. The trip went well, the client was happy with the images, and my world was rocked. I went to Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya & Burundi, and had never been to the developing world like that before, let alone Africa. It took me months to recover from the contrast of experiencing the 3rd world the first time then jumping back into American life. How could we live like we do when others are starving? Seeing and experiencing it first hand changes your perspective on life, and as an artist.

Chapter 2: The Discovery of my New Passion
As I slowly recovered from my African immersion, I began to keep hobbying around with my camera and was introduced to a photographer, Jim Garner who I began to do website updates for. Over the course of a few months, I began to pester him with questions regarding to photography amidst working on his site. Eventually he invited me on a shoot to see what it was like, and eventually I was helping him out a couple times a week on average. I began grabbing attractive friends and asking to shoot them so I could learn first hand which eventually led to testing models from the local agencies in Seattle in my free time. Jim eventually sat me down one day, explained the economic possibilities of the photography business and told me I need to be a photographer. I remember shortly there after, I made the decision to fully jump in. My problem with graphic design was that I was a bit blazay with it. I enjoyed it, and even loved it, but I wasn’t driven. During those years, I always thought “maybe I’ll have a firm one day.. or something” As soon as I decided to become a photographer, I could where I wanted to be in 5 years and knew I would do everything it took to get there.

Chapter 3: The Tough Transition
This is where the struggle begins. This is the part where I tell people it’s the hardest especially if you are later on in your life and are used to making a good living. THIS is the part where you figure out if you’re cut out for this line of work. It can definitely be a dream job, but it ain’t no easy task. The transition from the past and beginning of the journey is the same to any entrepreneur, a struggle(unless you have a trust fund, but if you have a trust fund it’s hard to really know what it’s like to struggle). The bright side is, if you TRUELY love the craft for what it is, you’ll do what it takes to succeed. It’s all a puzzle that you work backwards from, figuring out the pieces to your life and lifestyle that get you to where you want to be.

As I began to embark on this new found journey, it wasn’t easy. I had to do everything I could to make enough money to pay my bills, while freeing enough time to learn my new craft. I lived in Seattle, in a basement room of a house which my friends called “The Dungeon.” This allowed me to pay a very low rent payment that freed me up to put any money I made into my photography business. I also ate very cheaply and didn’t take on any debt. Overall this also allowed me to not have to work ‘as much’ to cover my expenses which freed up my time to practice shooting, assist and learn. I did everything I could to achieve this balance from shooting tests, assisting, doing a few graphic design projects, and even an occasional wedding to make the ends meet.

Art is a journey, and especially photography. It’s something that only time can take you to where the level you need to be to make money at it. Something I was always a bit impatient to wait for and had to learn. I lived in a city where there’s not much industry in relation to what I do today so I felt like I was stabbing in the dark. it was also before the rise of free information and knowledge was being given away by everyone and their dog on the internet. All I could do is shoot on my own to the imagery I aspired to without guidance. Your portfolio is everything in this business. People hire you based off what they see, and when your work gets to the right level, they will hire you. That takes time and practice. You may think something you shot is the best thing that ever happened since sliced bread, but it may not be the right caliber.

Chapter 4: Just when you think you’ve made it
At the beginning of 2005, I got a pretty big Nike job through a digital agency. Back then digital agencies were a bit different in the fact that they really were a separate world than the traditional print agencies. The job was shooting pro sports players, Brian Urlacher, Ben Roethlesburger, Mariano Rivera, Albert Pujols, and a couple others. The job was insane, and a lot of figuring it out as it unfolded. The shoot was a success, and I thought I was in. The ball was rolling. Oh contrare. The next job I saw of that size wasn’t until 2 years later, and a hell of a lot of work to get. Meanwhile, the juggling hustle continued. Shooting small jobs like model tests, an occasional wedding, and other random jobs. In march I did another travel job for the same non-profit I went to Africa for which helped develop my travel work. I decided to move to Paris that May with the money I had saved. I wanted to live in another country that was photography centric, but a great city. I wanted to experience as much as I could because your work as an artist stems from your life experiences. I took half a year, and explored in Paris, and surrounding countries on the weekends. Moving to a new country, not knowing anyone is a big challenge. It pushes you to go out and make new friends, and learn about yourself. I shot some travel work, and did some test shoots out there. After realizing, although Paris is a wonderful city to hang out and enjoy, it wasn’t a place I wanted to foster my career.

Chapter 5: Another new beginning
Upon returning from Paris, I traveled around for about another 6 months and decided to move to LA more permanently. I realized I would never get to where I wanted to be, living in Seattle. I thought about moving to NYC, but at that point in my life of starting over in a whole new market would have been tough especially in shooting my own portfolio work. LA is way more conducive for that. When I got to LA, I pretty much had to start over from scratch with a higher level of expenses each month which made my lifestyle a bit tighter. Creating a new network takes some time in a new city when you’re trying to pay your bills. I was still taking freelance design jobs to help me sustain while juggling my photography business. Developing your portfolio is a constant thing, and something you should always be doing, and I was doing a lot of that. Later that year, I ended up going to Asia for 2 months for the non-profit and really hit my stride with my travel work. I came back with some amazing images and the next year, those images helped me land another Nike job traveling to Latin America for a couple weeks in 2007. Then to follow, it took me another year to get another big job and I had to juggle through that year.

Chapter 6: Gettin’ Repped
Around mid 2007 I got my first rep in LA, and after about 8 months of a couple smaller jobs, I realized it wasn’t a good fit for me in part of the arena, so I moved on. I learned a lot from that relationship because working with a rep is almost a marriage in your business. Things that work, things that don’t work. They all fit in to how you craft the next relationship, and you learn something new every time. After we parted ways, I slowly began to look for another rep that would be better fitting for what I was looking to do. Through an awesome connection, I was able to connect with five different reps that were interested in me, and applied what I had learned from my last rep relationship into interviewing the new ones, and landed with a great one in New York City. Having a New York presence was important to me as so much business happens here, and I wanted someone on the ground in that could represent. Shortly there after, I landed my first official advertising campaign. I think I was at the right part of my artistic journey at this point.

Chapter 7: Rockin’ and Rollin’
Since that first advertising campaign, the next two years(2009 & 2010) were rockin’. I was so busy, I didn’t even know what to do with myself. It was fun, and a great immersion into the world of a working as well paid photographer. Life was good. Getting hired to do what I do, Traveling every other week to some place new and living the good life. There’s something about these times in life where you have to just take what comes your way, and appreciate it because you never know when it will end, even when it seems like it never will. Those years, I landed so many big new clients like Cosmopolitan Magazine, Miller High Life, Coca-Cola, etc. There’s something about being on the adrenaline of being in so much demand it feels good, especially as an artist. When your living depends on the creation of art, which is such a personal and emotional product, you feel such an emotional high. Towards the end of 2010, I realized I wasn’t doing much shooting of my own that was fulfilling my creative soul.

Chapter 8: Cue Twenty eleven
When you’re on such a roll with certain work, you think it can only get better from there. Especially if the ball’s been rolling for a couple years, and snowballing at that rate. I rolled into 2011 thinking that after a pattern of a snowballing two years, that the ball would keep growing, but it changed. My business actually did quite well, but it was just a different year creatively than 2010. Good thing is, the other jobs kept coming. What was this attributed to? Who knows, but I think it was more of a lesson to me that not every year is going to snowball like it was. It’s just the nature of business. That’s why most businesses take the average of a few years to really see how they’re doing, and I had to learn the lesson of learning how to do this. When you’re used to getting hired often for your own art as I mentioned above, the opposite feeling can emerge when you’re not getting hired as much. It can take a toll on your soul, even though it probably shouldn’t but it’s hard to separate yourself from the personalization of art and commerce. So where does that leave me now? A bit more resolved from within, I still want the world, but one piece at a time. There’s always the constant reminder that this career is always a hustle, now matter how big you are, and whether it’s hustling for the money or hustling for the creative jobs that you want, it never stops. If you stop, you disappear.

Chapter 9: Re-Focusing
I will say this year has shaped up to be a great one. I’ve gotten some really cool assignments, including one of my dream clients, Conde Nast Traveler which I was excited to have the cover and a 10 page story in June. Most of the jobs I’ve gotten this year, I’ve enjoyed a lot more creatively and it’s been exciting. I will continue this track, and will be refining my focus as I go.

Never Stop Dreaming.

Finally had a chance to get an interview dropped here on the blog with one of my favorite people and photographers. We’ve had the opportunity to become good friends in our recent moves to the Big Apple. You can check out his website before you read his interview to get an idea of his great work. www.joaocanziani.com I’ve known and enjoyed Joao’s work long before I knew him. His portraits and travel work are great and he has unique eye. We ended up having the same rep and moved out here around the same time. We’ve explored the city by bicycle many of times. The man inspires me to take even more pictures than I already do.

NO: To give us some context, what are a few clients you’ve worked for?
JC: Lately, ESPN Magazine, Dwell, Afar and Glamour. But also some advertising clients like American Express, Nike, and Apple.

NO: How long have you been shooting?
JC: Professionally since I graduated from art school at the end of 2001. But photography was a hobby of mine since I was a kid.

NO: You recently moved to New York. How do you think that’s effected your career and perspective on photography?
JC: It’s really opened my eyes to a whole new world. At this moment in my career and life I cannot praise this city enough. There’s so much going on here in terms of art, photography, music, food, etc., that you have a constant source of inspiration. Not to mention that there’s is a thriving photography community that you can take part in and share ideas and experiences with. All this can be overwhelming as well… This city kicks your ass in a way; the competition never let’s go. So although it pushes you to become a better and more ambitious artist, it’s also necessary to take a break and get away from it every once in a while.

The important thing though is that it’s pushed me to do more personal work. And when it’s not personal, to regard each commission as if it was my last.

NO: One thing I really admire about your work is that you see an interesting composition in every day situations. Is this something you’ve had to develop over the years?
JC: Thank you. I very much think so. I believe an “eye” is something you hone in over the years. I think we may be predisposed to certain talents, but not until you practice the hell out of something you’ll get to discover or develop those talents. So yeah, it’s something that I strive in getting when faced with these shoot situations. In a way I’m very conscious that that’s what I need to get, but then I let go and just shoot. Going back and forth between this consciousness and instinct drives me nuts at times, but it’s through this struggle that I can really “see.”

NO: What are your thoughts on the artistic journey and learning to see?
JC: Like I said above, learning to see is about practice really. And true dedication and commitment to your art. The artistic journey can only be had when you have a rich, fulfilling life. And most importantly when you’re willing to take risks and have the courage to fail once in a while. If you’re always trying to be safe in your photography, your work will be boring and stagnant. I know this is starting to sound like a cliché, but it’s true, and cannot be emphasized enough. We get comfortable all the time, sometimes in our success, or in the thought that we’re “good” or “talented.” Once in a while you have to question and challenge yourself to grow, and at times you won’t be able to help it but have to take a step back.

NO: How does your life experience play into how you see as an artist?
JC: I think the fact that I was introverted and shy as a kid was ultimately beneficial, because I ended up relying on my own imagination to entertain myself and spend my time. It wasn’t necessarily sports, or being popular with other kids. I was in my own little fantastical world. Although it helped me, I’m glad that I eventually grew out of that. Perhaps it was that realization that there was a wonderful world out there that led me to a career in photography. And particularly what led me initially to an interest in travel photography. So funnily enough, it was the combination of both an overactive imagination and a natural curiosity about the world that led me to a photography career. (Which explains my interest in both travel photography and lit portraiture.)

NO: What has been your experience crossing over from Film to Digital? What are the benefits for each?
JC: I was a little rebellious at first in regards to digital. I held on as long as I could! But eventually decided to embrace digital, and I’m glad I did. It has enabled me to be a bit more experimental, try different lighting approaches, different compositions. With digital you’re obviously not tied to the number of rolls or sheets of film you have at your disposal. Money spent on film is not an issue in this case. So you can shoot at your heart’s content. Problem with this is, I find, is that one can get carried away and overshoot. Since there’s not a graspable sense of a limit with digital, you feel as if you just have to cover the hell out of the situation. I’ve always compared shooting digital to a machine gun, whereas shooting with film is like a revolver: you better have good aim.

Shooting digital seriously for a year though has made me realize that you can train yourself in this matter as well. As you gain more confidence in this new medium (because somehow digital gets you thinking differently about your approach), you learn to slow down. At least for me, I now know with a digital camera when I’ve gotten a shot. But I didn’t at one point. It’s a matter of trusting your instincts with a new camera, different way of focusing, new technology, the computer, and the whole process of going about it.

I can go on and on about this subject. I suppose a whole book could be written on the benefits of each… One thing that I’m saddened about is that film is no longer taught in a lot of photography schools. I’m sad because without my background in film I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the look and feel that my photography has with digital now. Film is a physical, chemical process. Film deals with color in discreet increments, for example. At school we used to print in the color darkroom with these little color gels with various increments for red, cyan, magenta, green, blue, and yellow. So if you added twenty points of cyan to your print, you saw the results minutes later, with a print coming out of the processing machine. Nowadays a lot of digital photography is so ugly and gaudy because a lot of people have too many options in lightroom and photoshop, more than they know what to do with it. I don’t think kids are learning color theory in such a physical and palpable way, which is a shame.

So the look I give my digital photography has a foundation in film. It looks as if I shot it with negative film, which to me looks more realistic.

NO: What are the technical differences you’ve seen between the two?
JC: Like I mentioned before, the technical differences are like night and day. (Ha! But I just realized this, it’s like I’m always trying to make the two of them meet in the middle.) Film is a physical substance, an emulsion on celluloid, which reacts differently to light than a digital sensor chip would. One could say the first is organic and natural, whereas the latter is well, digital… non-analog. It’s the little “imperfections” of chemistry and all the variables that we seem unable to control which bring that beautiful organic “creamy” quality to a print made out of film. Digital can be too exacting and precise in a way, that I’m always seeking ways to “break it down” a little.

Other than that another obvious difference I’ve noticed is the difference between cameras. Digital cameras are usually just two kinds: 35mm format, or 645 (or medium) format. You know everybody and their mother is shooting with a Canon 5D Mark II. There’s a real and weird democratization happening in photography because of this. (Or perhaps more like a homogenization…?) But with film there was (and still is) every kind of camera format imaginable: from 35mm to 645 to 6×7, 4×5, all the way to huge, one-of-a-kind polaroid sheet cameras.

It’s kind of an intriguing thing that is happening in our culture right now. Photographers used their cameras as another tool in their language of communication. In the heyday of photography, you could shoot 4×5 black and white film as opposed to color 35mm film, or wet-plates as opposed to color polaroids. But nowadays everybody’s shooting with the same damn camera, so a few are struggling to find a unique voice in a sea of sameness. Isn’t the same thing happening to spoken languages? Languages are now becoming extinct the same way that, say, polaroid cameras have become extinct. I know Russia is a huge country, and this is not likely the case, but imagine the Russian language disappearing from our culture… We would lose Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and so much incredible heritage. I wonder if the same thing is happening in photography…?

NO: How does each one make you see/shoot differently?
JC: With film you can’t see results immediately, so again, you have to trust your instincts and cross your fingers that you got the shot, or didn’t fog the film in the airport’s x-ray machine, etc. With digital you’re too reliant on all sorts of feedback built into the process, from the image immediately popping on the camera LCD to the art director and client being literally over your shoulder editing on the computer monitor the shots you just took. At the risk of sounding cynical here, I want to say I’ve made my peace with digital. I feel it’s more beneficial for commercial photography (fine art photography is another matter), because as long as you develop that confidence I alluded to earlier (the one where you learn not to overshoot), digital has the potential to guarantee the results you, the art director, photo editor, and client are looking for. It’s pushed me, in fact, to get better results in my assignments.

NO: What inspires you?
JC: A broad answer to a broad question, but a bit of everything I suppose. From the banal act of procrastinating on Tumblr or Facebook and seeing an image/painting/art whatever that triggers an idea in me and/or reminds me of something, to the more active task of going to a museum or gallery show. But everything in between is fair game: reading books and magazines, riding my bike through the city. Even going out for dinner or sitting at my local coffee shop stirs my thoughts. All rich life like this is valuable. Even procrastination can be valuable at times!

But I have to mention that I watch a lot of movies. I particularly love getting lost in old foreign films, or lately, certain European films such as “Let the Right One In” or “Revanche” for their lighting, composition, and sense of narrative.

NO: How has the industry changed in the years you’ve been a photographer?
JC: It has changed a lot. Digital, obviously, is now here to stay. Film has been relegated to a very small niche. Budgets have been cut drastically. I remember when I first started being sent to Thailand for only two days because the magazine needed to cover just one small beach resort, and a couple of shots at that. I was so lucky! That is absolutely unheard of, unless you’re – I dunno – Mario Testino.

Then because photographers are not being flown around as much, pick-up photography is more prevalent. Magazines are most times more willing to pay a photographer for a previously-shot story than to assign a photographer to that story and spend lots more money. Because of this as well I suppose stock photography is in a sucky state of affairs, with the market saturated with thousands of decent photographs selling for pennies a piece.

NO: What types of personal projects do you enjoy?
JC: I’ve enjoyed the “personal” personal projects, sort to speak, the last couple of years. Projects that are closely related to my own life, my upbringing, and where I came from. I was working on a couple of projects in my home town of Lima, Peru, with an emphasis on revisiting places I used to hang out as a kid, or had a special meaning while I was young. Next, I want to do a project on a couple members of my family, but I don’t want to reveal details until I have shot it.

NO: I’ve heard you talk about not having fear in photographing people on the streets. Can you elaborate?
JC: I wasn’t quite referring to a lack of fear of shooting people on the streets as much as having the courage to jump on the chance to shoot something as soon as you encounter it and as soon as you come up with the idea to shoot it. Too many times in my travels I’ve seen something on the side of the road that I’ve wanted to shoot badly, but because of time constraints – say, having to arrive to a particular pre-arranged location – I’ve decided to revisit at a later time. I’ve justified this by saying to myself or my assistant, “Oh, let’s get it on the way back.” But 9 times out of 10 this doesn’t work. Maybe the person sitting on the side of the road is now gone, or the light has changed, or who knows? The house you wanted to shoot got demolished in the hours since you last saw it!

There was this crazy huge abandoned billboard in the middle of this highway in Peru. I always saw it every time I drove this highway. But I never shot it, thinking it would always remain there since I knew it had been there for years. So when I decided to do the personal project I mentioned about my hometown, I wanted to shoot the billboard for it. But I couldn’t find it! I kept on driving the same spot back and forth, because they had removed the billboard. Everything is finite. Not sure if the shot would have been any good, but the point is to shoot it if it intrigues you. You can edit later.

NO: You’ve been one of my favorite portrait and travel photographers. So first off, what is your top 3 pieces of advice in shooting a good travel story?
JC: I would say the most important tip is to have courage. The same courage I talk about above. Don’t be afraid to approach someone or something. Of course, being sensitive to people’s privacy, or the environment around you, is important. But that is something that with practice you learn to deal with. With practice you’ll get better and smoother at persuading someone to grant you the access you need.

The second tip I’ve always found valuable from experience is to always make sure you have enough time to flesh out the shotlist you’re given (if it’s an assignment). Obviously it’s important to shoot what is important in the shotlist, but I’ve always found it so pleasurable to roam where you’re at and shoot what interests you and intrigues you. I got hired for my eye and for the images the photo editor and art director saw in my portfolio. A lot of times those images come out of that roaming. The shotlist may indicate you have to shoot a hotel, a restaurant, and a portrait of a chef there, but often the beautiful travel magazines will publish those unscripted spontaneous shots you found on the side of the road (see!). Those images are to me what completes the commission, because it provides a context too. Think about it, if you’re shooting only what the writer is talking about, then why should you shoot it if the writer is already talking about it? Your job is redundant… But if you shoot that and more you’re striving to provide your unique voice and interpretation to the piece.

The third is, do your research! And be prepared. This cannot be emphasized enough. Know what you’re shooting, know the culture and customs. Insist on a fixer or local assistant if necessary. Having someone that speaks the same language and be your liaison in that foreign country can make or break an assignment.

NO: Secondly, In your opinion, what makes a strong portrait?
JC: This is a hard question. A lot of times it is the way that the photographer has engaged with the subject. But sometimes a good portrait can be one where the subject is completely disengaged or absent-minded. Often a good environmental portrait can also be an image that feels more cinematic in nature, or candid in that sort of slice-of-life kind of way. To me a strong portrait is one that has a certain intensity, and in can either be achieved with the subject’s gaze, or the way the portrait is lit (I gravitate towards the more dramatic), or the composition. Irving Penn’s black and white portraits are some of my favorites because his compositions are composed of very simple lines, but are so strong and solid, with very simple tonalities. I can recognize his portraits from a mile away. They’re iconic.

NO: How has biking in New York influenced you artistically?
JC: Ahhh, the pleasurable question. I love biking in New York, as you know so well. On the most psychological level, it releases tension when the stress gets a little high. I can have a crappy day at the office with billing or endless retouching, but then I go for a bike ride and it’s as if I’m instantly cured. And then while you’re out there you get to notice the beautiful women walking the streets with their high heels, you notice the way the light interacts with the glass of the buildings and reflects on the opposite walls, you notice the myriad of colors and the architecture, you notice the chaos and the traffic and the jarring sounds. And then you take it all in and you realize why this city has been such a source of inspiration for so many artists.

You should follow Joao on all his social media entities to see his new work and thoughts. Here it is:
twitter.com/joaocanziani
facebook.com/joaocanziani
joaocanziani.tumblr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joaocanziani/
and of course www.joaocanziani.com

After the Make Better Pictures, and Show the Right People talk I did last week in Portland, I decided to share my recommended reading list with you all in blog form. This is a list of books that have helped shape my perspective in life and business.

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferazzi
This book was amazing in learning how to best network and build relationships with people. Keith focuses on giving and helping people without any pretense for reciprocation. Built on a philosophy of when you give to people it will be given back to you. Maybe from someone else or that person. It’s an idea of something I truly believe. If you give and help people it will come back to you. This book is one of my faves. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/ee2Hpr

The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris
This one is a great concept of designing your life and having it’s elements work for you to what you desire. Some of his concepts are a little overboard, but overall the book is a great read and changes the way you think about designing your life and lifestyle. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/evJYol

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
A basic well done study on economics of business and the culture of how trends/products hit their “tipping points”. Malcom talks about the different types of people that aid in the process. A good mind shifter in thinking big. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/fJ6ceF

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
Yet another fave of mine. Malcom does a study on successful people, why and how they’ve become that way. He talks about opportunity, hard work and talent. One of my favorite chapters is the 10,000 rule which many people have come to talk about. The idea that it takes 10,000 hours of practicing your craft to hit your tipping point of where enter into professionalism and success. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/hzW6g7

A Million Miles and a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
A book recommended to me by my homie Jeff Holt. This book shapes your perspective on creating better life experiences, essentially a better story. Experiences come through in our art and the more we make memorable moments in our lives the better our stories become. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/i4Vp2j

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kawasaki
Robert has many books on the subject of money, but learning and understanding how money works is a key essential in running a business. He talks about learning to see cashflow and how it works. This series of books goes hand in hand with the 4-Hour Work week. Learning how to use money to give you financial freedom and design the lifestyle you want to live. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/ffIdiO

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Creating a life of art isn’t an easy process. In The War of Art, Steven talks about the resistance and how it keeps us from creating. The resistance being that thing inside of us that makes us want to be lazy instead of getting to work. A perfect read for any artist. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/f0GmXb

The Brand Called YOU by Peter Montoya
In the business of a freelance artist, YOU are the brand. Everything you do is a projection of who you are and what your brand represents. This is a great read to help understand the idea of a personal brand and it’s outlets. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/faG2Ot

Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck
Yet another great idea, but a little over the top in some areas. Still a great quick read on using the world of social media, blogging, and the web 2.0 world to boost your brand. Youtube stars have taken this idea to a whole other level. Pick it up here: http://nonk.it/h6kPhj

Hey All, You’ve probably already seen the post for the Make Better Pictures & Show the Right People talk that I’m doing in Portland next week. Check it out if you haven’t. http://nonk.it/MBPSMP

Also, we are going to raffle off some prizes. We will be giving out 3 signed copies of Photo Trekking. The top prize winner will get the book and a 30 minute consult with me.

I’ll be doing a talk this coming January 11th, 2011 in Portland for the ASMP. I’ll be talking about making better pictures, and showing the right people. In the end, running a successful photography business breaks down to making better images, and showing more people. The key is the right people. Here’s a rough breakdown of what we’ll be covering. If you’re around Seattle, or Portland would be great to see you!

Making Better Pictures, and Showing the Right people

1. Shooting better pictures is ultimately what gets you hired and is YOUR product. You must have a great product to sell.
A: Curating your vision- Curate great photographs that you like, and break them down to why you like them. (inspired.nickonken.com)
B: ABS Theory- Always Be Shooting. This is the only thing that will make you better. Clicking the camera. Expanding your Default. Exercising the Decision Making muscle
C: 10,000 hours of hard work- Malcom Gladwell’s theory of putting in the time to take you through the artistic journey.
E: Testing- How to Set up a Test
F: Shoot Vertical, Not Lateral

2. Showing the right People
A: Getting your ducks in a row first- Create your portfolios, your website, your brand(developing a visual style before you invest in branding), and working with a consultant
B: Hiring a graphic designer
C: Editing
D: Creating a client driven website- Breakdown of my website, and what features I included and why.
E: Creating your own Branding Imagery- Iconic images you’ve shot that represent who you are. These are integrated into your promo pieces and brand extensions.
F: Promo Pieces- e-promos and Printed Promos. Samples of what I’ve done in the past
G: Creative Buying Decision makers
H: List creation- Agency Access

3. The Creative Journey
A: Transitions, Passions, and Sacrifices- Juggling the beginning years to get to where you want to be. Sacrificing and fitting the puzzle pieces together to make achieve the end goal.
B: There’s no such thing as Fairy Dust, Only you can make Shit happen, You Gotta Wannit- Pushing through the resistance. Making it is not easy.
C: Lifestyle Design: Inspired by the 4 hour work week, designing your lifestyle as to what success means to you. Everything stems from this.
D: Creating Personal work- mine is travel photography. creating my book, and the process of. Photo Trekking.

4. Business & Numbers
A: Big Jobs, and little jobs- Difference in mentalities
B: Get Producer
C: What Low-Balling does

ASMP info and Register here:

http://asmp.org/education/event/info?id=149
The Event will be held January 11th at Michael Jones Studio, 1937 N.W. Quimby St. Portland

Since I’m working on prepping a couple upcoming talks, I decided to browse through the past entries of my blog and pull some links to educational posts that have pertain to the Business of Photography, Creative Theory, the artistic journey, etc.

Exercising the Decision Making Muscle

http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/10/exercising-the-decision-making-muscle.html

Why I Feel My Website was a Good Investment
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/09/why-i-feel-my-website-was-a-good-investment.html

Thoughts Behind the All New nickonken.com
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/02/thoughts-behind-the-all-new-nickonken-com.html

How to Set Up a Test
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/07/how-to-set-up-a-test.html

The Ridiculous Amount Of Work
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/04/the-rediculous-amount-of-work.html

Shoot Vertical Not Lateral
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/04/shoot-vertical-not-lateral.html

You Gotta Wannit
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/04/you-gotta-wannit.html

Only You Can Make S*#$ Happen
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/01/only-you-can-make-s-happen.html

New School Vs. Old School Adapt & Change or Get Left Behind
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/01/new-school-vs-old-school-adapt-change-or-get-left-behind-2.html

2 Rules of the Photography Game
http://nickonken.com/blog/2009/08/2-rules-of-the-photography-game.html

nickonken 2010 Promo
http://nickonken.com/blog/2010/04/nickonken_2010_promo.html

The Secret is Seeing
http://nickonken.com/blog/2009/11/the-secret-is-seeing.html

Expanding Your Default
http://nickonken.com/blog/2008/10/expanding-your-default.html

ABS Theory
http://nickonken.com/blog/2008/09/abs-theory.html

Transitions, Passions, and Sacrifices
http://nickonken.com/blog/2008/09/transitions-passions-and-sacrifices.html

There’s No Such Thing as Fairy Dust
http://nickonken.com/blog/2009/02/theres-no-such-thing-as-fairy-dust.html

Lifestyle Design
http://nickonken.com/blog/2009/10/lifestyle-design.html

10,000 Hours of Hard Work
http://nickonken.com/blog/2009/01/10000-hour-of-hard-work.html

Your Own Branding Imagery
http://nickonken.com/blog/2009/02/your-own-branding-imagery.html

Reps, My New Rep, and the Process
http://nickonken.com/blog/2008/08/reps-my-new-rep-and-the-process.html

Testing for your Book
http://nickonken.com/blog/2008/09/testing-for-your-book.html

A Few Thoughts on Lenses
http://nickonken.com/blog/2011/03/a-few-thoughts-on-lenses.html

The decision making muscle is one of the most important things in photography and the business of. Over the years, I’ve learned that making decisions faster in everything, especially business you can be more efficient and profitable, even if you make the wrong decision. Sometimes making the wrong decision and making a mistake, is better than not making a decision at all. At the very least you’ve learned something. Making decisions in business take you another step further from where you are.

More of what I wanted to parlay this into, is the decision making muscle of shooting. This really directly correlates with my ABS theory, in that you should always be shooting. The decision making muscle is the muscle that is exercised every time you push that button. This is the element of photography that assisting will never ever teach you because until you’re looking through that camera deciding wether the light is right, the composition is right, the model is in the right position, the wardrobe is spot on, the hair and make up are perfect, everything is lined up right, and everything else that you have to think about in creating a picture is to your liking, etc. You’ll never be actually logging those learned pieces of information into your brain. Making decisions of every element in your photograph is like exercising a muscle, and you learn more with every shot you take. That’s why it needs to be exercised, so that each time you shoot you are making better and better images.

Your vision is refined by the decisions you make. What ingredients to add to a photograph. Locations, clothes, models, hair and makeup, lighting, etc. These decisions all add up to create your vision which is portrayed through your portfolio. Learning to make better decisions makes your imagery better, and in the end that’s what sells you.

All these little decisions that you learn along the way get amplified when you’re running a bigger set. When you have a 15-20 person crew to steer. Learning how to direct more than just your subject, but your team. You are the leader, and that’s what leaders do.

Testing is a huge part of getting started in the world of photography, and is also vital to staying alive creatively along the way. When you’re more established, testing keeps you fresh and relevant to the current world of photography. I’ve talked about the ABS theory, (Always Be Shooting) in the fact of always shooting for yourself for those reasons, and to expand your default(bag of tricks) for real jobs. Shooting a test can be very simple, or very complex depending on what level and how much money you have to invest. When I first started, testing was grabbing a good looking friend, going out into a great location and practicing. Now my test consist of flying a whole crew into a great location including hair/makeup, stylist, models, assistants, etc. I thought I’d throw down a few tips, and insights for setting up a test when you’re starting out.

When you’re starting out it’s a bit fuzzy where to start or what to do. Keep in mind, you are only as good as your portfolio, and your portfolio not only helps you get jobs, but helps you get talent to work with you. By talent, I mean Hair/makeup artist, stylists, and models. If you want people to work with you, they need to see something that gives them the confidence that if they put their time in, they will get some great images for their portfolios, so that is where you can start. If people aren’t interested in working with you, then the first place you should look is the quality of your work, which is what should do the selling.

Now that said, it can feel like a catch 22 because if you don’t have the work to show for, you need to create it, but to create it you need to have good work to get people to work with you. You find that all along the way especially getting the big ad jobs where people want to see high production value work. The trick is to learn to produce at an exponential value than the production elements you have to work with. You’re style and what you are drawn to also means lighting is different for what you like. It’s a personal preference, but some lighting requires more work/assistants than other lighting. You have to decide what you want to do and get the gear to pull it off. Sometimes that cost money.

When I first got interested in shooting people, I pulled some inspiration shots I found from other photographers that I could try and mimic then just grabbed a cute friend, walked around the city and experimented with natural light. Starting out with friends gives you the flexibility to learn to direct, and practice lighting without feeling too uncomfortable. You have to know your camera and know how to create the exposures/lighting you want without it being a distraction to the model. Lighting and directing are two different elements and if you don’t know how your camera works and how to light when working with a model you don’t know can get distracting for them. A big part of working with people, is interacting and directing your subject. If you’re too busy trying to figure out how to work your camera you can lose that rapport.

Ok that said, once you’ve practiced with a few friends and feel comfortable with what you’re doing, you can take it to the next level and bring in some other elements like hair/makeup, agency models, styling etc. You can pick up a cheap template website from places like bludomain.com to package your work in order to show other people. Making connections with hair and makeup artists can be tricky, but if you ask around your network someone probably knows someone. You can find people starting out that want to build their books. Sometimes you can find them at the department store makeup counters. Once you find someone who wants to collaborate with you, then do a couple tests with friends to add to your book. Remember, styling is very keep. Keep it simple.

If you want to take it from there, you can find modeling agencies in your local city. Call them up and tell them you want work with them and test some new models. Show them your website/book. If they aren’t interested, then ask for feedback on your work. What you can improve on to get some models from them. They are going to look at your work and want to be confident that if they give you one of their models, you will produce great images for them.

That’s entry level testing. The more testing and practicing you do, the more elaborate your connecting will get. And your work will evolve.

Enter the next level…

The above process can take a couple years depending on how fast you learn, and how often you can test. Once you have an established book, the more higher production value tests you can do. The higher level of talent you can convince to work with you. It took me a few years to get to this level of production for my tests because of money and how far along my work was. Here is a schematic of the process:

If you build relationships with hair, makeup, and stylists, you can work with them and build your team and they can work with you on tests, and real jobs. The more production value concepts you do, you will have to shell out money to make them. Naturally if you can negotiate high production value elements for free, then you’re creating higher value for less hard costs. You also have to examine the concept and content of what you want to shoot to determine the production elements that you need. Higher end commercial lifestyle requires good models that you can only typically find in NY, LA, or Miami. Therefore if you want to have a great location AND great models, you probably have to fly those models in to the location from one of those cities. Same with Hair, Makeup, and wardrobe styling. I shot a test in Colorado last year with the help of my good friend Jeff Holt. We came up with a concept, and he helped me produce it. The whole test cost me $3000 and that was with everyone working in trade for portfolio images. We had hard costs such as flights to get everyone there, food, rental trucks, hotels, and a few other expenses. The images we created from this shoot, have helped me to get higher paying advertising work, so it was well worth the investment. (see the images here: http://bit.ly/Colorado_SnowAdventure) Big tests like this need a lot of planning and preproduction to make them happen. I start with a concept, figure out the elements I need then we start working on securing and scheduling those elements for the shoot dates.

I still do lower profile tests, such as the film test of Loli I just shot in Prague. I found her through A Small World, emailed her with my website and asked her if she wanted to do a test when I was in Prague. She liked my work and was happy to work with me, and even helped me line up a hair/makeup artist there which I paid a little money to(sometimes you have to if you’re in a city where you have no connections.) Since I typically shoot with natural light, assistants aren’t a necessity so I was able to do this with me, a camera, Loli, and a makeup artist. Besides the costs of getting to Prague, this test probably cost me $600(half of which was my film processing costs) Check it out here. http://bit.ly/LoliSmokes_Prague

This is a recent test I shot in Tulum, Mexico. http://bit.ly/Devon_Tulum

In the end, your concept dictates the amount of production that is needed to create the images you want. The beauty of what we do, is that the world is our oyster. We can wake up, think of something to create, and go do it. You can test for free, or you can put money into it. (naturally you have to spend money to make money, so the more you put in, the more value you will get in the end).

A reader who was just reading the recent post “You Gotta Wannit” and was wondering what I meant by “putting in a ridiculous amount of work.” that goes on outside of taking pictures. I figured this my be a good thing to share with everyone. Behind the scenes there is a hell of a lot of work to be done that doesn’t even incorporate taking pictures. This is what’s called “The Hustle.” In fact, lately I’ve realized and felt that I should be out taking more pictures, but sometimes it’s a slow process of learning where to spread your time, which the older I get, the less I feel I have.

The ridiculous amount work all breaks down from the two rules of the photography game I described in a recent post. Make better images and show more people. It’s doing all the things that go into that.

A lot of the work comes from the self motivation and drive to get better at what I do between the actual paid shoots. I’ve always been a believer in the ABS theory(Always Be Shooting). The more I grow as an artist, the more planning and preparation goes into even my own test shoots. Since I’m putting my own money into my tests, I want to make sure that I’m pre-producing them to get the most out of them.

The other amount of work is showing more people, and that is a completely complex idea. Networking, marketing, promotion, social media, etc. This is all very time consuming but getting your work in front of people is the key component in even getting work.

So, that said, what are the daily tasks that fill my time? I typically get up at 8am and work till 6, 7 sometimes 10pm. The more you hustle, the more you have to do. A lot of my workload is even farmed out to different people that can do it for me(IE: my reps who circulate my portfolios, handle estimating, do portfolio shows, seek out new work, etc.) My accounting and book keeping are farmed out to people that actually enjoy doing it. Next step is to hire a personal/office assistant to take even more of the load off so I can spend my time doing more focused ROI work.

Day to day:
•Researching, planning, reproducing and shooting test shoots: (A fun part of the job that lets us be creative) I spend time writing out creative briefs for shoots so we can all be on the same page when shooting them.
•Job preproduction: working on casting and location decisions for jobs, conference calls with clients for pre-production etc.
•Conference calls and new business: Big ad jobs always require creative calls with art directors to get more info on the project and to for them to hear your thoughts on how you would shoot their concept.
•Dreaming of ideas and establishing goals: Another thing I love about this career is dreaming of ideas that I can actually execute or at least work towards executing. The world is your oyster. You can do what you want with it. Dreaming and creating goals is a great way to stay driven and inspired to keep creating.
•Branding development: Tasks like working with designers to create new promo pieces, email promos, etc. Brainstorming new ways of getting my work in front of prospective clients.
•Portfolio updating and creation: This goes in conjunction with creating and updating the website. It took me a month in the office of 12 hour days to populate my the new website I just launched. Prepping images, and creating the right edits. My printed portfolios get updated twice a year, and that in itself is a lot of work from working with other people on the right edit to laying it out and getting it printed.
•Party planning: I just threw a book release party for my recent book Photo Trekking, and even though I hired an event producer to make the event happen, there was still a significant amount of creative decision making and promotion that I had to do myself. Check the out video and photos here.
•Social Media: I’m not as hardcore into social media updating as a lot are because it’s so time consuming. I try to do it as much as possible, but time becomes so spread thin.
•Blogging: Writing blog posts and getting inspired to write. Figuring out what is best to share with the community.
•Networking and relationship building: Something I do way more of in New York because you can. The community here is pretty amazing, and you meet new people all the time. I love it because it doesn’t always feel too separated here. People in the industry enjoy hanging out and talking about collaborating. Even outside of networking building personal relationships is not something to cast to the wayside. Developing more meaningful relationships is something that I’ve made a goal in my personal life. Sometimes especially here the work and personal relationships collide in a good way.
•Travel planning & Dreaming: I love traveling and dreaming of places to go. Granted time is more scarce these days to take off for long periods, but something I still try and get done. It seems to be more last minute these days, but it involves a decent amount of planning.
•Paying bills and paperwork: The dirty work. Usually it’s taking care of the in office management stuff to send to my book keeper/accountants. I hate doing this stuff.
•Budget planning and allocation: A lot of being a business person is deciding where you spend your money. I try and put as much back into the business as possible to grow and expand. Learning and deciding where to allocate your funds can be a fair amount of work, especially in the beginning stages when there’s not much funds to allocate. Figure out where to best invest.
•Business meetings: Meeting with current associates and potential clients. All takes time out of the day but is important. Personal relationships are key.
•Researching & Reading: I like to read business books when I can to learn how I can better myself and my business. In the same respect I like researching imagery and where I want to be going with my work.
•Managing Interns: This one is quite new, but managing interns, teaching, and giving them tasks to do.
•Other business ideas and projects outside of photography: I have other ideas that may be somewhat photography related but aren’t within the actual scope of my photography business that I love dreaming of and working on.

The “To Do” list never ends, and I’m sure there is much more, but what I can think of off the top of my head. Most of this work is self created, which is a huge part of going places in the commercial world.

Through a few recent conversations, and even speaking at the Lara Casey’s MTH 2010 seminar, I’ve come to a harder realization that in any passion driven career, you’ve got to want it, and you’ve got to want it for the absolute right reasons. If you don’t, you won’t want to put in the ridiculous amount of work it takes to make it. The fact of the matter is, any art/passion driven career is WORK, and an extreme amount of it. On the flip side, if you absolutely LOVE your craft and doing it, then it actually isn’t work. I’ve seen a handful of people get into photography not necessarily because they love it, but because they like the acclaim that goes with it whatever that may be. It appears to be a highly glamorous job(as it is), but it is also a hell of a lot of work, and if you don’t love actually “making pictures” and creating art, then it in fact becomes work and to endure the longevity of getting to a sustainable point in a career, your passion has to drive you.

The lovely thing is, that if you actually do love it then you’ll never work a day in your life. (well, the dirty office work like accounting always seems like work, but you can keep working to the point that you can hire other people to do that stuff). I feel blessed to wake up every day and think “What can I create today?” My TO DO list is filled with things I love and want to be doing. That my friends is a personal choice, but along with putting in the hard work in the earlier years, things become easier as you grow.

I know realize that when I was a graphic designer, I never loved the actual craft as much as I do with photography. When I started doing photography, I knew exactly what I wanted to be doing in the end. That gave me the passion, and motivation to get there.

The artistic evolution and journey is a long one. If you truly love it, you will ride it and do what it takes to get there. Transitions, sacrifices, successes and all.