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).

This month I’m excited to announce the launch of my new educational travel photography book, Photo Trekking. It’s a collection of my travel photographs from around the world and the stories around them. It’s amazing how long it takes to publish a book. Here’s a little background on how the book came about.

Long story short. A couple years ago, I had some travel photo promo books I had done with Blurb. My photography consultant, Amanda Sosa Stone, had used them as examples in her seminars. Randomly enough she was at Photo Plus giving a seminar and an editor from what now is a small publisher called Random House saw the work in book form and got in touch with me about writing a book. Something I was very excited about, it still took us 6 months to write a pitch for it to even get sold in to get published. Come August of 2008, we received great news that the book was greenlit. From there, the March 2009 deadline to write the manuscript and curate the imagery was looming. Amongst the growing business of my commercial photography world, we managed to get everything turned in on time. It’s amazing that from that point of turning in the manuscript and content, it takes one year from that point till the book hits the stands. It has to go through manuscript edits, my approvals of edits, book design/layout, printing in asia, marketing and PR channels, and many other stages that I’m probably unaware of,  which brings us to where we’re at this month: The official release! (oh and forgot to mention the 5 years and 33 countries it took to shoot all the images in the book)

So THAT is why I’m proud and excited to announce the release and release party for Photo Trekking! I’m going to be throwing a release party here in New York City on March 19th. It’s an open invite, but you must RSVP to get in the door and you can do that here:

http://www.nickonken.com/phototrekkingparty/

Photo Trekking is a compilation of the work I’ve shot all around the world from my non-profit adventures, to my short stint of living in Paris. It’s mostly comprised of photos, but in addition to that, I’ve written stories around the images and have a few chapters with my shooting methods and lots of tips.

To see more on the book and/or pre-order it check out the book page: http://www.phototrekkingthebook.com

Lighting Essentials has written a nice little review of the book here.

Next to launching the new website, which has been getting some rave reviews I’m excited to launch the new blog, Shoptalk. My boys over at We The Media did a rockin’ job. They’ve done some killer work for big brands in the blog department. Definitely recommend them. It’s got some new features that were thought through from a usability standpoint, and some design features I haven’t seen done yet in a photography blog, namely the scrolling content under my logo tag in the top left, and the static footer that allows all the navigation to be done in a pop up nav box. This feature makes it easy to browse the blog by topic or time of posting. We’ve also included live search so you can see the archive of posts pop up as you type a keyword. Also integrated is a pop up nave for my social media profile links.

Naturally as the nature of Shoptalk is to share the things I’ve learned and thought about along this artistic journey of a career. It’s to serve as a resource and to give back to the photography community. Many people have commented, and emailed in about how much they’ve learned from the blog, and that’s my hopes for what it may be, so thanks to you for reading and being a part.

I also thought I’d take a second to highlight some of my favorite and most read posts over the last couple of years

1. Only You Can Make S#%@ Happen!
2. Expanding Your Default
3. ABS Theory
4. Two Rules of the Photography Game
5. The Importance of Branding
6. The Secret is Seeing…
7. Your Own Branding Imagery

Feel free to comment some of your favorite posts to share with other readers.

Today is the official launch of my new website that I’ve been working for the past 7 months, and I’m super stoked. It was designed by my peeps over at Knowawall who designed a number of talented photographers. My background in design influenced many logical points that were thought about going into it. I thought I would share some of those with you.

The first perspective was the state of the industry and where it’s headed. As this website was a pretty penny, and a huge investment for me I didn’t want to take it lightly. I have a feeling that the printed portfolios will diminish in 5 years. Right now the printed portfolios are still very much in play and website portfolios are creeping their way in. Will printed portfolios completely go away? I doubt it, but photographers are getting booked more and more straight from their websites. Why not make it easy for potential clients to see big images, and fast?

Taking that into account, we broke it all down to those objectives(big images & fast). Having that design background has given me the ability to look at it from an Art Director/Art Buyer’s(my target market) receiving/viewing perspective. I do it all the time when looking at other photography sites. There are so many sites that my adult ADD quickly vetoes(chasing thumbnails, single loading images, crap design, etc.) I’m sure most AD’s & AB’s have the same issues. The first thing I took into account was my target market. Art Directors, Art Buyers, and Photo Editors at ad agencies and magazines. They are super busy people, and they don’t have much time to make their way through a site that is hard to navigate and slow to load. They are typically working from a fast broadband connection with at least a 20 inch screen. Sometimes smaller, but a majority have at least that. And the last thing, who doesn’t want to see HUGE images?

In my brief to the design team, we created the site to that target market. The site is a combination of flash and PHP scripting which allows url linking to specific galleries and parts of the site. The flash allows the images to be scaleable based on the viewer’s monitor, whether it’s a 13 inch laptop or a 30 inch cinema. (which is awesome when you land on the home page and click the full screen button. The site becomes a screen saver with full screen images) The developers created a special algorithm to have the images loading ahead of the viewer, and following them where ever they go in the galleries. We developed the horizontal scrolling stories because it compliments my story driven work. The design is intentionally minimal visually because it is really all about showcasing the images. The navigation shows in every part of the portfolio website.

Here are a few features I’d like to highlight and why we did them.

•Full Screen(button top right next to search, subtly there without being distracting)
This feature is a definite must with flash capabilities. It creates a dynamic user experience not having to view it in a browser window. Try it out. It also works as a great branded screen saver if you leave the site on the home page in full screen mode)

•Keyword search
Including a keyword search, is partially for my own use in addition art directors and art buyers. There is a database of 2400 images on the site that can be searched through. This was a huge undertaking in that my whole library had to be organized and keyworded. Even at that, we still ended up having to blanket shoots with certain words pertaining to that shoot.

•Lightbox
The lightbox feature works in conjunction with the keyword search. It’s for both me and clients, and anyone for that matter. You can create your own lightbox of images to send to a friend, or for art buyers to send their art directors, etc. I can create front end lightboxes to send certain potential clients looking for certain images.

•Easy navigation
Simple navigation is the most key thing you can integrate into a website. Make it EASY for your viewer to get through your site. Have it static in every page, don’t make them chase things, and make it intuitive for a 3 year old) In the gallery nav, we included many options. You can click the next arrow, which snaps to the next image, you can use your arrow keys, you can click anywhere on the thumbnail bar, or grab the box as the scroll bar without having to chase it. You can also click on the “view all” to see all the images in the gallery. Click on any image and it will take you directly there.

•Social Media
As Social Media is rapidly integrating into our web 2.0 world, I wanted to integrate into the functionality. You can now tweet, facebook, stumble upon, and/or email any link within the site as well as tweet any image. I’ve also included links to my facebook public profile, and twitter pages.

•Image Download
Many clients like to comp ad mockups with your images if they’re considering you for a campaign. Regardless of how you do it, people are going to snag your images whether that’s saving them or screen shotting them. I’ve made it easy by including a download option that lets the viewer download a watermarked image for comping purposes. I’m not a fan of watermarking images on websites. It takes away from the image.

•Image license request:
Licensing images is another great source of income. I want to make it easy for people to inquire, if they are interested in using an image. Clicking the “license” link will create an email to me with the image ID info. I can then have my agent negotiate the licensing if it’s an advertising use. (if the image is licensable, the word “license” will appear in the image rollover nav.)

•Video galleries
As we all know, video is creeping into our little photography world. As I’ve only done a few stop motion projects at this time, I wanted to make room to grow and integrate video into the brand.

•News, Behind the Scenes, and Profile
I wanted to create a news section to showcase any press or exciting new endeavors that may come about. Behind the scenes are always fun and a great way for clients to see what it’s like to work on set with you. It’s also a great brand extension. The profile page has a great new cheeky bio written by my copywriter friend Dave.

•Blog
The new blog has new functionalities, that I will specially highlight in an upcoming post. It was created by my homies over at We The Media in Portland. They can do some insane things with Word Press.

•Backend Content Management System(CMS)
The biggest asset of this site, is the part you can’t see, and a majority of why it costs a pretty penny. The whole backend allows me to have a database of images that I can create galleries on the fly, update and change content, add new news clips, behind the scenes videos and pics, etc. It’s all keyword searchable and makes it so I can update all the content myself without having to get the developers to do it every time I want to add something.

•iPhone Website
As we all know, so many creatives out there have iPhones, and I wanted to make my new site iPhone friendly. I hired my friends over at AG Design in Mexico to cook up a special iPhone website that draws the galleries from the main website. It’s great because all I have to do is change the galleries in one place. When you hit my website from an iPhone it automatically redirects you to the mobile site.

Nothings ever perfect, but I am super excited to have this site working for me. Think ahead, take your target market in to account when building your site and make it easy for them to understand what it is that you do.

I've thought a lot about this topic over the last year or so. I think this part the game has become a "new school" evolution. Not that it ever wasn't before, but now that the game has changed and accessibility to pro photographers is so much easier. There is also a lot of free information available online where if people dig enough they can find a lot. I'm finding a lot of successful photographers that learned on their own, and had a college education in something not related to photography. That said, there are things that you will never learn online. A lot of learning comes from observing, and being around the environment that you aspire to be in. Having access to that is much more difficult.

To really get going in this industry you have to learn somehow whether that's going to college for it, taking some sort of course like the workshops in Santa Fe, workshops from other photographers that are teaching. So basically you have to pay to play. Education costs money in any industry or field. It's part of the sacrifice that comes with learning a craft. The essential knowledge will cost you somehow whether it's time or money.

In my opinion the best way to learn is with working professionals. It's been the best way for me to learn. Taking a workshop from someone who's work or business that you admire when they offer one. I did this a few years ago when my friend Stephanie Rausser taught a class at Santa Fe. It cost me a few grand, but in the end, I learned a lot through conversation with them during and now after the workshop. Was it worth it? Of course. A lot of times, photographers of that caliber rarely teach because the commercial world as I've come to learn is extremely crazy and last minute. You can get a call one day and leave 3 days later to shoot it, so it's hard to plan for. Most are focused on being photographers, which is time consuming in it's own right. Taking a workshop is as easy as finding them, signing up for them, and paying for them. They aren't ever cheap.

Another avenue is interning for a photographer, which if you have more time and less money this is a great way. Interning is a great way, and probably a better way because you get to spend time with that photographer. You get exposed to a real working environment which is valuable. In turn for this you're giving your time. Who said picking someones brain was free? Think of all the time, years, and sacrifice that individual has put in to get to where they are at. Think of how valuable that knowledge is. That changes the perspective of "working for free" It now becomes a trade of time and hard work for knowledge, exposure, and experience.

That said, what you get out of it is all what you put into it. The harder you work for that person with a great attitude, and the more questions you ask, the more you will learn. This is with either case of taking workshops, or interning. The move you give, the more you will get back. If you give without expecting in return, the reward is usually much more. Most photographers are willing to share things when people are giving back to them.

Again back to the new school era where there are many aspiring photographers, how do you stand out? How do you get in? How do you get selected for an internship? This is the tricky part. Here are a few thoughts:

Great Attitude: This is the most important asset to anything. Being willing to work hard and happily will get you far. Being energetic and excited to help doing whatever it may be. Even sweeping floors and cleaning toilets.
Have something to offer: A lot of bigger photographers get hit up all the time for internships, assisting, brain picking, etc. Have something to offer, even if that is paying for a meal. It's a nice gesture in trade for their time. More than likely if they can spare the time to even meet with you, you'll learn something. Don't come with an attitude of "tell me everything you know" AKA don't be a leach.
Special Skills: Having a skill that is outside the photography realm can be valuable. If the photographer needs something done in the office, or other types of things that you may have a skill with. Offer that up. It may be a way in the door.
Be Responsible: Being someone the photographer can trust, especially getting a task done well and on time.
Be COOL: I mean this in the personality department. Be someone fun, and excited to learn. Bring something to the table. Be a pleasure to be around, and I'm sure you'll get asked back.
Bring Value: This is semi covered above, but always think of value that you can bring to the team and the photographer. Think ahead of them. The more you give, the more you will receive. That is just a law of nature.
Timing and opportunity: Remember a lot of getting an internship or even the chance to meet with a photographer comes down to timing and opportunity. Be patient.

Jeff Holt has been a great example of this all of these qualities, and in turn he has learned so much. He's been a huge asset to me and has helped me out in so many ways. He approached me in the beginning willing to sweep my floors. He offered his great attitude and acquired skills over the years to bring value. He comes with a giving attitude, and receives greatly for it. What all has he learned? That may be a more specific question for him to answer.

To sum it up, Knowledge has become the currency of our era. As with most things these days you have to pay in some way to gain that knowledge. The more you put in and give, the more you will learn and receive.

I've had many of conversations with different people lately, and I'm starting to see a trend. New School vs. Old School. The biggest thing I've realized over the last year is that the times are changing. Technology is changing, and changing the game. Social Media is blowing up. Twitter and Facebook are becoming household names. Which by the way if you haven't seen this video on the Social Media Revolution, check it out, the stats will blow your mind. The internet has created a gateway for anyone to be an expert at what they do. It's created a platform for anyone to enter the the world of getting their work out there. This IS an amazing thing… IF you use it to your advantage.

New School vs. Old School. There is a ton of truth to both, and you need a fair amount of the old school to carry into the new school. In the Old School photography world it's about having amazing work and creative, which in turn gets you jobs. Which is 100% true. Hone your craft and do it well. Make amazing images, and someone will recognize you. Ten years ago, hell even 5 years ago it was much harder to get in the game. The internet didn't exist(with the capabilities it does now) which meant to get your great work into the eyeballs of the right people, you had to send physical portfolios, post card promos, prints, and be seen in printed magazines. A rep that was hitting the pavement with your portfolios all the time. This is all VERY expensive. Getting into the game COSTED a lot.

This is exactly why the "Greats" don't all have websites(or have terrible ones). Annie Leibowitz, Ellen Von Unwerth, Patrick Demarchlier, etc. EVERYONE knows who they are (that hire them at least). They've been in the game for years. They ARE established. Being published in all the major magazines is their portfolio. (don't get me wrong would it benefit them to adapt and spend of their cash reservoir on a web presence? of course.)

Now enter the New School: Getting someone to recognize honed craft. With all the benefits of the digital revolution and the ease of putting your work out there into the world wide web of eyeballs, we've encountered a downside. It's made it extremely cheap to get into the game. Let me rephrase that. It's made it FREE to get into the game. In turn, the downside is the volume of people that are doing it creates white noise. Everyone is a "photographer" these days and images are flying around the web like nobody's business. Having amazing work has now just become the entry way to getting anywhere. Anyone not at the "greats" level are struggling to adapt to the times. The older folks who choose not to learn the digital media opportunities. The ones in the game for probably 5-10 years that started in the filmic old school world and just got used to it before it changed. These are the ones that are getting left behind should they not choose to adapt.

Creating your "Personal Brand" is the key to getting anywhere. Create a voice that people remember your work by. Not only graphically, but what you project through social media outlets. The content you put out there to the world creates people's perception of you. Consistency of brand creates longevity.

What am I saying with all this? Move with the current of technology. Adapt, and try to get ahead of where technology is moving. Then use it to your advantage. Use social media and internet connectivity for your business. "Old School" is also a mentality. It really comes down to a choice as all things do. Only YOU can make S#$@ happen.

It's where the world is moving and if you don't get on the train, you may get left at the station. Be a game changer.

The more I look around at successful artists, the more I see the common thread of their success. Maybe it's a secret, and maybe it's not. To me the secret IS, there is no secret.

But really, it all lies within that. The secret is "SEEING", which essentially is having a strong refined vision for. Definitely in your craft as an artist, but in other facets of life and business. If you can't see quality, details, and all the little elements that fit together to make a great photograph then maybe it's time to rethink. Success starts from the top. It starts from the decision maker's "Vision" because every decision that is made to execute that vision gets filtered down to the team that comes together to create it. You see this all the time in corporate companies. Look at the successful companies and the CEO's that have taken them there. Apple and Steve Jobs. He has a strong vision for the products and company, therefore that strong vision gets imprinted and controlled into everything the company puts out, including it's branding and advertising. Hulu & Jason Kilar. This month's issue in Fast Company talks about how Fox hired Jason Kilar to revamp what is now known as Hulu.com. He came in with a strong vision and turned the company around. Fired and hired a new crew. Implemented his vision, took risks and now Hulu is rapidly growing and successful. Nike & Phil Knight: Nike is one of the strongest brands in the world. Phil Knight created a great well designed product and had the vision to create a brand that matches and elevates the product. The vision to venture into new medias and try new things, but everything aligns with their vision.

How does this parlay into photography? It has everything to do with it from taking pictures to the business. You have to be able to see a good photograph to be able to make it. The WAY you SEE is WHAT you are hired for as a photographer. Seeing photographs is just one facet of the business, and if you want to make money at photography, you must build a business around it. You have to be able to "SEE" what it takes to have a successful business, so you can make the decisions and execute the elements of that. You must have the vision to hire people that are the best at what they do to make your business better. That especially goes for executing a photograph. Hiring people that do amazing work, only makes the photograph better and close that creative gap between what you "SEE" and what you produce. Seeing also comes into editing and retouching. Choosing the right images and having a vision for retouching is also key.

I have to admit, my technical knowledge is just now catching up with what I envision in my photos. Even at that, I'm constantly working on "SEEING" at a higher and higher level. If you can "SEE" at a high level and produce what you see, you'll get hired for those types of jobs. If you feel you have a hard time "SEEING", then practice. Practice by looking at magazines and good photography. Break images down to the details of what goes into them.

"SEEING" in business is similar. It's a learning and growing process. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to take a business class or connect up with mentors. This field is probably 80% business and 20% photography, that is if you actually want to make a living off of it. You have to be able to "SEE" all assets of the business, especially branding and marketing.

I was just down in Miami this week shooting an advertising campaign on the edge of a pool. One thing lovely about the 1Ds MKIII is that when you eject a CF card, it likes to launch it as if it were a cannon ball. Seeing that the camera was vertical on a tripod, when I ejected the card, it shot straight out the back faster than I could catch it and it went fumbling into the pool with full of our last series of images.

My assistants quickly rushed it off to the hair department to dry it out with a hair dryer. After some TLC, and some dry heat application we took it over to digital to see if it was ok. Luckily being the solid state memory it was we were able to download the images on the card just fine.

After downloading the card, they taped it up, labeled it "H2O" and told me I should not use it again.

Moral of the story: Don't drop your CF cards in the pool.

If you're just starting out(or intermediate for that matter), and want to get some tutorials, read some good tech articles, here are a few photography websites that will help you out:

Studiolighting.net
Bill and Ed have a great resource here. There are tons of tutorials, lighting tips, and my favorite, interview podcasts from many pro photographers giving insights into their methods. (They interviewed me there as well. Click HERE to listen to my interview)

Strobist.com
Stobist is great for all that you want to know about lighting, including cheap ways of making your own.

dpreview.com
This is a great resource for finding out the latest and greatest on digital cameras. You can find reviews, and they have a great forum where you can post tech questions you may have about certain pieces of gear if you're researching a product to buy.

SantaFe Workshops
If you want to take a week class, the Santa Fe Workshops have a lot of great coarse. A great way to get immersed.

My Blog: nickonkenShoptalk
If you sift through a lot of my previous posts, and other categories I post random tips and pieces of my methods as I'm sure you might have found. For those who haven't, dig around.

Just found this great in depth article from my buddy Jeremy Cowart. It’s a more in depth version than my last post on Assisting. It’s a compilation of responses from a group of photographers from an ASMP forum. Great reading for those of you who want to learn how to be a better assistant!

Check it out here.