"Your first 1,000 photographs are your worst." - Henri Cartier-Bresson
Worldwide fame, greatness, and achievement do not come about by chance; they are because of much hard work and perseverance in a specific sector.
What do, Katharine Hepburn, Muhammad Ali, and Pablo Picasso have in common? They all spent years perfecting their craft, accepting criticism, and even suffering failure to eventually achieve success.
Overcoming any challenge in a world weighed down by social, economic, and political issues provides a shining beacon of hope to all those around us.
Triumph in a form of art like photography, painting, or sculpting can be observed and appreciated by people everywhere. Over the past 100 years or so, commercial photography has become a lucrative and respected career, but it is also one of the most difficult photography genres to break into if you don’t know-how.
Photography is a broad discipline with many different sub-genres such as sport, wildlife, portrait, and wedding photography offering rewarding careers for anyone who believes a picture can tell a story.
What about advertising photography?
The aim of advertising photography, which is a specialised form of commercial photography, is to take images of products and services. The advertising photographer has the potential to make an excellent living depending on who their clients are and where their images end up being featured.
So if you are considering a career as a commercial photographer, keep reading as this article is for you.
You may also want to explore the potential careers in portrait photography available in South Africa.
Starting a Career in Advertising Photography
There are certain steps to be followed to achieve success in any career. Not only that but with so much competition in the marketplace, continually honing your skills is a must.
So how do you kick off a career as an advertising photographer especially when it is one of the most competitive of all the photography genres?
Working in commercial photography means that you will rub shoulders with big companies, famous faces, and well-known brands. This of course can be lucrative. But like any exciting career, one needs to be at the very top of one’s game!
It's also worth mentioning that the advertising or commercial photographer will find themselves away from home a lot. Be prepared to travel to some of the world’s most exotic destinations.
Getting started can seem daunting, however, if you can simplify the process by beginning with these four steps, you should be on the road to achieving your goals to make it as a professional within one of the most commercially viable photography genres available.
- Build an Outstanding Portfolio: even though it may take many years to choose your field of specialty from the many photography genres available, it is important to constantly grow and update your portfolio. Be ruthless about what shots make it into your portfolio and aim to feature the type of work that best represents your commercial photography work.
- Go the Extra Mile: standing out above the rest is not an option, it is essential. Besides your talent, this will require extra effort and dedication. When it comes to advertising photography this could mean longer hours, lighting practice, post-production study, and much more.
- Study and Imitate: one of the most effective routes to success is to study the greats who have gone before you. Look back over the work of every advertising photographer you admire. Try to observe their individuality and creativity and then emulate it. Also, assisting a successful commercial photographer as you start out will be a powerful way for you to learn.
- Understand the Role of Marketing: advertising photography is essentially a task within the marketing function of a business. Make sure that at the very least you have an overview of what marketing is, secondly, always research the brand you are working for, so that you understand its overall vision, personality, and position in the marketplace.
What about careers as a sports or wildlife photographer?
Advertising Photography: Necessary Equipment
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase." - Percy W. Harris
Becoming a great advertising photographer takes time and hard work, it also takes having the right equipment for your craft. A fascination for all kinds of photography equipment, from cameras, lights, and lenses will give you the edge.
Skills and important techniques can be learnt over time. Therefore, it’s not essential to invest in the most expensive equipment or shoot only blue-chip brands as a commercial photographer to be a success.
It is important to know your equipment, keep it in excellent working order and know what to pack into your camera bag for various shoots. Here are a few essential items to ignite your commercial photography career:
- The Camera: unlike wildlife, fashion, or wedding photography, the advertising photographer will in many instances remain in the same spot until the product they are shooting has been perfectly captured. This is why DSLR cameras are so helpful as it can help the photographer to know when they have the proverbial ‘money shot’. If you are starting out in any of the main photography genres make sure that you look into the Canon 5D series, Nikon D5, and Nikon D800E.
- Lenses: some would say that your lenses are even more important than your camera body. For commercial photography, purposes make sure that you check out the Tamron 24-70mm which handles both still images and video well.
- Flashes: perfect lighting is critical to creating a magnificent photograph. Make sure that you study and practice enough lighting techniques before you invest in your own lights, flashes, and stands. Until you know enough about lighting, rather consider hiring lights until you know what you are doing.
- Camera Bag: invest in a quality camera bag that will do a practical job and protect your expensive gear too. It should be sturdy, have many different compartments, comfortable to wear, and be able to provide quick access to lenses, batteries, flashes, and memory cards.
As you can see there are a number of items you will need to make a start with, however, remember not to over-invest at the beginning of your career. Consider reliable second-hand gear and hiring options until you are on the road and know exactly what equipment suits your style best.
Remember that camera equipment alone cannot produce an excellent photograph, your talent and technical skill in worth even more than the camera!
Tips for Becoming a Bigshot Photographer
Every new generation is characteristic of traits that make it unique and different from the ones that went before them. For instance, baby boomers differ hugely from millennials.
How so?
Baby boomers generally gave their all and worked hard for one company in exchange for a long-term investment. Conversely, millennials are of the attitude that most things, including jobs, are temporary and will find jobs that meet a training need or purpose for a bigger life goal.
Millennials prefer to invent careers to suit them rather than look to fill positions within reputable companies.
Millennials love jobs that allow them to travel and offer flexibility. As a consequence of this, as well as the digital age we find ourselves in, careers in photography are on the rise. So what does it take to launch a photography career? Follow this advice to start working as a professional photographer:
- Shoot Daily: in establishing your career, try to shoot every day. This regular practice is will become invaluable to your creativity and confidence. Some experts suggest that you simply keep your camera around your neck for at least half an hour every day.
- Study, Study, Study: regardless of your level of experience, never lose the habit of being inspired by the work of others. In doing so, take care to not merely observe, but take the time to dissect and analyse the image by considering its lighting, mood, and composition. Besides being a fulfilling exercise, this will also help to wire your brain to take excellent images.
- Shoot With Film: shooting with film should be a rite of passage for all photographers who need to learn to appreciate the fundamentals. Consider a season where you shoot on film, slide film, and even gain darkroom experience. All of these exercises will greatly enrich your overall photography knowledge.
- Time with Your Camera: the last thing you want to be doing on a paid shoot is to be fiddling around with your camera settings like an amateur. Spend hours and days with your camera manual, and know-how to adjust every setting and button in a split second.
The road to becoming a bigshot advertising photographer may be challenging, but of course, it is possible.
Keep your eye on the prize, set your course, and work steadily towards it.
Finally, remember that working in a job that you are passionate about is not a job at all. Follow your dreams and work hard.
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