Ever notice how, when you get a group of seasoned professional photographers together, the conversation at some point always goes the same way? People start talking about the “old days”. The conversation always highlights how much easier things used to be
There’s an inherited legacy out there starting with the senior crowd, yes, even older than me, LOL, photographers who complained about photography going down the tubes because of the shift from black and white to color. It’s probably their offspring who years later complained about the move from manual to autofocus and later from film to digital. Then came the “thank-God-I’m-retiring-so-I-don’t-need-to-learn-video” crowd, as hybrid imaging became an ideal skill-set extension. Now we’ve got the “AI-is-going-to-replace-me” mentality.
Yet nothing has changed about consumer expectations, since these two photographs were taken of my grandfather and his in-laws by different photographers over 100 years ago. Check out the classic lighting, even the pose…the photographers in both cases needed to match the subjects’ mindset.
Technology is always changing, and new gear and software are pushing us to expand our skill set, but the fundamental qualities of being a professional have never changed!
- You still need to produce a quality product! Consumers do want quality, and when you take the time to show them the difference, most of the time they understand. It’s all in your presentation, and how you educate your client is an important key to success.
- You still have to provide great service to be competitive. Customer Service is your secret weapon. You’ve got to be accessible, build relationships, and respond to questions and problems quickly!
- You must anticipate your customers’ needs. Pay attention to your target demographics and see the world through their eyes, NOT yours.
- You must listen to your clients. Most importantly, you need to meet their mindset and exceed expectations. You’ve got two ears and one mouth – listen twice as much as you talk.
- You still need to provide a pleasing representation of the client, the products, or whatever you’ve been hired to photograph.
- You should ALWAYS exceed client expectations and make yourself hard to resist! This is still a strong word-of-mouth business, and you need to get your clients excited and talking about you!
- You have to market yourself to get through the noise. I’ll admit it’s harder than ever to build brand awareness, but the need is still there. And with a good website, blog, and social media presence, plus some great old standards like direct mail, community involvement, and partnerships, the tools are at your fingertips!
Your work still requires a passionate eye, a great heart, and a constant quest to find that decisive moment.
As a professional photographer, you’re part of an incredible legacy of creative spirits like Ansel Adams, Avedon, Scavullo, Karsh, Herb Ritts, Eddie Adams, Arnold Newman, Dean Collins, Don Blair, and Monte Zucker, to name a few. They gave us a foundation and a legacy that belongs to every professional photographer. While technology and the economy may sometimes challenge it, it remains a powerful tribute to pride, quality, creativity, and art.
So, that old quote still applies: As much as things change, some things never change.
