Professional Time Saver!!!!

[Tom V]

I really like the way the S2 saves me time.

In a world of looming deadlines, my S2 (and digital photography as a whole) makes meeting deadlines so much easier. With traditional film-based photography, and the ensuing lab work, and scanning work, I simply would NOT be able to meet the deadlines that I currently am able to meet.

This week I had a job to produce two new 2-page spread advertisments for my client, to be submitted to a magazine. Thanks to the S2, this was possible.

Monday afternoon: The product was recieved from the client.
Monday pm and Tuesday am: Photography of 36 products.
Tuesday pm and Wednesday: Production of images and layout.
Thursday am: Show client ad proofs & reshoot 3 products.
Thursday pm: Show client final proofs & FedEx to magazine.
Friday: give the client the invoice.

If I had used film, it would have taken at least another 24 hours for processing, another 9 hours for scanning, and probably another 6 hours for retouching the scans. The Thursday reshoot would have been out of the question. The digital results were much better than film images could have been. The whole job would have been impossible to do in the time given.

The S2 makes these kinds of jobs possible week in and week out. It really has made my profession easier, faster, better, and saves money, time and effort. I am more profitable because of it.:)

[ballroom_boy]

Hi Tom

Nice to see you back... you were absent for a little while.

Yes, I agree that the S2 is a major time saver... I have sold all of my film cameras and work solely with the S2. And when the S3 comes out, I will add that to my arsenal (provided it is not based on the 4/3'rds system) and keep the S2 as a backup.

[pauly99]

Tom, How do you go about drumming up product work? Promotions of yourself? I am looking at getting into more
of the sports type of selling images but am clueless as to
how to actually start to get clients.

[Tom V]

Originally posted by pauly99
Tom, How do you go about drumming up product work? Promotions of yourself? I am looking at getting into more
of the sports type of selling images but am clueless as to
how to actually start to get clients.

First, about my business and how I (don't) get clients.
Second, what I would do sell sports photography.

(I started writing The Great American Novel, but realized that the story of my business is probably too long and boring). Here is the short answer (If I can keep it short):

I have a background in commercial (furniture, food, industrial, product, jewelry) photography; and commercial printing, with some college schooling in Graphic Arts (printing), and Advertising Art (before computers). I have been doing typesetting and design on Macintosh computers since 1988, when Microsoft Word and the Mac Operating System all fit on an 800k disk with room to spare.

My current business provides commercial graphic design, which involves creating sales materials like sales sheets, post cards (junk mail), brochures, magazine ads, stationery, packaging, etc. Since I get to design the material, I use photography (hopefully my own) and can make everything needed by the commercial printer or magazine from idea to layout to film and proof. I have Macintosh computer systems for the graphic design work, and the basic stuff for studio photography including 4x5 & 35mm film cameras (yuck), the Fuji S2, Speedotron flash equipment, and a few hot lights. I am able to do nearly everything I need in my little basement home office.

90% of my work comes from just 4 clients. If I was to lose one big client, I am sure I could manage without, or find another to replace it. 3 of the clients are manufacturerers or distributors, and have to advertise old and new products constantly. They have a list of things they are waiting for me to get to. My other main client is a commercial printer, which gives me dozens of small design and typesetting jobs per month (for his clients). The other 10% of the work comes from about 10 clients (mostly commercial printers) that have more work for me if I ask.

I get new clients via word of mouth. Sometimes. Usually, my clients hesitate giving out my name, knowing that I will have less time to service their own account.

I get virtually all my work from repeat customers. My last new big client is one I got a year ago (word of mouth). That new client's workload propelled me to get a 2nd G4 system, and the S2 in order to keep up - with the aid of a 28 hours per week assistant.

When I hired the assistant, I thought I would need more work to keep him busy. I put together a sample folder - but never showed it to any potential clients. I have only shown it to existing clients as a matter of conversation, but by then, I already have them.

If I needed more work (I don't), I would go to the companies that can use my services. Any manufacturer or distributor or commercial printer that does not have its own design / typesetting department has to get their design (and photography) from outside sources. Most of my commercial printer clients do not have their own design departments. (I can expand on this if anyone is interested.) If I was looking, I would get the Yellow Pages out and start calling. I would ask if the client had a design/photography department, and/or needed design/photography work done.

My product photography is done to suit the needs of the advertisment or sales material I am working on. The photography is paid for by my client.

If you shoot photography of any sort, and want to get paid for it, you have to find somebody that can use it (and pay for it).

If you shoot sports photography, and want to get paid for it, I would contact the sponsors of the sport. Or the magazines that promote it. Or the news sources that report on it.

For example, if you get a great shot of a race car, contact and send a sample to ALL the sponsors of that car and see if they can use (buy) your image. DO NOT GIVE YOUR IMAGE AWAY just to "get in the door." (If a client can get you to work for free, why should they ever pay you?) Race teams change sponsors, colors, uniforms, numbers, or something every year, sometimes every race, and always can use up-to-date images.

Think of all the places sponsors can use images: ads, product packaging, the web, souveniers, corporate reports, office decor, posters, autograph sheets, product endorsments, business cards & stationery, cereal boxes, etc.

Somebody has to shoot for the sponsors. If your images are first rate, it might as well be you.

I have a client that sponsors motorcross racing teams. Photographers submit action shots to him, and I use them in the ads I create. Last month, I paid a photographer in California $250 for a shot of a bike sitting still in the pit (the bike was using my client's product).

My brother, who works in the racing industry also designed some ads in his industry. There where photographers that submitted images to him, and they ended up in advertisments here and there. A shot of a motorcycle (that won a race) that got used in a oil filter ad, a picture of a winning Rally Car was used in a suspension parts company's ad. My sports photography attempts were either not good enough to use, or didn't suit his needs so he never used my action shots.

Of course, there is school sports - with little sponsorship money - but the parents have money. It is possible to set up a system to shoot team photos, and/or action shots to sell to the players and parents. It is not the big leagues, but it is a good place to practice skills. I have gone over to the ball park to practice some techniques (I learned I really have to anticipate the action to compensate for my slow-focusing lenses, and I need mosquito repellent).

Nothing like a short answer, huh?:rolleyes:

[pauly99]

Tom, you can be as long winded as you like. Any help at all is much appreciated... especially when it means going after what we are passionate about. Took some pics at the Chicago Blackhawks tryouts today... disappointed because none of the players had numbers on their backs but I was still asked for a business card while shooting. First time shooting the S2 at an indoor hockey event. Been there done that with the Nikon N80 but I really had no clue what white balance setting to use (I just set it at auto), or what ISO, or shutter speed would be best. I usually shoot at 3200 with the N80 but that option is not available with the S2.

Making a list today based on your advice of potential clients (sponsors). Also need to get the whole business license thing (dunno how to do that) setup for tax purposes.

One step at a time. And thanks for the advice about not giving images away. I have already been bit by that one and had the same person come back asking me to do the same again. Learned my lesson.

Thanks Tom

[Tom V]

Once again, the S2 saves the day!

I was designing / creating the artwork for a tradeshow booth last week. The original design went down the tubes because the some of the supplied photos the original design called for proved to be unsuitable. A complete redesign and all the artwork had to be created in 48 hours.

I designed a booth background that incorporated 10 different photographic images of the client's various products. I had 7 on disk already from previous jobs, but needed 3 more. I did what I could with what I had, and produced a mockup layout for approval, then started assembling the 117 inch by 92 inch by 100 dpi Photoshop RGB composite.

The PSD file I made to create the background was 386.8MB, which I flattened to put into the final composite 336MB PSD file, which was finally flattened into a 79MB TIF file.

I then accquired the required products that needed photography. 6 hours of work, one day gone, one to go.

The next morning, I shot three shots in my home studio dungeon basement space. I shot the partially clear products on a white plexiglass background with studio strobes in 2 soft boxes. I used 35mb TIFs, because a simple test proved that the TIFs had all the detail and range we needed. I outlined one shot while my assistant outlined (removed the backgrounds) the others. I added the shots to the composite, finished the little details and went back to the client's with the files on an external hard drive and plugged it into the clients Macintosh G4 system.

There we tested some output on an Epson 9600 but the laminating proved too difficult. We then turned to printing on 12 inch strips of glossy adhesive vinyl on a Gerber Edge printer.

Job done, wtih 3 hours to spare.

[ballroom_boy]

Tom,

Thank you for being so open with sharing your experience and advice. One thing I have noticed about you (& others here) is a willingness to help others, share knowledge, and create a sense of "community". We all come from different backgrounds, some of us are pros, some of us aren't. But at the end of the day, we are here to become better and more knowledgeable photographers.

Thank you again - to Tom and to all of you!

[ianmcc]

Tom sounds like the combination of design AND photo's together in one shop is a big selling feature. Which part makes the most profit for you?