“This street is so clean! I wonder what gear they used to clean it with!”

One of the most common questions any experienced photographer gets is: what is your setup? or something along those lines. Variations include, what were your settings? what camera/lens/lighting did you use? That kind of thing. Now while you can certainly learn from studying lighting diagrams and how different lenses affect things like depth of field, what you will not learn is how to take a good photograph.

This is where I start ranting.

If you’re asking another photographer about their setup or gear, first of all realize how your question comes off. It greatly depends on how well you know the person you are asking. If you don’t know them at all, it can come off as downright rude. As if you’re looking to copy them. Which, in case you were wondering, is not cool.

Before asking, do some research of your own. If the person you’re asking has a blog or site, look there to see if they are already sharing the information. If not, stop and ask yourself why – are they the private type, or is it that they’ve just not thought of it before?

When you do ask, include a personal note and the reason why you are asking. You’d be surprised at how often the question is just that, which comes off as asking for something without offering anything in return. In other words, rude. Again, if you know the person, the scenario obviously depends on the status of your relationship.

However, even if you were standing right next to a photographer from planning to shoot to retouching, you still have to have skill and talent of your own — which doubles as the reason why photographers who are asked, shouldn’t worry too much about copycats.

In the end, who takes the photo? Not your lens or aperture setting. Not your strobes or whether you’re wearing a photographer’s vest. You do. Your eye, your index finger, your brain. It all comes together to form a vision (composing the shot, focusing in) that then becomes action (pressing shutter at just the right moment) and ends up as a product, the photograph. It has very little to do with your camera make or model.

You can create amazing photos with an iPhone or a Holga. Neither are what you would call high-end equipment, but if used right they can create perfectly good results. It all comes down to combining your knowledge of photography – as in understanding light and color and the balance between distance, depth, iso, aperture and shutterspeed – with the circumstances of your shoot, such as location, time of day, the mood you’re going for and your type of subject. You pick your gear and setup based on those factors, not the other way around. If that sounds a bit technical, it’s because it is. That’s why there is such a field as professional photography.

Asking for someone’s setup has to be for the right reasons. If you are hoping to shoot more like the person you asking, go back and read the paragraph above one more time. If you are studying photography in general, define what you are trying to learn specifically and why this person would be a good guru – and let them know.

Personally though, I think asking for someone’s setup is a little like asking an architect what pen he used to draw a beautiful structure. Unless you’re looking to buy a nice pen, you are asking the wrong question.

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This is inspired by a post on Black Star Rising, about two recent job-posting for photographers. The short version: one job offered no compensation other than credit (this posted by a PR-firm on behalf of a “high-profile” client). After having written three paragraphs for a comment, I decided instead to post my thoughts here.

It is of course preposterous for a company to “hire” any type of creative talent for credit only. If you’re small fry and have no budget but can do some trade, that’s one thing. That happens all the time, especially among small businesses, and it can be mutually beneficial. I’m talking about clients that until some time in the last decade, would never have thought twice about paying full price, but who now expect your work for little to no compensation.

Say no to clients like that. Refer them to microstock, where they will have a better time finding photos that fit that kind of budget. Don’t slave for clients. If you’re going to slave for anyone, do it for yourself – build your own stock photography portfolio, or whatever tickles your creative fancy. As long as you do it well.

It’s about confidence, professionalism and having the know-how to back it all up.

There IS a market for photographers with the skills listed above, a niche and the ability to tell a good client from a bad one. But, you still have to be willing to work hard – at times for nothing – to get to the point where you can afford to be picky. It’s like that in all creative industries from acting and writing to graphic design and photography. With the increased availability of inexpensive technology, amateurs flood the market with mediocre products, driving down the price on low to mid-range projects. The freelancers and small studios are the first to feel this crunch, as their clients start using amateur prices as bargaining points.

This is where, if you consider yourself a professional, you have to show the client that you are worth paying for. Show them what the difference is between you and the amateur. It’s like the web designer who must convince her small business client to pick her over the client’s nephew, who – using a downloaded copy of Dreamweaver – will “do the same work for a fraction of the price”. But it’s not the same work, and the designer has to be able to show that or lose the bid. Photographers have to show, that their work is not the same as that of someone’s uncle who happens to have an expensive DSLR with a big lens.

There will always be people willing to work for free and clients who won’t pay what the work is worth. It’s pointless to complain about. Instead it should motivate you to get focused and set yourself apart. Adapt or be destroyed, that’s how it is in any business. For decades, photographers had it good, but now that the mystery of “creating a photograph” is all but gone, the nature of the industry has changed.

You have to specialize and build a reputation in just a couple of areas (eg. weddings and seniors, architecture and landscapes, fashion and glamour). Pick the one you love the most, because you’ll be competing against others who love it too, and that will show in the work. If you half-ass it, that’s what you will end up as. Some niches are harder to compete in than others, so research is required. I’m not telling you to give up on your dreams if they happen to be in a field that is highly competitive. Just be realistic about it and plan accordingly.

As I see it, the value is not so much in the work itself, as in the ideas and personality behind it. Anyone can take a photo, but only you can make it look like one of your photos. So, make your clients want you. If they want you, they will pay. If they just want some schmuck with a camera, tell them to go to hell. Work for free if it’s for a cause you want to support, but never work purely for the promise of future opportunity. Getting paid is so much more fun.

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Want to sell fewer images? Want your work to look like everyone else’s? Here are some subjects that might help. I typically see these from dabblers or newcomers to the microstock scene, and people who fail to realize that stock photography is commercial photography. Meaning that the photos are used to market and sell other things.

I’ve put together a top 10 list of subjects to avoid uploading. At least if you want your portfolio to stand out and be original. With any of these it should go without saying that if you do it right, as in different from 90% of the photos that are already out there, you might still produce an awesome top-selling shot. I am suggesting, however, that trying something different might be the better way to go.

Though I call this list a top 10, the subjects are not listed in any particular order.

1. Bugs on Flowers

Congratulations on your macro lens. At least I hope you used a macro lens, so you could get somewhat close. Bugs on flowers is my personal pet peeve subject. Sure, flowers are pretty and bugs are interesting creatures, but as a photo it just doesn’t do it for me. Most of the time, it comes out looking like you were just practicing and like the gazillion existing images just like it.

2. Sunsets

There’s nothing like watching a beautiful sunset. In real life. In a photo, it has to be all kinds of spectacular – or risk looking like a badly lit snapshot. And let’s face it, the magic of watching a sunset just doesn’t translate well into pictures. It’s one of those you-had-to-be-there things. Also, there’s often tons of noise in these shots, because of all the gradients and dark areas.

3. Brick Walls

Yawn. This has got to be the most photographed texture out there. It’s bricks. There’s symmetry. We get it. Move on.

4. Seagulls, Ducks and Swans

Birds that swim are easy targets. They sit relatively still, they’re abundant and, well, that’s pretty much it. Many people like to take pictures of these feathery swimmers. That’s also the reason your photo has to be radically different to work. The harsh light and murky water is not going to help you. For the record, seagulls hovering in the air is just as bad.

5. Vacation Photos

So you went to Greece this summer, huh? Good for you, but please keep the Santorini photos to yourself. I’ve seen that blue dome from every possible angle, and I’ve never even been to Greece. If you’re looking at a landmark or tourist attraction from where all the other tourists are looking too, don’t think that the snapshots you took will sell well. After all, every other tourist has the exact same shots!

6. Tree Branches

Here’s one I just don’t get. What compels people to point their lens towards a random branch and click? And then think that some leaves will make a great stock photo. Again, it’s about originality. There are trees everywhere, which means that anyone can point a camera at one and press the button. Why should they pay money for your snapshot?

7. Graffiti

I consider Graffiti an art form like any other. That said, taking pictures of it and uploading them as stock doesn’t make a lot of sense. First of all, it’s not very photogenic. Secondly, you’re just riding the coat tails of whomever made the original – and if they did so legally, you might have copyright issues too.

8. Computers

Laptops, desktop keyboards, mice. How about getting out of the office for a while? Have you even bothered searching for similar images before shooting your own? If so, how are yours different? There are only so many angles you can shoot these things from, and they’ve all been covered. And covered. And covered some more.

9. Abstracts

Occasionally, I’ll see abstracts that blow my mind or are just really well done. In most cases however, abstract starts sounding a lot like “Hey, I took a random photo while playing with my camera, and now I want to charge money for it.” Never mind that it’s all out of focus or a disjointed mess of colors. Well, I do mind. The Dude minds, man.

10. Erotica

Like to shoot sexy people? Get you going, does it? I’m not here to judge you, but I will tell you this: you might want to read through the license agreement and/or model release of your preferred microstock agency. I bet there is something in there about how the photos can’t be used for porn-like things. Even if your images are classy and make the model look gorgeous, it’s just not good stock imagery.

If I have offended you with this list, it’s probably because I just listed off a bunch of photos from your portfolio. Sorry about that. I didn’t write it to offend anyone in particular. I wrote it to make you think about what you upload. It’s not like I haven’t uploaded any of these myself. We all make mistakes, what matters is whether we learn from them or not.

Photo credit, I’m ashamed to admit: Me.

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The photo used to illustrate this post shows how I sometimes feel, when people ask me what I do for a living. It used to be that I would say: I’m a photographer. Before that I was a writer, and eventually those two melted together and I began referring to myself as a writing photographer. That term never really sounded right though. It is the kind of job description that leaves people with a puzzled look that says “does he take pictures of words or write about photos or what?”

Then I launched Another Passion – which centers around interviews with artists and creative professionals. Producing this involves interview skills, writing, photography and video, not to mention a ton of e-mail communication with a wide variety of people. At any given time I seem to be working on 3-4 interviews, either setting them up, doing research, writing questions or tracking down new potential features. It’s exciting work even if I make no money off of it. In fact, I may go so far as to say that as personal projects go, Another Passion is the most rewarding one yet. Just meeting and talking to so many talented people from authors to game designers to musicians, is like a dream come true.

But what should I put on my business card? I am not a journalist by trade, or a videographer or any other specific thing, really. I sometimes simply call myself a media producer or an artist, but both are vague titles that don’t really say much. For a long time, I even believed that titles as such were unimportant; that the work would simply speak for itself. But when you are talking to strangers, whether they are potential clients, partners or interviewees, they want to understand exactly what you do, and a job description is a handy tool for doing just that.

I could call myself a ‘blogger’, but again this is a vague term that covers everything from online teenage diaries to serious business. To me, a blog is simply a way to structure content, and what happens when a better tool comes along? I don’t want to tie myself to a tech tool. I tweet a lot, but I don’t consider myself a twitterer either.

I am not alone in this situation. Many smart and creative people I know spread themselves over a multitude of genres, outlets and media. Most seem to have a niche that they excel in more so than other things, but that doesn’t necessarily pigeonhole them as that particular thing. Others change hats and titles depending on what they happen to be doing, but that doesn’t work for me either. I guess you could say, that I am looking for a symbiosis of sorts. Since everything melts together all the time anyway.

This is just one of the many questions I tumble with on and off. One of the pleasures of living the glamorous life of a writing photographing editing interviewing video-making artistic media producer.

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This is about the absolutely greatest influence on my life, as a person and an artist. Though we do completely different things, this guy taught me many of the fundamentals of what it means to live for your art. For good and bad. The man I’m talking about is my father.

Gert Rasmussen is his name, and these days he works mainly as a blacksmith, using his long time artist name Grasart. It’s a return to the roots for him. As a teenager, he was a blacksmith’s apprentice for a while, before being lured away by working with glass, painting, sculpting with clay and porcelain and working with precious stones and metals. You might say he has come full circle. You might say he has come home.

I love my father’s work. Not because it was made by my him, but because it’s unique and wonderful. He can take something as hard and cold as steel, and turn it into organic and charming shapes. He gives it life through endless hours of heating, hammering and bending. I am truly amazed by his vision and skill.

Like so many other artists, Gert has suffered a life-long battle with self promotion and sales. He is a social and likable guy, but he is too nice and tends to sell himself short. Sometimes to the point of actually causing himself financial loss by giving away or underselling his own work. So, after decades of watching this happen, I finally stepped in and decided to help the old man out.

This is my plan: to promote and talk about his art in the hope that more people will see it. I have confidence in the quality and talent and would like nothing more than to earn my dad some well deserved buzz. Preferably some money too, so he can finally upgrade his tools and stop living on the edge of financial ruin.

So, please allow me to introduce the greatest artistic influence of my life. Please take a minute to look at some of his work, and if you like what you see, help me spread the word about it. And if you really like it, consider investing in one of his handcrafted, one of a kind pieces of art.

For more, please visit the GrasArt – Gert Rasmussen page on Facebook. Photo of the candle holders by Kelly Cline.

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This is for those of you who are highly ambitious about your microstock photography. Those who want to turn it into not only their livelihood, but a real business. This post is based on talks with friends who are full-time microstock photographers and my own observations through the years. For the purposes of this article, I’m assuming you already know how to take pictures, use lights, post process and so on.

This is for those who are ready to shoot never ending variations of a theme, concept or idea. And by variation I mean making the most of every shoot, not uploading long series of photos with minor differences, or the same shots zoomed in a bit. You have to rely on research and concept development, brainstorming and planning. You can’t improvise and succeed.

The following are in my opinion the three most important keys to growing and maintaining a top selling portfolio. You need all of them, if you want to play with the big boys and girls in the market.

1. High Quality

I’m listing it first because it’s the most important. When microstock was young, you could get away with mediocre quality and still make good money. Those days are numbered if not gone already. There are so many pro photographers entering the microstock market, that every single photo you upload must be as good as or better than theirs. You can get a small advantage if you rock at keywording and optimizing your photos for search engines, but in the long run, it will come down to the quality of your work.

2. High Quantity

Unless you have a large archive ready to go, it takes time to get enough photos up for sale, that you can live comfortably off of microstock alone. Not only do you need a big portfolio to make a lot of money, but you also need to consistently pump out new, contemporary material. It varies how many weekly photo shoots photographers need for a decent flow of images. If you’re not sure, I would go for 3 a week which still leaves time for post processing, uploading and researching/planning the next series.

3. Niche Specialty

You can do alright without a niche as long as the two criteria above are met, however if you want to take it to the next level, you need a specialty. My best advice for picking a niche is to choose something you truly love photographing (trust me, it will show in your work), and to stick with it once you’ve picked it.

No matter what your calling is – be it birds, business people, textures or fashion, you can sell it and make good money if you stick to the three points above. It looks a lot simpler here than it is. It’s hard work, like any other business, and not a get rich quick scheme. So get crackin’!

Photo by me.

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One of the most inspiring things to me, is to connect to other creative people. It doesn’t matter which kind of creativity, really. It’s about the need to make things, tell stories and doing what you love. Another Passion is my latest ongoing project. It’s a collection of mostly interviews with diversely talented people who are each following their own passion. The blog officially launched in January 2010 with an interview with Tracy Record, who runs a very successful hyperlocal news site.

My plan is to use Another Passion as a muse and motivator, as well as a way of networking locally.

Each interview I write for Another Passion is accompanied by a few portraits. I have made it a rule for myself that all the featured photography must be shot specifically for the content. As much as I love to write, I am also a photographer after all and showcasing my work is important. Also, to take photos I have to meet people face to face, in an age where it would be easier to do the entire interview through e-mail or IM.

The offline aspect adds much more than just the photos, of course. A real handshake and being able to read facial expressions and body language takes it to another level, both in terms of the interview and the networking value. I am much more likely to keep up with people I have had a face-to-face conversation with, next to someone I only know through the web.

Has it generated direct photography business for me? No, not yet. But the blog is still new and I’m confident that it will lead to the occasional client referral down the road. I’ll be happy to settle for the inspiration and satisfaction of simply running Another Passion though, and I don’t use the interviews to pitch my photography services. That has to come organically.

I hope you’ll enjoy Another Passion and find some inspiration through the stories of other creatives. There is also a separate Twitter account for this project. Follow @anotherpassion.

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There are many talented photographers and cool photo-related service providers on Twitter, and it would be an impossible task for me to list all the ones I enjoy following.

But I did want to share at least some, and so I’ve chosen 10 that are great resources in more ways than one. By resource, I mean that these are tweople who understand the medium. They not only share useful, interesting and relevant links and blogposts, but they are usually willing to answer questions and communicate directly. So if you’re looking to learn something, these are some twitter people you should follow.

As a side note, I recommend using the hashtag #togs when talking about photography stuff on twitter. It’s short for photographers, of course. The guy who popularized this tag is number one on the list below…

• Jack Hollingsworth – @photojack – Stock photography guru and all round nice guy.
• Bruce DeBoer - @brucedeboer – Not just a photographer but an inspiration to creatives everywhere.
• LookStat – @lookstat – These guys rock for understanding the microstock market.
• Rob Davies – @bobbigmac – The brain behind PicNiche. ‘Nuff said.
• Rob Sylvan – @lightroomers – An iStockphoto veteran and Adobe Lightroom Master.
• Ellen Boughn – @ellenboughn – Fellow microstock mentor and author.
• Sam Bloomberg-Rissman – @sambr – Great blog, great photography, great tweets.
• Microstockgroup – @microstockgroup – Keep up with what people are talking about on this agency-independent forum.
• Lee Torrens – @microstock – A microstock blog pioneer who is both smart and handsome.
• Kelly Cline – @kcline – She’s not just a microstock success story and an amazing cook. She’s my wife!

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Do you know what TFP and TFCD is? If you’re a seasoned photographer or model, the answer is probably yes. However, even among those who do know what it is, opinions on it differ. Some photographers say it’s a great way to save money on your production, others claim it’s a waste of time.

I am talking about compensation for models. TFP is short for Time-for-Print, which means that instead of paying your model hard cash, you give them some photos to use in their portfolio. TFCD is the same deal, except it refers to handing over the photos digitally (cd is short for, well, a cd) instead of on paper.

The argument against TFP/CD is that you will end up with amateur models, whose lack of experience will show in your pictures. That is, if your model shows up at all. And yes, sometimes bad results do happen. If you recruit beginners through websites like ModelMayhem, the models’ skill level is a crap shoot. Some are naturals who take direction well and know how to hold a pose, others are daydreaming wannabes with no idea of how a photo shoot works. That is the playing field when you’re recruiting amateurs.

Last year, I had a series of TFP/CD shoots lined up that all fell through, yet I still am not going to tell you to avoid these shoots altogether.

If you shoot microstock or art photos, keeping production cost down is a must and paying for professional models is often out of the question. So, how do you balance it out?

I don’t do a lot of TFP/CD shoots anymore, mostly because I’m into a kind of photography that does not require models in the traditional sense these days, but I used to do it regularly. When working with an amateur model for the first time, my offer has always been the same: 10 shots, fully processed in full res for print as well as for-web versions. I pick.

If I end up using the same model many times, and we work well together, I will start paying them. Typically, I start fairly low but still high enough that it’s worth the model’s time (actual rates will depend on where you are in the world). I also cover any shoot related expenses, such as parking, gas, a cup of coffee while we go over the model release and so on. But first time shoots with amateur models are always on a TFP/CD basis, unless the model is paying me.

While it’s true that you will get better results working with a professional (duh), you can get pretty far working with amateurs as well, without breaking the bank in the meantime. It allows you to practice your direction skills and build up confidence, before splurging on hiring a pro. Working with models who are outside your social circle is intimidating if you haven’t done it before, but having a plan for both the shoot itself and things like compensation, will help you relax and focus on the most important thing of all: Getting a fantastic shot!

The photo used for this post is available on iStockphoto.

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I often have plans that don’t pan out, or that I end up not sticking to for one reason or another, but every now and then one of them will work out better than imagined. My plan for 2009 was to put microstock photography aside and try to shed the rule-set of that particular genre. I had hoped that it would let me dive deeper into developing my own style.

Early in 2009, I broke with my plan to attend the first UGCX conference, where I sat on a microstock panel and got to meet a lot of interesting people. As inspiring as that was, I stuck to my guns upon returning to Seattle. I began looking inwards at my approach to creativity in general, trying to find commonalities between my other interests (mainly writing and music making) and photography. It confirmed an old favorite of mine, the 1:10 Creative Ratio.

All this soul searching also brought to light the many distractions a photographer faces. It led to a post about where good photography comes from. Here’s a hint: It’s not the camera.

Over summer, I allowed myself to dillydally into other fields yet again, writing in particular. By this point it was clear that microstock photography wasn’t my calling, but having dedicated myself to that for the last few years, I now felt lost. There were some tough times throughout the year, where I struggled with direction, doubt and life in general.

As fall crept in, I found renewed energy. In an attempt to kick myself into gear, and at the same time do some good, I ran the Free Headshot Event. Two weeks of preparation, one day of shooting and a couple of days of processing made dozens of people happy, which was just what I needed. Shortly thereafter, I found myself posting ads on Craigslist and Facebook, and sure enough, the clients started trickling in.

In the past, my ‘advertising’ has been of the word-of-mouth variety, which I still believe to be the strongest kind there is. Posting ads like this was new to me, which is why I started with free places to put them. I researched ad prices for local print media as well, but decided not to place any ads just yet. First, I wanted to re-evaluate my business practices. The reason: It was obvious from the beginning that I was selling my services too cheap.

I calculated how much time I spent on a typical job, then divided my fee with the time spent. The result put me just below $20/hour, not taking any shoot-related expenses into account (like transportation or gear wear and tear). No wonder I was struggling to keep up, even though I had enough clients. I have recently tripled my rates in response to this.

Going out on your own is a scary prospect. One of my strongest demons was the notion, that the jack of all trades is also the king of none. I won that fight by realizing that I’m not really selling a trade. I’m in the vision-trading business. What you’re paying for when you hire me is not ‘a photographer’ but ‘Rasmus Rasmussen’. Realizing that difference was a great feeling, though it presented another question: What is my vision?

I went in search of My Own Way, and took a critical look at my work over the last few years. I noticed several things, one being that the photos where I had asked my subject to smile, felt the least like me. So I decided to fine-tune that aspect by not asking for smiles, but get them to come naturally. However, I never spend too much time analyzing my own images. Personal style is constant and ever-evolving at the same time, so all I want to do is foster and promote that growth. The last thing I want, is to turn a few observations about my style into a set of rules.

Looking forward, it’s hard to tell what 2010 has in store. I’m extremely excited about the launch of my new ongoing pet-project, Another Passion. I plan on dedicating a fair amount of time to this, and use it as a platform to both build my network and promote my own brand of portraiture. I’m also going to give some attention to stock photography again. During 2009 I came up with a number of shoot ideas, as well as a new niche to try out for my portfolio. Still, I think it’s safe to say that stock photography won’t have the priority it used to. Whatever awaits, I’m looking forward to another year of both personal and professional growth.

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