The fastest way to change lenses is to not change lenses

This is not a super serious recommendation, but you'll save the most time changing lenses by not changing lenses. Either by having multiple camera bodies or simply using one camera and one lens. But for real world extensions of this approach, reducing changes is the next best choice. Let me explain.

Have a plan in the photo pit

You can save a huge amount of time changing lenses by having a strategy for how you photograph during the first three songs. This plan can take any form, but the most common approach is to save lens changes for the pause between songs. Another may be to switch lenses halfway between songs.

However long it takes you to change lenses, this approach to reduce the number of lens changes minimizes that time.

The most essential idea here is to make images with the lens you have equipped, knowing that you'll make other, lens-specific images later when you switch to that lens. This is a change from choosing a lens to make images at a specific focal length or range — ie, wanting to make a tighter telephoto shot of a singer at a specific moment of expression or lighting. The intent here is to reduce the urge to constantly switch, which in itself prevents you from seeing and making images efficiently in the time you have.

Have your lenses ready to shoot

When you're entering the photo pit, make sure all your lenses are ready to shoot. This means removing lens caps, putting lens hoods into the shooting position, and even removing rear lens caps. When you have your lenses ready to shoot, it means all you have to do is mount the lenses with nothing else to adjust. Even the fastest photographer is going to be slower when they have to take off multiple caps, adjust a hood, etc.

Most of the time spent changing lenses isn't just switching from one lens to another. Time is spent stowing or finding caps, adjusting hoods and so forth.

Make your lenses accessible

One way to improve how fast you can change lenses is to use a carrying system that gives you better accessibility and function for your your gear.

The fastest method I've found is using a belt system with a waist level lens pouch that I can position in front of me, but a sling or messenger style bag can provide the same functionality. With a belt system, your lens pouches are all close at hand, they're stable, all at the same level, and often have simple openings. All of these factors add up to very fast access.

The key point is so have the lens you want to switch to easily accessible, as well as a place to stow the lens you're dismounting. The fastest is when these spaces are right in front of you or adjacent, so you're not having to adjust adjust your bag. Ideally, you want a space/pouch to simultaneously stow your lens, dismount it, and then be able to immediately pick up the new lens and mount it.

One point in this approach is also having your bag/lens pouches configured so that you don't have to unzip or open the carry system — or basically to reduce anything that gets in the way of removing or stowing a lens.

Worry less about your gear

A lot of time spent changing lenses is focused on being careful with your equipment. Which is natural and logical, as gear isn't cheap. But professional lenses are also built to stand up to professional use, and this means being banged around. Lens coatings are a lot stronger than you think and fingerprints are easy to clean off.

Practice your changes

Building muscle memory is one of the best ways to get faster at lens changes. When you're used to a motion, you build confidence and speed increases. If you're worried about not using lens caps or rear caps, practicing can allay these fears and make you more assured.

The post The Music Photographer’s Guide to Changing Lenses Faster appeared first on ishootshows.com.

Recently, a fellow photographer reached out about a school assignment, which included detailing their “dream photoshoot” and how they'd achieve it, while taking reference from a photographer who inspires them.

For this assignment, this photographed asked, “what was your path to success and how did you get to be where you are?”

I'm always so humbled to be included in assignments like these over the years. It's a funny idea to consider success. I can't really say I have ever thought of photography as a career, let alone success in this pursuit.

I wanted to write an article to answer these questions, with the hope that perhaps the answers may help others.

Starting Out as a Music Photographer

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, photographing my first concerts there and falling in love with music photography in the city's venues.

I started photographing shows in smoky basement dives and local clubs and theaters, photographing mostly bands I listened to. I shot for free for a local street press until I started to shoot for a weekly newspaper and entertainment publications that eventually paid my rent every month. For several years, I photographed 3-5 concerts every week.

I never truly appreciated my hometown at the time. After all, I had no frame of reference. In hindsight, it was the perfect place to grow as a music photographer, with a thriving local music scene and the critical mass to secure tour stops from most of the largest tours at its stadiums and arenas. But it was not NYC or LA, or even Chicago. For me, finding success meant being found.

Being Seen: Sharing My Work on ishootshows.com

I registered the domain for this website, ishootshows.com, in 2006, just a few months after photographing my first concert. I wanted a domain that was easy to remember, that I could shout over the din of a show if someone asked me where they could see my photos. But it wouldn't be for nearly a year that I started posting. shared my photography, updates like upcoming shows I planned on photographing and other small updates.

Along the way, I started sharing posts on technique and gear, like how to do deal with red lighting, or the lenses and cameras I used. As I learned, it felt natural to share along the way.

At the time, there were only really a few pages I found on the internet that really gave any insight into music photography. One was a photo.net article that was more about photographing portraits of bands. The other was Daniel Boud's boudist.com website, which featured two great posts on how to get started in music photography. Daniel's blog really inspired me to start sharing what I learned along the way.

Why do I mention all of this background to answer a question about one's path to success?

Nearly every big break of mine has come from someone finding me, from the first clients who flew me out to shoot with them from my hometown to Nikon and Rolling Stone, and even the Tonight Show. Most found me through searching Google some variation on “music photographer” or “concert photographer,” which led them to my blog and portfolio.

I genuinely feel like I owe a career to this blog you're reading right now.

A point of difference

Having this website long before social media like Instagram gave me a place to share my images. There were websites like Flickr that existed, with great communities for concert photography, but having my own website gave me something of my own.

In hindsight, more essentially, it let me share more than just photos. I started writing posts on the gear I used, how to photograph concerts from a technical perspective, how to get a photo pass, and so forth. This blog also provided a platform for connecting with others, engaging through comments on post and inviting questions that I'd answer in other posts.

Over the years, I've had many clients who said they hired me because of this blog. Not just because they found it, but because they'd read articles and appreciated the fact that I responded to comments and shared what I could, beyond the photography.

I remember when I first started this blog, I was extremely excited that one day I had ten visitors in a day. Then 20, then 50. For a time, if you googled “concert photography” or “music photographer,” this blog was often on the first page. So when I say I owe a career to this blog, it's because of everyone who read an article or clicked through, and to all those people to whom I'm so grateful.

A Path to Success

It feels intensely awkward for me to write about success, as it's something I have never really considered or even something that have felt like I've achieved. There is always something more to do or other opportunities. I never set out to have a career, I just wanted to shoot shows.

So instead, I'll list a timeline of some milestones and events that have felt important to me.

2006-2007: I photographed my first concert on a whim. After that first show, I was hooked. About a week after that first show, I started contributing to a streetpress in my home town, shooting for free. Everyone volunteered their time for the publication, so it felt like a fair deal at the time. I was the publication's main photographer during this time, so I eagerly photographing as many shows as I could, many in small and dim club venues.

2008-2009: These years held a lot of firsts for me. I started freelancing regularly for the Riverfront Times, an alt-weekly newspaper in St. Louis. I transitioned to shooting almost exclusively paid freelance gigs around this time and was contributing to two paying publications in my area. I came into these gigs because I met editors from the publications in the photo pit. In 2008, I had my first assignment for Rolling Stone, photographing Warped Tour. In 2009, I had one of my first big commercial gig photographing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for Fuse TV. Other highlights include doing a shoot for Wrangler Jeans and shooting for American Express in 2009 as well. These were really exciting years because it felt like I was finally making progress as a photographer.

2010-2011: After the exciting years preceding, this span of time felt like a lot of the same. There were more opportunities, but fewer firsts. I was still photographing 3-5 concerts a week during this time and I was proud in the moment to pay my rent by photographing concerts. When I look back at images from these years, they feel solid and competent, along with images from 2009 as a turning point. I feel like my approach as a photographer started to solidify in this time.

2012-2014: In 2012, I first photographed for iHeartRadio Music Festival, which I've photographed ever since. This was my first time working on a festival media team. In 2013, I did my first work as a tour photographer, photographing a series of arena/stadium tours. In 2013, I also started freelancing for Red Bull and photographing their events. In late 2013, I moved to NYC and continued to freelance for iHeartRadio photographing their theater shows as well as working for Red Bull.

2015: In 2015, I had my first contact with Nikon, when they found me (via Google) and asked me to be part of a camera launch campaign for the Nikon D500 DSLR camera. This was a huge moment for me, as I have always used Nikon cameras and loved the gear.

2018-2021: After a couple more very small projects with Nikon, in 2018 I was invited to become a Nikon Ambassador for Nikon USA. I had the fortune of working on a few other camera campaigns in the next few years, including the Nikon Z7, Nikon Zfc, Nikon Z6II and Nikon Z7II. In 2019, I was able to each a masterclass with Creative Live, filming a workshop over 5 days in Seattle, Washington. I had never thought it was possible to be part of such a project, but this was really a dream opportunity, made possible as it was sponsored by Red Bull.

2022: In early 2022, I received a cold email from a photo editor at NBC asking if I wanted to try out for the role of photographer for the Tonight Shows starring Jimmy Fallon. He found me by googling “NYC music photographer” after trying traditional entertainment photographers and realizing that all of the previous show photographers had some experience in photographing live music.

2023-2025: In 2024, I was hired as instructor by Best Buy to help teach their camera sales associates portrait photography using Nikon cameras. In the same year, I held a two-day music photography workshop in LA sponsored by Nikon USA.*

* I had never really considered myself a teacher, but these opportunities as well as the Creative Live workshop have given me the understanding that I really love teaching and mentoring. Which in hindsight has been the true essence of this website for so many years.

2026 and beyond: A continued existential crisis. After thinking of myself as “just” a music photographer for a very long time, now as I live in a realm of celebrity and entertainment photographing the Tonight Show, who knows what the future will hold. I still love that I get to photograph live music and artists 3-4 days out of the week.

Standing Out as a Photographer

I'm often asked how to get bigger gigs, attract bigger clients or generally how to be successful as a photographer. When I hear these questions, I feel like they all circle the same challenge: How do you stand out?

There are as many ways to stand out as there are different kinds of people in this world. But what feels clear is that to stand out, you have to be different.

This difference can certainly come in the work — in your visual style, the presentation or consistency. But this can be hard to pull off, especially when you're shooting elbow to elbow with other photographers in the photo pit. If you're a genius level photographer whose work stands out just on visual distinction alone, perhaps just making images and being seen is enough.

For everyone else, I feel like the opportunity is to also consider how you can take your talents and the tools you have to find a way you can be different from the crowd.

For me, my blog was a vehicle that gave me a point of difference, even if that was never the point. Writing has always come pretty easily for me. I'd certainly rather write a 1,000 word article explaining something rather than film myself talking for social media, or send 10 or 10,000 cold emails. I don't want to go to parties to network. For me, this platform and sharing what I learned along the way was a way I could stand out, in hindsight. At a time when no one else was sharing much info about music photography, this blog let me have a voice.

I genuinely feel like everyone has strengths they can lean on. You don't have to be the best — I'm certainly not the best writer. But within your own personal disposition, your talents and the tools you have available, there's some aspects that are essentially you that can be your vehicle.

There's no single formula for success that's going to work for everyone. If there were, the point of difference wouldn't exist. If there's one thing that feels true, it's that you should lean into yourself. Do what comes, if not easily, than naturally. Follow that individualism in yourself.

If you're doing the exact same thing as everyone else, it's hard to stand out. Do what others can't or won't. Do the hard things, even if just 1% more than the person next to you. That 1% might make all the difference.

If you told me it would take a decade or two and writing over 1,000 blog posts to have a career, I don't think I would have started. The task would have felt too daunting. I waited nearly a year to write my first post on this blog because the idea of starting it felt so heavy. But after the first post, I made another one. And then another. Stack it up, day after day, the impossible can start to look like the inevitable when you look back, as improbable as that feels.

Sharing, educating, nerding out about settings, technique and process — I loved all of that from the very beginning. Success won't look the same for everyone; it can't. But focus on yourself, make the images that only you can make. That will always set you apart in the best way.

The post My Story as a Music Photographer appeared first on ishootshows.com.

Recently, I was in Japan shopping for used cameras. I was chatting with a salesman, Wilson, at Five Star Camera in Shinjuku (the best). He asked about my work, so I mentioned that I was the photographer for the Tonight Show. His eyes lit up with excitement. He was curious how I got the job, and then asked what kind of skills you needed as a photographer to work on a TV show.

I had to give the question a little thought, as no one had ever asked me this particular question before. I realized that they weren't the aspects that felt like the most obvious answers. Or, at the very least, they weren't the ones that I would have guessed before I started in this role.

My work

It's probably useful to describe the work I do at the Tonight Show. I photograph everything involving Jimmy and talent, from rehearsals, candid moments backstage to interviews, comedy, games and music performances.

In addition, I photograph quick portraits of our guests backstage with our “blue wall photos” that usually happen after every interview or performance. Most of these portraits take about 5 seconds or so, from the first frame to the last.

In addition, I photograph lit studio portraits a few times a year. One of my favorite shoots we always do are the formal portraits of Jimmy just before he leaves for the Met Gala.

My work on the Tonight Show is different than other types of set photography for a feature film or non-talk show television, so it's worth keeping that in mind. Finally, my background is in music photography. I've never worked on a TV show before starting at the Tonight Show.

How to become a unit stills photographer

People always ask how they can become unit stills photographers or set photographers, and I don't really have a good answer. I got a cold email asking if I wanted to trial for the role. So, rather than give advice on how to get the job, I want to share the skills that I rely on day to day.

Skills for unit stills photography

Every day, there are some skills, knowledge or traits that I feel come in useful for me in my job as the photographer for the Tonight Show. Some come naturally to me and some I've learned. I feel that for the most part, most of what's outlined here can be learned.

In no particular order:

• Technical ability
• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• Anticipation
• Spatial & situational awareness
• Social awareness
• Affability
• Self-management

Technical ability

The job as the show photographer can be technical, as much as any kind of job operating a camera can be. The main use of my images are from the JPGs straight out of camera, so it's valuable to have color* and exposure as perfect as possible for the workflow of the images.

Basic technical knowledge like how to use a flash, making determinations for WB and how to freeze motion and so on are valuable. Some of the problem solving that I discuss later involves technical solutions. I do lit portraits periodically, so understanding of studio lighting comes in useful.

Personally, I'm a very technical photographer — but the technical aspects of the job feel like only a very small part of what's important. Or, I should say that they feel like the least challenging part of what I do. Everything else that follows feels far more critical and as always, the technical aspects are the easiest ones to learn in this job.

* One reason that I love using Nikon is that the color out of camera looks amazing. It's always a benefit, but especially for professional situations like this where process and workflow dictates only minor tweaks, I love knowing that my color is absolutely dialed in for the studio and skin tones and the overall look will always look great.

Adaptability

Unit stills photography is often an exercise in compromise and being able to adapt.

On the floor of the Tonight Show, there are at least five cameras operating at any given time. It's my job as the unit stills photographer to tell the same story as those five cameras. When these cameras are already occupying the ideal positions for their shots, it means I have to be able to compromise and find the next best position or angle at any given moment.

Being able to plan out positioning and a plan for working during rehearsals is hugely helpful for new, complicated or risky camera movements.

Beyond being able to calculate compromise, adaptability and entering into a new situation while still coming away with the shots is a valuable skill in my roll. Sometimes, I may come into a shoot with talent and see a setup for the first time. In these scenarios, I have to make an educated guess on the spot for how and where I can shoot without disrupting the shoot.

Finally, I feel like one needs a lack of ego in this role. A lack of ego, or at least an appropriate level of ego lets me understand my place in the production. Understanding my place is what lets me make decision for compromise and when to even bail on a shot or moment entirely. More on this later.

Problem solving

With this focus of compromise, one of my favorite parts of the job as the set photographer is solving problems. Solving problems of angle, framing, position, exposure, timing and even social interaction. There's always a new problem to solve and something new to consider.

Problem solving works in tandem to enable compromise and adaptability, but I point it out separately as unlike the camera operators, there's no director in my ear calling the shots moment to moment. So the ability to make determinations for how to create the best image is critical. This aspect is also what makes the job so fun; I'm constantly challenged and engaged while I'm working.

Anticipation

The Tonight Show is not filmed live, but it is essentially live to tape, meaning most of what's shown happens in one take and is then edited down for broadcast. For the production, there aren't really do-overs (and certainly not for my situation), so being hyper alert and responsive while the show is taping is imperative.

A lot of the job is trying to anticipate the moments that will tell the story or convey the character of a guest. Maybe these are when a guest will look out to the audience in my direction, flash a smile, or being prepared for a moment of stillness or a display of emotion in the studio.

Backstage, it's listening to anticipate a reaction for a candid moment, or being ready for a flash portrait. And always changing exposure preemptively in anticipation of a moment when we move into a new lighting scenario.

I love that from pre-show to when the cameras are rolling, this role requires being extremely “on.” It's exciting. In this role on set, I have to perform and execute every night, and that's part of the fun.

In the film “Gosford Park,” there's a quote I love delivered by Helen Mirin's character, the head housekeeper. She says, “What gift do you think a good servant has that separates them from the others? It's the gift of anticipation. And I'm a good servant. I'm better than good, I'm the best.
I'm the perfect servant. I know when they'll be hungry and the food is ready. I know when they'll be tired and the bed is turned down. I know it before they know it themselves.”

Spatial & situational awareness

Having a high degree of spatial awareness feels really essential for my role and it's something I rely on heavily. Not getting in the way is a huge part of the job. Being aware of my surroundings lets me get into the most ideal positions close to broadcast cameras and their operators. But this physical awareness also minimizes risk to prevent accidents on the floor that could compromise the production.

During changeovers in between acts, there can be a lot of activity on the floor and bottlenecks like the exit to the studio. Cameras may be moving, utilities are organizing cables for new camera positions or making new connections, hair and makeup are coming in for last looks, etc. We all do a choreographed dance.

Especially while photographing music performances, when the floor is often most dynamic with the highest number of camera moves, spatial awareness it really key. It's objectively risky to work close to the broadcast cameras, because blocking their movement or worst case, a collision on the floor could ruin a shot. Understanding the position and movements of all the cameras lets me work most closely to them, which I feel results in the best shots.

Spatial awareness of where you're stepping, the position of cables, where I can squeeze or when I need step aside are crucial for a smooth flow on the floor and no mistakes that can affect the production. I try to keep track of everything on the floor so I can step over cables without looking, walk backwards past a camera op using peripheral vision and so forth.

During interviews, I'm often the only person moving on the floor, or the person moving the most, as most of the other camera ops are fairly stationary. Every movement is a potential distraction to talent, so I try to move as efficiently as possible, with exactness.

Social awareness

As Miles Davis once said, “It's not the notes you play, it's the notes you don't play.” I think about this quote all the time as a photographer in this job.

For behind-the-scenes work and making candid photos, I shoot sparingly. The ability to time shots is valuable, but overall the most important part of the job is making people feel comfortable. In this context, it's paradoxically more important to not photograph certain moments than it is to capture them.

You have to know when people want photos and when they don't, not just what moments are important.

This aspect of knowing when to sacrifice the shot also applies to the production and simply getting out of the way or choosing a worse position to minimize risk, or to not take a shot at all.

Affability

When I first started trialing for the position as the photographer for the Tonight Show, I googled what set or unit stills photographer did. After all, I'd never done it before.

I came across the Medium article “When Behind-the-Scenes Movie Photos Finally See the Light.” Out of everything in the feature, this one quote by David Strick stood out to me the most, and four years later, I feel it to be accurate:

“Unit photographers are basically always the nicest person on any given set,” Strick said, “because if you’re a photographer, you’re sort of by nature in the way a little bit. You’re not part of the actual production process. You’re the person that’s moving around behind the camera, that distracts the actor, or you’re the person that wants to shoot somebody candid between scenes. So they tend to have to be people that everybody on the crew just loves, to forgive them for being interruptive. And they have to find ways of being harmless and nice.”

Self-management

This is the most boring skill I use. Day to day, I have to keep up on the schedule to understand when and where I need to be. No one is really managing my time (which I love) or checking in with me. The vast majority of the time, it's up to me to make sure I'm keeping up with the goings on of the show so that no photo coverage is missed. So it may seem obvious, but the ability to self-manage my time and schedule is a factor of reliability and trust in my role.

The ability to self-manage is what makes me dependable and reliable to the show, not just in delivering the goods, but being everywhere I need to be to do so.

End notes

There are other nuanced aspects of being a set photographer, but these are some of the most important skills or traits that I rely on every day at the Tonight Show. It would be hard to rank these aspects. I will say that one doesn't have to be equally good at all of these things, if that's even possible. And a deficit in one are can be made up by strength in another.

When I first started in this role, I recall thinking to myself, “This isn't my dream job, but it's someone's dream job.” After all, I'd thought of myself as music photographer for so long. But years in, I genuinely feel so lucky to work on this show. It really has become a dream job.

The people who work on this show are the best. Night after night, week after week, I'm continually amazed at the work that goes into putting on this show. But I'm never surprised; it's far from a miracle. It's simply what happens when everyone involved, top to bottom, is so very good at their job. Miracles happen with luck. Quality and consistency are the products of a lot of talent and hard work.

I always joke, I'll keep showing up until they fire me. Until then, it's really a pleasure to work with the very best of the best across so many teams and individuals that make the Tonight Show possible. I'm grateful that they continue to forgive me for “being in the way a little bit” every night.

The post Essential Skills for Unit Stills Photography appeared first on ishootshows.com.

By default, Lightroom uses Adobe Color profiles, which are Adobe's interpretation of the RAW image data using their own color science.

While Adobe has created their own profiles for landscape, portrait, neutral, and standard just like the defaults by camera manufacturers, these can differ more than you'd think, in both subtle and dramatic ways.

Adobe also offers “camera matching” color profiles. While they aren't exactly the same as those of the original manufacturers, they are generally much closer than Adobe's own profiles in matching the overall tone and color. Here's a look at some of the differences and benefits of using camera matching color profiles and how you can apply them to your own images.

Camera Matching Color Profiles in Lightroom

Profiles are selected in the Basic editing pane of Adobe Lightroom as a dropdown. Adobe Color is the default for Lightroom.

To select “Browse” at the bottom of the dropdown. Then, navigate to the camera matching section. Here, you'll see multiple options for the basic color profiles: landscape, neutral, portrait, standard, and so forth.

For current cameras, these should match all of the camera's color profiles. While not perfectly identical, these profiles will be a lot closer to the native color profiles of your camera in most instances. Adobe has done a good job at matching the overall color and look.

In most cases, you may still get better results using the original manufacturer RAW processing software (after all, who should know the RAW data better than the OEM?), but for most of us, Adobe's camera matching profiles will be close enough.

Default Import Preferences

One of the first things I do when setting up a new camera in Lightroom is to import images and then change the preset preferences. Simply change the RAW defaults from “Adobe Default” to “Camera Settings.”

Differences in Color Profiles

Color profiles can have subtle but noticeable impacts on image rendering. A profile will affect how colors and tones are rendered on a fundamental level based on the intent of the engineering. Between camera brands, we have different renditions of what “standard” or “portrait” profiles should be, so it's no surprise that Adobe also has their own interpretation of color science.

The overall tone of these images feels similar on first glance. Both images have identical basic RAW adjustments, the only difference being the color profile used.

Overall, the biggest differences that stand out to me are the skin tones and the sky. The Adobe color version feels more clinical, with less warmth in the skin tones. The sky shows less apparent vibrancy as well, with much flatter and neutral feeling highlights.

Here again, we see similar differences. The skin tones of the Adobe profile feel more grey to me, lacking the same warmth of the camera matching Nikon profile. Another notable difference is in the rendering of green in the foliage behind the subjects, which feels more neutral in the Adobe profile.

Beyond skin tones, where I personally see a lot of differences is in how light sources and highlights are rendered in concert photography. Note the stage lights behind the subject and the difference in how Adobe Color renders the highlight curve vs the camera matching.

Adobe's standard profile has a different look in the highlight rolloff of the blue/white highlights. Similarly to the sky in the first example, the highlights present as more neutral. But by contrast, the Adobe profile image shows more contrast, while the camera matching profile appears flatter with regard to these highlights.

In the face of the subject here in this third example, the camera matching profile does a better job at tone separation. I feel the Adobe example feels more muddy by contrast. Of course this is concert lighting, so it's more extreme than most photographers will see in their subjects, but a good point of differentiation nonetheless.

Summary

It's worth noting that options are good. If you prefer the camera matching profile, it's a great option to have. If you love the default Adobe look, there's no reason to switch.

But if you haven't been completely satisfied with how the colors look in your RAW images, particularly when compared to what you see in-camera or SOOC, the camera matching color profiles may just be the solution you need for the colors you prefer.

There are plenty of instances where you may prefer camera matching profiles, but Adobe color works perfectly for a certain look, lighting scenario or tones of a subject.

The post Lightroom Camera Matching Color Profiles appeared first on ishootshows.com.

Example of a weak cold email

Hi, I'm reaching out because I saw you're holding an event in NYC on July 10. I'm a photographer based in the city and I'd love to offer my services! Are you looking to hire for this event? My rate starts at $1000 and this includes 20 edited images. For samples of my work, check out my Instagram. I look forward to hearing from you!

First, here's what this kind of email does right. It makes it very clear you're offering a service and not volunteering (you'd be surprised how many photographers pitch themselves by asking if someone “needs a photographer”). Also, being clear about the rate and deliverables is good, but here the delivery creates problems.

Let's take a look at why this kind of cold email often falls flat.

No personalization

One of the biggest pitfalls of cold emailing is using a template that lacks personalization. A formulaic email may be beneficial if it allows you to do a massive amount of outreach. After all, cold emails can be a numbers game. But if your emails lack personalization, it's extremely easy to spot and comes across as generic at best. The best pitches showcase that you understand your potential client. After all, unless you understand their needs, how can you solve their problems?

Too much information

A common mistake in cold emails is detailing every aspect of the service up front. Perhaps this is covering an exact price, deliverables and timelines immediately in the first email. When there isn't a fit, the downside to this approach is that there's no reason for the potential client to respond.

While you do need to eventually agree on rate and all the details, you also need to understand the client's needs and the usage they need first.

Only asking yes or no questions

Similarly, photographers sabotage themselves by only asking questions that have a yes or no answers. When the answer is no, the conversation ends. While a yes may result in a job, the ultimate goal is to build a relationship and continue the conversation, even when there isn't a specific fit in the immediate future.

No differentiation or value proposition

A common mistake is communicating the facts of your service without conveying your value and creating a point of difference for you as a photographer. A potential client needs to understand your rate, deliverables and so forth. But in these facts, there's no deep differentiator of you as an artist or creative. Price and quantity are the weakest differentiators — there's always someone cheaper or who will do more for less.

Transaction instead of relationship building

Finally, one of the most common mistakes of cold emailing is focusing on a specific transaction, event or sale instead of building a relationship. The ultimate goal of cold emailing isn't a one time client, but a long term one. The benefit of this approach is that even when in the short term you get a no, you can turn that into a yes down the line.

You do this by creating a strong foundation of personalization, differentiation and conveying that you understand your potential client's pain points with an ability to solve them.

The post Common Mistakes Photographers Make Writing Cold Emails appeared first on ishootshows.com.