• EGYPT
• TOKYO
• ALASKA

It sounds so exotic and farawayish…but actually- does it?

Nope.

To advertising creatives, it’s like landing on a Getty library or yet another amateur travel bloggers site. And that is at best boring, and at worst terrifying.

Before you know it they’ve scurried onto the next website leaving a smattering of desert dust in their wake, without so much as opening the project.

Why?

Because people in the ad world are always hopping on and off flights to far flung places to oversee photoshoots and TV spots. And if not, they’re paid well enough to go themselves (probably with their fancy camera). They are often very well travelled and I personally know some who roll their eyes at getting on yet another plane to another destination for the next job.

This is always dependent on where they’re based (and why you should always try to understand your specific target audience), but in general, here are 3 super important things you should know about making and sharing ‘travel’ personal projects:

1. Unless you’re literally an editorial travel photographer don’t use the word ‘travel’ as a category name, especially in the ad world.
2. Give every personal project a title that creates curiosity and earns the click. Don’t tell them where it was shot. Make them want to discover it.
3. Plan beforehand and find something that resonates with you personally about the place. Then create a project around that. (OK so it’s Alaska, but what do you want to say about Alaska?)
4. Consider looking for common themes in your personal travel work and recreating projects with an international theme, one which transcends place. You can read more about being an international photographer here

Your opinion matters much more than your itinerary, especially now.

Football was an obsession in my family. As a kid my dad used to drag the TV into the garden on an extension lead and watch the world cup with a sun hat and a glass of pop. The kitchen was even painted in Sunderland colours. (There, I said it. Utterly embarrassing. My poor long-suffering mother.)

Even if you’re not a football fan (and for the record, I am not – see above trauma), it’s hard to escape it right now.

Brands certainly don’t.

Major sporting events are gold for advertisers. Agencies spend months planning campaigns around them, and even if you weren’t one of the many photographers shooting football-related work over the past year, you’ve almost certainly seen it.

Like football, marketing is highly tactical.

Photographers who stay top of mind and get hired to work on the next big campaign think the same way.

• They were photographing promising young footballers years before they became household names.
• They were making football-related personal work a year ago so they’d be top of mind when the commissions came in.
• They’ve been sharing those commissioned campaigns as the tournament has unfolded.
• They’re using personal work, flashbacks and previous campaigns to join the conversation too (whatever their viewpoint – FIFA isn’t exactly without controversy).

As the celebrations and commiserations settle, what can you do now to become part of the conversation?

And if footy isn’t your thing, what matters to your target audience over the next year or two? What events, conversations or trends can you start building work around now?

This was a discovery call I had with a very established advertising photographer based in LA last week. He was beside himself with worry.

The day before I met with a photographer who hasn’t stopped shooting in months. Ad agencies and brands from from LA and Sydney are hiring him for his take on automotive and sport campaigns, and he was squeezing in agency meetings between gigs.

To confuse matters completely, a UK photographer who, 3 months ago, was ready to pack it all in and get a new career (Armageddon!!!) told me yesterday he’d just had his busiest quarter EVER.

Yes it’s crazy out there, and the roller coaster has become more extreme. That can be extremely discombobulating, and I completely understand that persevering isn’t for everyone.

But if you’re prepared to ride it out, there are ways to make the lows more manageable.

1. Get perspective

When you’re panicking, or focusing on all the things that are going wrong or not happening, you are probably missing opportunities because you’re looking the wrong way.

Take some time to step back, think big, and revisit what you want to do and love doing. Perspective is what you need when you’re overwhelmed with work or floundering in drought. It might just point you in the direction of something you haven’t thought of, or wake you up to something exciting right under your nose.

2. Create and make personal projects

Now’s the time to make work with a strong opinion and voice, and I truly believe it shouldn’t cost a fortune. If you’re quiet, use your time wisely. Develop a real idea and watch all the options unfold. Create a treatment and share it with possible collaborators. Get your agent or producer on board. Get publications and even brands interested. Having true purpose behind your ideas will actually make it MORE inspiring.

3. Batch your marketing

Research (or revisit) your target audience. Claude is your friend here.

Make sure your online presence is speaking the right language for the people who might want to hire you. Update the images on your website. Write a series of shorter email newsletters instead of one huge update every six months. Repurpose them into social posts. Write your personal outreach emails. Send your print pieces. Get in front of creative decision makers, photo editors and potential clients. Share your personal project ideas.

If you can fill the troughs with fresh, confident activity, you’ll be in a much stronger position when the peaks arrive. And it all starts with stepping back and gaining a little perspective.

The fact is lens based image makers who keep moving are the ones I see coming out stronger – and your next opportunity (whatever that is for you) may be much closer than you think.

We were already on the plane and the pilot initially chuckled as he explained the delay to departure. He wasn’t laughing 2 hours later, when we were asked to offboard the plane, but he and the crew never stopped updating us.

As you know spanners (or sparrows) in the works can happen to anyone, no matter how up to date your equipment and processes, how skilled your crew are, and however well you plan.

The weather can crap out, kit can fail, clients can throw hissy fits or change the brief, memory cards can corrupt, crew (including you) can get sick, permits can fall over and tech can do all sorts of ridiculous things. I’ve seen every one of these (and many more) happen first hand. Some are production headaches, but the buck almost always stops with you.

Lens based image makers who get repeat work are often the ones who can deal with whatever is thrown at them (and an excellent producer helps too).

They stay calm.

They take stock of the situation.

They think through solutions.

And they’re excellent at communicating those options – and more importantly why – to everyone who needs to know.

In fact communication is everything (assuming you are a good photographer, and that’s a prerequisite in my world) because you’re not just selling a completed piece of work. You’re selling your ability to interpret a brief, collaborate with the creative and their producer, communicate to their client, and manage untold situations whilst keeping your cool.

The same applies to your marketing. Through your Emails, social media and even personal projects you have a wonderful opportunity to show how you think, work and communicate and that’s gold. Because your target audience want to know they’re in safe hands, even when the sparrows hit the fan.

The five Southeast Asian women featured in this exhibition are all using art to communicate singular political and social messages. There’s no fluff. It’s opinionated, purposeful work that isn’t actually so different from great advertising, though admittedly far more altruistic.

Last week in Chiang Mai, seven photographers on our Series Project workshop did the same (and yes, it’s officially a wrap).

Traditional subjects including Thai street sports, Buddhist nuns, opium farming, Muay Thai boxing, cockfighting, Chiang Mai silk and tattoo artists became vehicles to explore ideas around transition, impermanence, spirituality and ritual.

When these projects are shared, as they soon will be, they’ll serve as a powerful reminder to advertising creatives that their makers are not simply talented photographers. They are collaborators who understand how to communicate an idea, which matters enormously when so much of your job involves interpreting a brief, building a treatment and executing it with clarity.

Photo reps often ask me to help their photographers develop these skills because it remains one of the hardest parts of transitioning into advertising from other genres. It is also, I believe, one of the reasons good advertising photographers continue to be among the strongest in their craft.

So if you’re developing a personal project right now, think about this approach:

1. Start with what genuinely interests you.
2. Get clear on your perspective.
3. Decide how you want to communicate it.

Your perspective is your advantage. Use it!

(Perhaps that resonates with you)

There are a few key differences between those worlds, and one of them can be a bit of a sticking point:

When you’re used to capturing stories, particularly for editorial and content assignments, you can rely on groups of work to do the job. A scene-settling image of the place. A portrait of the person in said place. A few captured moment in-the-flow images. A detail.

You have the luxury of multiple images to build the story and provide context.

But in the ad world, and even for singles and covers in the editorial world, there’s often call for ONE image which must do all the heavy lifting; it must encompass an entire idea, and if it’s a campaign, it will only ever be seen in separate locations.

That’s why when I review (or Blitz) photographer’s work, I start by identifying the heroes; the images that will do this job, and stand alone without support images, regardless of where they’re seen.

The hero image must stop me in my tracks, move me, and convince me, without an explanation.

There’s nothing wrong with a series of images. In fact I advocate all the time that photographers shoot bodies of cohesive work which tell a compelling story, especially in their personal projects.

But even then, I always insist on establishing the hero images before editing them together. There’s noting worse than a ‘transitional’ image which tells a story but let’s down the quality of the series (I see this all the time when I’m judging).

So, if you’re editing your work to share with people in the ad world, or you want to be noticed by judges and curators, don’t forget the power of each individual photograph.

We ended up sitting with him every afternoon for a month. (That’s so typical of my strong spirited dad).

I kept my sanity by working. Not burying myself in admin (note my marketing reduced to zero) but by working with photographers, editing their work, uncovering their essence and digging into what makes them tick. Doing the bits of my job I love.

I’d emerge from an edit newly renewed, with a smile on my face and the emotional strength to keep on keeping on.

It’s what we all do isn’t it?

Life events and times of crisis can have a different effect on everyone.

Maybe you’re the kind of photographer who is paralysed by situations like this and you can’t go near your camera. (Sometimes once you’re through the crisis you can throw yourself back into work with even greater gusto and creativity.)

Maybe you use the camera as a meditative tool, allowing it to help distract you.

Perhaps it’s the perfect vehicle to help you channel your emotional journey into something tangible, manageable.

For me, there is almost nothing that lights me up more than the core work I do – and that’s where I channelled my energy.

I am back in New Zealand now for a month before I head off to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a personal project workshop which begins this week online.

Eight photographers making new personal projects with depth. For them I know this process will distract them from the stress of everyday life with family, and transport them into new ways of thinking about their craft.

For me, Chiang Mai will allow me to combine my two great loves, working with photographers and continuing my dad’s legacy – a passion for exploration and travel. I’ll even bring his walking boots.

Do you line up a load of tests?

Experiment with new current lighting trends?

Get some more of those essential lifestyle images made (cue the family around the campfire), or the reflective object shots in the studio?

There’s nothing wrong with this – it’s essential to grow your skills and build your folio.

But if you’re just trying to stay on trend, or fill gaps which you’ve seen others are shooting, you’re probably going to do one of two things:

1. Dumb yourself down to look like everyone else.

2. Confuse your target audience.

And sadly, neither of those will get you more work – they’ll probably get you less work.

If you really want more work, try to quieten that scattered ADHD brain just for a few minutes and before you decide what to shoot, focus on one thing:

Your unique brand voice.

Is it calm? Driven? Theatrical? Funny? Dramatic? Authentic? Edgy? Intimate? Bold? Raw? Zen?

Is it the high tech Nike trainer or the scuffed Converse sneaker? Or the Barbour Wellington Boot?

Get some clarity on this and if you already know your visual voice and brand, stop distracting yourself with scattered thinking about what everyone else is doing.

As a lens based image maker you’re a creator, and creators don’t follow, they lead.

Your unique visual voice is yours, and yours only – and that’s the starting point to standing out, being seen, remembered, and hired.

I was an agent for 20 years and it wasn’t the first time I’d heard those words. In fact, if you’re an advertising, editorial or commercial photographer, you’d know it’s part of the job.

To be honest, you’re lucky if they even bother to tell you – often you’re just ghosted.

It was a big job; a library for a huge telecommunications brand from a Singapore ad agency. The images were highly prescriptive and the work would be used across Asia – we just couldn’t risk trying to pull it off for any less.

But then something happened. After pre-production was supposed to have kicked off, we got a call from Evelyn, the suit, who was acting as art buyer.

The agent for the photographer in Australia had basically underquoted it, and now wanted approval for more funds after the job was approved. It’s a dirty trick but it happens.

Acting on intuition, with her boss out of the country and uncontactable, Evelyn took the risk and decided to come back to us, on the provision our costs would not increase and we could still meet the deadline.

We went ahead with the job, our photographer delivered a great set of images, and their client was so happy that Evelyn got a promotion.

If you are ever struggling with a client pushing your costs down, I encourage you to stick to your guns. There are lots of ways to make it a bit more digestible to them, and help it across the line, regardless of the budget they’ve given you. And often they can get more money to make it happen if they understand why.

But if you ditch some of the resources, time and money which make you good at what you do, you risk dropping the ball, reducing the quality of your work, and never being hired by them again.

The creatives don’t remember the restraints you had, just the final result, and they’re usually the ones choosing you for the next job.

The suits, art buyers and producers will remember the people who made their lives easier and their client happy.

Achieve both and it’s a win win.

Last week? Six months ago? A year? Never?

Maybe you DID have a system but then you got busy (yay!) or life got in the way (uugh) and you’re paralysed or struggling to get started again.

Me too. Guilty as charged. My last Email blast was in late January.

Just when I was rolling gun-ho into the new year, with a talented roster of photographers joining my next Bootcamp programme, a list of discovery calls as long as my arm, some exciting Blitzes to edit, and some new collaborations on the horizon, ‘that’ call came: to get to my elderly parents’ rescue (and they live on the opposite side of the world).

Usually I’d have a few Emails pre-written, but I’d used those up (damn those Christmas holidays!)

After adjusting to the jet lag and turning my calendar on its head I noticed that every time I tried to start an Email blast or a social media post I got stuck. What to say? How to say it? And the longer I left it, the more paralysed I became.

Everyone gets stuck sometimes. When I do, I remind myself of these three things:

Done is better than perfect. Aiming for perfection is only going to prolong that procrastination.
Own your story. Honesty really is the best way, and can sometimes make for a more engaged audience.

JUST DO IT. Yup – that really is the crux of it. I set myself a time limit and have to press send. It’s the only way.
(All which I told myself today.)

As I settle into the rhythm of work back in the bleakly beautiful North of England, it’s actually all working out. Most my Bootcampers this round are in UK, Europe and USA – all Northern Hemisphere. I get to speak to them in my daytime, rather than at the crack of dawn.

And I might be missing summer in New Zealand, but in June I’ll be in Chiang Mai for the next Series Project workshop, so I can’t really complain.

If you’re in the same boat as I was, and struggling to write that Email, Instagram or Linked in post, it’s time to stop overthinking and just do it.