Luckily I’m heading out to a lunch meeting soon.

When I was an agent I repped 2 food photographers. Wherever possible I would always arrange those folio visits at about 11am. I’d catch the ad agency creatives just before lunch and make them even more hungry. Those food books were always accompanied with grumbling tummies and gasps of ‘Yummmmm’.

Just to enhance the whole experience, I would bring some delicious treats with me too, for afterwards (no greasy fingerprints on the books thanks very much people- real food and print folios do not make good partners).

It’s all about curation, timing and experience.

That’s pretty much what advertising clients want from you when they hire you too.

They’re not buying pretty pictures ready made to put on their wall.

They’re trusting and investing in a very expensive experience- with you as the main player.

With the changes over the last 2 years keeping many people out of the office, it’s quite difficult now to rock up to an ad agency with morning tea and a folio under your arm.

So the experience of working with you has to be conveyed via your online presence.

Take a look at yours.

How well can those ideal clients and creatives get to know what you’re really like from your online presence?

Or is it just a pretty filing cabinet?

Every step of their journey through your website should be a positive experience for your clients, from understanding your voice, purpose and vision (your DNA), and the work you love making, right through to helping them sell you to THEIR clients.

It’s never too late to change, and I cannot wait to see you (and your work) shine!

That’s the word a photographer recently used to describe some of his more frustrating clients who work in the sports world.

It’s not surprising really. Many people who book photographers direct are non-visual.

And it’s not limited to ex-rugby players.

Marketing managers, event organisers and corporate executives are simply not (usually) terribly visually eloquent.

They haven’t studied art or design or photography or film, or spent years in creative departments or photography studios surrounded by visual media.

Because of this they can under value good photography, or the difference good production makes to a shoot, the importance of enough time to organise, prep and make something great, and the difference in cost that comes with that.

But if you’re still working with meatloafs, (or your version of meatloafs), you might need to ask yourself why.

Fear?

Comfort?

Better the devil you know?

If you’ve ‘done your time’ in the industry, and are ready to work with more visually discerning people who’ll hire you to shoot what you love, you’re going to need to aim higher.

Whatever that means to you.

It’s time to get out of the sandpit and play wth the big kids.

I’ve just returned from a 4 day hike along Hadrian’s Wall in the North East of England. At about 80 miles, it crosses the width of England and took 6 years to build. it was HUGE!

Hadrian had a very clear vision. To keep the Barbarians out of England and protect its borders.

So he came up with a strategy to build a wall, using existing topography, and of course the Roman army.

I’m not suggesting you have the Roman army at your beck and call, (or that you should ever build a wall), but if you have a clear vision, and understand your purpose, it’s incredible how a strategy will unfold.

Maybe you want to find beauty, or be a witness, or educate, make people laugh, reveal strength, reach your potential, connect people, build communities, lead a creative life, or show compassion.

Your cameras (and whatever else you use) are your tools.

You’ll have some things in place. A website template, some great shots, some good ideas, some clients that love you.

All you have to do is build on these.

Like many of my clients, you’ll look back and realise your work improved, your assignments increased, and many of your goals will have been met.

At the Red Lion in Newburgh, as I tucked into my steak and ale pie (when in Rome..wait what?), I was chatting to an adventurous 20 year old from the US West Coast. She said she was amazed at how she had always dreamed of this hike, and there she was. Her vision came together, piece by piece…and boom! Steak and ale pie in an eleventh century pub.

Clarity and direction is key.

If you want help with clarity and direction, you can book a free strategy call with me for September here.

I’ll help you work out next steps and give you tools to get you on the right path, so you can build your own empire.

I think I ditched it.

When photographers, even my beloved clients, start talking to me about gear, I ‘glaze over’. It’s not my zone of genius. I’m done being a producer. And quite frankly there are plenty of experts who can help with that.

In the 25 years of working with top photographers I know that good equipment is essential to providing the end results top clients require and expect, but it’s only the starting point. You should have this pretty much nailed.

This year, when you receive (or don’t receive) that new lens, or software, or widget, remember this.

You are an artist. An image maker. Photography in itself is simply a tool to fulfil a deeper desire to create something. To show something. To change someone. To make a difference. To entertain, To reveal. To express yourself.

All you need is inside you. (And that includes resourcefulness.)

Make 2018 the year you fulfil this potential, or push it further. With or without the latest tools. Show your clients what you’re capable of. I dare you.

I want to wish you a very, very merry Christmas (if you celebrate it), and an amazing new year.

And thank you for being an ongoing part of my tribe. I truly appreciate you being there and look forward to helping you more in 2018.

]]> https://christinaforce.net/hone-in/ Mon, 11 Dec 2017 23:32:03 +0000 https://christinaforce.net/?p=4520 I’ve recently been reviewing a number of my clients’ website bios and they often go like this:

1.Open on a description of photographers’ style and feel.

(Are you seriously telling discerning visual decision makers how to think about the work after they’ve probably already seen it? )

2. Go on to explain ‘my first camera’ and a litany of schools, institutes and even the names of photographers assisted.

(A lack of self confidence often inspires this barrage. A reader may be tempted to use the photographer you assisted. Just sayin’.)

3. Maybe some personal info. A grandma that inspired. A memory.

(Hmm, now this is getting interesting, only by now your dream client has already given up and stopped reading because of the previous paragraphs which I guarantee have already exceeded their time limit if not bored them to tears)

4. Awards, competitions, accolades, clients, I really want to help YOU build your brand, yada yada…

(Trying to sell to people who sell is a BIG mistake. Lists of facts. Uugh. Snore…)

5. The alternative photographer’s version: Something completely abstract and minimalist that doesn’t really tell me anything except maybe you have a motorbike.

(Yep, so you’re cool, but probably too cool. in fact you definitely wouldn’t use the word ‘Cool’ . It would not be cool enough. You may also have issues talking to the client or CD in a coherent manner, lest it ruins your image. Or maybe not, but that’s the perception.)

Are you doing any of this?

OK so some of this info is useful but where are YOU in all this? No, I mean YOU?

I can tell you where you are. Somewhere in paragraph 3. When you were a kid. The hazy days spent on the farm with your favourite dog. The dream to capture the sparkle and bottle it forever. To share the joyful memories of your grandma cooking.. The desperate need to show the truth, because you were lied to. This is who you are, and this is how you became an image maker.

The key to this is honing in on what matters and removing the fluffy stuff.

I ask this of all my clients.

Hone in on the interesting and unique, whether it’s your purpose, your story, or your images.

There are lots of ways to get noticed. But only one way to get really noticed and respected and commissioned to shoot more of what you love. It’s to be completely, authentically and uniquely you.

Surround yourself with people who support you to do what you love, and help you see the uniqueness that is you. Whatever that means.

I am here to help. But I’m only interested in helping photographers who want to be known for what they love shooting. Who are not afraid of the truth, and who want to know how to leverage that.

]]> https://christinaforce.net/ipa-climate-change-competition-4-ways-to-stand-out/ Wed, 08 Feb 2017 00:48:34 +0000 https://christinaforce.net/?p=2575 Last night, after an amazing day where I proudly joined the first Women’s March on Washington in Auckland, we had a severe storm and lost power. Trees and power lines crashed down around Auckland and roads were closed. It seems only appropriate that today I judged the IPA Climate change competition.

It also seems appropriate as it is the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the USA. If only he could see the shots I’ve been looking at- clear proof of the damage wrought upon the planet by humans.

However, I digress. My job is to judge, first and foremost, whether the photography is worthy of a high score.

Here are the things I looked for as I worked my way through this incredible collection of images from around the world:

1.It must be a stunning, arresting image

I saw several grainy long distance shots of polar bears, taken from a long lens in an exciting rare moment. I saw numerous shots of dead fish and icebergs. I saw people wearing face masks in crowded cities. Yet not all of them were beautiful, striking images. The ones that I gave the highest score to showed these things, AND were beautiful.

Your shot should be stunning, even if the content is important. It should be beautifully shot BECAUSE the content is important. Climate change is important. It deserves to be captured in a way that draws you in. It deserves to be exhibited in a gallery on a wall, as much as on social media.

My criteria? Good composition, excellent use of lighting (available or otherwise), and something I ‘get’ upon first glance. On top of that, it should be emotive. It’s the criteria upon which I base all my editing. If it’s not stunning and arresting, it may just get swallowed up in the quagmire of phone snaps that appear on your device and disappear into oblivion.

2. It must be unique.

Polar bears are plunging into extinction. Icebergs are a frightening reminder of our current situation. So is cracked earth. Dead trees poking out of floodwater. All vital signs. Yet how do you show them so they look different to all the other shots of the same topic?

I have to say, by the time I  finished a day’s worth of judging, I had seen so many black and white shots of power stations, deforested hills, and cracked earth (sepia toned!) that I didn’t want to look at another. (My poor clients….take note!)

The shots I loved stood out from the crowd, and took a unique approach to deservedly well-worn themes.

3. Quality

Honestly, some photographs look like they were taken on an i phone. Or maybe they’re just low res. Either way, they didn’t meet the quality of most the others in the competition.

For goodness sake, if you’re going to the trouble of paying for a submission and you want to be taken seriously, at the very least make sure your shots meets the specs. Does it look good on a laptop screen? On a decent sized computer screen? You are up against some stiff competition, but this is a simple step you should be able to get right. Whatever the content.

Better still, give the shot some love. Grade it. Crop it. Clean it up (as appropriately as acceptable). Don’t ignore attention to detail and compromise the quality the subject deserves.

4. An engaging, succinct written description.

I like to think I’m a diligent judge. If the shot meets the above criteria I’ll look longer and explore the content and message. Is there a description? If so it needs to be engaging and actually tell me something that is relevant to the shot.

More importantly, I’m intrigued by the photographer’s connection with that message. What is your motivation? What was your experience? The best description in the whole competition told me a story about the moment the shot was taken. It captured my imagination and the photographer cleverly drew me into the experience.

We all connect through stories. If you can find a single interesting moment that is relevant to the image, and you can capture it succinctly, I suspect that you’ll help push your score up a notch.

The above points don’t just apply to competitions. They apply whenever you are sharing your images on much-photographed topics. How much do you care that your shots stand out in a crowd?

Bruce is a pen name my husband has invented for a script he really wanted to write, but with which he didn’t initially want his name associated. (Oh damn- there goes that secret).

He wanted to be completely free to explore an idea and was a little worried about his reputation; so he invented Bruce Marigold. Every time my hubby finds himself, pen poised, worrying if he can or should write something, he asks ‘ What would Bruce do?’

Bruce breaks rules, pushes boundaries and behaves a little inconsiderately. He is the writer without a conscience; a little mad, a little reckless. He certainly doesn’t care about what potential clients would think, let alone reputation. He might upset his audience, use profanities, make crazy things happen or, God forbid, write in the wrong format.

Of course, Bruce also writes more creatively. Like Ganesh the elephant he is the remover of obstacles. He crushes boundaries and removes unwanted parameters. Like Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie’s alter ego, he can dress wildly, play God and visit earth as an alien.

OK I know you hate writing. Well probably. (If you’re a photographer the chance is very high). But when you’re thinking about your next photography project, why not create an alter ego or Nom de Plume?

Find your own Bruce Marigold and create photography magic. Push boundaries, make mistakes, experiment, be who you want to be, or only dream of being, and when you find yourself worrying what your usual audience would think, ignore it because you’ll have your very own disguise.

My daughter (yes, creativity is in the family) created a fun band with a friend last year whilst she worked on her own album. ‘New Dawn’ girls wear purple kaftans, breathe energy greetings to Astral Nomads from their Facebook page, and broke all the rules of good production by whipping up an album in a day to share with their followers.

What’s amazing is within a month they were being interviewed on the National Radio programme in NZ (and the interview was subsequently picked as one of the favourites of the year), a distributor offered them a contract for their first release, and they are booked for gigs around the country.

Ultimately, your Bruce Marigold, like my husband’s, may evaporate in the same way as the imaginary friend you had when you were a kid.  You may be proud of what you made. Gosh, it might even become what you are famous for. Or infamous- but who cares?

Whatever the outcome you’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain by being truly, authentically creative, with no restraints. What’s your photographer Nom de plume going to be?