Why do I like photography? I love still images and what they can do for people. I always thought that a picture really is worth a thousand words. Even if it’s a different word to different people. I still believe that one image can change the world and that photography is an important part of our daily lives.

Still images are like other classical art forms. Just like paintings and sculpture, you aren’t forced into viewing something in a flash. The viewer gets time to consider the image, decide if they like it, love it or hate it.  Still art allows the viewer to muse over the image in it’s entirety and inspect it’s detail without feeling rushed.  As a photographer, I enjoy the fact that photography can be presented to the viewer and you wait for the reaction, good or bad.

I want to be a photographer to show people things they haven’t seen. As one who enjoys traveling, urban hiking, and being in the world, I want to share those visual experiences with people who do not get the same opportunity. I strive to make images which are my unique vision of the world, with all it’s detail, honesty, glory and joy.

Reading and listening to other photographers and professionals,  it seems like everyone forgets why they started doing what they do at some point, and eventually they remember.  I hope I can look back on this blog in years to come if I ever forget, to remember why I fell in love with photography in the first place; it’s a beautiful representation of our world and I want to be a part of it.

Happy Valentine’s Day, to Photography, with Love,

Amanda

- Search professional membership sites which list photographers (and assistants if you join) like APA, ASMP, EP, etc.

- Websites advertising to you to host a website or your portfolio, like Foundfolios and Photoshelter.

- Search websites you would like to be listed as a photographer on, like Communication Arts,  Agency Access and Adbase.

- Search representative websites and agency sites like Wonderful Machine and Viisual Pro.

- Find winners of a photography competition you like and research them to see if any are from your area. Better yet, find local competitions and contact those winners.

- Photographers featured in industry publications, like Rangefinder and Professional Photographer. Although a long shot, they may be specific to your area and you can check them out.

- Go to local equipment rental and supply houses and get listed as an assistant or leave your business card there (and I do mean your assistant business card, not your photographers business card).  These are great resources as an assistant and a photographer. In San Francisco the big three are Calumet, JCX Expendables and Pro Camera.

- Galleries.  Find out who is showing in local galleries. Fine art photographers also need assistants, and perhaps this will yield some great contacts for you in the future for showing your own work.

And last but not least…

- Google them! Use specific phrases that are SEO friendly to search out photographers local to your area. A search for ‘San Francisco Photographer’ yields many results, but add the words commercial, food, portrait, wedding or architecture and it will focus the search to your specific interest specifically.

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries (thank you streaming Netflix). Recently I’ve stumbled upon several documentaries about photographers, design and artists which have been extremely inspirational.  The first I watched was ‘Bill Cunningham New York‘. What a wonderful insight to his world, and such a charming older gentleman. As a result, today on the bus I looked at street fashion all the way from Fisherman’s Warf to the Caltrain on the 30 and thought San Francisco is just as worthy as New York for street fashion focus.

Next I watched ‘Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman‘. OH MY GOD! Loved it. Loved the images, loved the architecture, loved the images, fascinated by the man and the period. Apparently I’m a modernist and didn’t even know it.  I find that kind of architecture gorgeous. The way he evaluated a building and created lines is beautiful and again led me to thinking about design and composition of my photographs. I will be buying his book!

Following the trend, I then watched ‘Rock Prophecies‘ about Robert Knight . Although it focused more on the rock world in which he worked, it was amazing to see how useful his copyright and archives were to him and should convince everyone not to give away their copyright. It was also a great story about perseverance, and it was nice to seem him receive accolades from his community and peers.

After individual documentaries, I decided to watch the 2002 ‘National Geographic: Through the Lens’ and 1998 ‘National Geographic: The Photographers’. I’ve always wanted to work for National Geographic, and although I was slightly disappointed in the films from a technical standpoint, it was fascinating to see where and how the images were made. It was a little outdated since everyone was working with film, but interesting to see their methods and thought process which are still applicable in the digital world. I would love to see a revised version of these films in the digital age.

Switching gears to design, I watched PBS’s ‘Art & Copy‘ and I loved it. Since I’ve never had the opportunity to learn about design in an academic setting, this was interesting and informative about the advertising world. For me, it gives some insight into my potential art director clients. Wend Key’s ‘Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight‘ was also amazing. Just to learn about Milton’s history and design philosophy was inspirational and to know he was the father of the majority of tag lines I remember, was pretty stunning.

Watching PBS’s Between the Folds took me to a place I never knew in Origami.  I had no idea about the wet origami folding and all the shapes you can make. Again, from a design standpoint it takes a lot of time to figure out the folds, and then hours to fold a single piece. These artists create beautiful work and are inspirational.

Deviating from documentaries, I watched Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Valhalla Rising‘. For me, it is one of the most visually stunning films I’ve seen in a while. I am so stylistically similar to the mood of this film that it was captivating to watch.  The dark undertones of the film and the lack of verbal communication between the characters only yields a stronger visual presence. Loved it beginning to end, and wanted to find out more about the DP instantly.

Reverting back to documentaries, I watched Emiko Omori’s ‘Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World‘. First I must confess, I had no idea who Ed Hardy was when I chose to watch this.  I’ve seen his name brand merchandise on almost every person for the last few years and that is why I chose to watch. I wanted to become more educated on this Ed Hardy person. Low and behold, he is an artist from San Francisco and has a rich history of his work. I was caught so off guard I googled his shop and now I plan on getting my next tattoo (I’ve been wanting it for 5 years) from the shop. Amazing and inspirational story for anyone, and beautiful living artwork.

Last but not least I watched e2, which is about Green Design and Economy. Seeing how the environment, design and function were being combined was truly innovative. It peaked my interested both as a photographer and as an engineer. Highly worth watching.

All these films were an inspiration to watch and gave me thought to my own design aspirations. Although some are a little outdated, they are pretty interesting and you should check them out.

I truly believe in learning from others (it worked great for engineering, why not photography?). So I decided to focus more on being a sponge and absorb any information from any photographer who is willing to share.  Assisting will allow me to continue my photography education in a practical way, network within the San Francisco photography community and make money to support my business as I get it off the ground. Fortunately right around the time I made that decision APA San Francisco was hosting the APA Photo Assistant Basic Training. Perfect! I went, I saw, I learned.

Brian Smith and Tony Gale and other mentors were there for the two day event and imparted their wealth of assistant knowledge and experiences. It gave me a great place to start without fumbling around in the dark too much. In addition to knowledge, they also inspired me and cultivated my interest in editorial and advertising work I’d been thinking of since I attended Selina Maitreya‘s Clarion Call earlier this year, but more on that later. I greatly appreciate all the information provided and to APA for hosting the timely workshop.

While there I met several people and officially started my San Francisco networking! Ellis Au, who was actually volunteering for APA due to his vast assisting experience and talent, was one of those people.  I just happened to sit next to him at lunch on the second day and heard from him and Chia Wen about the Bay Area Assistant website they had started as a reliable resource for photographers. Although I am listed as an assistant on several other sites (Assistant List, APA, ASMP, and EP), this was the only one specific to San Francisco, did not require a membership fee, and I had met them! So I took a chance the day after the workshop to apply (hoping not to seem too desperate) even though I had only assisted two other photographers in DC (Donna Weaver and Ivory Lawrence). I was accepted, and that very week there was a need for an assistant and I was available! Glorious networking in action. I had always heard but had never experienced until now.

Since then I’ve gotten a few more jobs from being listed on the APA, NPPA and Assistant List websites and I was able to repay Ellis for the first reference and help him on his wonderful burlesque test shoot.  I’m slowly building my resume for assisting, but I feel that it is time to send it out into the world and see what happens. I’ve built my initial list of San Francisco photographers who I will be sending my resume to. The workshop recommended cold calling photographers, which I started to do, but the second person I called said that I was the third person to contact her about assisting and she thought it was odd since she usually received emails. So I’m doing the opposite, I will be email instead.  I can’t wait to see how successful this will be!

Why Blog? There are so many wonderful resource photography blogs online for marketing, equipment, industry discussions, how to light, digital workflows, tips and tricks for the software, the list goes on and on. However I have yet to run across any blogs that share how to get started in this business now to direct those of us who don’t have a bachelors in photojournalism or fine art, but just want to shoot and share our images with the world.

Many of the photographers I’ve met and talked to have great information and advice, but the majority of them have been in this industry for at least a decade and have established successful businesses before the digital photography age. When I’ve asked how these photographers got started, many started in staff positions, in a studio or assisting.

I would love to assist while developing my business, and I plan on pursuing that while I continue to develop my portfolio and market myself, but I do not want to be an assistant for life.

Staff positions seem to have dried up. I went to the NPPA Business Blitz in DC (which was well worth it, $10 for members) and the majority of the people attending are or were staff photographers who were moving into the freelance world since they could no longer find a position or knew they were going to be laid off. That did not inspire confidence, however it was comforting to know that although they had years more experience than I did, they were kind of in the same boat in terms of learning how to find their target audience and learn how to market themselves.

As far as studio work goes, I prefer to shoot on-location, and thankfully most people don’t want to be in a studio anyway. In addition, the overhead to maintaining a studio is out of my financial ability at this point, and I don’t want to do high volume work. Therefore I need to start out differently than what I would consider the “traditional” roles, and this blog will document the beginning and perhaps more.

The Point Given the photography world climate today, there seems to be many challenges to overcome, but it’s also a very exciting time to reinvent the entire industry as well.  As I forge my path ahead I want to chronicle my successes and failures, and how I got to where I am, where I’m going, and where I want to be as a photographer.

I hope this blog will help someone other than myself, and encourage people to follow their dreams. I know this isn’t going to be easy, and I will make mistakes. But I have faith in myself that I can do this, and I hope the postings will help others feel the same way and learn.