editorial work dries up

well at least with one that i've worked with consistently since i started shooting professionally. they were actually the reason i could say that i've been shooting 'professionally' and 'for money'.

back story
for months, i'd tried to get a hold of local magazines to find out who i have to talk to about shooting for them and how to go about doing that. i had been shooting local models using an online modeling/photographer's website; a social networking site. i had also shot a couple local bands and definitely my fill of less-than-par models, if you can call them that. i was just wanting to shoot whoever i could get my hands on and to get more and more experience. in November of 2007, i got a call back from one of the many local mags here that I had left voicemails and emails for months. the editor called and said that one of their shooters was moving and that she needed to have a 5 page spread filled for their january issue, had to be shot by 2nd week of december and the budget was $1000.

that was when i officially became a 'professional photographer'. i was getting paid to take photographs.

that same editor is the one who moved to san francisco and had me come out there to shoot. so since december until now, i've shot pretty consistently for the magazine here. when the editor moved to SF to establish the magazine in that city, i met with the editor that would replace her here and he said he wants to continue to use me for shooting.

I have done 2 shoots for them. Adding them together doesn't even add up to 1 full page photo.

which brings us to today

It's weird because the magazine that has started me out and given me tons of oportunities , is now not calling on me. It is a weird contrast to know that after I've got some experience, a good production value , higher level of communication , understanding of the process and needs of editorials and i am getting less work than when i lacked the above mentioned.

I'm almost wondering if the magazine is a stepping stone for me. They were there for a specific time for me to hone my skills and to get a good introduction so that I could be better prepared for what is to come. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But here's what makes me think the greener grass is coming:

this magazine had an approx distribution of 30,000
i have a meeting on july 8th with a much , much bigger magazine who's approx monthly distribution is 385,000.

i had to chase after first magazine for over 6 months to get first assignment.
magazine on the 8th, i called twice and sent 1 email before art director wanted to meet to meet me , with my book. and he'd seen my work around and able to identify some of it.

around same time of first magazine here in town not calling for work, i received good reception from a total of 3 other local magazines ( 1 above, 1 that is local but national distro and another local distro)

so maybe it is the end of a season, one that helped me get my start as a professional. i'm excited for what's to come. i'm hoping i can fool others that i have a good idea that i know what i'm doing. now's the start of a new season where i show people how good i really am.




... god help me.



::anonphotographer

yes i do

unless it makes me money.

http://www.pdnpulse.com/2008/07/do-pros-want-mi.html

::anonphotographer

contest

i've been thinking about how to get more exposure and i keep reading that entering contests gets you seen. what they don't tell you is that winning contests gets you seen.

there's a cover contest being run by city magazine and referenced here by rob only problem is in the fine print. I don't want to have to commission myself to go to another place that looks like somewhere else that could be accessible to all the people who look at a magazine cover , on the chance that it might get chosen and if i do win, they have the right to use the images however they want, forever, without any regard to the copyright owner. so even on the off chance that I 'win' the magazine will be able to make more and more money off of my image(s) than the 1 issue that the image would represent.

man. that's defeating. just look at all my uses of italics.

::anonphotographer