Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Metellus, a successful fashion photographer. Very funny guy! There are many things that I learned from him today, but there are three things that I thought were very interesting:
First of all, let’s say you’re a photographer and you just sold somebody a shot that you did for fifty bucks. A few weeks later, you see that same picture that you took on billboards in the city, taxi cabs, magazines, etc. You see them all over the place and you’re proud and bragging about it. In reality, you just got totally ripped off because the person that you sold your picture to made thousands from it. I learned that you should really be careful about work: who you sell it to, what their using it for, etc. because that one picture can be worth thousands of dollars and you don’t even know it.
I also learned that photographers can’t work by themselves most of the time. You’re going to need help with things including hair and make-up artists, stylist, models, assistants, and technicians. The hair and make-up artists obviously make the models however the photographer wants them to look. Stylist puts together the outfits. Assistants help out the photographer and the technicians help with lighting, films, and more. All these people work together for the magic.
Last but not least, I learned that it is important to plan a professional photo shoot and not just go out and do it right away. Jerry said that there are many things you have to know before bidding and shooting. First, you need to know the location and setting (is it outdoors or indoors? Are you gonna have to bring lighting? Where is your vantage point going to be? Are you going to need a power generator?). You also need to know how many shots the client needs and how long are they giving you to do it. Photographers need to know these things before bidding so they can figure what the reasonable price is to charge their clients.
It was a great meeting Jerry Metellus and I hope that I will have the pleasure of working with him one day.
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