One of the best things I have ever done for my business was to get in contact with other photographers. It started just over 3 years ago, I posted a get together notice on a forum for the Calgary area and several people showed up. I am still in contact with most of them and have become really good friends with a few of them. In fact, that is how Brandy and I met. Since then there have been many meet ups and last year I organized one that had over 60 people show up…a lot of them I had never met before that night and a lot of them have become good friends. There will be many more planned over the years for sure…more on that at the end of the post :-)
Benefits of networking with other photographers:
Understanding – someone who is in the industry likely understands where you are coming from and what you are going through.
Experience – if they are more experienced than you, have been in business longer they likely have faced most of the challenges you are or will be facing, some insight on how to face these challenges successfully is a huge advantage.
Objective Opinions - we have all had them, our big ideas that turn into big flops. Having someone to talk over these ideas is incredibly useful, they can give you an objective opinion about it, help you see the pros and cons from another point of view.
Referrals – it is always nice to have someone who you respect and whose work you admire to refer clients too, I have a couple of different people I refer clients to that I cannot fit in or who seem to be looking for a different style or specialty than mine. Most photographers are happy to return the favor and when they can will likely refer some clients your way as well.
Traded Sessions – we are constantly photographing other peoples families and often we take thousands upon thousands of images of our own children but most often we as the photographer are left out of the images. I love swapping sessions with my photographer friends. I have had the absolute pleasure of photographing many other photographers families as well as having my own family photographed. It has allowed me to have some images of myself with my family that I would not be able to take myself….pretty great trade in my books!
Opportunities -to shoot with others. I have done some shooting with other photographers in my network, most often a style of shooting that I would not have otherwise done. It was for fun but working with other photographers from time to time for fun or otherwise can be a really great way to stretch yourself creatively. We all have our own little tips and tricks and it always amazes me at all the different ways there are to approach a situation. Different points of views, different ways everyone sees light, and some of the things people will go through to get a shot, always a great learning experience.
Encouragement - we all have our days where we feel discouraged or worried about this or that. Sometimes we just feel off creatively and need a bit of a pep talk. Another photographer knows what that feels like, and understands your concerns and frustrations with the industry.
Sharing The Goods - an example of this would be 3 years ago Brandy went to WPPI and I could not go. She made a point to go to the trade-show and bring back a huge bag full of samples and brochures, postcards, business cards, booklets you name it, if it was there she brought it. A couple of us spent a long evening visiting and pouring over all the information. Through that act of sharing I personally found several new products and vendors that I wanted to start using and some of them I still use.
FUN – most photographers are very fun people in my experience. I guarantee you will have some fun if you find some like minded photographers to hang out with :-) and hey you may even make some really good friends too.
You may be wondering how to go about getting in touch with other photographers. There are a lot of ways you could broaden your network of photographers. Join a local professional association and attend the meetings. For a more personal gathering plan a dinner and invite a couple photographers you know as well as a couple you don’t already know, you never know they may be wanting to meet other photographers too and appreciate the offer. On a bigger scale organize a get together yourself and use such social networking tools as facebook and twitter to help get the word out. When I organized the big one last year I made a facebook event page for it and invited the photographers I knew and encouraged them to invite the photographers they knew.
Some etiquette for contacting other photographers.
Should you decide to seek out some other photographers, be it local or not for advice and possibly the chance to network with them on a more personal level you MUST BE GENUINE, don’t send an email that you have copied and pasted and sent to several other photographers. If you are looking for advice look to a photographer(s) that you admire and send them a nice email letting them know why you like their work and why you are contacting them. Keep in mind they are likely quite busy and may or may not respond. There are photographers who will not. You need to realize that they are not obligated to answer your questions. BUT if they do, make sure you thank them for taking the time out of their own busy schedules to respond, I assure you if you do not thank them they will not be so inclined to answer your questions again in the future.
Be tactful, there are some things you should not ask, specific information about another photographers business such as sales, clients and products they offer will likely be off limits. Put some thought into your email, you will likely be ignored if you come across as pushy or entitled.
Don’t bombard them with loads of questions about things you can easily find out yourself. There is so much free information on the web. It is easy to find with a little time. If photography is truly your passion take initiative and start educating yourself. That being said, if you are one of the more experienced photographers and someone asks you a question take a moment to remember what it was like when you were in their shoes. If you don’t have time to answer questions maybe a book suggestion or a link to a helpful resource online would be just as appreciated.
TWO PHOTOGS GET TOGETHER
We would like to help some of those locally who have not had a chance to network with other local photographers as of yet. Two Photogs is hosting a get together on the evening of Feb 22, 2010 for local photographers (those wanting to travel are welcome too) you can find information on our event page on the facebook event page. RSVP by Feb 15! We hope to see you there! psssst…..it’s also my birthday that week …hint hint.. :-P
by Brandy & Danna
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