Why I’ll Tell You all of My Secrets

For a while, my early work was out there competing with Coop. It still is, in some ways. In 2002 or so, I saw a highly specialized niche opportunity in knife photography and started doing some product shots. One of my clients sent a photo of mine over to Coop for critique, and he tore it up pretty good. But I am the type of guy that can take a beating. In fact I have come to like them. You learn from a good critique, and it keeps you humble.

When I was invited to a knife show as an event photographer we had an awkward introduction. “Come meet Coop!” my host encouraged, not aware of the butterflies I was feeling. He was right around the corner working his mysterious magic. My photos couldn’t hold a candle to his at that time. They sucked. But they were getting better.

Coop was all smiles, he said he admired my work (WTH?). I thought my work was pretty much “Coop Lite” at the time and not really getting better. I expected a quick dismissal because he was busy shooting but he  invited me into his booth to go over his whole setup with him, show me how he lights everything and tell me about his equipment and post production.

Was I able to get shots just like his when I got home? No. Did I rush out and buy all the same gear he had? No way. Did I steal all his market share and take over the world? No. Did my photos go up a notch in quality and lighting? Hell yes. Coop asked me to sub for him the next year as the main photographer because he had booked something else.

(Setup for the above photo here.)

It was that moment combined with the generous blog of “strobist” David Hobby, great books with photo breakdowns by Joe McNally and others that got my juices flowing to just share as much as possible. If guys like this weren’t afraid to put all the info out there there must be a reason. So here’s why I’m not afraid to share all my secrets:

1. They ain’t secrets. Everything I learned has been second hand info in some way. Sure, I have my own twist on a few things, but basically you have to have the fundamentals down really well to start twisting. Everything I have learned I have learned from reading books, blogs, tweets, emails, attending workshops, practicing my butt off and asking other photographers. Its all out there and its freely available. No secrets, just info.

2. Who do I think I am anyway? Really? My secrets?? There’s loads better people to copy out there than me. If I can share a bit of what I know and help you get to the next level, I feel like I’ve added something positive to the world.

3. It takes practice. In addition to photo classes, I have also taught music for  years. One thing I have learned is photography is very similar. The theoretical knowledge is about 15% of the battle. There is no substitute for years of practice and experimentation on your instrument, the camera. Talent is great, knowledge is great, but both are useless without skill.

4. My market share won’t be stolen overnight. Assuming someone acquires all my magic “secrets”, retains the info, applies the knowledge and spends years practicing their butt off, they would be one of the few with the patience, time and persistence to do so. And after all that, if they copied my style verbatim and targeted the same market as me I would be shocked. And if they actually stole some of my clients I would be shocked-er. Besides, my style will change and my target market will change by then. I don’t have the attention span to shoot the same thing for a month let alone a few years! Besides, I never stop learning, I’m still going to get better. If they pass me up I commend them. If they equal me, they probably still have a lot to learn, much like me.

So there you have it. Ask me anything, I’m an open book.

(Above photo: ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/125. Westcott 28″ Softbox camera left with Lumopro LP160 set to 1/4 power and bare LP160 for rim light set to approx 1/32 power. Canon 5d with 24-70mm 2.8)

Why There’s No Such Thing as “Self Taught”

Musicians and photographers seem to wear the label “self-taught” as a badge of honor. Well, unless they’ve lived in an ice cave in Patagonia for their whole life, they’ve probably learned from others. I’m not a formally “schooled” photographer either, but what I’ve learned so far, I’ve learned in the aforementioned way- books, manuals, blogs, forums, tweets, posts, workshops and loads of practice and studying other people’s images. What does “self-taught” even mean? To me, if the information is craved enough, it is somehow attained, and the manner in which it is attained is insignificant.

(Above photo, ISO 200, f/2.0, 1/250. Canon 5d with 50mm f/1.8)

Why I Don’t Use Watermarks

I am not going to say whether this part is “the right way” or not. Certainly one could argue for the advertising or branding advantage of watermarking. What I will tell you is why I personally chose to stop using watermarks.

1. Everybody and their dog uses them.

2. The “big” photographers don’t use them. Yes, I’m generalizing but you don’t see Chase Jarvis or Joe McNally with a big ‘ol stamp on all their pictures. This is also a function of their identifiability, large web presence and resources but still, can you imagine something like the highly moving photojournalism of James Nachtwey with a big ‘ol “JN Captures” logo on it?

3. Its a visual distraction. No matter how pretty a logo is, the fact is, we humans tend to go straight to the letters and symbols in a picture and put our full attention on them.

4. They don’t truly protect your image. If you place your mark close to the edge, you’re not reaping the benefit of a watermark because its easily cropped out. Place it in the middle and it pretty much dominates image visually. Anyone with just a bit of Photoshop skill can remove a watermark in minutes, especially with the new cloning features now available. In my opinion, your time would be better spent taking your best images and actually registering a copyright with the library of congress or using a service like Digimarc. Including your contact and copyright info in the image’s metadata is also a great practice.

5. Stealers are gonna steal. The type of people that would steal a photo and use it commercially are the type that will just shop out a watermark. If you’re worried about your own clients stealing them and not ordering a print, well, you may have bigger problems with the type of clients you’re attracting than you do with copyright!

6. A watermark seems to say “I don’t trust you with my picture”.

Again, these are just  my  feelings at this point in time and I don’t claim to be “right”. Do what suits your own target market and style when it comes to watermarking.

Curious if you’re getting ripped off? Check out a great service for searching for your images on the web at www.tineye.com.

Thanks for reading!

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