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Richard P Walton fswpp & Alistair Campbell The Benefits of shooting yourself - part 1 of 1 2 3 4 5

Published 01/12/2015

By Richard P Walton

Achieving the results you want in your photography business will largely come down to being happy with what you're shooting on a regular basis. Sometimes we can forget what we would really love to be shooting or why we fell in love with photography because we get wrapped up in thinking about earning money and keeping our businesses afloat. The day photography starts to feel like work, is the day you need to take a good look at everything and find out what needs to be changed. For me it's something simple - arranging a non-commissioned shoot that will get me excited about photography again.

What I have come to learn over the years is that 'what you show, is what you'll attract'; this is something very important to think about. If you are trapped in a bit of a rut, shooting the same old things in the same old style, perhaps you need to take time out and start shooting things that really get your creativity flowing. Personal projects and random days out shooting for the fun of it can really help improve your photography business; whilst you will probably not earn any money initially, the results will open up new doors and lead you to the path you'd rather be on.

You are never going to become a big fashion photographer if you shoot weddings for a living and don't have a fashion portfolio. Someone once said to me that they wanted to be a band photographer and would love to shoot live music, I looked on their website and there wasn't one band photograph or live music shot. You're never going to attract this kind of work if you don't have any of it in your portfolio. So if, for example, you do want to shoot bands and live music, speak to local music venues, local unsigned bands and go and shoot a load for free so you can build up a portfolio, the rest will start to happen from there.

I spent a couple of days with portrait photographer, Alistair Stuart Campbell; we arranged some models from an online modelling network and scouted out some cool, derelict locations. We just went out for fun, shooting the kind of stuff we like to shoot with no pressure. The great thing about this, is you get exactly what you want, you're not there to please a client so you're free to really be yourself 100%. Like myself, Alistair enjoys experimenting and having fun whilst shooting, I wanted to find out what his views were on shooting for free and building up a portfolio of images you want to show the world. To me it's hugely important and has always been a part of my business strategy. Let's hear Alistair's views on it.

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1st Published 01/12/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:58:54

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