IMDb Part 3: Your Profile

Your Profile on IMDb

Pics
As you now know, signing up for IMDb Pro is a must.  Now that you’re paying for it, you might as well keep your 3 best, most up-to-date headshots up there. Yet another place to market yourself. It makes your profile look that much more professional, and people are far more likely to click on your profile from a movie page if they see your picture.

Resume
It is possible to fill out your full resume on IMDb, listing whatever you want. I’ve heard a couple people say that you might as well to show stuff that isn’t listed. However, I have heard from some legitimate casting directors (tangent: always take into account the source of your information) that listing your full resume on IMDb is a very amateur thing to do. Again, do your best to get whatever you can listed on your actual page.

Vanity URL
I’m a huge proponent of vanity URLs (ex: www.imdb.me/BenWhitehair), as it makes it easy to find you. It also makes it a lot easier to use the URL on business cards, email signatures, etc. It’s very rare for someone to type in a lengthy or confusing URL from a business card or other printed media. An easy-to-remember URL is a whole other story.

To get your vanity URL, follow these steps:

1. Go to https://resume.imdb.com/
2. Log in to the box in the upper right of the page
3. Click on the big “edit resume” button in the upper right
4. If you already have any of your resume entered, click on any of the “edit” buttons on the page.
5. The “Vanity URL” menu link should be there on the top left of the menu

Nerd Note: I’ve heard of some browsers having issues with the vanity URL. To help avoid problems, always include “http://” at the beginning of the link.

Age
You can submit your birthday to IMDb which then lists your age. There are a couple schools of thought on publicizing your age, but that’s another blog post. Just know that once you give them your birthday it’s very hard to have it taken off.

Bio
It’s advisable for all actors to have a fairly brief bio that fits with their marketing and gives a sense of their personality.

Take-Aways

IMDb probably won’t get you a job, but if used properly it just might help get you in the room. The more and better projects you have officially listed on IMDb the better. The higher your starmeter the better. Again, you still have to deliver in the room but all of this adds legitimacy to you as a professional actor.

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**Want more IMDb awesomeness?**

Part 1 in this series details the basics of IMDb and the starmeter
Part 2 in this series tells you how to get a movie listed on IMDb

Part 4 in this series explains recent updates to IMDb like your Bacon Number.
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If you gained anything from this post, please give my starmeter a bump by visiting www.imdb.me/BenWhitehair. If you gained a LOT from this post, or just want to make feel better for the years of terrible acne I had (true story), then leave a comment on my profile. 🙂

IMDb Part 2: Getting Listed

How to Get a Project Listed on IMDb

Through IMDb

On most any page on IMDb you can click the “update” button near the bottom and submit changes, additional info, new movies, etc (or go here). However, this way rarely gets things listed, unless you can provide copious amounts of information and links to external sites verifying your info.

Through Withoutabox.com

For free you can sign up for an account on Withoutabox.com (you can also link it to your IMDb profile). Through their you can submit your film to “IMDb Qualifying Festivals.” As soon as that (IMDb Qualifying) festival receives your submission (it does not have to be accepted into the festival) they will send you an invite code you can use to get the film listed on IMDb. In talking to the various people I know who have gotten films listed on IMDb, this appears to be the easiest route.

• Note that you will probably have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 – $45 for the festival submission itself (though check into this, because I’ve heard from some filmmakers that some of the festivals–perhaps the American Artist Film Festival–are free to submit to)
• I think it might also cost like $35 to have your poster up on IMDb, but I don’t think that affects whether or not the film gets listed

This process generally take 4 – 6 weeks, but I’ve seen it take as little as 1 week and as long as…well, I’m still waiting…

Through Createspace.com

Createspace is a website where anyone can sell their creative work (movies, music, etc.). If you post your movie for sale there, you will receive an invitation to list it on IMDb.

Step-by-step instructions on this method can be found here, but basically you just sign up on the website, mail then 2 copies of your DVD, and you’ll receive an email link inviting you to list the movie on IMDb.

A Note on Webseries and TV Shows

It is much harder to get webseries and such listed as far as I can tell. However, it appears that best way to get a web video listed is to have it on a legitimate site like FunnyOrDie.com, or otherwise published on the web (preferably on a web series website rather than simply youtube) so the powers at be can verify its existence.

Amazon

You might notice that IMDb, Withoutabox, and Createspace are all owned by Amazon. ‘Nuff said.

A Note to Filmmakers

Look, I know you’re busy slaving away getting me the color-corrected, raw footage for my reel, but if you’re not going to pay me then I would really appreciate you taking the 17 minutes to get the project listed on IMDb and linked to my account. Besides, it helps you out too. It’s a win-win!

A Note to Actors

Please, for the love of all that is holy, use this information! Send this post to all the filmmakers you’ve worked with. Heck, offer to pay the money to enter it into a festival. You shouldn’t have to do that, but paying a measly $30 to get a project listed on IMDb is so worth it for you. You know all those dinky, non-union projects you did that turned out like crap? Stop complaining about how you can’t use the footage for your reel and GET THEM ON IMDB! No one is going to see the project anyway, so you might as well make it seem like somewhat of a big deal by getting it listed. Thus ends my mini-rant.

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**Want more IMDb awesomeness?**
Part 1 in this series details the basics of IMDb and the starmeter
Part 3 in this series discusses how to manage your IMDb profile
Part 4 in this series explains recent updates to IMDb like your Bacon Number
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If you gained anything from this post, please give my starmeter a bump by visiting www.imdb.me/BenWhitehair. If you gained a LOT from this post, or just want to make feel better for the 6 years that I homeschooled and had no friends, then leave a comment on my profile. 🙂

IMDb Part 1: The Basics and Starmeter

WTF is up with IMDb

Ahh, ye olde Internet Movie Database. If you don’t know what it is, then I’m very impressed that you’re reading this blog from a cave. In this (now) 4-part series I will tell you what (I think) you need to know…

Who Uses It

The general film-and-tv-watching public (read: fans) typically knows that IMDb is the standard for looking up actors’ work.

In the industry, my theory is that actors are actually the primary users of it, followed by casting directors, then agents, then everyone else. I’ve heard numerous stories of casting directors looking up an actor’s IMDb profile within seconds of receiving a submission, or while on the phone with an agent who is pitching said actor.

What it Means

Honestly, a film on your resume that isn’t on IMDb doesn’t mean much. Because you have to go through some (very minimal…see part 2) effort to get a project listed on IMDb, there is a certain legitimacy that comes with having projects listed on IMDb. It’s not the be all end all, but let’s just say that the more things you have on IMDb the better.

IMDb Pro

If you’re an actor and you haven’t signed up for IMDb Pro you should be ashamed of yourself. The name of this game is research, and IMDb Pro allows you to do just that. You can view budgets of movies, what agencies actors are with, contact information for people, starmeters, and the like.

What the Heck is a Starmeter and Why Did my Popularity drop 472%?!?

Here is IMDb’s explanation of the Starmeter, but basically it’s a measure of how many hits you get. A veritable (rather arbitrary) online popularity contest.

How to Raise Your Starmeter

1. Get people to click on your IMDb profile (post the link on your Facebook or Twitter profiles, have it in your email signature, etc.)
2. Get people to comment on your IMDb profile in the “Message Boards” section (this is worth much more than a simple click)
3. Be in more things that get listed on IMDb
4. Be in popular movies. The more popular the projects are that you’re in, the higher you get rated
5. Get mentioned in news articles, social media outlets, and television guides
6. Be the star in a once-every-ten-years-movies-like-this-are-crazy-popular movie like Paranormal Activity. (The actress in that movie was ranked #1 on starmeter the week it blew up.)
7. Sleep with a celebrity. This will probably accomplish 1 and 2 above, and will give you the added bonus of caring less about your starmeter because you’re now getting freaky with Johnny Depp.

What do the Numbers Mean?

In short, nothing. Again, it’s a rather arbitrary measure of popularity. However, I know a number of casting directors who put actors’ IMDb starmeter ranking in their pitches to producers and such on what actors to get. Agents also look at it sometimes to get a sense of how bankable you are. Remember, the more popular you are, the more money people can make off of you. 🙂

To give you some (very unscientific) bars, here are my observations on different “levels” of starmeter rankings:

• 1,000,000 or below: Was probably in a family video that somehow made it on IMDb.
• 1,000,000 – 200,000: Just another actor
• 200,000 – 100,000: Just another actor who’s makin’ things happen
• Above (lower number than) 100,000: You might still be a waiter, but you probably take time for your career to do things like read this blog post
• Above (lower number than) 15,000: This is generally working actor territory
• Above (lower number than) 1,000: You’re working. A lot. Good chance you’re repped by one of the big 5 agencies…or are about to be. Alternatively, you were recently on the cover of National Enquirer (see: #6 above)

Again, the number is easily manipulated and pretty random, so please don’t go freaking out about your starmeter. Your time will be much better spent running sides or working on your reel.

Help each other out: Give your friends “a bump” in their starmeter by clicking on their profile or leaving comments. That karma will help you when you ask them to give you a bump when you have a bunch of important agent meetings coming up.

Helpful Tip on Using Starmeter to Find the Right Agency

I would recommend looking up an agency (in IMDb Pro, of course) and comparing the starmeter of their client roster with yours. This is a good initial-first-glance-kinda-unscientific way of seeing if the agency is the proper level for where you are in your career right now. (Note: the more extensive way to do this is go through their client roster and see if their clients are booking mostly co-stars, guest stars, etc.)

Other

The starmeter rankings refresh every Monday. They compare your ranking for the new week with the previous week to determine your “popularity.” Know that your actual ranking is probably more important than your popularity increase or decrease, but also know that if industry-types see a huge jump in your popularity, they might be curious as to why, and want to get in on the action.

Also note that starmeter is often an indication of the online presence an actor has. That’s why you see a lot of higher-up working-actor types with starmeters far below that of some of us youngins, because we have a gajillion friends who will click on our profile if we post it on Facebook.

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**Want more IMDb awesomeness?**
Part 2 in this series tells you how to get a movie listed on IMDb
Part 3 discusses how to manage your IMDb profile
Part 4 in this series explains recent updates to IMDb like your Bacon Number
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If you gained anything from this post, please give my starmeter a bump by visiting www.imdb.me/BenWhitehair. If you gained a LOT from this post, or just want to make feel better for not being nominated for prom king in high school, then leave a comment on my IMDb profile. 🙂

The Name

Brief Grad School Auditions UPDATE:

Hello Friends.

Audition 1 of the Grad School experience is complete. Two days ago, I took the Metro North Train to New Haven and performed my heart out for the Associate Department Chair at the Yale School of Drama. It was an amazing experience, if anything, riding a train above ground for the first time in many months. Feeling the sensation of sun on my face as I stared out at the scenery passing by and contemplated my monologues. My goal for all of these auditions is of course to get into the programs but, moreso, it is primarily to experience the grad-school-audition process (and figure out if it is where I want to be). My immediate goal for the entire day was not to cry or to make people laugh or to even get a callback: my goal was to be present. (Well, and not get lost on the train).

A well respected professor at CU Boulder once told me that Grad Schools are not looking for the perfect actors or the perfect auditioners, they are looking for someone with that special something in his or her energy, in his or her eyes. I interpret this as presence. I am present to learn, to perform, to work with you, to grow, and to take on the enormous task of joining a Masters program. Those were the thoughts in my mind when I walked into the very friendly room and inhaled before becoming Mayella Violet Ewell and Luciana (and again, as Hamlet, when they asked for my third piece).

I had prepared two pieces initially and then, on the train ride there, realized that my classical piece was not, in fact, in verse in the original folio versions, so I had to scrap that at the last minute and thank my BFA program for preparing me with at least 5 other classical monologues in my back pocket. Let is slide off. There are some problems, fiascos, moments where you can freak out and let them change your entire perspective on the day or you can breath in (let), breath out (go), and move on. Go with it. I chose the latter and everything went very smoothly.

New Haven is beautiful, by the way. It looks like Lodo in Denver and Boulder, CO had a genius love child and put it next to the sea. It is a place where I would love to live and never leave. I have realized from this tiny day trip that New York City is perhaps not my dream destination. I can stay here and, if I have to, I will stay here, but there are so many other places in this world where I can be happy. In addition (side note), I am planning a trip to India in the spring/summer to learn more about the world, myself, yoga/meditation (in Rishikesh), and get out of this city. New York is incredible but its hard to breath here. And for a girl who already has some respiratory problems, perhaps its not the best match.

I digress: the audition was wonderful! I was myself, I was present, and I feel incredible about the pieces that I presented. I dont think that they were the best contrast, I dont know if they were the most interesting pairings but I did them better than well and I have nothing to regret. There isnt a lot here that I can write about in terms of how to audition for grad schools or what to do right or wrong for your personal pursuits. All I can tell you is this:

They want to accept you. They want you to succeed. If you know this, if you believe this, then you WILL succeed. I succeeded. Unfortunately, they called back ONE PERSON from the entire day. They posted the “callback” list and we all, my entire group, rush to the callboard to read: ONE NAME. The Name. It was a dude, by the way. Perhaps I’d feel a bit more upset if it was one person and she was female. But he wasnt. The Name fell back behind the group (I think in a bit of terror for his life to be honest) and we all packed up our things to go our seperate ways. Congrats to him! Well done, sir. However, this, my friends, leads me back to the truth of this industry. Its very competitive and it doesnt make sense a lot of the time. There are no explanations for reasons why you weren’t selected for a role, an opportunity, or a job. But I will say this: from my half of the exchange, there was no reason why I wasnt called back. It was one of the schools reasons – perhaps I wasnt right for that year, perhaps they have enough girls, perhaps they think I am too young, or too precocious, or too brunette. These are things that I am. And these are things that will not change.

So, to you, Yale: next year awaits us both. If at first you dont succeed, try, try again!

I will admit that I am more than a bit frustrated with the world and the state of the industry right now as I feel that I am finally ready for the world… and now it doesnt seem ready for me. Since the New Year and my Bikram challenge, my recent focus, groundedness, and drive have allowed me to consistently put my best foot forward and feel 100% positive about my work (and the casting directors agree and give me incredible feedback and callbacks) and yet… still no bookings or schools. “They” say that opportunities are missed so that other opportunities can arise but I wonder what those will be since nothing seems to be working out. I am not giving up, of course. Two more schools/trials to go and we will see how NTC and Juilliard feel about me. All I know is that I feel great about me. I am just waiting, patiently, until they are ready to accept that I ain’t going nowhere.

😀

Namaste,
Emily

Dad, I’m Gonna be a Doctor…

…I’m moving in right next to Johns Hopkins, and I’m gonna do “the doctor thing.” I’ve always dreamt of being a brain surgeon and it’s time for me to make my dream a reality. You always told me I could be anything I wanted. I’ve graduated high school and I’m giving it a year. If I’m not operating on brains by then I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Wish me luck!

Think about someone saying that. I mean, actually saying that. How many milliseconds would you give them before you started laughing in their face at how utterly insane they sounded? Maybe like 2? The above statement is just as insane as moving to L.A. and giving yourself a year to get your own sitcom, or whatever the (unrealistic) goal is.

Part of the reason why the doctor scenario is so obviously ridiculous, is because there are all kinds barriers to entry a doctor must complete successfully in order to move on to the next level as it were. Like pass organic chemistry or go to med school.What’s different in the acting realm, is that the are, in a sense, zero barriers to entry. If you show up in L.A. with a picture you took of yourself on your iPhone, you can call yourself an actor. You can be in the same classes, at the same parties, and even sitting next to the top people in our field. No special degree or gpa needed. This creates the illusion that there isn’t much difference between the background actor in a scene, and Jeremy Piven sitting at the table next to them (for those keeping score at home, the difference is decades of experience, hard work, and relationship-building).

With very few exceptions, it takes doctors years to finally become an actual doctor, much less a leader in their field. Why would acting be any different? Is it possible to only be in L.A. for a couple months during pilot season and get your own show? I don’t know, perhaps. But it’s incredibly unrealistic.

Don’t get discouraged. Be gentle with yourself. Know that it takes time. Shoot for the moon, but have realistic expectations for yourself. Remember the words of Thomas Edison:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

First Impressions

I’ve heard from a number of Casting Directors recently, that they know whether you have a shot at the part as soon as you walk in the door. Bonnie Gillespie (imdb, blog) says that “your energy walks into the room before you do.” Effectively, your first impression may very well be the deciding factor in your audition success. Not your reading. Not your preparation. The way you walk in the room.

Basically, we’re talking about first impressions here. Like it or not, they can be extremely effective in judging things like extroversion and self-esteem (source), the latter being a crucial factor when casting someone. Confidence is absolutely critical in auditioning, and if you have it, you will make a great first impression.

Homework: Start studying first impressions. See what your first impressions are of the next 5 people you meet. Why did you have those? If you got to know that person a little better, do you think your first impression was accurate? Start asking people (anyone: close friends, recent acquaintances, whomever) what their first impression of you was. How might you improve that?

Report back your findings. =)

Everyone loves their acting class

Ask any actor how they feel about their acting class. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Welcome back. What’d you hear? Oh, really?!? They absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone? *feign shock*

Well of course they do. They paying hundreds of dollars to them. If they didn’t love their class why the heck would they keep doing that? I’m a huge fan of my acting class, but that’s because we work on the things I need as an actor.

Recommendation: Figure out what you really need to work on as an actor. Is it auditioning? Cold-reading? Commercial copy? More film/tv focussed work? Accessing emotions? Improv? The list goes on (and please note that the whole business side is not really being discussed here), and you need to figure out which of your acting muscles needs a workout.

Next, audit. Audit every single class in the city you can. All types of classes. Doing this will help you answer that first question (what do I need?), will give you a really good sense of what’s out there, and after auditing about 10 different classes my guess is that you’ll really begin to get a sense of what style is going to work for you.

How ’bout you. Did you try this? Why do you like your acting teacher?

The City of Angels

I was recently reading these posts by my friend and gifted casting director Cathy Reinking about moving to L.A. or New York and it got me thinking…

As I look back to when I was deciding whether to stay in Colorado or move to one of the big three (L.A., New York City, or Chicago), I realize that there was a lot of noise, and not that much good information. Everyone I talked to had their own opinion, but there wasn’t much reason or logic behind what they were saying. With that in mind, I’m going to try and share some of the wisdom I’ve gathered in roughly 9 months in L.A. Hopefully Joe and Emily can provide some of their insight into NYC and Chi-town.

L.A. is awesome…

…though maybe not for everyone. I love L.A. I love the people, the culture, the food. All of it. Is there traffic? Sure (see below). But there are also a bazillion authentic restaurants of every kind, museums, skyscrapers, the ocean, clubs, and the list goes on.

I have also noticed that #1 reason people don’t like L.A. is related to community. If you don’t find/establish a community, you will be unhappy. If you don’t have cool/fun/invigorating people in your life, you won’t like where you’re living. Duh. It has little to do with L.A. itself, besides that fact that the city is so spread out, it takes that much more effort to see people.

There is an insane amount of opportunity here

I often heart people talk about how moving to Los Angeles is scary or a bad move because there are so many other actors here. While I suppose that’s true, it has been mind boggling to experience how many things are being filmed at any given time in this city. The number of short films, student films, commercials, TV shows, etc. being put on tape at any given second in this city is nuts.

I started focusing on film (rather than stage) my senior year of college. From then until I moved here I bet I went on something like 40 – 50 auditions…maybe. I did a smattering of short films, feature films, and commercials over the course of about 2 years. In the first 3 months that I started actually submitting myself here (the first few months after I moved here were spent doing other business stuff and getting settled) I went on just under 80 auditions. Eighty. I doubled my film resume in that time and have now worked on almost 20 projects in L.A.

While those numbers certainly have a little to do with my look, resume, skills, etc., I’m a nobody here. I don’t have an agent, had never been on a legit TV show, and wasn’t in any of the unions. There is a shit-ton (actual number) of opportunity here.

The traffic sucks

True story. Get over it. If that’s a deal breaker for you, then I guess you weren’t meant to make it in TV or film.

And yes, you do need a car.

The weather is righteous

Yet another true story. If you hate always-72-and-sunny weather you will be sorely disappointed with the temperate climate.

The competition will kill you

Ok, whomever is spreading this rumor should be flogged. Yes, there are a ton of actors here. Yes, there are lots of people who look just like you. Yes, there are tons of beautiful people. Yes, there are lots of very talented actors. No, there are not enough jobs for everyone. BUT…

1. The actors here are nice. I haven’t met a single actor who was discouraging towards me or didn’t help in any way they could. People want to help others. They want to help you succeed, because then you might return the favor. We’re artists, we’re in this together.
2. 80% of the “actors” here aren’t taking the business seriously. This was definitely the most shocking part of moving here. Most “actors” here don’t have training, are using black and white headshots, don’t treat acting like a business, or spend only a few hours a week in pursuit of the career. If you’re one of these people that’s totally fine…you definitely have a better shot of making here than somewhere else. My point is that the mere commitment of 20+ hours/week pursuing an acting career here will put you far beyond the vast majority of actors in this city.

Access to resources

This city is built on making money off of actors, which leads to some scams, but more than anything provides myriad resources for actors. From classes to business organizations, whatever you need to further your career is here.

No one cares what you did elsewhere

I guess this was somewhat of a blessing for me, but it really doesn’t matter what you’ve done if it wasn’t in Los Angeles. One notable exception is studying with Second City in Chicago, or being in legit, Broadway shows, but even then… Unless the things on your resume are currently airing on NBC, people don’t really care.

This absolutely does not mean that having things on a resume, building a reel, or honing your craft in other cities is useless, it just means that everyone moving here is starting at square one.

I can’t tell you how many people suggested staying on a smaller city to “build up a resume.” While this isn’t total BS, it’s generally just an excuse to hold yourself back. If it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in another city, why not build up your resume here? There’s far more opportunities to do so.

Age

I was rather shocked to find that I am very young relative to the majority of actors taking the business seriously. Under 25 seems to be “young” in this city. If you’re under that age people don’t really expect you to have done anything. If you’re older than that, just know that it might be that much harder.

In Conclusion

What I would say to those of you thinking about moving here? Do it. Don’t put it off.

L.A. is a great place to live, and you can live like a king (my apartment complex) for half the money you might spend in other big cities. If you have any real desire to make money from your acting (and there is great reason not to have that as a goal), you’re going to have to move here at some point. What are you waiting for?

The Fame Game – Jeff Acough’s Blog

NOTE: This is a re-post from photographer Jeff Acough’s blog that photographer, Eric Laurits, posted on his twitter (I know, how modern-communication-technological of me). I believe this, like any specific acting “advice” that we can offer, is just as important and an often forgotten part of the artistic process. Anywho – hear goes:

The fame game

“Earlier this week I came across this article on Dame Judi Dench lamenting the fact that young actors only cared about becoming famous, and don’t spend enough time learning their craft. I wondered if there is a parallel situation within our industry? We live in a celebrity culture now, and this is seen throughout all of our lives;  the desire to become famous is almost endemic within our society.

I was recently having a Skype discussion with a very good friend of mine who runs wedding photography masterclasses for one of the world’s biggest photography organisations. For one of his masterclasses he invited the delegates to give their reasons for wanting to attend, and asked them what they wanted to learn from the class. Nearly all were newcomers with less than two years of experience, and 70% of them indicated that they wanted to learn how to be a famous wedding photographer and present seminars all over the world

Surprising? Certainly – but I’ve got to admit it is not completely unexpected. Forums, blogs, Facebook, Twitter et al have given us unprecedented access to the lives of the top people in the profession, creating a desire to emulate the lifestyles of those that are seen as the ‘celebrity’ photographers. The smart photographers use the internet to promote their ‘celebrity’ image and sell it on to the masses wanting to emulate them. It is not surprising to me that many ‘celebrity’ names no longer shoot weddings – preferring the comfort of the seminar circuit and product sales, rather than the cut and thrust of taking pictures for a living. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, as many of the guys on the seminar circuit are accomplished and experienced photographers who have a lot to offer – they learned their craft, became successful and then decided to change their career somewhat.

The problem now is that there is a generation of photographers who seem to want to bypass the bit about learning the craft and go straight to fame and fortune. Many an internet forum sees new photographers posturing for position, trying to put their mark on the world. In the past year I’ve even seen seminars advertised by photographers with less than three years experience; this cannot be good for the industry as there is a potential situation where the standard of photography that newcomers aspire to will be very low. It’s akin to the blind leading the blind.

Like many experienced photographers, I get my fair share of emails from new photographers asking for the ‘magic bullet’ that will catapult them into the limelight. I also read pages of posts on internet forums by other photographers who wish to spit venom at those who are more successful because of petty jealousy. Both camps seem to miss the fundamental keys to success; talent, hard work, and years of experience.

Being a photojournalistic wedding photographer is one of the hardest jobs in photography. Period. I would agree that in terms of stress levels, conflict photographers and those that document human suffering have it much worse than us, but other than that I can think of no other genre of photography that demands so much of the photographer. A documentary photographer could take several days to get two or three pictures – we have to get a couple of hundred images in a matter of hours, and they all have to be good; a fashion photographer can see his images on a screen, then adjust and reshoot – wedding photographers simply don’t have that luxury; the sports photographer can predict, position and shoot knowing that in most cases they will have several chances of getting the shot throughout a football match or an athletics event – there are rarely any second chances of getting a similar shot on a wedding day.

To be a good photojournalistic wedding photographer requires dedication to craft, and a honing of that craft through experience. Once you can combine that craft and experience with good marketing strategies, you have the basis of a good wedding photography business which will grow with you. To my mind this is far more important than trying to run an incredibly unstable and short lived career based on your perceived status within the industry.

Getting to this stage takes time – something which people seem to want to avoid. Our quick fix, ‘have everything instantly’ culture programs our minds to rush into wanting everything yesterday, and this spills over into our business lives.

I was having a similar discussion with another good friend of mine over dinner on Friday evening. Like myself he is a successful wedding photographer with a great business. The parallels between our businesses are quite similar – we’ve both been in the industry for twenty years, and it wasn’t until our fifteenth year that we became really successful and financially sound. After three years we were still trying to make our way, learning the craft and putting everything we earned back into the business. By year five we were just about making a living. It took us both a while to get to where we are now, but now we are here everything is very stable and the long term structure is in place for continued success.

What struck me also, was the obvious passion we still both have for the industry – we still try and improve all of the time, looking for new ways of doing things, trying to stay ahead of the game. Both of us choose to do seminars but very selectively, and at times when they won’t interfere with our own businesses. It’s actually really satisfying to know that when we do speak to other photographers, we do so from the position of working photographers who go out each Saturday to photograph someone’s special day.

For me there is never any satisfaction in being handed something on a plate. It is far more gratifying to achieve something through hard work than by a quick fix solution. I would agree that sometimes getting somewhere takes time and effort, but when you get there you really feel a sense of achievement.

For those that still aspire to ‘celebrity’ – remember that once your fifteen minutes of fame is over, what will you do for a living?”