Author Archive: ken@kenrieves.com

For some reason, this morning I was reflecting on a interesting commercial shoot I did a couple of years ago. I’m going to change some details of the story (for obvious reasons), but the facts are true.

I was hired by an ad agency to shoot some photos at a company that restores and refurbishes chrome car parts. They can take an old rusty bumper that looks destined to be recycled and make it a thing of beauty. My job was to shoot photos of the restoration process and then shoot some before and after photos of a bumper. Simple enough, right?

Shooting the restoration process went well and the Art Director (AD) and the client were both happy. So it was time to shoot the before and after photos. I found the ideal location for the shoot. The weather was nice that day with lightly overcast skies. So the AD and I had a workman bring the bumpers outside to a shady place beside the building. I had set up a roll of gray paper and a couple of lights and using that in conjunction with the natural lighting, created a beautiful lighting setup. The reflections in the chrome were under control, the graceful curves of the bumper were sculpted by the light and shadow, all was well.

I shot a few frames and felt pretty good about the results so the AD suggested that I show them to client. I went to the client’s office and told him I had some sample shots. He looked at the display on the back of my camera and immediately shook his head. He said he wanted the bumper to look “shinier”. I pointed out how the reflections and highlights in the chrome helped show the smoothness of the lines and contours of the bumper. He nodded and said he still wanted it to look “shinier”. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I knew the AD had worked with this client in past and felt confident that he knew what I was missing.

I went back to the set and told the AD what happened. He asked me “what does he mean, shinier?”. My only idea is that he wanted harder, more specular highlights. So I added more lights and removed all the modifiers. Shooting with only standard 7 inch reflectors, I took several more frames and returned to the client’s office. He said he liked it better, but it still needed to be “shinier”. He then took out his phone and showed me a photo he’d taken in his warehouse of a bumper. He said “like this”. I finally knew what he wanted. He wanted a professional quality, camera-phone-like, photo of a bumper.

Returning to the set, I told the AD what transpired. I had an idea to make the client happy. We abandoned the set and moved into the warehouse. We placed the bumper on the floor with the chrome surface facing up. I used a couple of lights to partially illuminate the ceiling, then set up an 8 ft ladder next to bumper. That’s how I photographed the bumper. It was mostly lit by the warehouse ceiling lights which caused lots of small specular highlights against the dark ceiling. The strobes I added helped reduce the darkness of the ceiling and but retained the contrast. The only problem was that there was a small reflection of me standing on an orange ladder, but that could be fixed in post processing.

We showed the photos to the client and he loved them. His bumpers looked “shinier”.

There are lessons to be learned here. The first is, the client likes what the client likes. We can try to educate our customers the best we can, but it really comes down to making them happy. You have to put your ego aside and listen to your customer. The next lesson is about communication. It’s good to have clear expectations as to what the client wants before the shooting starts. And finally, you have to think outside the box and come up with creative and unconventional solutions to problems. Not everything you try will work, but you have to be willing to go outside your comfort level and try something strange and different.

While the final images would not have been the ones I would have chosen, it’s the client’s product that he’s trying to sell. He’s responsible for his advertising choices. It’s my job to provide him with the images he wants to accomplish his goals.

Well, that’s it for this time. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out some of my commercial images here.

-Ken.

OK, I have to admit, I like the hustle and bustle of the work week. I love my job, even those days when I have to wake up at the crack of dawn and drive 3 hours to a commercial shoot in the middle of no where. I really love what I do. But I also have to admit, I really like Sunday mornings.

Sunday mornings around our house are quiet. Often, I’ll get up before my wife and grab my MacBook, a cup of coffee, and my Leica and retreat to the sunroom ( a small 12×15 room with 2 walls of windows facing south and west). For a couple of hours I’ll browse the web, look for creative inspiration, review personal photos I’ve taken throughout the week, and generally just do very little. Most of the time our two large goofy hounds will join me, lounge at my feet and wait patiently for my wife to wake and join us.

It’s a couple of hours of down time specifically allocated to be used for down time. It’s nice. It’s time used to provide clarity to life that can be chaotic and sometimes seem out of control. It’s time used to make plans and set goals. Today those objects could be long term, life goals. Or maybe they could be just plans for breakfast. Sunday mornings have no rules. That’s one reason I love them.

The Sunroom

Thanks for reading. Oh, and if you want to see some of my personal photography projects, check this out. Personal projects are works I do just for myself (because I strangely feel inclined to create them) or as pro-bono work for organizations/charities.

-Ken.

There has been a debate going on for the last several years about the role that “new” photographers are playing in the evolution of the photography business. I think I understand both sides of the argument and I don’t think the answer is simple or clear cut.

First of all, it’s difficult to frame the debate because the argument tends to expand, but let me start with the basic proposition. Some established professional photographers are finding it difficult to stay in business because there are so many new photographers selling their service for prices well below the market rate. (I define these “new” photographers as people with little or no training or experience and who claim professional status). These new photographers usually are doing this work as a side job, and can work for less money because it is not their sole source of income.

If new photographers are ever expecting to earn a subsistence wage from working as a photographer they have to understand that competing solely on a price basis will never allow that to happen. There will always be someone willing to work for less money and there will always be clients that under-value what a good photographer can provide. The new photographer’s goal should be to develop their skill level to the point that people are willing to pay market rate for their services. Otherwise, they will be known as a “discount” photographer and it will be difficult to change the public’s perception if they ever want raise their prices to market levels.

Now, I know the question immediately begs itself: How does a new photographer develop their skills to the point that they are salable at market rates, without entering the marketplace? That’s a tough question that doesn’t have an easy answer. It helps to have some sort of training (college or trade school) or experience (job training, yearbook photographer, school newspaper, etc.). In lieu of that, you just need to learn the craft on your own thru pro-bono work, internships, or assisting an experienced photographer.

The definition of a “professional” photographer varies from person to person and from day to day. But most everyone will agree that it includes the skill to produce consistent, repeatable, high quality results that meet or exceed your customer’s expectations under a variety of conditions.

Often, the established “old-school” photographers will lament the “good old days” when everyone shot film and had brick and mortar studios. Several years ago there were barriers to entering the market place. You had to 1) have enough capital to start a photography business, and 2) have the ability and talent to deliver high quality photos to your client. Both of those barriers are now mostly gone. Many new photographers now work out of their homes, which in itself is not a problem if their business model makes allowances for that. Sadly, a lack of ability/talent doesn’t dissuade many of them from attempting to do business as a professional. The result is that either the customer is disappointed in the final results, or the customer had low expectations to begin with (due to the low price) and they are happy with the less than stellar results.

Social media often compounds the problem and helps blur the lines of what defines quality photography. This changes the consumer’s expectations and demand. Through social media, people are served more photographs in 15 minutes than they would normally see in a year. The standards that define a good quality photograph, gets lost in all the noise. What defines a great photograph in the world of social media is the number of “likes” it gets, not the true aesthetics of the image. Components like technical quality, composition, balance, etc. are marginalized (if not lost altogether). The public is conditioned to think if a photo of a cute kitten has a 100 “likes” it must be a great photo. It’s not. It’s a picture of a kitten.

The established photographer must now use his/her talent and business experience to differentiate themselves from their new competition. They cannot rely on stasis to keep them afloat in a changing environment.

The world of business is dynamic. And make no mistake, professional photography is a business. Regardless if you are an established photographer or a new one just entering the profession, you have to identify your competition, evaluate your customer’s demands, provide a service that differentiates you from your competition, and adjust your business strategy accordingly (and often) if you want to survive. In a nutshell, you can’t be selling VHS tapes when your competition is selling streaming HD video.

The real winner in the situation should ultimately be the consumer. Competition should help elevate the quality of work, providing the consumer can identify, appreciate, and be willing to pay for a good product. A problem results when the consumer is willing to settle for mediocrity in the quality of work in exchange for discounted prices. In this scenario, no one really wins.

Fortunately, there will always be great photographers who have the talent and skill to produce extraordinary work and also have the business savvy to be able to market it. There will also be consumers who can identify a great photograph and appreciate what it represents.

Anyway, that’s the way I see it.

Thanks for reading!

-Ken.

The other day I was talking to a fellow photographer and a friend. He has a full time job that pays the bills but photography is his passion. As it turns out, the daily activities of life (working, caring for a family, etc.) have left very little time lately for him to use his camera.

While we were talking, Bob (not you, the other Bob) told me that he is finding that he is forgetting some of the basic rules and tricks that every photographer knows. This was causing him a lack of confidence, which caused him apprehension about shooting, which caused him to shoot less, which caused him to start forgetting basics. It was a self fulfilling downward spiral and was affecting not only his confidence, but also his inspiration.

So what was my advise? Take more pictures. Take. More. Pictures. Photography is an art and it is a skill. I think the artist in each of us is something that never leaves. It’s something we are born with. However, the skill we cultivate to bring forth the art, well, that can be a different story. Someone can be born with a propensity for music and start playing a piano at a very young age. But it takes time to learn the techniques and motor skills that makes them a world class pianist. Only through years of practice does the natural gift for music and skills to bring it forth, collide.

And so it is with other forms of artistic expression. The more you study it, the more you do it, the better you get. And when you stop? The artist inside doesn’t go away, it’s just that the skills may get a little rusty.

Here’s an unexpected to benefit to taking more photos: You will find inspiration. But you say “Of what? I don’t feel inspired to work on any projects”. That’s the point. By forcing yourself to use your skills, you will discover things that will inspire you. I’ve heard many painters say that the best inspiration is to sit at a canvas and just start painting. The act of practicing your skills will lead to reigniting your passion and inspiration.

Inspiration seldom comes out of nowhere like a lighting bolt. It seldom comes from sitting on a couch. It seldom hits you while you are stuck in traffic. More often than not, it comes through an evolutionary process that starts with you actually doing something. One thing leads to another, which leads to another, and all of sudden you feel compelled to shoot something, beautiful, scary, shocking, touching, or whatever your passion steers you toward.

Take. More. Pictures.

That’s it for this week.

If you got here via a search engine, but sure to check out the rest of my website here.

Thanks for reading.

-Ken.

I decided to add a new website domain to my website. You can now get to my website not only by using www.kenrieves.com, but also by using www.commercialart.photos.

Now there is two ways to get to this site! The new domain is a little more descriptive of what I do and I hope it will make it easier to for people to find their way here.

Thanks for reading!!

– Ken.