Lessons

Lesson Info

Social Media & Blogs

Social media. I have a very love-hate relationship with social media. I've always liked Instagram, I'm on Facebook, I have a Tumblr, I'm on Twitter. It's a lot, and now there's Snapchat, and there's a lot of other things. My attitude, and I'm not a social media guru. There are people that live and breathe social media. I enjoy it, and I use it for inspiration, and I use it for marketing. Social media to me is an extension of my business, and this is where I put work that people aren't seeing, or outtakes of a shoot, or I'm just letting people know, I have something in W this month, you should check it out, because nobody buys magazines anymore, you know, there's a lot of ways to use social media. But my attitude about it is do it, and do it 100%, or don't do it at all. That's my attitude. Because I actually think a lot of editors look, and art buyers, creative directors, I know that when they look at a photographer, and they look at their website, and they like it, I know that they're ...

gonna look at their Instagram. I promise you, I don't know anyone who doesn't. We can ask Lacey, when she's on later, I'm sure she finds photographers on Instagram, I'd be interested to ask her that. You have this opportunity now, with Instagram, to showcase work that otherwise people wouldn't see it. And that's amazing. It's another portfolio for you. Now I also am all about social media for friends and family and I do put photos of some of my children, or my- some of my children. I have one child. (laughs) I do put photos of my family, my husband, and my son on there, and my dogs, but I don't overload it, because this place is not for that. If I was going to do that a lot, I would make a separate, private Instagram account. I think that people do want to see a little bit inside of my life, here, and I'm willing to do that, but it's not a place, you have to edit, and you have to curate this website now. You just do. That's my reality, that's what I think. I actually think that's true. I think you need to edit yourself on something like Instagram or Tumblr. But I know great success stories about people who have been discovered on Tumblr or Instagram and it's really helped their career. So I think that you should use it. The downside to social media is that it becomes another full-time job, right? It's another thing we have to do. Now we have to make our books, now we have to be updating our Instagram, I mean, it's a lot. There's a lot to do. And there are photographers out there who don't do it at all, and that's fine. I totally am on board. Do it, or don't. I also just picked Instagram. I have a Tumblr, but it links to my Instragram. I tweet, but really only photo-related things and things that are interesting. I really use the others, I'm on them, but I use them more for inspiration and to find resources. This is the one where I'm an, actually an active user. So I don't think if you're going, you know, join Twitter, absolutely, doesn't mean you have to actively do it 100% of the time. I think it's, whichever social media platform you pick, that's the one. Pick one and go with it. The bad side is that it's a deep, deep rabbit hole. And I think it actually can work very negatively against you if you're not careful. I don't know if this has every happened to you, but it's happened to me, where I'm on my phone, and I'm going through it, and, like, 25 minutes later, I don't know where the 25 minutes have gone, number one, and number two, I'm depressed. Because I'm seeing all this amazing work that everybody's doing, and I wanted to get hired for that, and I wish I had been hired for that, why didn't they ask me for this? Well, the thing is, you have to recognize that. You have to say, you know what, I'm gonna actually just use this as motivation forward to make this work. You can't sit there and then use it as an excuse, oh, I'm never gonna be this good. I'm never gonna get there, and then just put it aside. And I think that that happens to a lot of people. I think they really get into a social media rut. And I think that's something to really be careful about, because it can just clutter your mind in the sense of, not just a social media thing, this extends to sitting on the Internet and just checking out tons of other photographers' websites and seeing what they're doing, it's the same thing. You're like, "oh, that website's so good, look at what they're doing, I'm never gonna do that." All that time you're doing, you're not making. You're not creating. So I think you have to check yourself, and I'm just being very real because it's happened to me. I have been there and put down my phone and been really bummed out. But there's no reason to be bummed out, because I haven't gone out and made the work. And then, you know, now I really try. I bookmark pictures, and I screen-grab things that I think are really inspiring and I put them in a folder and then I move on. And when it comes time and I'm like, you know what, I feel like I need to go out and shoot something, I look in the inspiration folder, a lot of it I found on Intstagram, and then I go out and shoot. And I always feel better after I've made something. After I've done it. Even if it wasn't a hugely successful shoot, I still, I probably learned something in just shooting. And that's always the nice feeling. It's like going to the gym. As soon as you leave the gym, you're like, "oh, that feels so great, I'm so glad I did it," and then you can eat a doughnut, it doesn't matter, but you just, you did it, you went to the gym. So the last thing, well, I've got two more things before we get to Lacey. But this is a resource of mine, which is called A Photo Editor. If you don't know it, you should. I think every single photographer on the planet should check out this website. Now, they did feature me, and that has nothing to do with why I'm talking about it. They have amazing articles. It's a resource that, I'm gonna go through some of the site right now, but it's a resource for every type of photographer. If you want to be doing commercial work, if you want to be doing editorial, fine art, it doesn't matter, because it's really for people who use their camera. Now, the article they did about me here was just, an art buyer nominates a photographer. I was just one of them. They have a new one up, I think it's every couple weeks, and they ask you some questions and you show some work. And it's really interesting to hear, it's like these little workshops that you get to pick the brain of a photographer, you get to read their journey, and I find it really interesting. They have a column about new books that are out that I really like, but my two favorite things are over here, under the resources, and then on the other side of the webpage, which is where their Instagram is, and I'll explain that in a second. But because it's not my work, I actually couldn't show it up here. So I can talk you through it. Number one, the resources. There's an agent list. So you guys want a rep, huh? Well, how do you know what rep you want? How are you gonna contact a rep? I know! There's an entire list of every rep on the planet right there, probably only in the U.S., but I haven't confirmed that. The work is being done for you. All of this marketing stuff, you're not, you don't have to go at this alone. You have resources out there. The photography consultants list. So a photography consultant is an extra set of eyes. They'll help you edit, they'll help you make promos, they'll look through your website and tell you if they think you need to restructure it to get the work you want to get. I mean, that's what they do. They try to help you get work so you don't have to feel like, I know that feeling of when it gets overwhelming and you really just don't have to go at this alone. So those are great resources. On the other side of the webpage, but also on Instagram, A Photo Editor, (his name's Rob Haggart, by the way; I've never met the man, but I think what he does for the industry is pretty spectacular), he started an Instagram that's, all it is is promos. And it's fascinating. So what he does, is people send him promos in the mail, and he takes Instagram photos of every part of it. So he'll take the packaging, like, how it arrived in the mail, so if it was ripped, or just had mud all over it, or run over by a tire, doesn't matter, you'll see it. He opens the box, or the envelope, he takes a picture of the cover, he opens it, he takes a picture, so you can see the entire thing. And this is why I love it, for two reasons. Number one: you get to see work that people are making in the world. I think that's awesome. Because I don't have time to go to everybody's website either. And I don't think you do either. So I get to see what's out there, I get to see new work, it's inspiring, but I also get to see the promos that people are doing. People come up with really, really good ideas. And so it's a wonderful place for inspiration in that way. The other side is that I also see work that I don't like, or promos that I don't like. And I think that's just as valuable. Particularly work. If there's work, I'm like, "yeah, it's cool, but it's not me," I have to ask myself: Why am I not drawn to this work? And that's always a really great question, because, and who knows what the answer is? It doesn't mean that the work isn't great. It just means it doesn't speak to me. And when you ask yourself that, the answer is often leads to, perhaps the answer is it doesn't feel emotional. Or it doesn't feel as connected, or who knows. In fact, the answer may be I need to be doing more of that intimate emotional work, because that seems to be what I want. So sometimes if you don't know what you want, knowing what you don't like is helpful. Sorry, I know that was very, sort of backwards and long-winded, but we got there, right? I think you know what I mean. Question from Dijon Style. Should you put portfolio work in social media? Or just outtakes or things that aren't actually in your portfolio? Well, that's a good question. I'm trying to think about what I've done. I think portfolio work can end up on social media, absolutely. I don't think you want to put your whole portfolio up there, I think you wanna save some of those things. But the nature of social media is that it just turns over so fast. So it's possible that you put something up, and then, you know, in a couple weeks, couple months, it's sort of disappeared, and then maybe you add another one. What I wouldn't do is just put portfolio piece after portfolio piece in a row. That I would caution you not to do, just because I think you, social media, you need to mix it up in that way, and not make it, not make it so pointed. Behind the scenes are helpful, people like to see that, it's sort of a- social media, to me, people are going to my social media I think because they want a little insight into who I am. So it's a little behind-the-scenes, it's a little bit, you know, new work that I'm doing, outtakes, that sort of thing. If they want to see my portfolio, they can call me, and I'll send them my book, or have me in for a meeting, or they can look at my website. That's why I don't think it should be entirely that. I think it's a really cool way to look at it, as, like you said, an extension of your business, but now, with all these tools, we can really, you're really self-publishing. And so you're able to just, and do that more frequently, like you said, than you might have on a standard website, so Absolutely. I love that. If you have a particular project, and maybe it's an ongoing project, I think that's, Instagram is the perfect platform for that. And you should dedicate it to that. Maybe you're doing, Martin Schoeller's Instagram is dedicated entirely to portraits of the homeless. And in a particular shelter in Los Angeles, I think. So he just goes there when he can, and he takes portraits, and that's all he posts. It's one project. It's one body of work. And that's also fine, I think that's a really good idea, and maybe you do that for months and months and months and then you're done with the project. Well then I think you should move onto another project. I think if you approach it that way, I think you need to be consistent. That's a great way for people to see your work, and to see a whole body of work, something you've really put time and effort into. That's amazing, that you can put that out in the world and thousands of people can see it. Right away, and you don't have to find an editor that's willing to publish it. And if they did publish it, probably only get a couple pages in a magazine. They really have the opportunity to see the whole breadth of work.