Episode 04 - Coaching Session: Photography after COVID
Audio:
Shownotes:
Matthew Henry on Instagram: @oakandink
Actions from this episode:
Come up with a list of problems that are being caused by the physical distancing we are experiencing today. And then brainstorm some solutions to them.
Next, reach out to another creative, you know, and pick their brain about what issues they are facing, and then brainstorm some idea for those.
After that ask them, do they know someone who you could connect with that would give you even more insight. Because building a business is about nurturing relationships and expanding your network.
Finally, when you have a great list of problems and possible solutions, test them. Because I bet you that some of the solutions you have actually cause new problems.
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Episode Transcript:
Matt Korinek: Are you thinking about what photography will look like in this new era after COVID? And how do you show your problem solving skills to art directors?
That's what Matthew Henry and I talked about during our coaching session.
Hey, my name is Matt and welcome to the photo Proventure Vlogcast.
[SONIC BRANDING AND OPENING MUSIC]
Matt Korinek: Now I've known Matthew Henry for a number of years. We actually met when I lived down in Australia. And I've always been really amazed by his artistic eye. You should definitely check out his Instagram @oakandink and see how he's used the Pantone color palette to create a really cohesive feed.
It's really beautiful work, but just having beautiful images doesn't mean you can make the jump into photography. So Matthew's actually trying to get into photography full time, and so he reached out to have a coaching session with me. One of the topics that came up during our conversation was about what our directors are looking for.
I know a few art directors and I think I could get them on the Vlogcast. So if you're interested in me interviewing some art directors, let me know in the comments below and if you want to make sure you don't miss those episodes, hit the subscribe button and the notification bell.
So let's get into our coaching session.
Matthew, welcome to the Photo Proventure Vlogcast.
Matthew Henry: Thank you. It's great to be here.
Matt Korinek: How did photography find you?
Matthew Henry: Some of my earliest memories of being excited about photography books. Like if I got a gift voucher for a bookstore, which he often did as like a primary school aged kid, I would get like adventure photography, landscape photography books. Or wildlife books.
I just loved books that were full of photography. And back then, like being a photographer just seemed like an outlandish thing that a kid from the suburbs could never aspire to. Like, you know, they kind of had this sort of aura around them. But yeah, that's sort of my earliest memories.
And as soon as I could afford a camera, I bought a camera.
Matt Korinek: Very cool. Very cool. I think it's so cool to see how different people come to photography. So I love starting with that question. So I'm wondering. If you had to give up one sense, what would it be and why?
Matthew Henry: That's so hard!
Matt Korinek: It is a hard question.
Matthew Henry: Maybe it's sight, and my reason for that is, to me it feels like the weakest of all of the senses in regards to communication and relationship. And you know why sight I think holds you back. I think I could probably have deeper relationships with people if I didn't have sight.
Matt Korinek: So fascinating. I love that answer.
Matthew Henry: I think when it comes down to, I think depth of relationship is what matters the most. And I feel like in a way it's a bit of a hamstring, if anything.
Matt Korinek: So cool. Isn't it interesting to think about it that way? And, and especially given your background and what you do now, how that is the one that you'd give up.
So let's get into the coaching. I know you came prepared with some stuff that you potentially wanted to talk about, but I like doing this very in the moment. So in this moment, as we sit here right now, what would you like some coaching on?
Matthew Henry: For me, the main thing is taking photography from a hobby, a side thing, something that I've got aptitude with to making a career out of it.
And you know, I've worked as a graphic designer, in-house, agency-side as a freelancer, I know how to provide a creative service. For whatever reason, I haven't yet made photography as a career work yet. That's my next step. How to approach art directors and creative directors well is something that I need insight rather than just, you know, spam, cold calling emails.
It's not always the best place of getting information back.
Matt Korinek: Definitely. And so if you were to think about what your biggest area of weakness is, is it lead generation? Is it figuring out pricing? Like are you getting a lot of inquiries? Cause I know you have a fairly large following on your Instagram. Is it translating the inquiries into jobs or like what is it that you think is missing right now?
Matthew Henry: Yeah. I mean, leveraging the Instagram would be good. I don't think that I use that as a great marketing tool to get the clients that I want. You know, it has a following, but as far as generating work, it's not enough to be sustainable.
Once people have been on set with me and they've worked with me, they know that I'm a good person to work with. I work well. My work, I think is good enough. You can always improve. Of course.
It's just booking the job, getting the relationship to where people are confident enough to give you a budget to go do your thing for a day or two.
So yeah, lead generation is probably the thing.
Matt Korinek: What do you currently do to generate leads?
Matthew Henry: At the moment, I haven't been doing much. I've really only just started this, like I left work a month before COVID hit. I was working on my business plan and my website and all of that to get going.
Then COVID happened so, what jobs I did have booked got canceled. So I haven't been doing much. I've been making a list of, you know, who to hit up once I think it's an appropriate time to start having conversations about booking work.
It's starting to feel like we can start talking about booking work in the future now. I feel like businesses sort of know where they're at with things, so I think we can start talking about prospective work.
Matt Korinek: I wonder if you were dreaming up the best relationship you could have with a potential art director that you would want to work with:
would that relationship start with work?
Matthew Henry: Like, I mean, I think it would start with meeting up to talk about potential work, but it wouldn't be just a social hanging out discussing what their needs are. Would they'd be going to outside photographers, freelance photographers to fulfill those needs and what they're looking for, and whether I would be somebody who would possibly fulfill that.
Matt Korinek: And so what's stopping you from having that conversation now?
Matthew Henry: Oh, nothing now. I was just waiting for this coaching session again with you; make sure I'm all right.
Matt Korinek: Because I think the thing that strikes me, and it's actually come up a couple of times, is if you wait until things loosen up, I think you'll be competing with everyone else who's waiting. And I think it will be harder to stand out.
And I think now's a real opportunity to build relationships with people where there's less of an ulterior motive. I think a lot of the times cold calls don't work because art directors are getting all these people reaching out to them. Trying to show them how great they are.
And as an art director, you're just sort of overwhelmed and you're going to work with the people you know and you know you like working with and you know that can deliver on something.
I worry that you might get lost in a mountain of people trying to look for work after.
And also just the relationships different. You know, when people know that you're doing it for yourself, mainly because we're coming out of this and you need to make money. The environment is different than if you're meeting up and having a conversation because you are very interested in who they are, what their thoughts are on creative, photography, design, and you actually build a relationship from there.
How does that feel for you?
Matthew Henry: I think it makes sense that you don't just start off with a brief and a job in a way you go. That you build a relationship.
And I think, yeah, now is a good time where for some businesses, things are a little quieter. They've got time to meet up or have a conversation or have a think, what are we going to be doing for a content strategy down the line and who can help us out with that?
Matt Korinek: Totally. The way people shoot might be different. And so figuring out. What the potential pain points might be of how shooting might be different allows you to build a process or a way of working or an approach that could address those concerns. And so instead of being a photographer comes forward and says, well, I, I did this before now I'm doing the same thing.
What are the additional value adds that you can put into that, that directly address the concerns that you've heard from the art directors that you end up talking to?
Matthew Henry: Yeah. Have you been shooting since COVID happened and are you guys doing it in a different way?
Matt Korinek: I personally have shot once. It was a flat lay in my house. So there was no one else around.
Still life is often a really easy way of getting around some of the restrictions, and we're already looking at what potential solves are as things open and also longterm. So I think if you're not thinking about that, you might actually end up being at a disadvantage.
Matthew Henry: Yeah.
Matt Korinek: And if the ADs you talk to aren't thinking about that, they might be at a disadvantage unless they're lucky enough to talk to you.
Matthew Henry: Yeah. That's interesting.
Matt Korinek: So do you think it would be valuable to maybe explore some ideas around what are some of the problems that you might be solving.
Matthew Henry: With active lifestyle photography, to me, it seems pretty safe. But I can see shooting with a long lens, at a distance, outside in the open, which is a lot safer than inside being a very manageable. I think the only thing that I'm changing in my workflow is not showing people the back of my screen.
Matt Korinek: You mentioned the problem of proximity to the model in terms of shooting with a long lens. And how that can sort of solve that problem to a certain degree. It doesn't necessarily solve it if stylistically the client or brand you're working with requires a more close proximity type shot with a wider lens.
So that's something that, you know, you might want to think about, because there are some brands that, you know, get a fish-eye and put it right in someone's face. And to switch them to a long lens, it might make sense because it might visually then show that they're being sensitive to COVID, but maybe they'll choose that because of their brand is so strong with the wide lens, or they don't want to change that.
So I think thinking about how you could solve for that is one of the things.
I think then thinking about small teams and the skills that different people bring to a shoot, and how you could take over some of those responsibilities. So one thing that comes to mind is maybe styling. How could you be a person who can act as a stylist during a shoot and not just a photographer.
And ads will generally want to see the back of the screen. And if you can't do that, what is your solve for that? So I think there's a lot of little things that you could be thinking about that, that are part of this entire ecosystem, right?
Matthew Henry: Yeah. Not looking at the back of the screen isn't a solution. It's pointless game the AD's feedback once the shoots wrapped.
Matt Korinek: And I think you don't necessarily need to have all the answers. I actually think it's a really great conversation to have where you can both understand the concerns from a different perspective because an will have different concerns than a photographer, and you can bring value by bringing the knowledge you have as a photographer and the problem solving skills that you bring to that conversation.
I think that would be a very powerful conversation that has nothing to do with you saying, Hey, I'm looking for work right now.
Matthew Henry: Oh, definitely. Yeah, absolutely.
Matt Korinek: I think I said this in my last coaching session. I think you want to be seen as a problem solver who sees the opportunity in difficult times. And so if you can do that during these difficult times when you can't shoot at all, I think you move higher on the list come the end of this.
Starting with some ADs that you know is a great place to start. And then being like, who do they know? Cause ADs no ADs, photographers know photographers.
Matthew Henry: Yeah, absolutely.
Matt Korinek: Do you feel like you have an action out of this? Something that you can commit to doing in the next week or two?
Matthew Henry: Oh yeah, absolutely. Like I said, there's that little list of people that email and thinking about what is the value that I can bring them and starting that conversation.
Matt Korinek: I think that's a great place to start when you're thinking about what you can bring someone else. Most people get contacted because of what they can do for the other person.
It's a very different experience if someone's reaching out to you and saying, Hey, how can I help you. And help you from a place of not attachment, like this isn't a sales technique where I help you and then I'm going to push my services.
It's like I would like to build a relationship with you and why not use our common love for aesthetics and you know, photography and visuals as the cornerstone of that.
Matthew Henry: Yeah, I agree. I don't mind it being about a sale. I think people understand that's what we're wanting to be doing, but yeah, there is a good way of going about it for sure. I don't ever want it to be just about a transfer of money for 20 images.
It's got to be about bringing value and good mutual respect.
Matt Korinek: Totally. I mean, I think that's great. I think compared to when we first started and you were sort of going to be waiting, I think the fact you're going to be doing something is, is always a plus.
Taking action is what really makes the difference. And so whenever I felt stuck in life, if I do nothing, I continue feeling stuck and if I do something. Even if it's maybe not the right thing, at least I'm moving in a direction and I find out, okay, maybe that direction isn't right, so then I can take a different direction.
But the movement makes me feel unstuck.
Matthew Henry: Yeah, definitely.
Matt Korinek: Okay, so if I'm paraphrasing, you commit that in the next week you're going to email how many people?
Matthew Henry: Off the top of my head. Three to five.
Matt Korinek: Great start. I look forward to hearing how that goes and what responses you get back.
[TIME TO TAKE ACTION MUSIC]
Matt Korinek: Remember that your value as a photographer is often connected to how well you can solve creative problems. Knowing what your client is facing allows you to tailor solutions that solve their issues.
Now, solving problems isn't going to get you the job necessarily, because if you don't know the right people, they won't know that you even exist. So building relationships is another big part of getting a job.
So the actions I'd like you to consider are:
Come up with a list of problems that are being caused by the physical distancing we are experiencing today. And then brainstorm some solutions to them.
Next, reach out to another creative, you know, and pick their brain about what issues they are facing, and then brainstorm some idea for those.
After that ask them, do they know someone who you could connect with that would give you even more insight. Because building a business is about nurturing relationships and expanding your network. And so people who already like and respect you. Are great places to start to expand your circle.
Finally, when you have a great list of problems and possible solutions, test them. Because I bet you that some of the solutions you have actually cause new problems. The more you solve problems on your own, the more you'll be prepared to solve them on set.
So try one new thing. And get closer to the photographer you want to be.
So if you are enjoying these coaching sessions, please hit the subscribe button and let me know any questions you have in the comments below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
[CLOSING MUSIC]
