Project "52" : Why the Assignments are Not All Glamour and Glitz rolled into Excitment and Fashion with a dash of "Awesome"...

(Project 52 is an ongoing set of real world assignments for photographers who want to grow beyond the ordinary, and work toward the real world of commercial photography. It is not a glamour site, nor will we be treating every shot like something from a major award winning art director to appear in the most prestigious magazine in the world. One should ALWAYS do one's best. And to continue to excel at what we do is something that MUST be in the forefront of our minds. In reality, the photographers in small/mid market must be able to perform to the highest levels of the profession in assignments that may not be as glamorous as that presented on most blogs and sites. OK. And those sites are important to follow, and learn from.

I want the Project 52 to be as real world as possible. I made this post earlier this morning on the Flickr group, and I am adding it here.)

Reprinted from the post at Flickr this morning:

I spent a morning last week looking critically at the other sites out there who are teaching or suggesting, and blogs that talk about being a 'professional' and there are some really good ones. And there are a lot of fun sites that can be so interesting with glimpses into the working world of photography at the top of the game. And there are... others.

The criteria I was using - and this was a quickly put together set of specifics - was this:

Was the information something that a real world, small/med market shooter could use.

I found some good ones in the wedding/portrait industry. And there are some good ones in the 'girl shooter' categories.

But there were few in the real world of commercial photography... where a photographer is someone who is working - commercially - and for a diverse set of clients.

Magazines
Ad Agencies
Design Agencies
Corporate Communications
Direct to Client

Magazines and Ad Agencies? Oh yeah... that is the glamorous part of what we do. And to read some blogs, it is all just a ton of excitement wrapped up in an atmosphere of rock and roll and surrounded by really tall models and chic, catered food.

Yeah.

It's really like that, all the time.

Sure.

Unfortunately, the reality is - well - not so glamorous.

Small and mid-level markets work way differently - and actually, most major market photographers find it laughable as well.

Being able to shoot a wide variety of assignments is the way most of the photographers I know make their livings.

And most of them are not glamorous, or have wild and crazy studios filled to the brim with hip young people hanging on the photographers every word.

My studio is in a building with another studio. I share the big shooting space with another photographer. Between us in the month of January was:

- Auto parts for a major after market producer of high performance gear
- Catalog shoot for a Seattle designer of spa wear for a web site
- Band shoot with 30" video (heavy-metal)
- Dogs for a national ad campaign
- Band for a website/print campaign
- Two 'recipe' shots with an ingredients photo for a proposed online version of a cookbook
- 5 days shooting at a resort for new collateral
- Heashot for a local business person for use in collateral

Real glamorous... not.

So the real world, and the online world, collide from the standpoint of what we read so much in the blogs.

My idea is to present a REAL WORLD experience (other than the long due dates) and an opportunity for someone in a market other than New York, and wanting to do something other than Fashion, to have an opportunity to put together a real world experience - and get their portfolio in shape for making the jump to pro.

Whether they do so is not an issue... the knowledge that they could is what is important.

So to you intrepid folks who may find the assignment "Chocolate" a little unclear, it is exactly as it was given to me from a local coffee restaurant. It was to be square to be at the top of the little cards they used on the tables for the monthly 'specials'. "Just make it look rich and decadent" was all I had to work from.

And I had two days to do it.

And it paid. Well.

Glamorous? Well, I don't know... I had a blast doing it. It challenged my brain to make the shot. I spent an hour looking at pictures of chocolate in magazines at Barnes and Noble... making mental notes and scribbles in my Moleskin.

I gathered the material, headed for the table top and started playing with the stuff until I got something I liked. And I shot it. And then I thought of something even better and shot that. All in all from setup to tear down - about an hour and a half.

Delivered the images (4 versions) and a bill.

Commercial photography.

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