Simon Murray Photography

The second photographer I visited offered me a day of assisting, which was perfect for me I needed a change of scenery ( form Georges coppock studio). He introduced me to every one, this was the biggest studio id been in and he was shooting for Victoria quarters magazine. In the studio i met the large group of people that was involved int he shoot, in a list:
photographer
photographer assistant
make up artist
hair stylist + assistant
2 dress stylists
and a woman looking over the images to make sure their what the client wants.

This was such a good experience for me, it involved every sort of learning curve i needed to develop even how to make a good cup of tea. ]

my learning curve :

• the use of power packs in a studio - he talked me through the stop levels on the pack and how adding extra lights affect the output lighting on the model, so you can use this to your advantage and it makes the stop scale larger.
• Learning how a 'Beauty Dish' is used and in what circumstance.
• Also don't move lights after they have been used all day or even in a shoot, while moving the lights could break the bulb because of its instant cooling.

I enjoyed the whole day at the studio, again it really made me want to own my ow studio and sell myself to business as a talented and good photographer. I didn't get paid for my days work their but i see it as knowledge as payment. He did offer my a job as assistant whe i finished college which finished my day off nicely.

ABW - Andrew Wallis

As i said in the previous blog I got an email off Andrew and he invited me to visit his studio and ask him questions, and basically pick his brain. It was a very positive result we had a very general chit chat about photography and how he has got to where he has:

• He worked for a big photography firm, worked his way to become manager, to which he built a client list and respect with other photographers.
• After a couple of years being manager him and his wife (also a photographer) moved out and rented their own studio ( £1200 a month) and created ABW photography.
• They charge a rate of £1200 per shoot
  

he also gave me some advice :

• to stay on for 3 years at college and keep building on my confidence and client list, but also see as many different photographers as I can - start assisting regularly and try earning a living off that.
  
• don't mix business photography with my pleasure photography.
• Try using all different equipment just encase one day i may need to use it such as honeycombs, large format and etc.

overall this visit was a good experience, firstly meeting a photographer how has a successful living and a really nice studio, to learning some techniques and ideas off him. It opened my eyes now to wanting my on studio one day.

Emails

I didn't get any more responders from photographers accept one saying that they had moved and wasn't in Leeds any more.

Email responce

I sent the email to around 6 photographers and within a couple of days later I got a response to my email from ABW photography ( which was a photographer id hope to see). the responce to the email went like so:

Hi Chris,

Took a look at your web site and you've got some very impressive creative work posted there. Keep it up! You would be shocked to see some of the dross I get from students, on a weekly basis, looking to embark on a career in photography. Rest assured, you're on the right track.

Believe me, you're entering a tough industry and the first lesson is if you don't "shine" as a student you might as well give up there and then!

Our working schedule is very varied week by week which makes it difficult for me to offer concrete work placements. We are also fundamentally a two person operation. We hire in freelancers for larger campaigns in much the same way as TV crews, then part company when the project ends. Full time it's just Jenifer (my wife) and myself!

I might be happy to offer you shorter work experience on particular projects in future.

Best plan of action - for the time being - would be to give me a call towards the end of next week and arrange to call over to the studio for an informal chat. I can give you some general pointers and we can take it from there.

Best regards,

Andrew Bret Wallis


After getting this email it really gave me confidence to send more emails and see if i would get any more response. (I sent on Friday)

After the weekend i checked my emails and another photographer called Simon Murray
who owns hylton photography in Leeds he responded with ;

Call me soon as you can to arrange couple of days assisting.

Simon

Studio 01937 847460

Mobile 07970 959196

Fax 01937 844545

http://www.hyltonphotography.co.uk

The Studio, Rocom Building, Rudgate,

Wetherby, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS23 7RR

after I viewed this email I rung him straight away and we arranged for me to meet him and assit at his studio on the 27th of March 2008. ( which i will talk i more detail in a later blog)

Email i sent to photographers

i basically one day just wanted to get the yellow pages out, find some local photographers in Leeds and just email them. I sent this with my flickr address and a small selection of low res images just in case they didn't have time out look at my website.

Hi

I am a second year student of Photography at Leeds College of Art and Design. My main interests are in commercial photography this involves, portraits, food, products and fashion portraits. Over the past few years I have become a more confident and more experience photographer. I challenge myself as much as possible, to learn new tips and traits to become a better at what I want to do.

As a student I am trying to expand my skills in most photographic areas however I feel that studio photography is the field I am going to commit to a career in.
Are there work experience/ job placements/ jobs available/general learning in your company, to further more level of knowledge in studio photography?

Looking at your website i can see that would gain a lot from an experience in your studio and I would be very excited to be apart of your studio environment.