Dima and I have been wanting to do an interview for a hundred years. "Let's meet at two o'clock!" - I tell him and I'm late. For an hour. We talk for 180 minutes, I constantly check the recorder, because it seems that everything he says is valuable. And now, returning from another trip, I understand that I have lost the audio recording. I'm afraid to confess to him, I delay the moment, nevertheless I confess and I get in response - "It's sad." One word, spoken with his usual humility, breaks from the inside. All. I give up. I'm crying.
That same evening I find a note on my desktop. It turns out that she hid from herself.
Take a breath of air and start reading. Inside - not the most familiar, so someone may not like it, someone mahner hand, and someone decides to get acquainted with Dima. He knows a lot and shares his experience with everyone for free, no matter where and in what time zone he is.
Good photographer, bad photographer
As soon as people buy cameras for themselves, they begin to think that they automatically become photographers. They are not shy about taking money, calmly naming the cost per hour, giving away cheap shots and even promoting them. Those who want to replenish their photo album are not particularly versed in photography, and it is from here that anecdotes are born, or rather, the realities of life, in the form of bluish, greenish, yellow faces. The customer likes - and okay.
Those who shoot well, most often not promoted. Why? Because it takes a lot of time to create a professional image. You either shoot or create an image. Those who manage to do everything are few.
Abroad, for example, there is a clear division among professions, in our country, as a "promoter", it turns out, at best, a wife, and then that photographer is lucky if she is advanced in all these Internet matters. A female photographer - this also happens, but it is more difficult to imagine a man sitting at a computer and promoting such a wife.
I hide my photos from VKontakte users
My photos can be called a skill development, training for the future creation of art (I hope I grow up to it). This is practice, nothing more. Deep down, I consider myself a freelance artist who continues to experiment with form and line. This desire to sell myself to the masses does not arise in me. And there is no understanding how it is generally possible to take money from people for a photo.
I hide my photos from VKontakte users. The logic is pretty weird, I agree. On the one hand, I would like to take interesting orders, on the other hand, I’m afraid that it will start: “shoot our wedding”, “we want a child by the fireplace littered with toys”, “in this dress with a giraffe, so that the person is on one side”.
As soon as you start explaining to people that scenery is not needed to reveal a person’s character, that all these fireplaces, columns and wallpapers with vignettes spoil everything, uncomprehending eyes immediately make. The second moment of misunderstanding arises when you name the cost of pictures and explain that for an hour of work you will not give 200 photographs, and maybe only 3 or 4. Everything ends approximately the same: “Oh, no, we have a neighbor with a DSLR, she takes off."
I don't want to ask for money for my work
The status of the photo is now very low. Talk for hours about what makes up the value of the work? For what? Although, soon, I feel, I will come to the idea that it is necessary to give master classes on this issue. To say in plain text what should be valued in the work of a photo artist and that busting with colors is not at all “I am an artist, I see it that way”, but bad manners or even worse - blindness.
In principle, I am even ready to conduct such master classes for free and would even willingly drive around our region to meet amateur photographers and exchange experiences. I am a mobile person, albeit a family one, but in many ways - adventurous. Without professional communication, the internal mechanism rusts, and full-fledged communication with a computer through which I watch various webinars or recordings of meetings does not happen.
I don't want to ask for money for my work. A person who burns with the desire to receive quality - he does not pay, he thanks. I would like the amount of gratitude to be worthy, and not “remove 1,500 items for 5,000 rubles.”
Now the exchange process "necessary" looks like? - The customer wants to get what everyone else has. That is, a violation of the composition, banal interiors, pink faces. He didn’t take off as he wants, he won’t pay. Or he will be disgraced that you yourself will give him more money.
Reportage photo? we have? Are you joking?
Reportage photography - understand, this is not what every boy in the yard does. Click and all. I like the pictures of Grigory Pinkhasov, Sergey Maksimishin, Magnum International Photo Agency. This is an incredible skill - when one skillfully captured moment is able to tell more than a two-page description of a journalist to it. In our city, the district does not shoot like that.
Wedding attendants somehow compete with each other in wages - reporters usually sit without money. For most news agencies, a photo of a passerby taken on a mobile phone will be more important. Because we have a trend for "naturalness". Reportage photography is also natural, only it is smart and requires a lot of experience from the photographer.
The fate of the Russian photographer
Now I will say a terrible thing. There is only one road for a photographer in the region, if he wants to develop and, ultimately, earn a decent income, and it has nothing to do with the region. You have to go, you have to go. Abroad. And away. Those who constantly grow and remain in place, gaining fame - can be counted on the fingers. They fanatically sit in their free three hours a week from a ton of processing of family and corporate shots (if they have orders) and look at the monitor, studying other people's brilliant shots. The rest of the time, they choose between wedding photography - not always loved, but profitable, and hunger, a life "for the sake of art", counting the number of "thanks" that you need to get in order to purchase a new lens.
If you want to shoot fashion, you need to go first to Moscow, and then to Europe, to New York. There's a fashion hive. You can also bring a chair to the master, if necessary, just to work with those who know how to shoot. Note that for Russian glossy magazines, most photo projects are filmed either by invited people from abroad or living there. I am a patriot, but we are talking about gaining experience, but we have little of it. And the country had difficulties in every decade, and the intelligentsia was not always loved in our country, and other priority tasks were set: building a plant is yes, but there is no time to learn the art of photography.
Our level is the Middle Ages. Understand correctly, this is a purely personal opinion that appeared when studying the history of the development of photography in Europe and America. Abroad, it is the norm when, in order to decorate a wall in your company, you go to the nearest (!) photo gallery and buy a picture.
And there are situations when eminent guests should come to your company, but you don’t have money for a photo. Then you go to the same nearest gallery and rent the one you like. You understand? - Art is rented! For a week, two - as much as you need. Visitors will definitely appreciate it.
Now tell me - is it possible for us now?
Dreaming is not bad. Will it suddenly come true?
Recently, we have been talking about the urban environment. That, they say, every resident needs to come up with a project to improve it and work with all services together. Of course, the question immediately arises: what role can the photographer play in this matter?
When Vladimir Seleznev came to visit us, we examined in detail the visual means, of which there are a huge number. Reading that they exist is one thing, but seeing them is quite another. Observation is generally a prerequisite for work. The more the photographer can see - the better for him, the formation of the author's style. First you need to do a lot, compare, analyze, and only then you start to notice something in something.
For two days we studied color, light, shape, object, plane, reflection. The third day was practice. I remember it was pouring rain, we were roaming the streets with a camera, a stream was pouring from the camera, we were filming. What happened in the end, I remember forever. He even seemed happy to his wife from successful shots.
And it would be right to bring photographers who specialize in the urban environment to cities and let them roam the streets. Let them look for urban metaphors
they create the photographic soul of the city, and then place the pictures in circulation albums as a decoration. Usually, those who live in one place for a long time lose their perception of the mystery and mystery of the surrounding space, so it is people from other cities who should be invited to such projects. True, this is also no longer needed. And if it were, I would be happy to ride along the same Ugra.
How and how much is a photographer paid?
There is such a funny saying: “Do you need something to do with your child? Get busy with photography and he won't have time for anything else."
So it is - photography takes a lot of effort, but work is not always appreciated appropriately. And it's embarrassing. The photographer can be roughly divided into three types. One is paid for the time. There are many such photographers in every city - they are not particularly selective in orders, for the most part they are artisans. There are photographers who come and take pictures and it really doesn't even matter to anyone what he took. They paid for the name! $ 20,000 shooting, and the output is 3 frames, moreover, the whole team shoots.
The third type of photographers are fine art creators - they are paid for prints. Their photos hang in the most expensive offices
the world, they are worth millions. Labor exists in one copy. For example, "Rhine II" has long been one of the most expensive photographs, its creator is the German Andreas Gursky. Moreover, now he is far from advanced age.
Photoshop as a bike "is there life on Mars?"
We - photographers of the first type - have a short creative run-up. Something in which you can take place and at the same time not sell your soul to the Devil is a portrait, an object. But in order to shoot a classic portrait, you need to be an excellent psychologist, and in order to shoot objects, you need to understand the light better than yourself. To expose and see the light is like miracles. Objects do not tend to forgive mistakes. Especially if they are chrome.
To illuminate, for example, a fork, you need a two-meter octobox. Then the highlight will turn out in the whole subject. Photoshop? 3D? You can also use them, but then it will no longer be a photograph.
The story about Photoshop is actually like a bike “is there life on Mars?”. To learn how to use it correctly, you need to be an artist. Be able to draw shadows, reflections, reflections, highlights... - and all this in order to draw a chair with the same light as in real life.
I like to break stereotypes
Let's start with the fact that the photographer most often has some other hobbies. A talented person cannot concentrate all his talent on one thing. Who wants to argue - argue, but I know a lot of examples when several hypostases coexisted in the masters of photography at once.
I love the sound, the acoustics. Visuals and sound overlap a lot, so I don't feel like I'm doing something opposite. Once I bought all sorts of speakers, then I started making them myself, now there is nowhere to put them at home. Warehouse, homemade and once again homemade. My mother-in-law, my wife, me...
I also rarely shoot girls, puppies and redheads with cannabis, such absolute trends for likes. What I shoot is understood by quite a few people, usually those who have visual experience. A person who has tried real brewed coffee at least once will not return to adjustable coffee, and the likelihood that those who do not know Mozart will listen to Hands Up is very high.
Now I'm shooting with a small camera and I can prove to everyone that it's not about the size (just like in the song). - You can shoot anything. If you are a photographer, of course.
You can learn photography at home, and learn to make money abroad
In 2011, I bought a used / ear Nikon 3100 with manual settings. Everyone was buying Canon back then. They were very interesting to study and I got carried away. And so it went.
You can learn to set up the camera in a week, but to see the light, the plot - no. I don’t think that even now I see everything very well, there is something to aspire to.
I am constantly learning, but learning does not mean sitting in front of the Master and taking lessons from him. You can look at the photos yourself and analyze the angle, light, emotions. You can grow anywhere, for this you just don’t need to go abroad. But if you want to earn (!) "like them" - you have to. The question of developing handwriting and nothing more.
When I am not filming or processing, I turn on some kind of master class or creative meeting, any other training video and watch it. Or I'm listening. Or it goes as a background.
From the latter, he began to conduct master classes for those who are interested in photography and whose thirst is difficult to quench with ordinary training in photography schools. In our photography schools I don’t understand at all what they teach now. If you want to succeed as a photographer, then you need to devote all your free time to studying photography. At least the first ten years.
A photojournalist is a person who “fixes” the history of their time by taking photographs to accompany news reports, notes, and articles. Photojournalists tell the world about the events they witnessed themselves, doing a difficult and sometimes dangerous job designed to inform people and evoke genuine emotions in them.
Being the most creative branch of journalism, photojournalism traditionally attracts people who are creative and active. Those who are bored with the routine work of a photographer in a studio. Those who want to always be in the center of events and contribute to history.
All over the world, young photojournalists have ample opportunities for work and professional development.
Where to work as a photojournalist abroad? What types of photojournalism are in demand in the world, and how much do photojournalists earn? Learn about the profession of a photojournalist abroad…
Why should you choose to become a photojournalist?
The career of a photojournalist is chosen by many self-taught photographers, graduates of the faculties of journalism and photography. Not surprising, because the profession of a photojournalist has a number of advantages.
Variety of destinations
Photojournalism brings together photographers who work in a variety of fields, from shooting celebrities on the red carpet and politicians to shooting sports events, social scenes and wildlife scenes. As a photojournalist, you can choose to work in the direction that is closest and most interesting to you.
Creative development and self-expression
Despite the fact that, working for various media, a photojournalist usually does not choose what, when and where to shoot, the profession of a photojournalist remains creative. This kind of activity provides all the opportunities for creative self-expression, and many photojournalists become known and recognizable thanks to their own author's style of photography and reflection of certain events. Be inspired by the work of photojournalists such as Jeremy Pollard, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastian Salgado and William Eugene Smith!
Profession for extreme sportsmen
From a psychological point of view, there are relatively few professions suitable for lovers of extreme sports and risk, photojournalism is one of them. By choosing the right direction in your work, you can definitely tickle your nerves! The fact is that the work of a photojournalist is not necessarily shooting celebrities, holiday parades and world capitals. Many photojournalists choose to work in hot spots, filming military and social conflicts, capturing poverty and humanitarian disasters in the most disadvantaged areas of our planet on camera. Such work helps not only to convey important information to the world community, but also to get your dose of extreme sports and earn good money.
Active lifestyle and new acquaintances
A photojournalist is not a profession for a couch potato. Often it involves constant traveling within the city, country or even the whole world. In addition, you will find a lot of extracurricular and urgent work, as well as an irregular schedule. All this has many advantages, you will get the opportunity to visit many places, become a direct participant in interesting events and activities, meet many people.
Popular Activities
We have already mentioned that photojournalism, as a field of activity, is multifaceted and diverse. You can engage in documentary, reportage or news photojournalism, or you can combine several areas in your work. The main criterion in evaluating the work of a photojournalist remains its relevance and uniqueness, as well as the interest that it arouses among the public.
Depending on your interests, you can choose from a variety of photographic journalism jobs. In particular, you can shoot famous people and celebrities, social events, scenes of social and "street" life, sports events, crime events, nature and cities, military events and conflicts, etc.
What are the working conditions?
The working conditions of a photojournalist depend on what direction in photojournalism he has chosen. Of course, photojournalists who shoot portraits of famous people or film events in their city work in more comfortable and safer conditions than photojournalists in hot spots and disadvantaged regions. However, a number of working conditions remain the same for most photojournalists...
Having chosen this profession, you need to be ready for dynamic, active and extracurricular work. In addition, your work will involve communicating with a large number of people and constantly visiting new places, whether it be a neighboring city or another country. We can say that the work of a photojournalist arises upon the occurrence of an event that needs a photo report.
A photojournalist may work on a freelance basis, selling footage to various publications, or may have one or more regular employers. At the same time, the work of a photojournalist requires professional knowledge and experience in the field of photography, the availability of appropriate equipment, post-processing and photo retouching skills. Also important are communication skills, the ability to quickly adapt to a new environment and adapt to different working conditions, knowledge of foreign languages, tolerance, non-conflict, knowledge and understanding of journalistic ethics.
What salary are you expecting?
The salary of a photojournalist depends on the chosen field of work, employer, country and region, professional experience and, finally, professional qualities that allow performing one or another amount of work in a limited time.
In the US, the average salary for a photojournalist is $38,342 per year. At the same time, the majority of workers in this field are men, and photojournalists working in large cities receive the highest fees.
The starting salary for photojournalists in the UK is around $15,000-20,000 a year, more experienced professionals earn $22,500-27,500 a year, and the most sought-after photojournalists earn up to $75,000 annually. The median salary for photojournalists in Germany is $33,000 a year, in Japan $55,000 a year and in Australia $41,300 a year.
The price of a wedding photo session largely depends on the country where it is held, the number of hours for which you want to order a photographer, his professionalism and fame. Also, the price may be affected by whether this photographer is currently in the country, or you will have to pay, including his arrival and accommodation. It is profitable to order local photographers abroad, or those who already plan to be during your stay in the country. As for the price range, the spread can be from 50 euros per hour to several hundred. There are times when a photographer abroad can provide you with a service free of charge, or for a symbolic cost, just in order to replenish his portfolio.
However, we want to warn you: with the popularity of photo shoots abroad, the number of scammers who are ready to deceive gullible lovers has also increased. Moreover, a beautiful site, a large portfolio and a bunch of reviews do not guarantee that a swindler is not hiding behind the nickname of a super photographer at a bargain price. And even if you have a photo session, but having received the money, there is no guarantee that you will then wait for your photos. We advise you not to make payment without concluding an agreement and receiving the photos themselves, but it is best to use the services of Russian agencies.
Moreover, having used the services of Russian agencies, it is far from always that you will overpay for the services of an agency. Most often, photographers themselves pay part of their fee to the agency, which means that the price of the agency and the price of the photographer do not differ. But even if the prices in the agency are higher, in any case, this is a guarantee that the photographer will responsibly carry out his work, and you will wait for high-quality photos. Otherwise, you can demand from the Russian agency compensation for material and moral damage in accordance with Russian law on the basis of the contract you concluded.
Finding a photographer abroad is in good hands
We advise you to apply for the services of finding a photographer for a photo shoot abroad in our company. For more than 10 years we have been working only with the best photographers in different parts of the world. Most of them work as photographers at our weddings, and a huge number of reviews and reports from such photo shoots have accumulated over a ten-year history.
We will help you with advice, draw up a plan for a photo session, select a photographer abroad who will suit you both in terms of the style of work and the price. We also have a large selection of Russian speaking photographers.
Contact the managers at our corporate offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in other cities of Russia.
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The life of a simple extremist: repost, trial, term
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"Black" snow in Kuzbass: who is to blame? harmony: how to eat everything and lose weight by the summer"/>
!} Well-fed slimness: how to eat everything and lose weight by the summer
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New buildings and LCD Kemerovo
Up-to-date information on all residential complexes of our city.
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Format A3
Chroma B/W, full color
Periodicity Weekly
release day Wednesday
Real circulation 10,000 copies
Volume 32 stripes
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Format A4
Chroma full color
Periodicity Weekly
release day Wednesday
Real circulation 20,000 copies
Volume 84 pages
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Format A4
Chroma B/W + full color, color
Periodicity Weekly
release day Monday
Real circulation 1,500 copies
Volume 205-306 pages
How to become a successful photographer and move to the USA: an interview with Kirill Karetin
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Kemerovo resident Kirill Karetin, having been engaged in wedding photography for almost eight years, managed to travel around a dozen European cities, live in Thailand and the USA, enter the local market and shoot hundreds of young married couples unlike each other. He is sure that the main thing in his work is to give himself completely to her, otherwise the pictures are obtained "without a soul", and people feel it. Not so long ago, Kirill returned to the capital of Kuzbass, gave a master class for Kemerovo photographers, and also talked with the correspondent of the site about everything that is somehow connected with photography.
- Let's start in order: when did you take up photography? After all, as far as I know, you did not graduate from these universities of yours. I mean profile.
- Well, the hobby began, probably, in 2008. I then worked in the Honda salon, it took a high position in the ranking of car dealerships, and we were presented with vouchers to Japan. I took my sister's camera, she is my photographer, and went. And during the trip, I really enjoyed taking pictures! I thought that this is very interesting and I need to delve into all this. Coincidentally, with the then crisis, the activity of the salon was greatly extinguished, and I had to think whether to remain in this business or do something else. I chose the second. And somehow it turned out to quickly change profile, enter the market, and then the photo grew from a hobby into a job.
I didn't study it somewhere specifically. It seems to me that we do not have sensible educational institutions. The vast majority of photographers I know who are something of themselves are self-taught. Those who want to learn will learn. But this does not mean at all that, for example, I sat at home and non-stop studied books and articles. No, I constantly corresponded with someone, someone wrote to me, I went to all sorts of photographers' hangouts. When I moved to St. Petersburg, it all went much more actively. Constant communication, exchange of experience. In a highly competitive environment, you always learn quickly and adopt some new practices.
Plus, the internet is filled with educational materials in abundance. There are courses for everything! If you want to study strobism - you are welcome, if you want to understand the basics of exposure - you study, if you want studio shooting - and this is it. Somewhere for a fee, somewhere for free, but there is a lot of material. In general, the main rule: to learn to photograph, you must photograph. Of course, it seems that everything is very simple: here is the camera, here are the buttons. But photography is not only the ability to press a button at the right moment. This is a combination of the qualities of the person behind this camera: how educated he is, how much he has seen, well-read, what images and ideas he has in his head. And that translates into his work.
- Perhaps you, how to put it correctly, just have a feeling of photography, or something. Besides, your sister is a photographer, as you yourself said. Can you say that you are lucky?
“Of course, I was lucky. But my sister never messed with me. She helped me get involved, gave me some basic concepts, and then took me with her for two shootings. I looked, tried, Masha said that I can do everything myself. And let me go in peace. Then I started shooting on my own.
About the feeling of photography. I have friends who graduated from art school, and there they were told that all the images that we draw, that we recreate, were shown earlier or we saw it somewhere. Maybe in early childhood in the form of some clips from films, magazines. And this is imprinted in our memory. But there is another completely cosmic version that this is inherent in the life of every person. Everything we reproduce is what we have in our head. I do not presume to judge whether this is actually so, but there is some truth in this.
Why did you start filming weddings? It seemed to me that without experience there was nothing to do there.
“It’s simple: money. Everything is trite, I wanted to quickly decide where I would earn money, because in the spring of 2009 I saw how I would lose my job in a couple of months. And so it happened. And I had to understand how I would earn money and where to direct all my strength. Well, weddings are a promising direction on all fronts. Of course, on the one hand it is difficult to start without much experience. Although here, how lucky. Some people get in easily, some not so much.
In general, this is not difficult to do, and now it is even easier. Only the entrance to our business in terms of technology has become much higher due to the growth of the exchange rate. If earlier it was possible to assemble a nice set for 100-150 thousand and work with it, now this figure needs to be multiplied by two. And such an amount is not always available for a retired office worker. At one time, I saved up some money, sold the car. A certain capital appeared: not so significant as to make a business, but I didn’t want to just eat up this money. So I immediately bought the equipment.
– The vast majority of familiar photographers deep down, and sometimes not deep down, think about how to get off this intensive work sooner or later. This is a very big nervous exhaustion. And if you shoot and not give yourself to work, it turns out boring and dull. When a photographer shoots without a soul, clients see it too. They feel the attitude and will simply not recommend it in the future. Thus, a person will fall out of the market. So you have to give yourself to people, and this is a strong psychological burden. Therefore, many photographers want to open their own business, to change something. Personally, in the future I want to choose some dividends from this and take it to a higher level. No, of course, stable and for good money, I'll shoot another ten years, and then we'll see.
– But back to the beginning of your creative path. It turns out that after Kemerovo you will immediately go to St. Petersburg?
– I first went to Thailand. I got a work visa, opened a company, got a work permit. Well, I prepared in advance, of course, I found people who will help me. I lived there for three months and somehow ... I didn’t want to stay there. Initially, there was an idea to take a one-way ticket, live there, photograph, develop the direction of weddings in the tropics, take photographs on the beaches, wedge into the local community. In general, to provide all photographic services that are only possible in warm conditions in Phuket. But in reality, completely different aspects of life emerge. It just became clear to me that I didn’t want to live there. I collected my thoughts, returned to Kemerovo, saved up some money and, as I remember now, on May 20, 2010, flew to St. Petersburg. And he already lived there until the beginning of 2015.
- And yet, what were the reasons that prompted you to leave Thailand?
- Exceptionally some internal discomfort. Looking ahead, I will say that this is what happened with the United States. I lived there for a year and a half. At first it seemed to me that it was Thailand that I did not like, because Asia is a completely different world. That is, when you live there, you do not just sunbathe and swim, but think about socialization, think about the future, about children, about family, about friends, about life. And somehow I didn’t see my life there. I thought it was a matter of the country, but in the West the world is closer to us. It bribed me, just as it bribed the fact that many acquaintances live in the States. And I went to Los Angeles. Having lived there, I realized that the essence of the difference in mentalities is the same: even in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, even in the USA. And I realized that I don't want to live anywhere but Russia. It turns out that I was in America from February 2015 to the end of May 2016. 16 months. Just recently returned, I plan to settle in Moscow.
When shooting in other cities, I don’t rest at all, this is not a vacation, as many might think. There is enough time for arrival, inspection of the place, overnight stay, shooting and flight back. This takes three or four days. Moreover, such shootings, as a rule, do not generate income: it’s good if you go to zero, because often foreign weddings generally go into the red, as people go to shoot them for the sake of a portfolio. Sometimes you manage to see a little of the city you are going to, and that's it.
– How did you get into the European market?
- Partly - dating, partly - sites. There is such a site - WedGo - they look for "traveling" photographers on it. The photographer is going to another city or country, on this site he indicates where and on what dates he will be. And those tourists or those couples who want a love story or a wedding somehow guess not to pay him for tickets, but pay for the standard amount of work. And it turns out that he is in the black, and they are in the black. I had the same experience with Prague. I then planned to go to shoot at zero, and at the same time relax there for a week. After registering on the site, I got another pair, and I even turned out to be in the black.
Well, for example, Belgium and Holland turned out through different contacts. It's about how social media, recommendations and word of mouth work. I was noticed long ago by the bridesmaids of one bride, and when the opportunity presented itself, they recommended me to the newlyweds. They were just looking for a European photographer and faced with local prices and quality of work. Probably due to the fact that there is much less demand there, and accordingly, there are fewer photographers, the level of work is much lower than in Russia. This is objective. We have a completely average photographer in St. Petersburg or Moscow who shoots much better than a very good and expensive photographer in Europe. They are boring. Those photos that Russian photographers give out immediately stand out on the market, I personally quickly noticed this in the States. At that time, few people knew me there, I just registered in the general catalog of photographers. And they chose me from it, based on my portfolio, paid money and singled out my shooting style.
In the West, on all the shoots that I have encountered, they are surprised at the amount of work that we are used to doing. That is, I want to photograph a couple so much, and she needs literally half an hour for a short photo shoot. In full growth, waist-deep, hugged, kissed, turned around, walked. All. Half an hour to shoot, a maximum of an hour, and this is if you go somewhere far. As a rule, the shooting takes place in one place, without traveling. Because what matters to people is the event itself, the report from it, and not a huge amount of staging. And in no case do they shift this responsibility to the photographer. It is directly felt. No one looks at you and asks what to do, how to build a plan for the day. That's what coordinators are for. Our market is slowly moving in this direction, but, of course, very slowly.
- People there are more open, even judging by your photos.
- Yes, they are easier to lift. And there are no hosts at weddings, for them it's kitsch. For example, a friend of mine went to Italy, where a Russian-Italian wedding took place. And he was the leader rather for the Russian guests, but also for the Italian ones. And for them it was completely incomprehensible why someone should tell them what to do and somehow entertain them. They themselves have a great time and communicate. The newlyweds go from one guest to another, everyone dances a lot, and no one is bored.
– By the way, have you ever had situations when your photos were not liked by clients?
- Were. Photographers I know say that this is about one dissatisfied client at the rate of 40-50 weddings a year. The most interesting thing is that this is often due to the fact that I, for example, earned money, did not give my clients pictures on time, everything overlapped each other, and the bride is also pregnant. Like a snowball, basically. But a year later they write to me, apologize and say what magical pictures they turned out! This pleases me, of course. It happened that the bride was unhappy, and the groom called back and said that she was just having a nervous breakdown, and they really liked everything, they were extremely happy. I always ask everyone how they like the photos, what they think. Feedback is always there, it's important. There were several neutral answers, but there was no specific negative.
Let's talk a little about your small homeland. You recently returned to Kemerovo, can you tell me how things are with photography?
– Yes, I was here in the summer and gave a master class. Listen to how people feel. There is, of course, some uncertainty due to a drop in demand and market changes. But we'll fix it. And here there are examples of people who do everything right, advance competently and shoot well at the same time. Everything works for them, everything is fine.
But in general, I attribute this solely to the fact that people do not quite understand how photographers should advance. And those simple tips that I gave literally worked during the master class. In the morning, a person does a series of actions, writes something, tags people on Instagram, and by the evening orders are already falling for him. This is banal SMM. It is necessary to flicker, it is necessary to be in the subject. It is necessary that people see that you are a photographer, and not sit and wait for a job to appear.
- But sometimes it happens that work is work, and hands seem to drop by themselves. Maybe something happened, there is no inspiration at all, no mood to shoot something. How to be in such situations?
We must be stable. That's what we get paid for, that's why we're professionals. There's an unspoken rule in wedding planning circles that when they're looking for photographers to work with on a regular basis, they want them to be less creative. Because here it is necessary to perform specific tasks, to know how to get out of situations when, for example, there is no ceiling in the room and you need to place flashes around the hall, decide something with the light. And including maintaining a clear timing and taking the right pictures. There is very little creativity here, as well as a personal relationship: rather, the experience gained and the ability to work with people, the ability to discern in a person in the shortest possible time his necessary sides, angles, to find contact with him. Personally, I don't have time for creativity. Well, you always need to be a professional, and most importantly, do not interfere with your life with work. And then everything will work out.
yesterday 975The profession of a photographer is interesting and exciting. Nevertheless, work remains work and requires a lot of strength, energy, constant training, and impeccable fulfillment of orders. Perhaps every photographer wants to become eminent and recognized, and therefore secure. Such a prospect exists both in one's own country and abroad. However, foreign work experience is always interesting and extremely useful, so many photographers strive to get it.
The most attractive for work are the countries of Europe, as well as all those where tourism is developed. The competition here is high, the customer chooses from hundreds of candidates. You have to be very talented and lucky to get a work permit; A great portfolio, of course, also does not hurt.
Before the trip, you must decide what kind of photography you would like to do - studio, children's, wedding, interior, subject, advertising, reportage or some other. After all, each type of shooting has its own characteristics, starting with the list of photographic equipment, additional lighting fixtures and equipment, and ending with photographing parameters such as shutter speed, aperture, digital noise, and so on.
You will get a little shake-up even before the flight at the airport. A tourist with suitcases of equipment will raise a lot of questions, but maybe you will be lucky.
It is not difficult to get customers in open visa countries at "our", quite reasonable prices. The main criteria for success are the same portfolio, knowledge of the language and the desire to be successful in this event.
Photo tourism is the easiest way to start working abroad and achieve the first financial return. Although a photographer in Europe, unofficially providing his services, cannot count on much.
There are several simple moves that can be used in any country: photos of tourists, orders in the press and tourist centers. This is the work of photographing monuments and significant places, planned events and just city events for the press. Hotel owners are also willing to make contact and, if interested, do not waste time. Next, word of mouth will begin to work.
Spas, fitness and sports clubs, diving studios, entertainment and leisure centers in the hotel area and outside the hotel area can also be interested parties in your photo services. Shooting the city, surroundings and local residents of these countries can expand your portfolio somewhat, but no more.
For high-quality execution of the order and in order to avoid trouble, you must have a minimum set of knowledge about the mentality, principles, restrictions and laws of the country you are conquering. For example, it is not prestigious to work without prepayment in Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, even with official agreements. The details of the shooting must be discussed in detail, up to cleaning and decorating the premises and territory. They will definitely be stingy on paying models in frames and agree with more or less attractive tourists, offering a gala dinner or other privileges in return.
You can work abroad, but you need to have time to relax and enjoy life at the same time!
