Photography Assistanting as a Stepping Stone

Working as an assistant has a lot of benefits when it comes to starting out in the professional world of photography. For myself it has allowed me to have somewhat of an income while I plan and build my own business but the experience you will get is invaluable. You will be able to examine the inn’s and out’s of the business without taking any risk. The process of searching and attaining assistant work is also great experience as it is almost the same process you will use to get your own clients. If you are new to assisting and have very little experience or none at all then try looking for someone that does not really hire assistants and offer to help out on there projects. This will get you enough experience and confidence to start approaching people for paid work. Remember when you are looking for assistant work that you are going to be up against assistant with many years of assisting experience. It is not uncommon to find people with sometimes 10 or 15 years of assisting work under there belts so your ability to get work is going to come down to your personality and how well you sell yourself.

The same process won’t work for everyone but I was fairly successful with my strategy for getting assistant work. First you need to start tracking down anyone and everyone in your area that may be hiring assistants. Use the yellow pages, ASMP website, search engines etc. and start to build your own mailing list. I find it very good to plant a seed by sending out a 4x6 post card with a quick cover letter and contact information on it. This way you can start to build name repetition. Try not to make contact with people on Mondays as most people have a lot of things on their mind on the first day of the week and will be more likely to blow you off. Next follow up with an email about a week later letting them know you are looking for assisting work and would like to give them a call. Try saying you would like to give them a call next week and when a good time might be. This way if they don’t get back to you they wont be surprised when you call because you already told them you would be and gave them the option of letting you know when would be best. In most cases people will apologize for not emailing you back. Photographers are nice people so don’t be scared. Once you get someone on the phone keep it short and simple, find out what they are looking for in an assistant rather than just telling people what your charge. What you want the most from the phone call is to get a meeting with them so you will have a chance to sell them on how you can help them. Plus they will often share some helpful tips and information with you when you’re sitting down with them.

Once you start to get some assistant work don’t lose track of your personal goals, it is very easy to get comfortable. Remember it is only a stepping stone and you should keep planning and working at your own photography business along the way.



Alleh Lindquist | Portland Fashion & Advertising Photographer

Make a Plan

As with any new business the ability to succeed is greatly increased when a clear plan and goals are established. Your skill in photography though important in the fact that you have to be talented it is a very minimal part of being successful as a professional photographer. By developing a set of goals and the steps needed to achieve those goals you give yourself a clear direction to go in. My Grandpa in always reminding me of Alice in Wonderland when Alice comes to the fork in the road and meets the Cheshire cat and asks what path she should take. Alice is asked where she is trying to go and she replies “I don’t know” to which the Cheshire cat tells her then it does not matter what path she takes. Point being if you don’t know where you’re going you will have a hard time getting anywhere.

I found it easier to build my plan around my goals 6, 12, 18 and 24 month goals. Start with where you want to be in 6 months whether it’s an income level you want to attain a certain client you want to work with etc. just think about what you want for yourself in 6 months then think about the steps needed to get to those goals and write everything down.

Example

6 MONTH

● Create a solid client list for assisting work that will bring in an income of $2k-2.5k a month
● Research photographers hiring assistants and create mailing list
● Send mailers to clients every 6 weeks (15 mailers a week to keep work load spread out.)
● Call photographers 1 week after mailer sent

● Plan for the transition from photography assistant to professional commercial photographer
● Target Clients
● Marketing Plan
● Mailing List of Ad agencies
● Research companies and magazines buying the type of photography I do
● Send mailers to decision makers
● Call decision makers 1 week after mailer sent
● Get meetings to show portfolio
● Business Plan
● Develop cost of doing business and day rate
● Client licensing terms and prices
● Brand my business
● Logo for web and print material
● Print portfolio and books focused on target audience

As you start implementing your plan you will most likely come across things that don’t work or need to be changed but you will be making progress towered your goals.



Alleh Lindquist | Portland Fashion & Advertising Photographer