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