241: James Patrick - 500 Magazine Covers Later: The Photography Lessons Learned

James Patrick is a Phoenix AZ-based commercial and fitness
photographer. He has shot more than 500 magazine covers and today
we break down what makes a cover photo unique and how to capture
the concept.


Episode Timeline:


James narrates how he began his photography career.

What was the main source of your photography education?

How do you handle the concern that someone may take your
photography style and compete with you after teaching them?

What is the job description of a Fitness Photographer and how
did you get into it?

From a technical standpoint, what are you looking out for,
that's going to make a photo stand out above the rest to be a
cover shot?

How do you come up with ideas for the photos that you need to
capture?

Starting out, was there a point where you had to just make do
with your equipment because you didn't have the things you have
today?



Key Takeaways:


Starting as a journalist, James had some misapprehension
about photography as it did not seem very sustainable as a career
choice, he was however open to different options while trying to
figure out his passion.

James describes how he learned by testing constantly and
working as an assistant photographer, even though he already had
his own jobs. Key principles gained as an assistant included
photography techniques, project bidding, client communication,
the general business process, and most especially how to work
with subjects onset.

There are two extremes of types of photographers, the overly
technical ones who focus on measurements and precision when
shooting, and the ones who rather feel their way creatively
through their imagery. The latter appealed to him more, shifting
his focus from taking great pictures which can easily be learned
and done, to making images that work, and this became his brand

Ask for help, the more you ask, eventually, people will start
to give you help.

A popular misconception James shared earlier on was that he
had to be involved in many niches in photography to have enough
jobs, ironically during the recession, he started to lose jobs
because many clients would rather hire a niche specialist than a
Jack of all trades. This nearly made him give up.

Following the decision to be intentional about photography,
questions that started to arise include: what work do I need to
create? Who do I need to be working with? What images do I need
to be in my portfolio? Who do I need to be working for? James
describes the importance of overcoming his fears so he could call
companies to find people that would be interested in his work.

Addressing a common mindset that you need to recreate your
portfolio before contacting companies about your photography, it
is critical to understand that there is no perfect portfolio. You
get better only when you show your work to someone and get
feedback, without which you're just in your head and consumer
behavior determines everything.

Shooting a cover is a construct. What I do with a cover is a
commercially viable image. This is an image that is g



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Thanks for listening & keep shooting!