Be My Light Photography Blog

Today is the birthday of a very important person in my life – my Mom.  I can’t say how much I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me. When I was born you sacrificed your career to dedicate to me all of your time. You put so much effort into my upbringing and only thanks to you I am who I am today. You’re the most kind, generous, and loving person I know. Following your example I learnt how to care about others, to be social and bubbly, how to make friends, how to appreciate what you have, to be happy and to love life. I wish someday I will also be as responsible and organized like you – will make to-do lists and actually “do” them on time. It’s never too late to learn right? 20 years later you started your own business and succeeded. You worked so hard so you and I could afford some extras which were so important for us girls – better clothes, manicures and spa, fitness clubs, travel etc. I don’t remember a single time when I really wanted something and you wouldn’t give it to me for my Birthday or New Years. Omg I still remember my freshman year in college when I came home for NYE and found the keys to my first car under the tree! And then two of us went for a test drive already after a few glasses of bubbly. Crazy girls! We had such a great time! Speaking of crazy, you always believed in me and supported all my new beginnings and most daring ideas, even if you didn’t like them that much. My move to the USA, the decision to become a photographer, then my move to New York. I can’t wait till you come visit and I could take you to all my favorite places here.

I can’t say thank you enough for everything that you’ve done for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you billion times! You are the best mom in the word. I love you so much!

PS Oh did I mention that besides being so awesome my mom is computer savvy too?  She is friends with me on Facebook, she follows me on Pinterest and reads my blog. In English. Duh!

Xoxo

“Shoot for the stars and you’ll land on the moon” – that’s what one person told me when I was shooting my first nightlife gig, and I’ve kept this phrase in the back of my head ever since. I thought about it again this morning while I was having my last breakfast in San Diego with the exact same person. His name is Tim King and he is the reason for this blog post.

After making my decision to become a photographer I started looking for people within the industry who I could connect with, look up to or just be inspired by. One day I was reading Jasmine Star’s blog (which I found very inspiring, helpful and fun to read) and came across a post loaded with short clips featuring photographers who had been chosen to take part in a Creative Live session up in Seattle. One of the videos attracted my attention more than the others – the guy in front of the camera had a good sense of humor, was happy and carefree, looked pretty cool, about my age and… BAM! He lived in San Diego. I knew I had to hit him up.

I connected with Tim on Facebook and literally bombarded him with a bunch of questions. After a few conversations he offered to shoot a nightlife gig for him while he would be in Seattle and asked if I had any experience. I couldn’t miss the opportunity and lied that I did. Ok, cool – said Tim – I’ll meet you at The Hard Rock tomorrow night and we’ll see if you can pull it out. So there I was, standing in the middle of the club with a weird thing called “bracket” that Tim had connected to my camera and not a slightest idea what I was supposed to do. I was lost and couldn’t hide my frustration. But after following a nightlife photography guru around the club and learning a few tricks I became a little more comfortable with this whole “nightlife photography”. In the end of the night I assured the Tim I was ready to go shoot on my own while he’d be gone to Seattle. I could tell he was hesitating big time, but still gave me a chance. And I didn’t blow it. This is where it all began.

Luckily I did pretty well with all the three gigs that had been passed on to me that weekend.  Tim kindly threw some more work to me, and then some more… The more I shot the more questions I had. What should my settings be, how do I use the flash, what lens do I need to buy, how do I talk to the client, how much should I charge, or even something stupid like what’s that little button on the back of my camera. For some reason Tim wasn’t getting annoyed and patiently answered all the questions. He shared his knowledge, experience and equipment, criticized my work, helped to book gigs and met up with me for breakfast to brainstorm and exchange business ideas. He believed in my talent and helped me grow. And I’m oh so grateful for it.  I probably said thank you hundred times but I still feel it wasn’t enough. I want to say it again – THANK YOU.

Tim recently did a blog post on how important it is to have a fellow photographer who you can trust with your clients and business ideas. Somebody you can ask for advice and constructive criticism. Somebody who is on the same page with you and knows exactly what you’re talking about. Somebody who will always have your back and will never let you down. I feel extremely lucky to know 2 people who perfectly fit this description. And I’m really glad that Tim is one of them.

Now after emphasizing the importance of having friends in the industry I’d like to give advice to those who – just like me half a year ago – don’t know where to start and are trying to find someone to teach them the ropes.

1. Find the right person. Do your market research. Look for people whose work you like, who have a similar style to yours, who inspire you and who seem to be open to conversation. Find a way to reach out to them but don’t have high expectations for every email you send out and don’t get upset if you don’t get a reply. Most likely those people who you are reaching out to are busy professionals and very often they simply don’t have enough time to answer every message.  But if you really feel that meeting this particular person is a must, don’t give up. Seriously. Sometimes it takes awhile to get noticed. Send an email, shoot a fb message, leave a comment on their blog or status update. But remember that there’s a very thin line between being persistent and annoying. If you feel it’s not working don’t force it.
2. Learn. Once you’ve connected with the right person don’t try to become best friends with them right away. Don’t tag them on every single fb update and pretend like you’ve known them your whole life. Your main goal is to learn. Listen, take notes, ask questions and practice, practice a lot. Work really hard and ask for criticism. I know it’s not always easy to hear negative comments about your work (that you might think looks amazing) but the truth is – this is exactly what pushes you forward and helps you improve. It’s always nice to hear appraisal but it’s something that you can always hear from you friends or family members. Take advantage of having a pro point out your weaker points and carefully listen to their advice on how to improve.
3. Build trust. Both with your mentor and the clientele. Never cancel on shoots or meetings, don’t be late, be polite and nice to all of your clients (even when they are not as easy to work with), turn in photos on time. Always remember that if somebody referred you a gig, they are somewhat responsible for your work and you should never make them look bad in the eyes of a client. Don’t ever do anything behind somebody’s back or try to steal a client. If you do something wrong, you will lose business, screw up your reputation and will never get referred again.
4. Be grateful. Value the time that somebody is taking out THEIR busy schedule to help YOU. While you should never flake don’t get upset or take it personally if the other person can’t make it. At this point you need them much more than they need you. Don’t forget to say thank you and show them that you really appreciate what they do for you. Do your best to give back and help them out as well – offer to come assist or second shoot for free (you will gain experience which is worth so much more than a few hundred bucks) or maybe find another a niche in which you are an expert and could give some useful advice. If you want to find out about my way of giving back, I’ll talk more about it in one of the upcoming blog posts.

If you think this was somewhat helpful and you’d actually want to get some help or advice from me, I’d love to answer your questions and share what I’ve learnt so far. I’m an open book for those who like to read.

P.S. You are probably wondering why I sad “my last breakfast in SD” and why I am leaving the city that I love with all my heart. I promise to reveal my secret in the next blog post.