To speed up my career I need to speed up my production by turning weaknesses into strengths.
Increase Earnings And Continuing Challenges
There was a time; a few years ago, when it was pretty easy for
me to just cruise along at half speed in my stock photography career. But those years have passed and my
desire to continue having what I consider to be adequate financial success
requires that I step things up a bit. Actually, in 2011 I earned more in stock
income than in 2010, and that is a good sign, but in the face of all the
continuing challenges to the stock photography industry, I feel a need to grow
my business even more.
Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths
One way that seems to me to be a foolproof way to boost any
career is to determine what your biggest weakness is and turn that weakness
into a strength. When I look at my own situation it seems to me that my biggest
weakness, at least as far as stock photography is concerned, is a lack of
production. That is, I simply don’t produce enough images.
Unproductive Time And Scheduling Shoots
Early in my stock photo career I used to think of a single
idea and execute it. When the recession hit, and teamed up with the digital
effects of oversupply and dropping prices, I began to shoot the raw materials
for multiple images and then get to work creating my concept stock photos.
While an improvement, I still end up with too much unproductive time, time that is unproductive because I am working with the "dregs" of a given photo shoot with the least exciting ideas and a shortage of quality raw material (images) for my composites. What I finally
realized is that I need to start scheduling my next shoot before I finish creating
the images from the last shoot.
Troublesome Ideas And More Enjoyment
Tom Grill and his staff plan out his shoots up to a year in
advance…and now I am starting to realize why he is so successful. In my own
case, having a constant supply of raw materials for the creation of my images
will allow me to skip over ideas that are turning out to be troublesome and
time-wasting, and will allow me to not only increase my production, but
actually enjoy my work more.
More And Better Stock Photos
Right now, despite all the industry problems, I am having
more fun making images than I ever have, and I am now additionally fired-up to
turn that weakness, an ill-organized and almost reticent approach to shooting,
into a strength through improved planning and scheduling. Again, that will give
me a more continuous stream of high-quality raw materials from which to make
more and better stock photos. Now excuse me, I have a shoot to plan!
