WHY PHOTO CONTESTS ARE HAZARDOUS

THE STORY:

I recently came across an advertisement about a photo contest. A friend posted it on my Facebook page. The subject was ‘Silhouette Photography’ and the award they were offering was a digital camera worth Rs.10, 000 ($250). The contest was open for photographers based only in Pune, Maharashtra, India. I considered this as an added advantage which was maximizing the chances of winning the award.

At first it was a tempting offer. Then I went through the T&C which made me write this blog.

THE HITCH

Publications/ ad agencies etc. have realized that paying for photos costs a lot of money these days. A magazine, news-paper or an ad campaign can easily cost a hundred thousand rupees in photo licenses alone. So some brainy person came up with an idea, “Hey, we often use silhouette photos, and they are expensive. Why don’t we set up a competition and buy a digital camera worth Rs.10, 000 only? We’ll get loads of photographs and we can use them for free. And we’ll be making a profit out of it because the camera we’ll purchase as an award is a lot cheaper than the licenses of good photos!”

So, the agreement was drawn up, stating the lines, “By submitting your photo to us, you allow us to use the submitted pictures display on websites, brochures or print”

The hitch is, when you submit your photos into such photo contests, you are giving away the rights. This means that you can’t use them in your portfolio, you can’t use them on your website, and you can’t sell them. What most people don’t realize is that you don’t just give them the photo if you win but you also give away these rights even if you don’t win the competition. This lets publications, newspapers and ad agencies get away with constructing a huge photo library they can use at no cost, against the pretty cheap competition prizes.

And of course, when you enter a photography contest, you’ll want to win, so you submit the best photos you have taken so far. Hence, such money-grabbing twits get the best photographs from all over the word for their free photo library. 

Amateurs think, at least they will get recognition even if they don't receive an award. But this is not an exhibition guys. This is just a contest where you upload your photographs and nobody sees them, even if you win and receive an award.

THE SOLUTION

As a rule of thumb, do read the terms and conditions. It’s fair that a publication should be allowed to use the winning competition entries in connection with the competition itself, or to promote future competitions, but if they think the entries that didn’t win are good enough to use, then it’s not fair. If they want to use a photograph, they should be ready to pay for it.

Read the T&Cs very closely. If they seem unfair, don’t involve yourself in the competition. And never, ever, let them snatch the rights of your photos.

Thanks for reading,
Anniiket S Pandit

HOW TO BEGIN YOUR CAREER AS A MODEL

If you want to get ahead in this industry, you need to be located in a major fashion market. If you’re not, you need to find a way to get there.  But, what to do in the meantime? Not everybody has the capacity to uproot themselves and move across the country.  Don’t worry!  There’s still a lot you can do.

You can start building a portfolio right where you are now

If you live in or near a medium to large sized city, chances are there is a modeling or talent agency you may be able to get started with.  Not every great model comes from Mumbai or Delhi.

It doesn’t matter because many great models get started at smaller agencies that often wind up placing them with larger agencies in the major markets. Call them up. Let them know you exist. Let them know you live in their area and are looking for work.  Working with these smaller agencies is a great way to start building your portfolio and working with better fashion artists or clients. The other potential benefit is if you build a solid relationship with the best fashion artists or clients, they will be willing to connect you to other agencies in the major fashion markets you are interested. Choreographers, fashion photographers and make-up artists play a major role in developing such connections. 

If you are from even smaller city, you need to travel. Travel can be expensive. But if you plan well, maybe you can go to a nearby major market a couple times a year and cram several shows into a week or even a long weekend. And if you’re good at bargain hunting, it’s definitely possible to do it fairly cheaply. And when you leave, stay in touch with the agency so they don’t forget you.

Attitude is everything

In my experience, how you approach people will heavily influence the outcome. Your first agency experience should start from a “what can I do for you” standpoint. If you start making demands and expect that the agency, booker, choreographer are going to cater to your wants and needs, you’re probably not going to get very far.  Being from a non-market, you’re already starting out in the hole.  Don’t make it worse by having a bad attitude.  

Worry about what you can control

It’s easy to get discouraged about things out of your control, especially when you’re first starting.  Yes, it’s hard to gain access to good agencies and good clients, particularly for an unknown from the middle of nowhere. But if you continuously push yourself and your connections get better, you will eventually gain access to these things. 

Good stylists want to work with good models.  Keep working relentlessly on YOU and the rest will come with time. Maintain the relationship with that local agency.  Find a photographer in your hometown and try out some new pictures.  

Show your portfolio as often as possible

Everybody is using Facebook these days and every model has an on-line portfolio uploaded on it. Many of them have a nice website. Some prefer sending portfolios in emails. But I still think it’s important to have a print portfolio. (Or if you can afford a device like iPhone/iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab/Note it would do great too) So whenever you meet someone you’ll always have it ready. People usually don’t have time to go through your website sometime later. If you find a potential client show him your portfolio right away. 

Every time you visit an agency or meet someone, you should be showing your portfolio. You also need to accept criticism. You’re going to have to develop thick skin. But seriously, show it to anybody that will look at it, viz. photographers, other models, bookers, choreographers, editors, etc. Always take the critique and don’t take it personally.

A few final thoughts

These are merely my thoughts on what it’s like to try and get started as a fashion photographer when you don’t already live in a major market. Times are going to be tough. But don’t get discouraged. Keep pushing yourself to get better and trust me when I say, this is me telling myself these things as much as I’m telling all of you.

 Anniiket S. Pandit

ENTERING THE WORLD OF FASHION

Special Thanks: Satyajeet Joglekar

Greetings,

I daily receive a hundreds of emails/calls from aspiring individuals who want to set their foot in the world of fashion as a model. However, they know a little about the fashion industry and ask me how to be successful. Well, fashion industry in India is so enormous, even if I write 10 full length blogs we will be just scratching the surface.

When I receive such queries, I start by asking “What really you want to be?” and normally the response is “A model..!!” but there are so many aspects of being a model.. A model can go for beauty pageants like Miss India, do ramp shows or do TV commercials or Print advertisements or become an actor in daily soap operas or short films or movies.

The first and most important thing is you should know what your liking is.

When I was new to the industry, I asked the same question to my friend Satyajeet Joglekar who is a renowned choreographer and almost everyone in the industry knows him well. He explained me the whole thing and this article is about what he said.

In this article I’ll explain the entire process of entering the world of fashion. Once again, fashion industry is too vast to explain even in a 500 pages book. So, consider this as just an introduction.

The process starts with fresh talent entering the industry. Beauty pageants like May Queen Ball, Poona Club May Queen, NDA Queen etc. serve as platforms for the new talent. The choreographer for the show trains all these models or aspiring artists along with a team of groomers like a Photographer, Make-up Artists, Personality Groomer, Etiquette Groomer etc.

Then these models/artists are rightly exposed to the entire circuit. The guys or firms who organize these events such as Beauty Pageants or Personality Contests are called as Event Organizers or Event Managers. They normally outsource the training part to someone; lighting to someone, sound/music to someone, media promotion to someone. And what they do is get all the show together.

Now the actual thing starts here...

The clients have a specific want from the industry. Viz. Product modeler, services modeling, print media, electronic media, actors etc. They go to AD Agencies, models/actors/artists management agencies or Photographers themselves, who have a databank of all the models whom they have shot or else a model coordinator (he being a freelancer in the market). All these resources have the portfolios and other information like experience, vital statistics, contact etc. of all these models. Client goes through the portfolios of the models. That is called the first look impression. Then the client shortlists a few models from all these resources. Then the agencies, photographers or the model coordinator call all the shortlisted models together to show the client as per his requirement. This stage is called the casting stage.

The models and client get to see each other but the agencies or coordinator being a link in between does not allow them share any contact information with each other. Once the client confirms the models they contact the three resources and negotiate on the fee.

If it’s a print media shoot then it’s advisable to go to the photographer directly. May be much variety is not but, he can get you decent models. Also, the photographer will give a quote which includes the production cost as well.

In case of electronic media or serials or movies, the client directly approaches the production house. A production house gives a quote for the entire ad/film. At this point of time a casting director is introduced. Casting director and production manager both cast the actors and models for a particular film/serial/TV-commercial etc.

In the foreign countries, there are agencies where models are booked for seasons. So, the clients directly go to modeling agencies which have all under one roof, right from models to photographer to production guys to media resources.

If you are an aspiring artist, this is the right time to get into the industry. Almost all the beauty pageants have an “age-range”. (From 18 to around 23 most of the time. We’ll talk about participating in such contests in my next article.)

Give it a start as soon as possible. A superb portfolio shot by an expert photographer is a must have at any point of time. Other than this, you should have good connections. Well, for aspiring artists or newcomers it’s a big challenge. Initially you may not have good contacts but eventually you will make those. Keep meeting people. Attend shows and events. Keep your business cards ready and promote yourself.

Social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. are really helpful for building your public relations. Use these tools and be in contact with models, model-coordinators, photographers and agencies. There are many websites which work as model-management agencies. You can subscribe on those as well.

Some people believe that one can’t be successful without using unethical ways in fashion/film industry. The movie ‘Fashion’ by Madhur Bhandarkar has nicely captured all such facts but at the same time the purpose of this movie is to showcase only the dark side of the industry. Trust me, such things do not happen every day so easily and there are still a lot of good people like you serving the fashion world.

Anniiket S. Pandit

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU CLICK

In this article we’ll talk about some rules about composition. Actually there is no such thing as a "Rule" in photography. You can find many photographs for every rule but also, you can find many pictures which break these rules and still succeed as the greatest photographs ever taken. 

These rules are nothing but certain guidelines and they are really useful. You can always break these rules. But, if you follow them, majority of your pictures will come out much better. So break them for a good reason. And do practice a lot before you can confidently say that you no longer need these 'rules'. 

There will be only four rules in this blog. Let’s talk about them in detail, 

 

1) WAIT & WATCH - This one is quite simple. It means, just don't click anything. Don't raise your camera and start clicking just because you like what you see. 

This rule is so simple that it's impossible not to do it. Wait means; wait until it is exactly what you are looking for. Are you looking for a person to come in your picture? Or you are looking for the sun to come out from clouds. Wait and it will happen. 

Photo 2.1: Patience is the key. It’s not easy as it seems but it pays off. I needed the bike exactly below the sun. So, I waited and clicked when the right time came. Just imagine this picture placing the motorcycle somewhere else in the frame. 

Watch means a number of things. Watch through your viewfinder. Watch what is going on. It also means that watching the shapes in the viewfinder. Try to imagine what you are seeing through the viewfinder is the picture. Do not pay attention to any sounds, people who are watching you. Just pay attention to the 'picture' you are seeing in the viewfinder. This is not easy as it might seem but this works just as well with a point-and-shoot camera as a DSLR.

2) CHOOSE A CLEAR SUBJECT: This one is the half portion of the first rule. WATCH. It means, know your subject. If you see a nice car in a parking lot, just focus on the car. Fill the frame with it. Don't end up including half of the parking lot in your frame. 

You’ll say, man, this is obvious. We know what we are photographing. But again, it’s not what it seems. Most common fault in photographs is it is not clear what they are about. The subject got lost because there are many other things in the picture. The simple way to achieve this is to get closer to your subject.  

3) PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS: This is something which differentiates a 'snap' from a successful photograph. 

I am sure, all of you guys have seen pictures where an electric pole has grown out of somebody's head or a beautiful landscape is ruined by unintended tree tops at the bottom of your frame. Just step aside a little or tell the subject to move. If you see a beggar in the background of your subject, wait till he goes away. Change your angle and you will no longer have tree tops ruining your picture. If you are not certain of the very best angle, take more pictures with different angles. 

Most amateurs think that professional photographers take many pictures of a single subject and get a couple of great pictures out of it and anybody could get great pictures if they shot that many snaps. It is true, professional photographers do take extra pictures in order to rule out disasters like above mentioned electric poles or beggars. Many times we miss such details and extra pictures really save our lives. 

And finally,

4) COMPOSITION: There are some useful guidelines about composition. 

A) Rule of Thirds: Divide your picture into 9 equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical lines. Place your subject at the point of the intersection and it will attract more attention.  According to a research in Usability these four points attract more attention to your subject than a dead centered subject. Many cameras have a feature that shows these lines on the LCD. 

Photo 2.2: This is an excellent example of rule of thirds

B) S-Curve: It is a technique of using a gentle S curve in your picture. It doesn’t have to be particularly S shaped. For example, a path or river. Viewer’s eye should follow this curve and should take him into the picture. This technique works surprisingly well. 

C)  Positioning the horizon: It is an important part. If the horizon is exactly at the middle, it will cut your picture in a half. It’s much better if it’s distinctly above the horizontal center or distinctly below the horizontal center. See Photo 2.1.

D) Balance: It is one of the harder things to explain, but, if you have all the important things in a picture at one side, it will look uneven. 

E) Stability: This one is a little weird. It is concerned with the grouping of shapes in your picture. If the main elements in your picture form a triangular shape and if this triangle is resting on its base, it conveys stability. If this triangle is resting on its top, it conveys instability.

F) Dominant lines: These are the important lines that differentiate shapes in your pictures. Vertical lines convey durability, massiveness and strength. Horizontal lines convey calmness, stability and diagonal lines are dynamic

That’s all folks. This article was about imaginative side of photography. Next week we’ll talk about some techniques. 

Thanks for reading, 

Anniiket Pandit

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Photography is like poetry. It isn't for everybody.
2. Your camera doesn't have to be an expensive one. A good photographer can produce excellent images with any camera.. 
3. There is no comparison between digital and film. Both are good and both have their own advantages.
4. There is no comparison between black & white and colored either. People just happen to like b/w images because they feel like film in the old days. 
5. Always shoot in "Manual" mode.. Try out all the metering modes and white balances.
6. A neck-strap is nothing but trouble. If you use it you'll end up shooting less photographs.
7. Noise is a beast.. grain is a beauty
8. Noise is better than blur - (Don't lower your ISO just for the sake of it)
9. The more equipment you have the less you shoot
10. Buy at least one prime lens. A 50mm f1.8 for instance.. Prime lenses will help you be a better photographer
11. Fill the frame as much as possible
12. Know the basic rules of composition.. they work almost 99% of the time. 
13. Think before you shoot. (e.g. you are planning to go to a nearby garden for a shoot. Don't just shoot everything, flowers, benches, birds, people etc. Know your subject first - Focus on one thing at a time. Take different photographs with different angles and settings.. That will help you be a better photographer)
14. Buy UV filters
15. Take your camera everywhere you go
16. Share your photographs - Let the world see them.
17. Don't share everything.. Share only the best of your work
18. Post process your photographs. It's a  must. People will discredit your photographs if they know that they are "Photoshopped". Photo editing (in Photoshop or Aperture) is required for digital images. It's just like processing films in a dark room. The advantages are its WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and you can 'undo' (Ctrl + z). Each and every photographer from Rankin to Atul Kasbekar edits his photographs.
19. Accept criticism but don't ask for improvement to everyone that comes across your photo.. Identify a few knowledgeable people. They will help you in a better way.
20. If you spend many hours on checking and replying people's comments on your images, do yourself a favor, get the hell out and start shooting..