Inside the Photography Business: Neil Gates
PhotoMerchant: Tell me about yourself and your photography business.
Neil Gates: I was born in London and moved to America when I was 12 when my dad was transferred. That Christmas I had a choice: I could have a remote control car or a camera, and I chose the camera. That’s when it all started. In high school I had a photography teacher who made me enter a photography contest, and I won. After I won, I decided photography was what I wanted to do.
I went to Columbia College in Chicago and then did an internship with a local photographer for three years. After he retired, I decided to start up on my own. I don’t have any employees but I hire assistants when I need them.
Lately I’ve been doing more product work and fewer portraits. Product work just fell in my lap, which I was very grateful for because I’ve found the portrait market has been tapering off. Although we know better, some customers feel they can do it themselves.
Recently I attended a seminar for high dynamic range (HDR) imaging and I absolutely loved it. This year, I’ve been working on HDR to bring it to market.
PM: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about running a business?
NG: Adapt to change. Nothing ever stays the same, as much as we would like it to. One of my downfalls is that I don’t care for change. If everything is going right for me, I’m happy to stick with it.
I really feel like HDR will be good for my business because I haven’t seen much of it. You photograph the subject in the studio with three edge lighting on a white background and then you put them on a HDR background. The key with it is to make it look as real as you can in a surreal way. I like that there’s a consistent theme and style to the images. I’m hoping that theme will make my HDR pieces recognisable as my work.
To come up with a totally new idea is really challenging, but you’ve got to adapt to change and keep things new like I’m trying to do with HDR.
PM: Why do you think your customers like working with you?
NG: They like my work, and I’m definitely a friendly, easy-going person to work with. I’m known in my market as being a bit more expensive, which is difficult because these days some clients value low prices over quality work. The, “Oh, it’ll do,” mentality seems to be taking over.
I think that’s been hard on my business. I don’t want to be the cheapest guy around, but it seems like there’s new photographer every day. Now I really have to compete, and I didn’t have to so much before.
I stumbled on a website the other day with pricing that was so low I couldn’t believe the photographer could get photos printed and shipped and make any money. There is a market for cheap photography and another market that values good photography and will pay for that value. I’ve got to focus on those people more, and forget about the other group.
Another part of my business is shooting family portraits for people who are ill. I have worked with people who have cancer and I know that every image I did for them was cherished and appreciated. I get a lot of enjoyment out of helping those people, even though those situations are heartbreaking.
PM: How do you manage your workflows and calculate the costs of running your business?
NG: It’s a juggling act. When digital first came along, I learned a lot of tricks to help with workflows, and because I’ve been working for so long, I’m quite efficient.
I need to catch up on my marketing. I fall into the trap of being too busy to market, and then when jobs finish, I find myself with a lull in work during which I have to market hard to catch up. I rely on Facebook quite a bit for my marketing, but I need to do other things regularly as well.
PM: What do you do to stay competitive with other photographers in your market?
NG: That’s a tough question to answer. I’ve been frustrated lately because the market has been saturated with new photographers. I try to offer things others don’t and when I commercialise my HDR work I think that will really stand out. I don’t want to reduce pricing because I need to make a living, so I try to stand apart based on the uniqueness of my products.
PM: If you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
NG: My kids are in bed now, so I can say this: skip college. I’ve learned way more from going to specific seminars that captured my interest and from my internship than I ever did from going to school.
PM: Do you have any tips for new photographers?
NG: Don’t give your work away, and don’t be the cheapest; no matter how much you charge, there will always be someone who charges less than you.
It’s very hard to build a business after you’ve given your work away for free. A friend of mine wanted to start up a photography business. She had children at home, and friends with young children, so she photographed her friends’ kids for free. Then she had a really difficult time trying to charge them for the portraits and ended up never having them as customers.
With my HDR portfolio, I’m asking for people to come in so I can practice, and I’ll give them a free 8×10 as a thank you, but anything more they have to pay.
PM: What do you think is going to happen in photography in five year’s time?
NG: I’d be really surprised if I didn’t see this HDR thing get bigger. It’s not easy to do which I like because it creates a good barrier to entry. The three edge lighting is a challenge to get right.
Lighting techniques and skill will set the professionals apart from the others. I think maybe we’ll see more studio portraits coming back because it creates competition with amateurs who don’t have lighting skills and as a result have to do outdoor portraits.
PM: What do you do in your spare time?
NG: I have a wife and two kids who are 9 and 11 and we do stuff that families do. Hanging out on the weekend and doing family things.
For many years, I was able to control my hours pretty well. I wasn’t working evenings and weekends, but these days with competition and with modern technology making people constantly accessible, I’ll compromise on my hours and work when necessary. Luckily my studio is in my home so I’m still able to be near my family.
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Neil Gates runs Neil Gates Photography, an Illinois-based commercial and portrait photography business. |
