Inside the Photography Business: Ryan Bolger
PhotoMerchant: Tell me about yourself and your photography business.
Ryan Bolger: Photography has always been a lifelong love and passion of mine. I started in high school as the year book and newspaper photographer, then went to Columbia College in Chicago and then transferred to the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara.
School’s not everything. I didn’t graduate; I don’t have a degree. A lot of what I do is kind of raw. I got my foundation, and then I put my own spin on it.
I just opened my own gallery a year ago in a historic district of this beautiful Indiana town. We do a couple of shows every month, which has been great for bringing art and culture to the community. In the gallery I show landscapes and Chicago cityscapes and sell artwork for people’s homes, and I also do weddings and portraits.
I also act in TV and movies as a photographer. I just wrapped up with Kelsey Grammer on Boss for Starz and I’m on The Playboy Club for NBC.
PM: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about running a business?
RB: The most important thing is realising that even though photography is my passion, this is a business.
I used to do wedding photography, work for NBC Universal, travel the country photographing people, and I’d come back and realise that at the end of the day, this is a business. I had to realise what I needed to do to succeed and stay afloat.
The first thing about running a business is putting out great quality work. Number two is about making sure you’re charging for the quality of the work. You’re not working for free, or working on your portfolio. You look at your craft and your vision and all the fun that you have and all the work that you put into it and you give it a fair value.
PM: How do you differentiate yourself from the enthusiasts?
RB: I was just watching an old interview with Michael Jordan, and he said you let the game speak for itself. He wasn’t out there saying he was the best athlete in the history of the NBA. He was just going out there, putting hard work, sweat and tears into his game and letting his game speak for itself. When people see amateur work and they see work done by a professional who cares a lot, they’re going to notice right away.
PM: Why do you think your customers like working with you?
RB: Hopefully they enjoy the work!
I make friends with clients. I believe with photography, especially when you’re doing weddings and portraits, it’s all about comfort. The best way to make clients comfortable is to be their friend. You don’t look at them like a number. They’re a person just like you.
PM: Is there anything you’ve changed about your business since you started?
RB: I’ve changed a lot of things. You think about your market, you go after your market and along the way you adapt to your market.
I figured out my market through trial and error. You have an idea of what people want, and then as you go along you ask questions and get to know your clients and you adapt.
PM: How do you manage your workflows and calculate the costs of running your business?
RB: I am a one-man operation and it gets to be a heavy workload, but that’s where the fun and passion come in because I don’t mind doing it all. It’s been the biggest learning experience of my life.
I have friends and mentors whom I can call up for guidance, but you know when it comes to workflows, you get your work down to a system. If you’re a digital photographer, a lot of your time is spent on the computer. You tailor everything to your liking and your schedule. I could spend a month or two on a wedding, but I have to be efficient to give clients their products in a timely manner.
If you’re doing a wedding, that’s 2,000 frames, and then you’re doing a portrait shoot with another 500, and you’re on a TV set, and doing another thing for your personal work, suddenly you’ve got 10,000 frames to go through, so organisation is key.
For costs, I do all that myself. I have a very good friend who’s an accountant who’ll consult with me when I need it, but it’s really just me. I believe in giving people a great product and a great price. This is small town middle America, and right now you have to adapt if you want to survive.
PM: What do you do to stay competitive with other photographers in your market?
RB: I òm aware of competitors, but I’m not losing sleep over them. I know I’m really busy and they’re really busy so there’s nothing to worry about. I see so many other photographers copying other people’s work to compete, but they’re losing themselves. I’m focused on creating the most powerful images and the best products I can create for my clients.
PM: If you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
RB: I don’t live my life with regret. All the mistakes I’ve made, the good and bad decisions I’ve made, they’re all part of life. I’ve learned ten times more from my failures than my successes, and I’ll make a million more mistakes. The key is to learn from them.
PM: Do you have any tips for new photographers?
RB: Love what you do and if you’re not sure what you love yet, explore to find out. If you want to be a photographer today and survive and have fun, I think it’s important to have a dream. Just focus on your goal and how to get there.
It’s all about having fun. I can’t describe the feeling I get when I have a camera in my hands. It’s so much fun and not work. All of us photographers work incredibly hard, but I think for the most part all of us could say that it doesn’t feel like work.
PM: What do you think is going to happen in photography in five year’s time?
RB: The advancements of technology are amazing. It’s making taking a photograph more fun than ever. For example there’s a Focus Later camera where you take a picture and you have your image and you can focus after you take your image.
It’s definitely going to continue to be more social, and technology is only going to get much better. With so many people taking photos now, it’s a matter of everyone pushing themselves to be their best. I think it’s going to be better overall because of the amount of creativity everyone is expressing. It’s a wild ride.
PM: What do you do in your spare time?
RB: I don’t really have much spare time. I just got back from a 10 day road trip. I drove 3,000 miles and photographed California, Arizona and Nevada. It was a personal project, work for the gallery and something I’ve always wanted to do.
In my spare time I’m still out there being creative, and I also enjoy a good meal and a fine pint!
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Ryan Bolger runs Ryan J. Bolger Photography, a Michigan City, Indiana-based wedding, portrait and landscape photography business. |
