Testing my plan

One of my friends knows that I am a photographer- she is currently expecting a child and celebrated the welcoming of her new baby girl with a baby shower! She invited me to come and celebrate and also asked if I could take some photographs for her- I told her my prices and times and she agreed. I wanted to keep the prices relatively low as it was partially a gift to create memorabilia for her to reflect on once she has the baby.

I also have taken photographs for this friend before, her son celebrated his birthday last year and I was asked to take some natural portraits of him playing in the park and trying on some new clothes. Her son is a rambunctious young boy who is a treat to photograph- I have to work around him and this is one of my strongest points; I pride myself on being able to capture the fun of life and doing some simple edits of the portraits of my models.

This is one of my most trusted models- Yasmin. She is a delight to work with as I never know what I’m going to capture. She is a whirlwind and rather difficult to work with, unless you know how to shoot with her. As you can see, she is gorgeous- her structure and confidence really comes across well in her poses.

I used three sources of light- two were artificial and one was natural. She needed some photographs taken for her modelling career which she is promoting online.

I personally want to promote my work by word of mouth and online- primarily Facebook.

Recently, I have received a message from a friend who has passed on my information to one of her acquaintances. Her friend is getting married and she suggested for her friend to contact me regarding photographs for her wedding and pricing options. This is why I believe that word of mouth is a great way of self-promotion.

When talking to the curator of the Canterbury Ilford Gallery; she spoke of how word of mouth plays within the art community- photographers who she has worked with before has spoken of an up and coming artist and she would begin to seek out talking to the new artist and approach them about showing their work in the gallery.

Word of mouth is reliable and interesting. Social media is easy and effective.

Submission for an Opportunity

As you can see, I have applied for an opportunity as an Experience Photographer.

I have been using various websites in order to promote my photographic talents and getting to know other photographers who are looking for other people in the field to help with their shoots.

I would absolutely use this opportunity to explore various locations and work with other photographers who  wish to find more inspiration from other artists.

Budget

The year following my graduation; I will be continuing along the creative path.

In September, I will be starting the journey of obtaining my masters degree- I have decided to attend UCA Rochester once again for another year to further my knowledge of photography and develop my own personal style in a more professional manner.

My budget plan will be simple- I will be working part time at my usual job and continue to build my photographic business. I have started building a professional portfolio and business by using the techniques which I have learnt throughout my time at uni.

My only expenses that I will need to cover in the next year will be my travel to and from uni, and also finding some cheap lighting and backdrops for my business so I can be more mobile when taking photographs in other locations.  Once my business becomes more successful, I will consider buying higher quality lighting and backdrop arrangements as I believe that this will help me progress, not only as a photographer, but as a business too.

I would like to invest in purchasing my very own personal canon 50mm lens as I believe that I would get some gorgeous portraits by using this lens- as well as my own camera.

Self Promotion Strategies

Personally, I use Facebook, word of mouth and Instagram as my most productive sources of self-promotion. Facebook is easy to use and promote- you can also post a lot of information in a small space and there is unlimited space for uploading images onto the site. When taking photographs for my friends and family (which I am approached by in a professional way as they know I’m trying to make my business pick up), I ask them to share the photographs which I post online so their friends can see my sort of work and allow them to ponder on whether they would like for me to take their photographs. Instagram is extremely simple and effective- you can post a variety of images onto your own blog and continue to find other images which suit your liking and people can find your work through the hashtags that you use.

I know how to promote my strongest photographs and I am proud of the way that I have used social media in terms of self-promotion; my work being on the internet and in my control (through the use of watermarks) allows for people to find my work intentionally or by stumbling across it whilst online.

My macro photography is what I wish to begin promoting primarily; it is what I want to do with my talent. Finding the beauty in the every day and mundane- finding patterns and minuscule details in portraits fascinates me.

I sometimes allow myself to post throwbacks on my Instagram to show how far my work has come- and where I plan to take my work in the future. I like to look back on how my photography has improved.

Marketing and PR Team

My first interaction with the Marketing & PR team was to discuss the name of the exhibition- so then we could begin promoting the event online and begin the think about sending invitations out to various friends, family and even other artists.

We created a poll on facebook to see what the other photographers involved in this project thought. The PR team thought of a couple names which we could use and added an option for other people to suggest names and vote for their favourite.

Sadly, after a group tutorial with Ellen- it was decided that the exhibition should just be called The Degree Show. So this is what we have gone with.

I put a message on the Facebook group asking people to send over some behind the scenes photographs to the email which I created (rochesteryear3@gmail.com) so we could begin to develop our Instagram and Facebook event page.

I have participated in previous fundraising events by baking for the sales and bringing in suitable items for the raffle. I also printed a few images which were placed on sale in order to raise money for our final show.

 

 

I have shared the Just Giving page for the exhibition in June on my personal Facebook so it reaches my friends and family- to let them know what me and my class mates are achieving and to ask them if they’d like to donate.

Photography

I like to believe that I find the beauty in the ugly, the mundane, the silly and the every day. My trusted Canon 50D has been by my side for the past seven years and I have enjoyed every second with it.

Going through university and discovering my love of various mediums and techniques has been such an incredible experience for me.

Macro photography is now what I want to do with my talent- focusing on the little details of things that most people wouldn’t be able to see.

Please contact hollybuckphoto@gmail.com for any enquiries or commissions

Social Media and Promotion.

This screenshot has been taken from the Turner Contemporary website- as you can see it gives the reader a list of the upcoming events in the gallery and the time scale that it will be shown for. This is an effective way of promoting lots of events in a gallery space all at once.

A newsletter/news email is something that customers can sign up for online or in the gallery space itself. (when I was visiting the Lilford Gallery, I signed up for the yearly newsletter which gave some information on what I should expect in the next year).

Business cards are a great way of giving customers a little piece of your art work to take home with them; they’re small enough to not take up a lot of space and you can hold some valuable information on them such as; name, address, photography website, and more.

I’ve recently contacted an old friend (with whom I have worked before) and asked a couple of questions regarding how different companies find the photographers they wish to work with, and the methods they use to choose the best pictures to publish on their website and in the yearly booklet sent to all homes in Medway.

All emails I have sent are awaiting responses.

 

Asking Questions

My email to Nowak

My email to Kelly