Photographers in today’s world need to be chameleons in order to survive.  There was a day, some time ago, when understanding glass and light and exposures and many other details combined into being a good photographer.  That photographer’s job (a film photographer’s) was not simple save for his duties.  He was to shoot, develop and deliver.  Forgive me as I am aware that I’m simplifying things greatly here.  The point is that aside from being a photographer there weren’t too many other jobs that a photographer had to do.

Enter the digital revolution.  Every Jim, John, or Marvin with a DSLR is a photographer and competition skyrockets.  It’s keep up or die, watching your peers feed off your still warm corpse.  In today’s world a successful photographer must be a chameleon.  He/she must not only be a brilliant photographer, but he/she must also don the skin of a;  web developer, designer, graphic artist, writing specialist, videographer, director, producer, salesman, blogger, networker, teacher, student, technology-keeping-up-to-date-er, receptionist, printer, and heck knows how many other jobs.  We’re all forced to do so much more than just photography in order to keep up.

For some this is easier than others, while for others, certain forms we must fit into are both daunting and improbable.  For the full time something-or-other who is a photographer on the side, managing a website is simply too time consuming.  Making it next to impossible to get to that point where they’ve got enough photographic income to break out of their less than mediocre full time job.  However there is simply no choice.  Our websites are nearly 100% as critical as our camera bodies or lenses in 2010.  It’s a tool, often overlooked in my opinion, which without would leave photographers unheard of and undiscoverable.  Thus it is a skill we must all learn.  Now we have two forms we must be able to take on: photographer, and web developer.  Uggg… what’s next on the list?

Not all of the above mentioned skills are 100% necessary.  However something that I’ve come across is that the next most important form to take on is that of a writer.  In fact this extends much further than just photography, but that’s without saying.  Writing a proper email can be overlooked too easily.  Still, it’s so critical.  Phone calls of the past are today’s emails.  Today’s phone calls are yesterday’s meetings, and so on.  Writing a proper email can go a long way and it’s time photographers of all levels learned that it’s the third thing they must be good at.

Emails are often one of the first impressions we make to our clients, colleagues and cohorts.  Being well received can go a long way.  It’s important to remember that your email may be forwarded or posted and before you know it, it may have received an audience much greater then your intended number of viewers.  So it’s foolish to think that we can get away with a poor email.  There have been times when I’ve turned down interviews, or the opposite, simply based on the quality and etiquette of an email.  One of my favourite wedding clients also hired me based off of an email I sent them in which I told them that while I didn’t think I was the best choice for them, I wished them well in their search.  They had been looking for a slightly cheaper photographer but in the end asked me to interview and I couldn’t have been happier.  The same wedding client has also nearly landed me a commercial shoot in the past.  All from one email.

It doesn’t take much, folks.  It’s three simple rules you need to follow and your emails will be in passable shape.

Rule #1:  REPLY!  Don’t sit around on your arse for 10 days waiting to reply.  If you receive an email.  Reply.  That’s it.  If someone sends you an email asking you for something, I’m sure they’d prefer to hear back from you sooner rather than later.  And if they’re asking any other photographers, you can sleep easy knowing that by the time you’ve gotten back to them, they’ve already been bombarded with replies from your competition.

Rule #2:  SPELLING and GRAMMAR!!!!!   People, come on… Use a spell checker every once and a while.  Capitalize those first words and dot those sentences.  It’s not hard, and most of us learned it long ago.  Let’s not be lazy.  Having proper grammar and spelling shows that you’re professional, and if your client has to choose between photographers that they think are near equal both in quality and price, then things like emails may come in to play subconsciously.

Rule #3:  KEEP IT SIMPLE!  Be concise.  Avoid rambling and always be sure to give all the information that was asked of you in your emails.  Or if you’re the one asking a question, make it as clear as possible to avoid confusion.  Try not to give extra info as it can become irritating.  Also keep in mind that adding a signature to your emails is a nice way of giving that extra bit of info without coming off as a jerk.

- “By the way, umm if you’d like to check out my porftolio.. umm. you can look at it on this lonk www.myattemptatawebsite.net.org.witchaseltempaccess.com”

OR you could include a website in your signature as such:

David Dvir

Lead Photographer
2D Photography Inc.
www.2dhouse.com
youremail@address.com
+1 416 650 0009

Emails are going to be around for a long time to come.  It’s best we photographers just accept that we’ve got to be good at them.  If you follow these steps, I can assure you that your emails will be half decent.  No promises here, and perhaps your emails are already way better than anything I can come up with, but it’s a start.

Thanks for reading!

David Dvir