Whenever I give a talk or host a show, my fav part is the Q&A. Rather than me guessing what I should share, you just ask away. Especially the hard questions that you can’t learn in photography books: landing clients, overcoming failures, working with challenging clients, legal, gear, portfolio questions, whatever it might be. In this year’s first #AskChase version of chasejarvisLIVE, I got thru about 40 of your questions in the 90 min show. This time around, I’m hoping to double that, plus we’re adding another dimension.
The first half of the show will be me answering any questions you can put in the comments below. Rapid fire, as many as I can get thru. So don’t be shy, ask anything you’d like below and I’ll give you a shout out for asking it and do my best to answer with the dirty truth. But catch this: the second half of the show, I’ll have a guest with me. The Associate Creative Director for REI, Jason Sutherland. If you have been ignoring me are new here, then you’ll need to scroll back a bit and read the Diary of a Shoot I just wrapped up, where I chronicled my 9 day campaign shoot with them. Jason will be on hand to answer your specific questions, but also any/all your general questions about whatever you want to know from a client CD/AD perspective. Hopefully this is as good as gold.
Who: You, Me + guest Creative Director Jason Sutherland + a worldwide gathering of creatives
What: YOUR questions answered for 90 minutes
When: this coming Wednesday, April 6th at 10:00am Seattle time (1pm NYC or GMT -8)
Where: just visit www.chasejarvis.com/LIVE
How to get your questions on the show: ASK THEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW
We will take some questions LIVE via the #cjlive or #AskChase hashtag on Twitter (follow @chasejarvis here) during the broadcast, however, so that we can be organized and get through as many questions as possible, you’re far more likely to get your questions answered by framing them below in the comments.
It’s free, it’s LIVE, and apologies but this video will not be re-posted in it’s entirety, so please tune in LIVE if you can. (We’re still in a technical gear/podcast/youtube transition at the moment, figuring some stuff out.) Hope to see you Wednesday. The more people participate, the more interesting it will be for everyone involved. Feel free to invite anyone you’d like to join the party.
@Jason
1. When was the first time you hired Chase and what was your reasoning behind that?
2. What does Chase bring to the table the most other pros don’t?
Hey Chase,
I have a very hard work ethic and I want to be the best at my craft. I am very ethical/positive but I get a lot of bad mouthing from people I’ve never met in my market and I don’t know how to stop it. I’m just starting out and all of my bids keep getting under cut, this is really becoming a large obstacle. How did you overcome the push back when being a young charismatic photographer entering the market place?
@Jason
I’m originally from Washington (so I know the REI brand well) and now I’m living in New Zealand doing adventure photography. How do I get a client like you? Do you prefer email or print promos? And how much business photographer vs. talented adventurer/photographer do you like to see?
Thanks,
Matt
Hey Chase,
My name is Robbie Jenkins I am currently a senior at Wheaton College, I have contacted you before when I did a paper for my photography class I wanted to say thanks for getting back to me so quickly. With graduation in a about a month away I have decided to pursue a career in photography. I really have two questions for you…..
1) I have been accepted to BU center for digital imaging, but the problem I am having in deciding to go or not is is it really worth it. I have been working a internship at my local paper as a staff photographer and have learned a ton but still have loads to learn. With the cost of my four years at Wheaton and another possible 20k for a year at BU I’m really not sure if a year of BU is what I need. Do you think it would be more valuable for me to go for this year at BU or can I learn what I need to do from taking some workshops and trying to find a job to get on the job experience.
My second question……
2) I would really love to graduate and start a career shooting photos freelance until my portfolio is good enough and large enough to get the big jobs. My question is what are the best ways to find work and get my name out there in the industry?
Thanks so much for you time and consideration and I love your site keeps me entertained when I’m in those boring classes that have nothing to do with photography, I can go to chasejarvis.com and just indulge myself in photography awesomeness.
@Chase- How did you first develop your portfolio to emulate the sort of commercial work you wanted to shoot? …actually, I’d like to see the portfolio you used to land your first commercial gig and have you tell us how/where/who helped you get those shots (friends, hired models, personal work, etc)
2. I assume you started with assignments much smaller than that of the REI Telluride gig, tell us about your first few
3. Ugh, pricing. Given the opportunity to bid your first commercial gigs, how on earth did you develop your bottom line price and know that it wasn’t going to be astronomically high or wayyyy too low?
4. In the beginning, how many projects did you bid in comparison to how many you won a contract for?
5. Can you ask what the clients’ budget is regarding and RFP for photography? Or is it always sealed bids among competitors where the lowest number wins??
Whats the most important thing youve learned to this point in your careers?