A Fruitful Experience Sharing Session

I went for a free business sharing by this apparently popular guy, Hart, on Clubsnap forum. I wouldn't really call it a 'business sharing' though. It was more of sharing about experiences in photography business.

He does offer a course in business sharing, teaching you how to set up a photography business step by step, but I am not sure if this is really what I want and have doubts about how useful a course like that is, so I jumped at the chance at this FREE sharing - to see the sensitive and new age guy in person as well as to have a glimpse of how the paid sharing might go.

It was in a fairly small one-storey shophouse.

I was about 5 minutes late and when I tried pushing in the door (because the gadget that looked like a doorbell failed), the guy just opened the door and there the audience and main sharer were, seated in a couch and chairs right at the doorstep, because that was how small the studio was.

The session started at 7pm and was slated to end at 10pm. The sharer spoke and shared so much about his own views and personal experiences that it went on to 11pm and had not ended yet! I would very much love to stay on, but on top of being a little tired (my day started at 6am and work ended at 5.45pm), I had unreceived calls by my mother, a friend and William. I didn't want them to get too worried about me not picking up the phone. So I had to be rude and interrupted the sharing so that I could go.

The characteristics of a successful photographer

It was a fruitful trip nonetheless. I am intrigued by the Indonesian-Chinese sharer. He looks and sounds similar to Sean Lau, another photographer I took up a package with. They both speak softly, even-tonedly, phlegmatically, and are good with words.

For the record, he charges at least $1000 for a photoshoot and does not sell soft copies. He has 300 clients every year. He dumped every dollar he earned in his first 10 months in Singapore into a studio, and covered the $2k monthly rental for the whole year within 1.5 months. That is $24k in 1.5 months, on top of his other family commitment. How do you like that?

How he started out

He said he didn't have anyone asking him to take pictures for. He was the only one who liked his own pictures. He shared about how he used to work as a retoucher. He had only 5 hours to learn to retouch and after that he was on his own.

He was required to come to work at 8.30am and submit the finished product at 12pm. He came to work at 4am instead to do his work because he was unfamiliar with the work at first. Then he gradually came to work at 4.30am, 5am, 5.30am, and eventually, he came to work at 8.30am and finished by 10.30am.

The bottomline of the story was: go beyond what your employer expect of you. Do more than what is required.

He came to Singapore end 2007 knowing not a single soul, and started out shooting outdoor. A year later, he acquired a rented studio, but he still shoots outdoor mostly to date.

His image

He is very insightful and sensitive with his words. Like a thoughtful female inside.

And he knew just how others look at him. There was an outing organised just for him. He went. And the crowd was surprised to see how he looked like, because everybody was expecting a tall, blonde, handsome, well-built guy, but he looked every bit a Singaporean guy - short, fat (in his own word), capable of speaking Singlish just like everybody else.

He explained that his ability to converse fluently in Singlish was due to the time spent with Singaporean friends during his overseas studies in Sydney. He spent 12 years in Australia and roots himself in Singapore since 2007 after his brother's death.

He is concerned with even his online image. He would read what he wants to post over and over again, before he actually posts. I guess that really works, because most people who attended the sharing wanted to see him for who he was, and that included me.

His fall-back plan

He shared that he did not have a fall-back plan.

He told his friends he wanted to do family and children portrait, and wanted high-end customers who pay at least $1k for his service. They told him no one had ever done that and it was impossible to survive as a children photographer.

He did it anyway, because he believed that he could do it. And he did.

He shared the drawbacks on having a fall-back plan:

1) When you feel tired and have a shoot the next day, you tell yourself you have a full-time job anyway and don't have to be so hard on yourself.

2) When a client is difficult or unreasonable, you tell yourself you have a full-time job and do not have to take this kinda nonsense.

When you don't have a fall-back plan, you have to make things work, do or die.

How he designed his package

He said he took out whatever he himself didn't like in his package:

1) number of people
2) amount of time

He said he had people asking him how much he charged for extra people and he thought it strange because it does not make a difference how many people there are. He thought about why other photographers do that, and he could only derive at the answer that it was to earn more.

Someone asked how he cut off the time with a client if he does not put a cap to the time spent with a client.

He gave an example: He tells his client,"9am would be too hot for your child. We will start at 8am."

The dense me didn't understand - some people actually don't mind the heat, you know? He elaborated that the customer himself would start asking,"Are you hot? Do you want a drink?" at 9am and beyond, and the child would start to be restless and uncomfortable. The customer would want the photography session to end anyway.

I am not sure if that really would work for me, someone who doesn't talk well.

A People Person

He is very communicative and is very good at linking ideas. He said that he is a people person, and it is easy to see why. He just has this very relaxed and no-intention look about him and his tone when he talks. I don't know how he does it.

He said that he had a friend who told him this,"Every word that comes out of your mouth is negative. Change it."

His take was: if someone bothers to tell you something for your own good, you better shut up and listen.

From then on, he changes his speech, his words and naturally, his thought, eg. instead of using the word 'problems', he uses 'challenges'.

I thought it a wake-up call for me too. I was surprised to hear that from a positive thinker and speaker. How can someone who oozes positivities be someone who spoke negative? Can this be possible?

People Photography

He and another veteran photographer shared that of all photographies, children photography is the hardest.

They cry all the time. Refused to be photographed etc.

I hear that all the time, but haven't tried it yet. Of course, the only ones I take pictures of are my kids and nephews. I cajoled Baby with a tiny teddy and threatened my nephews with 'no play' so that they let me take their pictures. Threatening sure won't work with others' kids. Haha ...

He said that teenagers are the hardest to take pictures of, especially the seventeens, because 'they want to look beautiful, but do not want to talk to you'. I thought,"Isn't that just what they are - want to look beautiful, yet aloof to others outside their world?"

I had a whale of a time listening to the rich experiences and sharing. I was just like a sponge, totally doused, and immersed in an environment I enjoyed.