EVALUATION

During the first few Professional studies lessons, I felt quite unsure as to what I will be doing within the Photography realm when I finish University. To be honest I'm still not fully sure as to what path within Photography I would like to take.

However, throughout more lessons I began to realize what it actually takes to become a Professional photographer, in regards to setting up my own business. Or even having the materials to begin something within photography as a professional.

Throughout the module I have understood the key aspects of marketing and self-promotion. Although I may not be a professional yet, I feel more confidence in terms of setting my goals and knowing which directions to take.

Throughout the professional studies lessons I have learnt as an individual how to create business cards, CV, artist statement, compliment letter, letterheads, a website and much more. This has enabled me to gain confidence in regards to feeling more reassured as to what is needed when I leave university and face the real world alone.

The most difficult part of the module for me was working out and realizing what goes into the costing of work. I struggled quite a lot to put a price on my own work and work out suitable costs that I could afford for materials, which in the long run I would be able to benefit from.
However, the lessons allowed me to understand the key principles and issues surrounding pricing work. Also knowing if the print for example is a 'reasonable' price or overpriced depending on how much input you have made.

I learnt that the pricing of work in photography ALWAYS has to be considered as 'fair' to the client/customer.

It’s all about understanding what leads to a profit margin, which is basically understanding and fulfilling the cost and value of your service.

Selling work as a University student can be difficult, as to start any business you must spend money to gain something back. By this I mean depending on what sort of photography you intend to specialize in you will need different equipment.

The costs, which we discussed as a class, were: camera equipment, fuel/travel, and public liability, insurance for equipment, computer programs.

Although a lot of money will be spent to go into the business, as a class we came to realize that over time the business you have created will make the money back, if it spent correctly and the job is done to the satisfaction of the buyer.

The most enjoyable part of the course for me personally was creating my own business cards, as a person it made me feel like I was achieving something. The cards represent my as a person, holding my contact information as a photographer and therefore allowing the outside world to contact me or even take an interest. Professional studies have taught me, as a person that time management is one of the key aspects to keeping everything timely and relevant. By this I mean that now I have created a collection of working documents that can be continually updated throughout my professional life.

Portfolio

As part of our hand-in it was essential to present a physical portfolio showing my skills for potential use within my future career path whether it be self-employment or employment in general.
For my personal portfolio which in the future I intend to sell I have included, 3 large prints, 3 small ones, a calendar I created when I returned from New York and also my photo book.. below are images of them all.

Website

For my website I bought a domain name, however, I have been having trouble with editing certain parts, and therefore have created a website on WIX.

On my website I have included quite a few of my landscape photographs and several photographs from my studio shoots. I have included my artist statement in my 'about me' section to give the viewer a little more insight into my interests within photography. 

There is also a section that allows the viewer to contact me via e-mail or mobile.

My web address is: http://rochelleoliphant.wix.com/rochelleoliphant

Business card designs

Intending to be a Professional photographer comes with a lot of confidence and critical understanding. It is vital that you produce the professional materials that will promote and support your individual practice and professional development. 

For my business cards I have decided to use some of the photographs which I used in my photo book 'A Journey' as I like how they are colourful which hopefully will attract and interest the viewer.

I decided to go with a square format which is a change to the standard business card size as I thought I should leave the images within the square format that I edited them in. I quite like the size and shape of them.

On the back of my business cards it reads: 

Rochelle Oliphant

PHOTOGRAPHER 

Along with my mobile number, web address and e-mail.

Letterheads

Compliment slips

Receipt

Invoice

CV

As part of our professional studies practice we had to understand what actually makes a good skills based CV. As a budding photographer I have not done a lot of professional work that I was paid for, however voluntary work is still really important in regards to gaining experience.
It is important to make your CV clear in terms of what is written must be easy to read and also must be relevant to a prospective employer.
Confidence plays a big role in regards to introducing yourself to prospective employers who you would like to work for. Also your CV is a marketing tool to tell people you exist.
Writing a successful CV is vital, as it is really important to keep all of the writing relevant and effective. Little things like font size and layout make a dramatic difference also, as it must be easy to read.

Artist Statement

During Professional studies we looked at various artist statements to get an insight when it comes to doing our own. Richard explained that a good statement dos not explain the work as that would be the other extreme. The statement should reflect the emotional qualities of your work that shows your own personal involvement. For example if my own was conceptual I would have to explain the concept. It is important to keep the reader interested and therefore make connections explicit about the connections with my own space and the space we all share.
Below was my attempt at writing my own personal artist statement:

New york was the location where I realised which Career path I wanted to pursue. I have created professional photographs in studios, within the darkroom and also weddings.
My true passion for photography is deeply rooted in taking images outdoors, whether it’s in the heart of the countryside or in busy cities.
My personal emotional passion/attachment began when I travelled to my Hostel in New York by taxi. I instantly wanted to document this new environment. The Architecture and sheer size of the monuments and buildings are so overwhelming and fascinating to me.

I have since taken thousands of outdoor images in England, Scotland, Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany and France. One of the projects that I had to undertake at University was to create a photo book, which I named ‘A Journey’. Developing this book was like a reflection of how I was feeling during the making of it. It reminds me of a roller coaster, in slow motion passing through tunnels, whizzing down banks, swaying left, then right, being scared, then laughing.

In fact the whole array of emotions, which I hope, the viewers can experience when they look at my images. Every time I re-visit this book it takes me back to that particular moment through all the happiness and sadness in fleeting moments captured visually on camera. This is the power of photography in invoking real feelings and this is why I chose photography as a pathway to my future career.  

Costing of work

When we began discussing the 'Costing of our work' I felt quite nervous as I feel I lack confidence in regards to rating my own work. However the lessons allowed me to understand the key principles and issues surrounding pricing work. Also knowing if the print for example is a 'reasonable' price or overpriced depending on how much input you have made.
I learnt that the pricing of work in photography ALWAYS has to be considered as 'fair' to the client/customer.

The key questions we discussed were:
'Is the price you're selling at profitable?'
'How do we arrive at a sale price at all?'

Its all about understanding what leads to a profit margin, which is basically understanding and fulfilling the cost and value of your service.
Selling work as a University student can be difficult, as to start any business you must spend money to gain something back. By this I mean depending on what sort of photography you intend to specialise in you will need different equipment.
The costs which we discussed as a class were: camera equipment, fuel/travel, public liability, insurance for equipment, computer programs.
Although a lot of money will be spent to go into the business, as a class we came to realise that over time the business you have created will make the money back, if it spent correctly and the job is done to the satisfaction of the buyer.

Blogging

Within Professional Studies we discussed blogging. As a student I feel it is important to document what I have learnt as well as what I hope to achieve. I began to realise that in order to gain success and positive feedback from my online posts was to keep them timely, relevant and interesting.
As a budding photographer I found that posting my work and writing about how I feel could allow me to receive feedback, both positive and negative, which has pushed me to improve in different ways. Negative feedback should never effect your confidence or your persona as a person, as the are stepping stones to help you become more professional and also strive to improve.
During professional studies our class was given a list of some inspirational blogs.. some of which I found amazing and inspirational the amount of passion some people can have towards a subject.
I looked at Tim Barber's blog (Tiny vices), who is extremely passionate about his work as you can see by visiting his page the endless list of work he has exhibited. Also the amount of clients he has worked with is a real inspiration to me personally. I also looked at the web blog http://www.1000wordsmag.com/ which is basically an online magazine dedicated to contemporary photographers in the UK. The web blog allows you to browse around different galleries, books and print magazines.