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Jim Harmer Success Interview

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Jim Harmer Success Interview

1. What inspired you to become a photographer?

I suppose my first interest in photography was simply to find a hobby that I could do during the long, cold Idaho winters. Later, when I was a law student, my motivation changed and I began doing portrait and event photography as a business.

2. Tell us about your first sale.

It’s tough to remember what my very first sale was, but the first I can think of was a 15 foot (4.5 meter) long panoramic print sold to a large corporation. How’s that for a trial by fire! I had taken a cityscape that included their building and the owner of the building found it online and ordered a massive print for the conference room. Although I was using a low megapixel digital SLR back then, it was a panorama of 8 shots, so I was able to print it HUGE!

3. Tell us about your website.

ImprovePhotography.com is a photography learning resource with hundreds of in- depth articles from advanced flash photography to the basics of camera operation. We have a weekly audio podcast called the Improve Photography Podcast available for free on iTunes, as well as videos and active social media accounts where we share photography tips with over 200,000 fans. ImprovePhotography.com is a website I started because I was teaching lots of local photography classes and quickly realized that if I recorded my lessons on youtube, I could reach a lot more people. a. What was the motivation to start this website? b. What do you want the visitors to walk away with after visiting your site? I want them to come to my site and say, “MAN! That was useful!” To make the site as useful as possible, I spend THOUSANDS of dollars each year purchasing and testing out photography gear for the recommended gear section of the site. It’s not just reviews of individual gear, but I break it down to a “good, better best” of every conceivable piece of photography gear. I’ll tell you what tripod is best for your budget, lenses, filters, flash photography, etc. We aren’t paid by any product manufacturers, so those reviews are totally unbiased and unfiltered.

4. Tell us about time in your career where you failed at something and how did you pivot to overcome this?

I came home from shooting an event one evening, flopped on the couch, and said, “I just can’t do this again!” I had an awesome gig to shoot a black tie Christmas party at a ritzy golf club which paid very well, but I wasn’t enjoying the work. The photos were vanilla, my mood was vanilla, and my interest in the work was nill. Photography wasn’t fun anymore. To fix this problem, I stopped shooting event photography entirely. I also stopped shooting family photography because it made me feel like I was spending more time saying, “Look at the camera” than taking creative photos. I reduced my business to weddings, senior portraits, and licensing landscapes.

5. Have you had an “I’ve made it moment”? Tell us about this.

I haven’t made it yet, but I’ve certainly had fantastic opportunities along the way. One of the highlights was last year where I had my photos published by a major magazine, on the Nikon USA website, and on a book cover all in about a month. That was fun for me.

6. How do you balance a demanding photography career and your family?

When I started law school, I promised my wife and kids I would not work later than 5PM. Now that I no longer practice law, I have kept that promise to my family with my photography career. I honestly believe that you can work late for a day or two and be okay, but it’s just going to wear you out physically or emotionally and will make you less productive in the days to come--so what’s the point? 5PM is time for my kids and wife.

7. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to the 21 year old you?

Quit trying to learn great marketing tricks to take your business to the next level. Just get out there and produce photos constantly. It is tempting for photographers to feel that their photography is “good enough” and to stop getting out and shooting. Get away from your computer and shoot!

8. What is the best photography business advice you have been given?

Be humble. When I first started sharing my photos online, they would often get RIPPED apart in the comments by the Internet trolls. It is incredibly hard to not get your feelings hurt and reject what you don’t want to hear. But as much as I think we need to be kinder to one another online, I have certainly learned from those experiences. When someone says they don’t like the HDR effect in your photo or the overprocessed colors- -don’t reject it. Something about the photo set them off. Try to develop techniques to make your photography appealing to others.

9. We live in a world of carbon copies, what advice can you give to those seeking to be unique and unlike others in a congested industry?

I think it’s okay to be a carbon copy--for a while. Find a photo you love? Go take a similar shot. You certainly don’t want to rip someone off or pass off another’s work as your own, but take their techniques and apply them. I did this for years before I took all of the techniques I liked from others and was able to put my own personal spin on it. Your voice will come with time.

10. Do you believe technology is making better photographers?

Unquestionably. I’m mostly a landscape photographer, so I don’t have to follow strict rules of post-processing like a news photographer does. My goal is to make art, and art does not have to be reality. It is TREMENDOUSLY liberating to go out in the field and make what YOUR eye sees instead of only what is presented to you.

11. Many folks are trying to re-invent themselves as photographers. Assuming you had camera, lens and lighting gear already. If you had to start over and only have $500 budget to get your business started. How would you spend that $500 budget?

$5 per month on a website host. I make most of my sales of landscape photos from people who googled “X Location photos” and came up with my shots.” Then, I’d register an LLC to protect my assets--I’m a stickler about the legal details of a photography business because of my background as an attorney. I’d spend the rest on gas to get out and drive! No marketing tool is worth a quarter of what a good photo can do for your portfolio.

12. What are some resources that you us regularly for your photography business?

My favorite tool is an app (web and mobile) called Expensify. It’s just an easy way to track business expenses, miles driven, etc. I don’t let the IRS get a dime more than they are due.

13. What are some ‘must have’ items in your camera bag?

For shooting candids, I really love the Rogue Flashbender. It’s an inexpensive on- camera flash diffuser/bounce card that works really well. Also, I recently purchased an Feisol CT3442 tripod and it’s the best tripod I’ve ever used--bar none. That’s saying something because I have tried out just about every tripod currently available on the market.

14. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what is the ONE photography book you would want to have with you?

If I’m allowed to cheat, I’d just print off a few hundred pages of David Hobby’s Strobist blog and call it a book :-)

15. Final question and it’s a fun one: Life has been found on another planet and none-other than Sir Richard Branson is piloting Virgin Galatica and has put together a team of engineers, scientist, and doctors and has asked you to come along to document the journey. The challenge is you can only bring two lenses and one camera body and two other items. What would you bring?

D800 Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 YN-560III flash Feisol Tripod 16. What action steps can you recommend our listeners take immediately that will ultimately help them become a better photographer? I actually wrote a blog post that specifically answers this question. It’s the most popular post I’ve ever written on Improve Photography with tens of thousands of shares on social media and over 1.5 million readers of just this one article: http://www.improvephotography.com/1415/21-things-you-can-do-today-to-change-your-photography-forever/

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