WPPI 2009 – Platform Speaker Notes – Matthew Jordan Smith
Speaker: Matthew Jordan Smith
Website: http://mjs-exp.com/
Lecture Title: How to Photograph Oprah and other Lighting Secrets
Overview: Matthew Jordan Smith is a famous New York City photographer who recently moved to Los Angeles. His clientele include Oprah, American Vogue, Pantene, Olay, Vanessa Williams, Aretha Franklyn, and Tyra Banks. Although this platform was supposed to include œnew lighting techniques, Matthew Jordan Smith spent the majority of his lecture on the areas of keeping his clients happy, bringing out the subject’s personality on the shoot, and marketing techniques. His lecture, like the lectures of most photographers, was centered on showing and telling the stories behind his images.
Notes & SLR Lounge Commentary:
As mentioned above, Matthew Jordan Smith spoke about various topics; and these were presented throughout his lecture at various times. The following are notes taken at the lecture, not necessarily in the order presented.
In his lecture, Smith briefly went over his lighting techniques, which change to adapt to each situation, but is often executed using Kino-Flo and ProFoto Strobes (with which he often uses an Octabank softbox). He often places one directly above the camera and one below and often uses a white background.
Chris: You can’t argue with the quality of the lighting in his images. However, for wedding photography, this type of set up may be unreasonable.
To his female clients, he always sends flowers before the shoot, customized to fit the client. Along with the flowers, he includes a personalized note expressing his gratitude and excitement for the shoot. An interesting marketing technique that he does for his clients is send them numbered and signed prints of images taken on his travels around the world. As travel is his œsecond love, he creates amazing imagery from all over the world. This practice reinforces one of the main themes of his platform: œshare what you love.
Another way to please clients is making sure they are happy with the product on site. He says that people have three ways of communication: sight, sound, and touch. As such, he prints out his images to show clients on site, allowing them to physically interact with the image.
Chris: While currently we do employ some similar ideas with our clients, these are all great ideas that I will consider utilizing for our studio.
Love for Photography: As mentioned, Matthew Jordan Smith encourages us to “shoot what you love and not what is in magazines. Not only will your direct clients be able to notice the lack of passion, but it will also subliminally show in your images as well. According to Smith, “clients know when you love what you do.” He encourages us to ask ourselves what we love; and mentions that what he loves is œmaking people feel beautiful.
He encourages us to write down ideas as they come and to keep a notepad by the bed. Furthermore, he encourages us to try out these ideas immediately, before we forget about them or before we lose the inspiration. As he went through his images, he would often tell us which images he took as œtests that happen to create lasting or creative imagery. He also encourages us to shoot with a purpose by putting our lives in your work. If we have a favorite book, a favorite story, or a distinct memory, we should try to use this for inspiration.
Smith recommends three œmust-read books:
- for business: Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing by Harry Beckwith
- for personal growth: How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- for the œjourney: Annie Leibovitz at Work
He encourages us to play music during the shoots that fit the client’s personality. He says œplay the right music and the images come on their own. In many of his images of his celebrity clients, his subjects have very natural smiles, body movements, and other expressions that he attributes to playing the right music and setting the mood.
Chris: While this isn’t new advice, this is great advice that I’ve heard from a number of photographers.
Smith recommends using Adbase.com to promote yourself; and he recommends Lebook.com to find almost anything needed, from models to stylists to props.
Chris: Like most of his presentation, this is not as applicable for wedding photographers, as these websites are catered toward fashion and commercial photography.
Promote what you love. Smith encourages us to promote ourselves through various available channels. He encourages us to put on a show anywhere we can, including coffee shops, libraries, or any other venues that might host an exhibit. He encourages us to shop our work, e.g. to submit to magazines all over the world and to enter contests to gain recognition.
Chris: These are definitely time-consuming activities, and I wonder if we’d be better off working on building relationships with former clients and other word-of-mouth marketing techniques. These days it seems like every studio is an œaward-winning studio; and I’m skeptical of the value of winning the majority of competitions out there. Furthermore, with the abundance of stock photography and the increasingly competitive market, I would not recommend taking the time to submit to magazines unless you have a truly unique concept or story behind the image.
In general, this was a good lecture with amazing images and good advice. One bit of critique is that I would have wanted to see a bit more focus. With so many resources available and so many lectures to attend, I feel these lectures would be more effective if they focused on one or two topics. Also, I would have wanted to know more details about lighting, as this was emphasized in the blurb of the platform show guide. More applicability to wedding photography would also have been useful, as the majority of the attendees were of the profession.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Article written by:
Chris Lin
Lead Photographer | Partner
Lin and Jirsa Wedding Photography
_________________________________________________________________________________
Like this post? Share it!
Write Photography Tips
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Loading ...
