Mott Visuals Commercial Photography and Videography

Wedding Photography Award

jmott — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:22:59 +0000

I am proud to announce we were chosen as a finalist for the Wedding Photography Directory Awards. Here is the image that made the top 10, the grand prize is being chosen next week.

http://tinyurl.com/2e34tns

Thanks Poh Si for being wonderful in front of the camera.

Friends and Competition: How much information should we share? Where do we draw the line?

jmott — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:46:19 +0000

Before I dive into this topic and come off like a secret information hogging prick I should say a few things. I am absolutely honored that some people come to me for advice on photography. I also believe hardy competition is necessary and healthy for progression in our industry and personally to keep me from getting complacent. I should also state that just here in Vietnam a few of my best friends are photographers and also my biggest competition and we openly share. I debated addressing this topic for months but finally decided to write about it so here it goes.
Friends and Competition: How much information should we share? Where do we draw the line?
I’ve struggled with this question over the past few years as photography has become more than just a passion but it’s also the source of 100% of my income. When I first started building my career abroad as a documentary photographer I would share anything with fellow photographers, strangers and friends alike.
My first major published assignment came to fruition because Gary Knight gave me an editor’s contact at Newsweek and he was even kind enough to insist I drop his name in the email. People were wonderful to me as I started my career so I’ve always felt the need to pay it forward. I’m not saying I’m a success story or anything like that but I get a fair amount of emails about our business. I’m happy I can help but as the market shrinks and the competition increases I’ve noticed the questions getting more demanding and a bit more personal.
I’m as a competitive as the next guy maybe even more than the next guy, who is this next guy by the way he seems rather average at everything. It has always come natural for me to share, especially when it came to photography. One of the wonderful things about our photography community is it is filled with online resources littered with people who want to share and honestly I’ve tapped into it those resources numerous times, but where do we draw the line?
Being a freelancer is also being a business. Add to that many of us do more than just editorial work, we also do weddings and advertising shoots. Where do we draw the line about our livelihood? Should I answer the same question about pricing from a fellow documentary photographer if it was a wedding photographer asking the same question? Should it depend on if the person is direct competition or not? A fellow photographer might want to know the following?
What lens do you use?
How did you get access to that project?
How did you get a meeting with that editor?
How long did you take to work on that project?
How did you get that project published?
I feel all of these are fair questions and there are no big secrets here. Now how about these questions:
What is your contact information for the NGO worker who granted you access to that project?
What is the editor’s email for that magazine and how did you meet him or her?
How much did they pay you?
How do you tone your images?
A little more personal but not totally out of line. These are common emails I’ve received from friends, digital friends, and complete strangers. I’ve openly answered most of the above questions many times to people without hesitation. Occasionally I’ve been burned and over the years I’m become a lot more cautious about sharing editors contact info. I’ve personally asked a few editors I work with about how they feel about people giving out their contact information and most say if they need someone they will ask me. I respect their privacy so I don’t often openly share it so please don’t get angry at me or think I’m being a douche for not opening up my rolodex.
Within the online photography community there is a sense of entitlement to information and business practices. With everyone sharing so much people can think you’re an ass for not sharing everything about your business. What I mentioned above is more common but let’s consider some more extreme requests within the editorial world that surprisingly happen far too often.
I won’t drop any names here but the following is a true story and has happened to me quite a few times. I often shoot for a well-respected newspaper based in NYC; lets call them the The Blank York Times. I’ve shot many stories for them outside my home base of Hanoi. It’s not uncommon after the story was published to receive an email along the lines of:
“Dear Justin,
Great story in the BYT last week. really loved image 4(I’m awesome at taking image 4 by the way). I noticed you are based in Hanoi but shot the story in city X. Do they pay for the flight for you? How much do they pay you? I am based in city X and I’d love to shoot for the BYT, can you pass along your editor’s contact info?
Thanks so much,
Photographer X”
The way I translate that email is.
Dear Justin,
Blah blah random not well thought out positive comments about your photography because I’m about to be really rude but I’m trying to mask it with this sentence. I feel like I should be getting the work that you get in city X. I can save that publication some money and would love it if you could pass along their information so I can get the next assignment instead of you.
Thanks so much,
Photographer X
I’m not saying I should have a monopoly nor do I but seriously. If you feel you deserve the work that is fair enough but asking me to hand it to you is ridiculous. I’ve spent lots of my own money building my portfolio, entering workshops, building personal relationships, researching editors and publications, etc. Imagine someone doing this in the business world, they would be laughed at.
Over the years I’ve struggled with this because when it comes to documentary work I love to share and help and be helped. The problem occurs when these questions and helping out a fellow photographer spills into my business and into the commercial photography world. I feel like if you come from a documentary background people expect that same open book policy for your commercial work.
How did you get that hotel job?
Who did you contact?
What is their email address?
How much did you charge?
I no longer answer financial questions about my business because it’s just bad business. I spend a lot of time calculating my quotes and in marketing my business. I also spend a lot of timing researching new jobs and markets. I’m not saying I won’t share the contact info of the company that printed my business cards but asking me how much I bid on a specific project I feel is crossing the line.
I have a few photographers who read consistently read my blog and frequently ask me questions about the photography business. I don’t want any of you to get the wrong idea about this post. I love sharing my thoughts and answering your questions and helping if I can. I love blogging about the wonderful world of photography.
The point of this rant is to start a dialog about the gray areas of sharing and when helping a fellow photographer turns into helping a fellow photographer get your work. Some of you might argue that well in the end the best work will win out. That isn’t always the case, especially in the commercial market. Editors are schooled in photography but not all marketing VP’s are. I’m sure I’ve won jobs over better photographers because my bid was more sensible or because I did my homework on the company.
This is just another rant by me, don’t take me too serious or think I’m upset or annoyed. I’d love to hear people’s opinions so please feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments section.

Evolution of a Portrait

jmott — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:20:28 +0000

In the spirit of keeping my blog more up to date here is a little something from a shoot I had this afternoon. The assignment was a profile editorial shoot for a Danish fashion magazine. My subject is a former model turned jewelry designer. I wanted to show the evolution of my favorite shot of the day. I started outside where I found this funky light seeping through a random blue plastic overhang. Then I pulled up the shade and took her inside the glass where I noticed some fun light reflecting off the glass.
My favorite is the last one, but I’d love to hear if any of you prefer the one of the other ones and why.
Thanks,
Justin

My Niche is Versatility

jmott — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:20:19 +0000

That title sounds pretty cocky actually but since I’m writing this semi-humorous line addressing the title I’m hoping I come off less cocky. If you don’t feel like reading this whole thing the cliff notes are basically; I’m saying that as photographers we should be proud of all genres of our work.

I always hear how important it is to find your niche in photography. On all the photography sites I have bookmarked I see portfolio reviews, editor Q & A’s, etc giving advice about this. Perhaps it’s documentary work, portraits, weddings, pet photography, documentary pet weddings, or whatever.

A certain, perhaps self-imposed, stigma exists for documentary photographers who also shoot weddings or do video (although video now is becoming cool with the intro of the HDSLR). I feel many of us love to even if unsolicited, mention our book projects but don’t want to mention the 3 weddings shot last month that financed them. I’ve been guilty of mentioning my work for “Insert Notable Publications Here” very proudly and then sort of sneaking in quietly if forced by knife that I also shoot weddings or that I had an assignment last week that consisted of photographing a sandwich.

Some think it’s taboo to have wedding pictures on your documentary site because editors will think less of you. I’m sure that is the case sometimes but I’d like to share a little story.

On my first visit to The New York Times before I ever shot one assignment for them I was passed around to different editors to check out my work. One editor asked me if she could see my wedding work. I thought she was kidding or perhaps making fun of me. She was dead serious and she ended up really digging my wedding portfolio. She later told me that she often looks at wedding work to see what a photographer can do under pressure because like news, wedding moments only happen once. That editor later gave me a whole series of assignments that took me to Australia and Malaysia.

I admit I got into photography to shoot social documentary work. Over the years I’ve realized I enjoy all genres of photography, yes-even weddings. Each shoot presents a challenge and I love a good challenge. At 32 I’m not embarrassed anymore that I shoot everything. I’m working hard to create a brand for all aspects of my photography and trying to implement my style into all my assignments. I’m sort of a photography whore if you will, wait that has a negative connotation, call me a photographer who agrees with plural marriage.

Living in a country like Vietnam you have to be versatile because it’s not exactly a news hub. The variety in my assignments has kept me fresh and they all serve a purpose for me both creatively and financially. To give you an idea of how I split my time shooting here is a list of my work for May and June of 2010.

May 8^th-Wedding in Los Angeles, CA

May 15^th-Wedding in Hoi An, Vietnam

May 16^th-Shoot for MTV HIV Awareness Project in Hanoi, Vietnam

May 16^th-Half Day Engagement Shoot Kelvin and Yi Ni, Hanoi, Vietnam

May 17^th-Engagement Shoot Cynthia and Marcus in Hanoi, Vietnam

May 20^th-Commercial Shoot for a global book project in HCMC, Vietnam

May 22^nd-Portrait of Leather Tanning Company CEO for German Magazine in HCMC, Vietnam.

May 25^th-Engagement Shoot Kim and Dennis in Hanoi, Vietnam

May 27^th and 28^th-Shoot for an NGO working with the Bamboo Industry in Mai Chau, Vietnam

June 1^st-Commercial Shoot (rooms, lobby, interiors) for Hanoi Club in Hanoi, Vietnam.

June 6^th, 7^th, 8^th-Assignment for The New York Times Great Homes Section in Chang Mai, Thailand.

June 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th-Assignment for The Dallas Morning News in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

June 14^th, 15^th, 16^th-NGO Shoot for Buckner Orphanage in Ba Vi, Vietnam

June 24^th-Commercial Shoot for Hanoi Club (Exteriors)

June 25th and 26^th- Poh Si and Mayank’s wedding in Penang, Malaysia

June 30^th- Assignment for The New York Times Great Homes Section in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Here is an approximate breakdown of the percentages of income for these 2 months

Weddings and Engagements=45%

*Editorial/NGO’s=35%

Commercial=20%

*If I filed NGO’s under Commercial instead of Editorial the totals would switch significantly.

Weddings www.esianweddingphotography.com

Commercial and Video www.mottvisuals.com

Editorial www.justinmott.com

Fine Art Prints

jmott — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:25:23 +0000

NOW AVAILABLE Editioned fine arts prints from yours truly sold through the Anastasia Gallery in NYC. Have a look: http://www.anastasia-photo.com/artist.php?artist=justin-mott
Please contact them directly for purchasing.

Don’t Forget Your Digital SLR

jmott — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:10:07 +0000

Disclaimer: I admit to either currently owning or at one point in my life possessing a Holga, Leica, and a Hassleblad and I can not confirm or deny allegations that at one point in my life I’ve gaffer taped them all together to create one mega camera.

I think we can all admit the market for photographers is pretty saturated. Overall competition is a good thing, definitely fuels creativity if you are an ambitious person. I think it can also fuel misguided purchases and misguided attempts. It might be a new toning technique, using a vintage camera, tilting the camera, or only shooting with a tilt shift lens. Whatever it is many of us are trying to get our work to stand out.

Maybe you’re the photographer who only uses point and shoot cameras or works exclusively with high grain film or maybe you shoot only with a Holga with one arm tied behind their back. Me personally I’ve started experimenting with shooting a Holga through a Leica and out a trombone using a series of custom made prisms. I have to tweak a few things but it’s almost there.

Before anyone gets sensitive on me I believe in having a unique style that works for each individual or for a specific project. I also believe in experimenting and keeping your work fresh. I have the utmost respect for photographers who can pull off certain techniques and often jealous I didn’t think of it first. While it works sometimes over the past year I’ve been subjected to a lot of really bad project attempts using these novelty techniques so I decided to write about this. I’m seeing more novelty type work and less powerful stories. If you’re not familiar with Brenda Ann Kenneally’s work check it out. It’s powerful and raw without using any gimmicks.

http://www.brendakenneally.com/

I’m not sure who appointed me the Sherrif on this topic but my point is don’t forget your Digital SLR. I’m not saying to give up experimenting, quite the contrary. I just want to remind people not to be ashamed of their normal camera and normal lens, just go take a good snap or tell a good story.

Canon didn’t pay me to write this blog but I will accept their money or sponsorship if they offer.

www.canonusa.com

Busy and Down Time

jmott — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:12:24 +0000

A few months back I posted a lame status update on Facebook saying “Had a hectic week, shot X yesterday, Y today, and flying over to shoot Z (or Zed if you are reading this in Australian or other places that say that) tomorrow. I’m paraphrasing of course and the variables were actually filled in with real assignments. I’m too lazy to go back and find the details, but not too lazy to sit here and type a run on sentence explaining my use of variables in a sentence. Back to my point, a friend of mine who works for a large corporation responded playfully “oh you mean you had to actually work”. I loved that comment because it made me realize how different professional fields perceive one another.

Freelancers in any field can have big swings in work. They have hectic weeks (meaning yes we actually have to work) and boring ones. The office professionals probably see us mid-day lounging at a coffee shop in our casual attire tweeting sip by sip of our coffee and they think of us as slackers. We might also be guilty of over-tweeting, over-blogging, and just general over-updating the world with information that no one gives a shit about. By no means am I’m trying to say our jobs are grueling but we do have our 13-hour days of shooting, editing, and uploading and then repeat. We rarely get a pat on the back or even a digital pat on the back for our work. As for our over updating, well that can come from our lack of a real workplace, camaraderie, and lack of an actual boss. No one really wants a boss but we all crave attention or at least feedback in our work so social media has become a way for us to fill that gap.

As a way for others to understand our kind better I’ve created a pretty honest list of my daily occurrences during the busy and down times as a freelance photographer. I’d like to add that two things inspired this blog post:
1.) My friends playful comment.
2.) A different friend who is a writer told me that she liked my blog when it was more honest and fun and less corporate. Bailey, thanks for your honesty.

During Busy Times

-I haven’t done laundry in weeks and I’m re-wearing shirts with oddly placed salt stains that I try and play off as part of the shirt’s design.

-My camera strap has a potent odor only detectable to the user but inevitably I come across a subject or client who either wants to take my photo or they are just interested in photography. This results in some awkward excuse for them not to use my camera or the awkward moment where the scent reaches their nostrils.

-I mess up relationships

-My passport holder is packed with receipts in different currencies that I am dreading organizing and calculating.

-I find myself at the airport cosmetic store pretending like I’m interested in buying some new cologne but instead just spraying it on myself to cover the scent of a full day of shooting. I even go through the whole charade of looking at the prices and doing the pondering purchase pose. This is a result of many clients these days only being able to afford a day of shooting so I end up going straight from the shoot to the airport.

- I’m buying a $600 Billinghman bag justifying the purchase by categorizing the bag as my “commercial shoot bag.”

-I’m wearing one of my cotton Khmer Kramas frequently. This isn’t a fashion statement, they come in handy as tripods, camera padding, head covers, dust buffers, etc.

-All my wires have some sort of tangle action going on and I think to myself how much I hate wires.

-Find myself in taxis a lot already pissed that the driver might try to rip me off.

-Referring jobs I can’t cover to other photographer friends hoping they do a good job but not that good of a job.

-Overuse my go to shots and overuse 1.4, which a great editor reminded me of.

-Pay $150usd for the second addition of pages to my passport, yes this comment was added to let people know I travel a lot.

-My social media updates are short but I have to remind people of how busy I am.

-Signed into instant messaging, but always invisible doesn’t make any sense I know.

-Part of my packing includes prepping my Adam Carolla, Bill Simmons, and NPR’s Fresh Air podcasts for the travel time.

During Down Times

-I write blogs like this.

-I spend a ridiculous amount of time outside my office at coffee shops bullshitting and complaining about other photographers copying my style or techniques.

-I find stupid excuses to email my agency or editors I’ve worked with before thinking they forgot about me rationalizing the email by telling myself when they receive my email they will in turn give me a glorious assignment. My sincere apologies editors, you know who you are and you probably aren’t reading this.

-I research personal projects and send out email feelers to potential subjects all fired up thinking I’ve got the greatest idea.

-I go back and look through my archive thinking I must have missed some portfolio worthy singles from a shoot ages ago.

-I’m re-toning old photos using new techniques. At first I think I’m on to something special then I eventually decide it’s overdone and realize the original toned photo was better.

-Rip through a whole season of the The Wire in an about a week.

-Google myself way too much.

-Try to make myself feel good about not working the last couple days by calculating the amount of money owed to me from the busy time. I get excited about the number forgetting to recall a good chunk of that money is owed to my travel agent.

-Get annoyed by the whole wire-tangling problem but have more time to ponder a way to fix this problem but obviously I never find a solution.

-I’m entering my wedding photos into competitions.

-Price out Profoto gear for the 20th time.

-Find myself on Skype way too much.

-Have time to look through my accounts receivable and get annoyed at that client that owes me money from 6 months ago while trying to come up with an email with polite tones but aggressive undertones.

-My $2 Khmer Krama is replaced by my $10 silk Khmer Krama and yes this is a fashion statement that says yes I’m a man who perhaps has an artistic side to him.

-Explore Video with my HDSLR

-Hold photo meetings at my office

-Internally debate if Ne-Yo is better than Usher

-Workout, currently trying out P90X to try and get my ass in shape again. Hoping to add this line to my Busy section this year.

-Put together a good stretch of studying Vietnamese with my wonderful teacher Ha only to forget 90% of it during my busy time.

-Stretch to make photo essays out of single images I’ve taken over the years.

-Doubt myself because some other photographer got a gig in the region that I wasn’t asked to shoot, find that photographer and threaten them with a camera-off. Just kidding about the first part.

I encourage other photographers to please add anything I’m missing here in the comment section.
Thanks for reading everyone,
Justin

Poh Si and Mayank’s Wedding-Penang, Malaysia

jmott — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:40:28 +0000

About a month ago I photographed my dear friend Poh Si’s wedding in Malaysia. She was a beautiful bride, so comfortable and natural in front of the camera. I also had the pleasure to meet her husband Mayank for the first time, such a good man and I’m so happy for both of them. I must say the two of them did such a wonderful job in front of the camera that they’ve messed up my whole week because now I have to reorganize my whole portfolio because of all the new images I have from their special day .
I use my Photoshelter account for all my clients for high res downloadable galleries and so clients can easily embed a slideshow online. Here is a selection of my 50 favorites.

Poh Si and Mayank’s Wedding-Photographer’s 50 Edit – Images by Justin Mott

New Look Office

jmott — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:03:56 +0000

A while back I decided to remodel the office part of my studio. Thanks to the help of my friend Nguyen Qui Duc, I have an area I love to work in and we did it all really cheap. Duc knows where to buy everything in Vietnam and has a knack for livening up a boring space. Here is a before and after shot. I still have more to do but for now I’m taking a break.

Giles and Asia’s Wedding-Hoi An

jmott — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:15:31 +0000

Giles and Asia were different than most couples in that they didn’t have a traditional shot list such as cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc. They just wanted coverage of their special day and trusted me to interpret that for the most part how I wanted to.Thank you to Asia and Giles for hiring us on your special day. The ceremony was quick and the party was long and all in all we had a great time. Here is a selection of my favorite images from the shoot. I’m playing around with some different toning techniques so some of the images are a bit different than my normal style.

On a side note Niek(my intern) did a fantastic job complementing my style very well. Once Niek posts some of his shots on his blog(I’m pushing him to blog more) than I will put up a link.