I am interested to hear how you display or advertise work. Is it the type of work you want to shoot or do you shoot what people seem to want? Do you believe as is often said, do what you love and you will find the audience for your work? (paraphrasing! lol)


Honestly, I don't advertise...outside of that I consider shooting the Dog Show as 'advertising.' Last year, we had an article with the Chicago Tribune that was picked up in several regional papers as a result of the show. It did nothing for sales, LOL, but I think it does get the word out.

The advertising I DO do is made up of displays. For example, I have two pet shops and a veterinary clinic that is featuring our photographing work here in the City. Most of my business comes from the veterinary clinic.

We also do really (really) well on google searches. I blame that on Chanthee and active key wording.


2. Animal show photographers seem to be jockeying for position and have contracts that exclude anyone else from shooting. Do you feel your work is unique enough to stand out? Is competition good or bad for your business?

Well, what we do is certainly different for SHOW photography...no question about that. I find most show photography to be not that good and people who do it well are worth a mint (aka folks like Jim). People come to me at the show with what appear to be really cruddy ring shots that none of them are happy with. We have a good business taking their ribbons and photographing the dog with them properly.

As to 'what separates me from the other dog photographers in NYC' I think one major thing is that I shoot mostly studio lighting. It attracts a distinctive customer who wants something 'different than a dog in the park.' That is not to say that dog in park photos cannot be completely awesome - they are just different. Your need to know how to use lights properly is key, and I think a lot of 'digital era' photographers still don't really get what they are doing beyond composition. My gut feeling is that folks who don't know how to generate their own light will be put out of business by consumers who couldn't care less about quality with their iPhones over the coming years (I am waiting for the after-burn on that one).

James