Comments on: Location is Everything!

By: ChrisFACE

ChrisFACE — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:43:03 +0000

This is post has brought me back down to earth real fast. I was born in NYC and lived there my whole life, except for the few years I lived in Buffalo, NY for College, (or should I say for partying) but as much as I love NYC for being the center of the world, and as much as I LOVE fashion, I hated, ABSOLUTY HATED the work to pay rent mentality.

From my observations the average person cant enjoy themselves unless they are young, single, no children and dont mind having room mates. I wasnt interested in eating out everynight, being out till 2am, drinking with my fabulous friends and waking up 1, 5, 10 years later making a few thousand more in salary, being at my 4th job, and finally graduating to my own apt at 30.

So what did I do? Moved with my wife and 2 kids to Los Angeles. LMFAO. Yes I know. I step backward, but my wife had family out here and she brought into the movies and TV shows. She thought we’d be at the beach everyday and drive around in a convertable and life would be easy breezy after that.

Now after a year of realizing these big cities were career ambition and keeping up with the Joneses produce people with radically different values than we hold, might not be the place for us. So we are preparing to move to a smaller market. A suburb of Dallas Tx. Unfortunately for me, I decided Irecently I wanted to be a fashion photographer because its a mesh of my loves… fashion (which I’ve illustrated and designed for over 10 years – not professionally) and photography which I picked up as a hobby and fell inlove.

So after reading this blog post I have to say my bubble has officially been burst!

Thank you for your honesty. Time to go back to the drawing board.

By: Cliff Makhoul

Cliff Makhoul — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:27:22 +0000

i have bin reading some of ur posts now, i even took one of ur advices, for the how to start, and i talked to one of the agencies we have in town. about this post in particular, well i have to admit u are so right, 1 thing though i live in Lebanon. not Lebanon USA, but Lebanon the country in the middle east. lol

By: Yachin Parham

Yachin Parham — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:31:08 +0000

You are so right in this statement. I live in Miami and yes it is a beautiful place but the opportunities for fashion are slim (higher than coon rapids but slim). I remember watching a day at the beach photoshoot that you did and I was inspired to do my own version when I first started and trust me not a 25% as good as yours…lol but it was then that I knew fashion was my thing (1 1/2 yrs ago).

Thank You and BTW your work fucking rocks!

By: nick grove

nick grove — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 08:20:57 +0000

Great article. I think everybody looking to start a career in fashion photography should look at this. In fact, anybody wanting to start any career should look at this. It takes guts, big decisions, and commitment. If you want it bad enough it will happen, you just have to do all you can to make it so. I’ll be back for more…

By: maria

maria — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:39:41 +0000

A photographer may not make high end fashion photography in the mid west but yes you can be a photographer in a working studio in the midwest. Chicago has 5-7+ studios, Wisconsin holds about 5-7+ photography studios, and if your looking for a steady gig in Columbus, Oh. There are about 3-4+ photo studios. A lot of corporate companies are shooting in house therefore studios are now all through out the U.S. and not just L.A. and N.Y.C. Its cheaper for corporate companies to have studios not located in L.A. or N.Y.C

By: Sabrina

Sabrina — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:51:22 +0000

I love your writing style! You’re very candid and humorous! No wonder you have a lot of readers!

But, really? Some of them have the nerve to try and filch your clients? Geez, talk about a squat sense of dignity!

By: Photography by Pshemek

Photography by Pshemek — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:56:25 +0000

I would love to move to fashion photography.

By: Eric Graf

Eric Graf — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:32:26 +0000

Moving to where your market opportunities are is a no brainer if you are serious about your craft.

But I hope that sacrificing personal relationships on the altar of ambition is not a criterion for success.

We all have to make choices, and everyone is in different life situations. But putting self and career above all else is not something we should applaud.

By: Nick Lovell

Nick Lovell — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:01:46 +0000

Hey there! I had a brief conversation with someone in the business today and she took it one step further. I live in L.A., but she said there isn’t a market for what type of photography I’m into (specifically I told her my passion lies in men’s formalwear, fragrance and underwear). She said that all the fashion work is in New York, and I should consider leaving L.A. for NYC if I really wanted to “make it” (a term which I realize can mean any number of things, but for lack of a better term…). Now, I’m not nearly at the point in my career where I should consider uprooting myself to change coasts. My portfolio needs some work first. However, do you feel there is truth to needing to be in NYC? I mean, obviously you do quite well for yourself out here, but do you feel at a disadvantage being in L.A. vs New York? Thanks as always for your time!

By: wayne johns

wayne johns — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:41:38 +0000

Hey Melissa,

I love your honesty and bluntness in your facts and descriptions about being a professional photographer in this world….makes me smile, all the way over here in London, every time I read one of your posts…The truth as it is and as it should be…. Keep them coming.

Next time you are over here in London, please get in touch, would be great to take you for dinner and laugh about giving our soul to the world in the form of our images. lol. You can find my details on my web.

Love your die hard commitment and no bullshit!