What Was The Best Business Advice You Were Ever Given?

We asked 11 visual-media-industry professionals what was the best bit of industry advice they had ever received. This is what they said:

cheryl newman portrait Cheryl Newman - Ex-editor, Writer and Photography Consultant - Think smart, have the courage to believe in your vision and don’t go home at 6:00pm.
Full interview here.

antonio olmos portrait Antonio Olmos - Documentary Photographer - If you are surrounded by other photographers you are probably in the wrong place.
Full interview here.



danny cooke portrait Danny Cooke - Filmmaker - Always keep making content.
Full interview here.

liz allen portrait Liz Allen - Documentary Filmmaker - Someone once said to me to if I could make humour out of poverty (but not in a patronizing or voyeuristic way) then I was doing a good job.
Full interview here.

nicolas goodden portrait Nicolas Goodden - Street Photographer - Mistakes happen, it’s what you learn from them that matters.
Full interview here.

graham watson portrait Graham Watson - Cycling Photographer - "Take just one image but make it the best image you can take". My first-ever/only boss taught me how to shoot on a half-plate wooden Kodak camera in 1972, we used giant black and white film that was loaded into a sheath, each sheath was one-shot only, and we then had to change sheaths for a new sheet of film. In total, I'd shoot six portraits of a client in one sitting, no more, and each of those six shots had to be good - or else! Even today, when we can shoot 11 frames-per-second, that same advice counts, one great image is better than ten ordinary images. I was also taught how to know when to press the shutter, when the moment was right, when the subject was looking at his or her best. This applies so much with cyclists, for they only want to be seen at their very best.
Full interview here.

phil o'brien portrait Phil O'Brien - Founder of Empics Sports Photo Agency - Navigate the river of cash! We nearly ran aground a few times but just stayed off the rocks!
Full interview here.

anna gray portrait Anna Gray - Owner of Model Students Model Agency - Alan Garcia who was one of the first people who booked our models in our first year he runs an extreme clothing company. He said you don’t have to mean to be in business. There’s this idea you have to be hard and aggressive but you don’t. Be yourself and be nice and you’ll attract other good people to work with.
Full interview here.

tim gander portrait Tim Gander - Commercial Photographer - "Fill the bloody frame!" The picture editor at The Bath Chronicle screamed these words into my face the first few times I came back from jobs with images which were too compositionally loose for newspaper use. I needed to tighten up my composition and learn to tell a story within the frame. I’ve kept that simple lesson with me for 25 years now.
Full interview here.

mohamad itani portrait Mohamad Itani - Book Cover Photographer - You are never going to be the best photographer, keep trying to improve.
Full interview here.

john lund portrait John Lund - Conceptual Stock Photographer - It's not a $5,000.00 shoot...it is a $100,000.00 relationship.
Full interview here.



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