Work Placements/Assistants

Due to the nature of Emma's business she has no need for assistants and cannot take on students for work experience. Emma's clients require total privacy, therefore she and the stylist are the only people present in photo shoots.

All retouching/digital art is undertaken by Emma because this is an extension of her original photographic view for her clients and she knows what she wants to achieve.

Jobs

It is very unlikely that Emma will be advertising for or in need of photographers, assistants or image editors and due to the amount of emails and CV's she now receives, she cannot reply to them all.

Help for photographers - www.greatsampleresume.com/Photographer-Career

Interviews For Student Coursework

Again, Emma receives a huge amount of interview questions from students for their coursework and it is becoming impossible to reply to them all and do her job. Therefore she has picked out the most popular questions asked and below is an interview by her for students to use in their coursework -

Can you tell me about your work in a little detail how you work and what equipment you use?

I undertake boudoir, glamour and burlesque photography. I operate form my studio that I've built a variety of sets in. I photograph with Canon cameras and lenses and use Bowens lighting and modifiers.

How do you see your field of work within the modern society?

Boudoir is becoming more popular amongst today's women with the majority doing it as a wedding, birthday or anniversary gift and others requiring a keepsake or for use on their promotional websites. People are far more aware of their bodies today and like to have a record of how they looked before having children or as a confidence boost.  

In your field of work airbrushing is commonly used, how do you feel about airbrushing photographs?

Airbrushing/retouching is asked for by all of my clients. Each have a different requirement and level of which they want me to apply. I myself have no problem with retouching photos to remove eye bags, blemishes and correct ill fitting lingerie etc but I don't like altering peoples body shape because people feel they should be slimmer or have bigger assets. However, I will never say no, what the clients want is what they get because they are paying me to do so. I sometimes compare the situation to a hairdressers; not all will want to bleach a perfectly healthy head of hair and make it weak, brittle and irreversible but we pay them to do what we want not for their opinion.  

What education have you had before becoming a professional photographer?

I have an A Level in photography, a HND in photography, GNVQ Adv in art and design, qualifications in business studies, life drawing, desktop publishing, graphics, fashion and 3D.  

What were you main influences when you were starting out, did you have set backs?

I didn't really have any influences I can think of but the set backs were lack of money, available assisting positions and not being able to drive.  

Do you think that your past had influenced and shaped the work that your doing today?  

Even as a child I have always been into art and creating rather than writing so I suppose it has.

Is this field of photography always were you saw yourself or did you have other ideas of what you wanted to do?

I wanted to photograph everything and everything when leaving college. The main aim was to start earning in the field I had qualified in. I tired my hand a gift ware, wedding, portrait, landscape, abstracts, fashion, actors head shots, band photography and then had a large request for lingerie/boudoir style. I have always been interested in the figure so I decided to work more in that area while applying my other interest... anything vintage! I discovered that no one was offering this vintage & opulent boudoir style at the time so I had a niche for a while. It then became very popular.  

Your work is focused on every day to day females, why do you think that they want to have something like this done and do you think they go away with what they were hoping to gain from the experience?

As answered in another question above, the majority are having the photos taken for wedding, birthday or anniversary gifts and others requiring a keepsake or for use on their promotional websites. The emails I receive after the shoots are over and before they've even seen their images are always very positive and thanking myself and the stylist for a great time. People arrive very nervous and leave like a bubble of air, light bouncy and with a renewed confidence. When it comes to my clients viewing their images, I don't think they can quite believe how good they look and most have difficulty choosing which photos to have!  

Is there any photographers work that really grabs you attention and inspirers you?

No I have never really been inspired by photographers. I try not to look at others photographers work because I don't want to be influenced in any way to reproduce or use others ideas. Instead I take more inspiration from every day life, music, TV and film, dreams, emotions and truly inspirational people like my family.  

Is there a price of work that you have produce that you are especially proud of?

I feel really proud of all my work. Every photo and piece is individual to me because clients are different, requirements are different and so are the personalities I capture in them. I try to display as many images as possible on my website to show that I don't have 10 shots of my best work of the most photogenic people, all the photos I produce are the same standard and of a variety of different ladies, shapes, sizes and atmosphere.   I really can't choose a favourite.

How do you keep motivated?

I am a positive person, I am bubbly and happy by nature which is very motivating by itself. No one is going to do it for me, there is only me that can fulfill my dreams so no point waiting about, I simply get stuck in.

Another huge motivation is how happy I can make people with the type of photography I offer. There is nothing better than being able to change a persons downtrodden opinion of themselves and help confidence return which really does benefit peoples relationships.

Obviously photography is something that is constantly changing, how do you feel that your field of photography has changed over the years?

I have been undertaking photography professionally since 2003 and boudoir since March 2007 I would say boudoir photography become more popular due to a variety of factors. One being the downfall in bookings for other types of photography like weddings and portraits.  

Is there anything that you have had to sacrifice for your career?

Lots. My social life, everything I have ever earned and probably will for the next 10 years, time with my family and partner, time for myself for even the simplest of things and my health. Having a business that you give everything to is like having children, costly, time consuming, exhausting but totally fulfilling! I wouldn't change it for anything.  

You have built up your own business, how did you go about that and how do you handle the business side of things?

My business has simply built up over time, bit by bit, piece by piece. There is no straight forward, "I did this and I did that", you simply take it as it comes and try to offer more, bigger and better and finally one day you may stop building. I'm still building and I don't think I will ever let myself stop.

Is there any advice that you can give to a starting out photographer?

I get asked this question over and over again so I have a standard list of Missy pointers. However, it is aimed at boudoir photography but a lot can be applied to photography in general.

Some of Emma's pointers mentioned above were featured in Photo Pro Magazine, December 2008 Edition. Interview and advice written by and © Emma Jones