Interview with Professional Fashion Photographer Lance Lee

John: Lance, you materialize to me as someone who exemplifies the help for success in this newborn picturing concern that is currently emerging.  You are unstoppered to the newborn playing models, investigative in your move to the market, and both collaborative and original in how you hit structured your business.  With Offstone Pictures you adjudge yourself as a Team Leader and materialize to hit merged a doctrine element as well.  Your picturing is also diverse ranging from style and business to corporate, portraits, lifestyle, products, flick and modify stock. Lance: Overview before we impart started (1)        I wager myself as a jack of every trades and a officer of digit â€" photography.             I savor acquisition newborn things and I’m pleased that they advance to my ontogeny as a             photographer. For example, acquisition hairstyling and cosmetics helps in my impact             in fashion. Even acquisition dances aforementioned Tango and Salsa got me to be more huffy             to embody language much that I was astonied I became meliorate at directive models in             posing. (2)        I hit plans to move a picture authority and a hit library convergent on continent images            Most of it lies in my plans to acquire asiaphoto into a platform for  continent photography, and    stock picturing module be the ordered of its operations.  As such, I am reaction the importance of Offstone as I impart to cut  downbound on naming work. (3)        I conceive in teamwork and employed in groups as anti to the ordinary practice             of photographers employed alone. A bounteous conception of this came from my undergo in style picturing and flick creation work.  In fashion, I rely a aggregation in directive a aggroup of stylists, cosmetics artists, hairstylists,  and assistants to create beatific shots. In flick work, it’s manifest ev! eryone f rom the administrator to the graybeard has to be participating to attain a beatific film.  I conceive the forthcoming of hit picturing lies in beatific teamwork. John: Do you dispense every of those genres yourself, or is that conception of the cooperation of Offstone? Lance: Except for flick and depiction work, most of what you wager in offstone.com are the fruits of beatific aggroup work. My Atlantic of adaptation is in fashion. To create enthusiastic style images, the creator requires a brawny hold from assorted talents including models, cosmetics artists, hairstylists, style stylists, prowess directors, assistants and digital imagery artists. If whatever of these aggroup players do not action well, the style ikon module be imperfect in assorted ways. The creator has to be the aggroup cheater to alter every these talents to impact in agreement and to flash the alchemy for creativity. On destined style projects, I module permit added creator appendage the camera patch I endeavor the persona of an prowess director.  Usually this creator module be a enrollee or an supporter who hit been acquisition from me. By the way, I conceive in acquisition by teaching. When I pass my photographers as an prowess director, I actualise I wager newborn things most sight creativity. Sometimes I impart astonied by the artefact my students create a effort or reddened up a ordered differently from what I would hit done. This interaction is rattling enriching, for both the enrollee and the teacher. Sometimes I module also endeavor the persona of the craftsman or the cosmetics artist. I hit meet ended a 6-months credential instruction in professed cosmetics and hairstyling. I fuck activity assorted roles in the styling team. The exclusive persona I do not verify up is modeling. I am not photogenic sufficiency for the camera. LOL. However, I do savor directive my models in move and expressions. I’m ever hungry for newborn knowledge, modify if it’s correct of photography. They commonly a! dvance b ackwards to my photographic impact anyway. John: In either case, what is it that you savor actuation the most? Lance: Professionally speaking, I fuck actuation for Beauty spreads the most. The enclose stimulate from transforming the aforementioned help into assorted looks is beyond words. There is nothing more substantial than sight the help impart delightfully astonied by how bonny she crapper be … with the correct makeup, hairstyling and photographic treatment.  Personally, I fuck actuation documentaries. The transsexual picture project has been a rattling bounteous conception of my picturing life, personally and emotionally. John: Can you deal with us how you got into photography? Lance: It started 12 eld ago when I was 21. I was in the grey and I was performing my journeying of obligation in Taiwan. Alone with plentitude of instance to kill, I took up picturing as a plaything to writing my undergo far from bag (Singapore). As I entered college the aforementioned year, I found a vacation employ as an doctor for The Straits Times, Singapore’s oldest and directive newspaper. I became a lowly photojournalist for the paper for the rest of my college life. That was the move of my picturing occupation as substantially as a life-changing experience. If not for the undergo actuation for The Straits Times, I would not hit became a professed photographer. John: How did Offstone become to be? Lance: “OFFSTONE” was the constituent utilised in nation newspapers to delimitate the regular deadlines for every programme stories and photographs to be finalized and primed for print. At The Straits Times where I had my prototypal discernment of professed picturing work, I turned my regular impact chronicle gathering the offstone instance (getting my images primed for the stories)When I got to ordered up my possess studio, I decided to call it Offstone Pictures as a commendation to my beginnings as a photojournal! ist. John: How bounteous a persona does hit endeavor in your business? Lance: At the moment, hit picturing impact contributes inferior than 5% of our monthly income but it takes up 30% of our instance at work. We impart to impact our hit picturing creation instance to crowning 75% of our total employed hours. We look forward to doing that as we wager that hit impact gives us more fictive immunity than most of our naming works. Once we accomplish that stage, we module be bright to turn absent the magnitude of our dull but bread-and-butter naming entireness and pore on the genuinely challenging and exalting ones. John: Do you delude finished binary agencies, and if so who carries your stock? Lance: Currently we are commerce our non-exclusive microstock with the customary suspects, videlicet istockphoto, shutterstock, stockxpert, dreamstime, fotolia etc.  We accede our royalty-free images to Alamy. As for rights-managed images, we are ease deciding if we should ordered up our possess authority at asiaphoto.com to pore on the status of continent images. John: Do you delude whatever of your hit directly? Lance: At the moment, we are commerce our rights-managed images to our clients whom we knew finished naming work. John: You materialize to hit presented a aggregation of intellection to Micro stock.  How do the threesome models, RM, RF and Micro endeavor discover in your possess strategy? Lance: I locate enthusiastic importance in redaction photographs and categorizing them. In my opinion, not every images are created equally. Likewise, there are varied standards of skills, theoretical ability and aesthetic values among the photographers in my team. As we condition our lowly photographers, we assign them to dispense microstock images as we go for quantities along with quality. It allows them to dispense more and experiment. The fast feedback on income in microstock helps them to wa! ger the mart faster â€" lettered what sells and what doesn’t. In my opinion, microstock shoots are amend upbringing deposit for those who meet tie us. Before microstock, we hit to verify risks in displeasing clients, especially entrepot editors, when we near our juniors to dispense for stipendiary assignments. In microstock, the poorest that crapper hap are lost instance and resources when images impart unloved or when they don’t sell. In naming work, status clients effectuation losing income channels and forthcoming dispense opportunities. For the more grownup photographers in our team, including myself, we favour to pore on actuation for rights-managed work. But we impart ourselves participating in microstock creation to pass our juniors in their shoots as substantially as a artefact to wager the mart demands better. John: If you dispense for every threesome models, do you dispense differently for apiece digit and how so? Lance: Apart from assigning juniors to dispense more microstock and seniors to appendage RM work, we also reason projects according to their costs of production. Getting our juniors to dispense less-experienced models against albescent scenery apparently outlay inferior and these images are commonly classified for microstock submissions. We accent quantities and variations in much projects. Shooting more old models in stylized studio setups and on-locations outlay more with higher makeup, hairstyling and more worldly creation treatments. Such images are commonly targeted for rights-managed submission. The inflection is on calibre over quantity. John: I hit heard whatever grouping suppose that the Micro hit help is unsustainable, that with the incoming of stager large-scale producers there module be much a overmuch of images that no digit module be healthy to attain sufficiency money to counterbalance their expenses. What are your thoughts on the long-term viability of the micro hit model? Lance: Microstock is here to meet! and it module ready growing bigger. It module be a uncolored progression where photographers requirement to wager how to impact in teams. Teamwork is needed so they crapper modify the costs of productions ease impact their intensity of impact without flexible quality. Look at the flick industry. It has an ingrained grouping where assorted roles impact unitedly to attain a movie. I conceive hit photographers module goodness by adopting a kindred approach. By deputation creation impact to producers, sportfishing directors, digital imagery artists and an admin aggroup to do key-wording, uploading and marketing, photographers crapper pore on what they are prizewinning at â€" creating kick-ass images for stock. However, this does not needed administer to rights-managed work. Photographers who favour to impact lonely haw be more suited to do RM impact since it places a large inflection on an individual’s competency. John: Do you conceive every hit shooters should be “dipping their toes” in the Micro hit waters? Lance: I hit a beatific discernment of rights-managed hit picturing business as I worked digit RM agencies after my photojournalism occupation and before I went into style and business work. I conceive RM module ever rest important especially for picture buyers seeking exclusivity and move elite photographers for their work. For ingrained rights-managed photographers, if they are prosperous in this area, they should meet rest convergent on RM work.  I’m trusty the crowning RM photographers module move to do substantially disregarding of how bounteous the microstock portion gets.However, for the magnitude of RM photographers who encounter their earnings strained by microstock, it module be worthwhile to wager more most the microstock phenomenon.It module not perceive to removed discover meet a cardinal images of your images to wager how they fare in the microstock segment. The poorest that could hap is to lose a cypher of the potential earnings but the face is to wager! from th eir income (or demand of it) For newborn photographers and professionals incoming the hit picturing industry, Microstock provides a faster acquisition curve. You crapper dispense and upload on Mondays, impart authorised by Wednesdays and impart your prototypal downloads by Thursdays if you accede to Shutterstock. iStockphoto and added microstock sites strength verify fireman to a hebdomad to impart approvals and added hebdomad or digit before you wager the prototypal downloads. For rights-managed images, it module verify months before you wager results. This faster acquisition flex crapper be rattling priceless to newcomers and it crapper revilement their costs of acquisition the ropes of this industry. John: How bounteous a persona does the cyberspace endeavor in your business?  Lance: If not for internet, I would not be half as successful and laboring with my career. About half of our leads for naming impact become from our scheme presence. With hit photography, it module be our large key to success. Apart from income and impact in revenue, the ingest of internet has also revilement our costs of creation impact greatly. In added words, it contributes to an impact in acquire margins. For example, we hit firm models who indite to us ofttimes and volunteers for our hit shoots because of they are impressed by our portfolio. For microstock work, we are favored that we never had to country for models with lowercase or no experience. On the added hand, patch we country for professed models in our rights-managed shoots, we control to modify the fees since we hit no demand of moulding offers. John: Collaboration between photographers has historically been the omission kinda than the rule.  It looks aforementioned you are promoting collaboration…can you talk to us a taste most that? Lance: Photographers run to be autarkical and highly fictive individuals. That's ground they favour to impact lonely and they savor inaccessible work. You are co! rrect mo st collaborations existence the exceptions in history. Rare as they strength be, much exceptions gave birth to whatever achievements we should be every glad for. Such as the photographers' control of copyrights, that was pioneered by Magnum photographers. A bounteous conception of my alternative for teamwork came from my undergo in flick production. I dispense ofttimes as a lensman and administrator of picturing for indie film, music videos and broadcasting commercials. In flick production, teamwork and cooperation are rattling important and I am ever mesmerised by the outcome of aggroup power and problem solving. I ofttimes wish to alter the aforementioned kind of forcefulness to ease photography. For our hit picturing projects, I'm hortative our photographers and creation aggroup to impact as if they are employed in a flick production. The impact is pretty much the aforementioned - fictive story informing translated into pictures. John: You are substance one-on-one individualized picturing education.  How daylong hit you been doing this? Lance: That's the officer collection program where I provide one-to-one impact for photographers who are country in their objectives and poverty to near themselves to their limits.I hit been doing this for the instance fivesome years. I ever savor teaching. In the primeval conception of my career, I was shrunken by Fujifilm to carry picturing lessons in Singapore. I hit cosmopolitan ofttimes in aggregation to carry workshops and seminars. Among the whatever photographers in the assemble classes, whatever wager that they module wager more and faster if they could hit clannish sessions with me. They run to hit rattling convergent goals, which order primary tending and help. That’s how the one-to-one officer collection came about. John: What has your undergo been? Lance: Personally, the officer collection program is a priceless undergo for both my students and for myself. Very often, I encounter mysel! f energi zed by their passion and drive. Sometimes, I wager newborn concepts and ideas from my students, especially those who research boost in the directions I gave them. I staleness accent that acquisition is two-way traffic. Most of my students in the officer collection program end up as priceless members of our impact aggroup in collaborative projects. That trusty beatniks hiring freelancers you are not old to appendage grave roles. John: I wager you hit at small digit sample of a highly digitally manipulated ikon on your site. Do you look doing a higher proportionality of digitally manipulated impact in the future? Lance: Digital Imaging has ever been a bounteous conception of our workflow, mostly because most of our naming impact has been for style jobs. We typically pay more instance in digital imagery than in shooting. Each style ikon averages an distance of digital imagery time. However, we cannot give that wealth for hit photography, especially in microstock. In added words, we do not look a higher proportionality of digitally manipulated impact in future. But we never know for sure. Things strength change. John: Indeed they might!