Need help getting started shooting product for companies...

[Deadlight]

Hey everyone, I'm a (not so) recent graduate as of July 2008 of photography, and while my work is outstanding i can't seem to get any work. I don't know if i'm doing the right things, or if i'm talking to the wrong people, or if it's just the economy. But i can't seem to get ANY paid photo work.

I've seen alot of people on here talking about receiving items from a company and shooting them, then returning the items with pictures of what they want and i really want to try to do this because it would work with my current schdule at my crap job, help me gain some experience, and also give me some extra money on the side.

Any help is appreciated.. also if you'd like to see any of my work:

Flickr: Doug Hucker's Photostream

As you can see i shoot a little bit of everything and am open to other ideas any of you may have as well

 

[Blank]

Commercial and Catalogue photography is a hard market to get into. With so many stock and micro stock agencies on the internet, a travel agent company hiring a photographer for a desert island photoshoot for a campaign is over. The travel agent company goes to a stock site, picks an image off there with a Royalty Free license and uses that image for 10,000 copies of a flier or a low resolution image they bought for $1 for an internet advertising campaign. Catalogue work is just as tough. Your portfolio has to contain a pretty extensive history for them to even consider you. Secondly, unless a new product comes out, companies already have their own product images they regenarate for a new ad.

I looked at your Flickr page and your modelling shots were pretty good. I can assume you have a good idea of lighting and posing models. To generate interest in you as a photographer, I would keep building your portfolio and branch out to Model Mayhem or similar to gain broader exposure.

Not that I'm saying commercial photography should be abandoned, you will generate income quicker if you start out with another genre and build experince and reputation that way.

Like most of us, there will be dry starts and dry spells throughout your career, talent and getting your work out there is the first thing in generating interest from Joe Public, also, in my opinion, the artsy smoke photo's should not be part of a photographic portfolio. I can create the same effect with smoke brushes and color adjustment in CS3.

There could be multiple reasons why you haven't got a paying gig yet. How and what service are you offering, what's your prices, what market are you approaching, are you approaching the right people, do you have a good attitude, are your prices at market value, etc, etc.

 

[MelodySoul]

Maybe the fact that you shoot a little bit of everything is part of the problem, not having a genre makes it hard to get work. You need to find something you love and keep at it until you have a portfolio that reflects that. Also having an ego won't help, I think your work is good but I wouldn't call it outstanding.