the corporate version talks about my time with three of the most powerful lawyers in south florida and the hurdles i had to overcome while making their portraits. it goes on to explain how those hurdles make me a better photographer.

you can view my corporate newsletter here.

i also released my newsletter that caters more to my sports clients. in it i talk about a recent shoot with some of south florida’s best female ballers. they were a ton of fun to shoot.

you can view my sports newsletter here.

both newsletters also mention my new portrait magazine. it features some of my newest work and is available for sale on magcloud.com.

to view my magazine on line click here.

if you would like to receive my newsletters in the future you can do so by signing up here.

enjoy!!!!

but seriously. when i was an up and comer, i still feel like i have a lot to learn so don’t take what i am saying in the wrong way, i was eager to learn. i would listen to anything and everything that anyone had to say. i would like to think that i was humble and while this post may make me sound like i have a huge ego, i don’t. i still feel like i am a humble guy. that all stems from where i came from. both as a human being and as a photographer. professionally i respect those who have come before me. they not only paved the way for what i get to do to make a living, but they have a ton of knowledge that i can learn from since they were the trail blazers. they talk, i listen. it’s that simple. now i may not always apply what they have to say, but i would never become argumentative or refute what they are saying. why are some of the newer shooters today finding that premise so hard to grasp?

case in point i recently have been discussing the importance of having a well constructed book with a younger shooter. that photographer’s idea is that a website is the best way to show work bar none. the web allows them to show off their images and multimedia to editors and allows them to make updates really quickly. now while i agree with that premise we all know that website is only the first step in getting the attention of editors we want to work for. my response was that having a book that is tailored to your client is imperative this day in age. your website is more than likely to be more of a catch all space for images that appeal to a wider audience. i wouldn’t show the same book to time magazine as i would an advertising agency or a newspaper. while most of the images in my book would be on my site the book would definitely include images that have not been seen and have a different feel to it than my online portfolio. just so we are all clear i think a book can be the traditional bound portfolio, or an ipad, or a magcloud magazine, or a myriad of other possibilities. the point is that your website should not be the only way you are showing your images. especially when you are face to face with an editor.

the young shooter’s response? well let’s just say i was shot down at every turn. i was questioned about who i was implying that i didn’t know what i was talking about. i was met with a defensive tone in every response i received. despite the defensive tone in the conversation i was told that they were looking to have a discussion and learn about the business. well if that is the case how can you learn if you are constantly shooting down everything you are being told? i am all for asking questions that generate a deeper discussion on a topic, but when it goes from asking intelligent questions to being told that my way is wrong and i am missing the point i have to call bs. set aside your ego. your pictures aren’t s good as you think they are. none of our images are. you don’t know everything. none of us do. take a step back and realize that you can learn a lot from our little community. the older shooters know a lot. some younger shooters have some pretty cool ideas of their own. if we all work together then we all will learn together. the only way that will happen though is if you check your ego at the door.

as a wish photographer once said…..

dear young photographer, self-entitlement is an ugly phase. Hope you grow out of it soon. the only thing you’re entitled to is working hard.

amen to that!!

tempestt was featured on an episode of  “my strange addiction” which sparked the editor’s interest. the goal was to get some images of her eating the soap and looking sad. after a few brainstorming sessions where i voiced some concerns about making images that put the subject into a situation where she could be made fun of, the editor and i agreed that we would get a variety of images of her eating the soap so we had some options to choose from as far of as the tone of the photos went.

upon arriving at the henderson home i spent about 20 minutes chatting with tempestt about what the editor was hoping for. i could immediatly tell that she was apprehensive, so i decided to dig a little deeper to see what her concerns were. i found out that she had been seeking therapy to help quit her strange cravings for the soap. because of the therapy she had not eaten anything in several weeks. i also found out that she was not sad about any of the circumstances surrounding her addiction to soap. this put me in a pickle. on one hand i had an editor who had some very specific ideas as to what was needed, and on the other i had a subject who did not fit into any of those ideas anymore.

so the question is…. what do you do when an editor wants an certain type of image of a real person for a true story, but shooting that image would not only be a lie of sorts but also compromise the subject in some way? well i can tell you what i decided to do. i truly believe that we as photographers have an obligation to the subjects we shoot. they need to be respected and treated fairly. we can not take advantage of them in any way for any reason. we are already taking a lot from them by putting them in front of a camera and asking them to bare their souls. how can we expect them to trust us if we don’t respect them and their situations? we also have an obligation to the people and the companies who hire us. they are paying us to deliver a product in the manner that THEY see fit. they are the ones who decide how the images will be used, and they are the ones who will keep us as photographers in business. ideally these two side will meet in the middle. both the subject and our clients will be on the same page and a have a mutual respect for one another and the final product will reflect that. however every once in a while something happens, as it did in this case, and both sides misunderstand each other. it is our job as the liaison to smooth over the rough edges. we need to put the subject at ease while still getting what the client wants. that being said i do believe that any changes that need to be made should be made by both the photographer and the client, not the subject. and that is what happened in this case. i called the editor and explained what the issues were. the fact that the subject didn’t eat soap anymore, and that she really wasn’t a sad person, and that she didn’t want to be gawked at were discussed over the phone with the editor. we decided to have the subject fake it. she would pretend that she was eating the items instead of relapsing and messing up the progress she had made through therapy. instead of being said we decided to make her look like a little girl eating an ice cream cone. that way she would look happy and she would be the one making fun of herself before any one viewing the images could make fun of her.

in the end i felt good, because tempestt was happy and the editor was satisfied. i was definitely reminded that having conversations with everyone involved is key to keeping the clients happy while showing all the respect in the world to my subjects. now if i could just have more control over the image usage

here is what we ended up with.

click to view more of my portraiture work or my website.

i chatted with the subject and here is what we decided on….

and here is how it ran…

click to view more of my corporate portraiture work or my website.

my shoots in late august for lawdragon were just that kind of situation. i was hired to shoot 3 lawyers and was asked to shoot them in a non lawyer situation. basically the goal was to shoot them somewhere other than in their office, a law library, or a court room. the editor really wanted some dramatic lighting that created an image where the subject looked powerful.

i must say that when i arrived at each location i was less than thrilled. i shot one lawyer at his his home, and while it was very nice, visually it left a lot to be desired. thank god mother nature came through with a nice beam of light on his front porch. the second lawyer was a bit easier given that the lobby of his building had a huge granite wall, but the building management got a little testy even though they had been notified about the shoot and gave permission for it to happen. after smoothing over  things with management the shoot went off with a hitch. the last lawyer had a great office, but the location was extremely small. it took a lot of adjusting to keep lights and cords out of the shot while i shot over a reception desk.

in the end i realized that being in these types of situations makes me shine. while i love having assignments that go off with out a hitch, i have found that i grow as a photographer during the less than ideal shoots. they force me to think. i have to ask myself where the picture “is”. what do i need to do to make a great image under these circumstances? more often than not i am happier with the results from the  so called “bad” situations. they may make my blood pressure rise, but they also elevate my skills.

click to view more of my “corporate portraiture” work or “my website”.

most of us would consider these sales people to be the lowest of the low. equal to the used car salesman. they have nothing to contribute to society but to bilk us out of our paychecks. and who knows in some cases you may be right. i can say, however, that anthony sullivan is different. i had the pleasure of meeting mr. sullivan during a shoot at his studios in tampa, fla for the financial times. i spent about 4 hours, including the interview, with him and i can safely say he is an energetic, caring, sentimental, loyal guy. he spoke fondly about his roots as a young salesman who had to sleep in the back of a van on top of the products he was selling just to make next to nothing. he proudly stated that he would never sell any product unless it worked as promised and could be sold for a price that everyone could afford. the single most important thing he wanted to get across during his interview was what his friendship/rivalry with the late billy mays meant to him. on almost every wall in his studios was some memento of billy. there was a small statue of a thumbs up in the lobby, billy was known for giving a thumbs up in his pitches. there were paintings, stickers, and even clothing that billy had worn. he truly misses his friend and is carrying on in his name.

did i mention he loves to have fun? most of the time when i am sent to shoot anyone who has any sort of fame i run into personalities that are a bit difficult to deal with. i expected no less from “the pitchman”. i mean he has a successful show on the discovery channel. he had made countless amounts of money selling things for most of his life. of course he is not gonna want to spend all day in front of my camera for a newspaper article. thankfully i was wrong. he was more than happy to ham it up for me. he brought beers to the shoot, for both of us, and even ordered wings for afterwards. now that’s a great shoot in my book.

so the next time i am up at “way too late o’clock” and happen across an infomercial i know i will be looking at those pitchmen in a different light.

click to view more of my “corporate portraiture” work or “my website”.

on this assignment i was asked to photograph scott oberlink, the sales manager for a community in vero beach, fla. the story was about was about people in the construction/real estate business and what their outlook is on the state of the economy. the magazine wanted to use some pretty cool black and white imagery in conjunction with the theme of the story. they sent out some samples during our discussion about what the images should look like, some of which were links to platon’s work. i must say i was pretty stoked when i saw the route they wanted to take. i have been an admirer of platon’s work ever since i heard him speak at the eddie adams workshop several years ago. i was glad i was going to get the opportunity to push myself in a slightly different direction while creating images that were being used in a thoughtful manner. again it was like a breath of fresh air.

and while i have not come close to being platon, i think his images have pushed me to become a better josh ritchie. i will take that anytime, anywhere.

here is what i accomplished……

click to view more of my “corporate portraiture” work or “my website”.

personified Issue 2:

first edition

By josh ritchie in Photography

portraits taken by south florida photographer josh ritchie

view more of my work at photojosh.com