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Print ArticleFEATURE STORY
Listen to Rob Deutschman, and you will hear a man who knows
firmly where his strengths and weaknesses lie. He's a man with a
plan, and now that plan is paying off handsomely.
Refusing to heed photographer friends who urged him to go after
low-paying editorial work early in his career for recognition,
Deutschman chose to pursue more lucrative catalog accounts. Once he
made a decent living, he reasoned, he would "hire himself" to do
his own concept shots for his book, thus gaining the requisite
editorial look that would open doors for him.
A talented pro shooter he was; a marketer he was not. Deutschman
was self-aware enough to realize that to achieve his goals, he
needed representation. Shooting 20 to 30 days a month didn't leave
him time to carry out all the marketing and some production tasks
he had to do in order to grow: returning phone calls and sending
portfolios in a timely manner, cold calling, placing ads, updating
portfolios with ads or photos, bidding on ad agency jobs, and
finding a crew, if needed.
PIZER POWER
Enter Los Angeles-based photographer's rep Alyssa Pizer, who, eight
years ago, was in search of new clientele. Pizer and Deutschman had
a mutual acquaintance—the art director at a Broadway
department store—who told Pizer she should see Deutschman's
work. They connected. It proved to be a fortuitous move.
"It was the best thing that happened to me," he said. "Without that
connection, it would have taken me longer to have this level of
success."
Because of Pizer's efforts, Deutschman has worked for clients
including Budweiser, Chanel, Dior, Eddie Bauer, Lord & Taylor,
Nordstrom, and Nordstrom.com, for which he produced the images
featured in this story. Pizer courted Nordstrom for a number of
years, first cold-calling and arranging a meeting with the art
buyer to introduce herself and Deutschman, then sending his
portfolio and promotional flyers to the buyer repeatedly.
Pizer finally hit pay dirt, with Deutschman becoming a regular for
the department store and earning a set fee based on image usage,
the usual practice with stores and catalogs. Not so in the
advertising agency world, Pizer says, where free bidding is the
norm.
NORDSTROM.COM
Creatively, the shoot for Nordstrom.com was fairly routine as
department store shoots go, Deutschman and Pizer said. Nordstrom's
in-house producer set up the location, stylists, crew, and models,
and the art buyer let Pizer know where the shoot would be held.
She'd also receive call sheets, with instructions about the
shoot.
As Pizer explains, sometimes comps are sent over so the shooter
knows what the client wants or the creative is fleshed out at
pre-production meetings.
Once the shoot was under way, the art director expressed what was
needed creatively. Deutschman called ahead to let the studio know
what equipment he needed. He showed up a half-hour after everyone
else to give them time to prepare clothes, hair, and makeup. He
conferred with the art director about the clothes and lighting,
took test shots with Polaroids, tweaked lighting and makeup, then
shot final attitude and closeup images.
Deutschman uses a Mamiya RZ67 with a 65-90mm lens, with Dyna-Lite
and Profoto. He prefers Kodak E100S for transparencies, and Kodak
Portra 160
and 400 for negatives.
DIGITAL CUSTOMIZATION
While Deutschman doesn't capture digitally, he uses the technology
extensively for his portfolio. With desktop editing, he creates a
cohesive portfolio tailored to each prospective client. A
freelancer designs editorial pages and his studio assistant scans
and retouches the images. Together, the two create a book.
Digital technology not only helps him get work, but helps him save
money. The shooter went online about a year and a half ago with his
own website—www.robertdeutschman.com—and he's also
represented at Pizer's site-www.alyssapizer.com. Putting his book online
saves him about $2,500 per month in shipping costs. "I have 10
portfolios that are always out; the big ad agencies give you a
FedEx number, but the smaller ones don't, and it adds up," he
says.
An online presence is a timesaver, too-if agencies don't have time
to call in his portfolio, they can surf to his site.
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