One of my favorite things about having become somewhat accomplished as a photographer is that from time to time students will reach out to me for advice.  Its an awesome feeling to be able to offer advice and/or wisdom to the up and coming generation of shooters, especially when they are very eager to succeed.  Gabriel Stiritz, a junior at the Savannah College of Art & Design reached out to me with a couple questions the other day and I wanted to share his email as a great of example of how I think approaching a photographer can be successful.

From Gabriel:

Dan,
Hi!  I’m a junior year SCAD student, taking my first studio lighting class, and loving it!  I really admire your work, and I keep with your blog, which I have found is a good resource for BTS video and great contests!  I am about to buy my first lighting kit, and I was hoping you might have some advice.  I am divided between getting either a Profoto 7B first generation pack with two heads, or an Acute 2 2400 pack with 3 heads.  Which would you recommend getting, based on your experience with battery packs versus studio?  Also, I am looking at interning over the summer, and Tim Keating and Rebecca Nolan both recommended you highly as a photographer to contact.  I am entirely able to pay my own way, and I would love the experience of working in a studio.  I humbly submit a few photos from my lighting class, for you to see.  The rest of my portfolio is online at http://www.gabrielstiritz.com/.  Thanks for you time!

Here is what I like about Gabriel’s email.

1.He keeps the tone professional, but friendly.  Its not all formal business and I think people often make the mistake of being way to rigid in their emails, you need to strike a balance.

2.I like that he appears to have a genuine interest in my work and what I do.  It doesn’t take much, but by placing a little note about something you’ve seen by the photographer wether in a magazine or on their blog demonstrates a much more sincere interest.

3.He drops a couple of names for reference.  Connections are everything in this industry, and if you come to me by way of someone I know I’m much more likely to give you my attention.  Nearly all of my assitants and interns get in this way.

4.I love that he took the initiative to ask for an internship.  I always tell my students to not be afraid to reach out to photographers and ask to be their interns.  Don’t wait for a posting looking for an intern.  Search out the people you like and approach them.

5.He included a couple samples of his work.  I really like seeing a couple quick image samples, just one to three jpegs in the email.

6.This is pretty much how my emails look when I reach out to clients, save the questions on lighting! But seriously its all about finding a way to engage someone in an absurdly miniscule amount of time.

All in all Gabriel’s email got my attention and so I took a look at his site.  He had some great work that I wanted to share. You can see more at his site www.gabrieltstirlitz.com.

© Gabriel Stiritz

© Gabriel Stiritz

© Gabriel Stiritz

© Gabriel Stiritz

© Gabriel Stiritz

© Gabriel Stiritz

© Gabriel Stiritz

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