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Nat Geo Creative Director Andy Baker Tells You How to Get Your Work Seen by Potential Clients

Chris Gampat
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04/30/2015
1 Min read

Last Updated on 04/30/2015 by Chris Gampat

Screenshot taken from the video
Screenshot taken from the video

National Geographic Creative Director Andy Baker has answers to one of the most burning questions most photographers may have: How do I get my work seen by clients?

Andy explains that you first need to have good work, but then you should also try to understand who your client is. For example, Andy states that National Geographic won’t necessarily hire a wedding photographer to do a campaign of theirs because they don’t understand the client (Nat Geo) or their identity and needs.

But more than that, Andy also says that you need to do lots of personal projects to show off what you’re individually capable of–not what a client asks you to do. For that, you need to hone your own unique creative vision to demonstrate the types of work that you can do. If you’re a match, then great. If you’re not then, move on.

His advice can apply to nearly any industry though. If an actor wants a headshot done, they want to see what you can do vs what they’re starting to call the GWC (Guy with a camera.) Further, a Bride and Groom will hire you as a wedding photographer not only based on your work but also on the way that you work and handle people.

Andy’s video is after the jump.

#BehindtheGlass | Andy Baker on How to Get Your Work Seen by Clients from a.a. productions on Vimeo.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.