Rangefinder Magazine
July 2005

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Profile: Drake Busath by Michelle Perkins
Commercial Training, Portrait Photographer’s Lifestyle

When Drake Busath was in high school, being a photographer was not cool. “It was a geek thing to do,” he laughs. So, he stashed his camera away in his backpack, and when he submitted photos to the yearbook, he asked not to be credited. Despite the fact that, for most of his youth, he worked in his father’s successful portrait photography studio, Drake never had any intention of becoming a professional photographer himself. During his college years, however, things changed; Drake got hooked on photography and eventually decided to return to the family business.

Although he’d grown up in the industry, going from amateur to pro in the blink of an eye was not an easy transition. For his first wedding shoot, Drake recalls, “I went completely over-prepared with two different camera systems, too many lights, too many stands… I got there, and it was in a small living room in a small house, and I had no business setting up all this equipment. I was just so nervous.”

Adding to the stress of the situation was the fact that his father’s studio had, by then, already developed the prestigious reputation that Busath Photographers, Inc. maintains today. Their clients had high expectations and paid the same for their images whether they were shot by Drake, his father or anyone else at the studio. It’s a challenge that new photographers on his staff still face today. “At some point,” he says, “they have to go out and take on that big job on their own—a job with a long-term customer who has high expectations. There’s no way to ease into it. It’s a different process than starting as an amateur, becoming a semi-pro, and finally a professional.”

Clearly, Drake rose to the challenges presented by his new career. In fact, he continued to work as a partner in the business with his father for 20 years until his dad retired a few years ago. When he bought his father’s share of the business and assumed the helm, he was full of big ideas. Recalls Drake, “I thought I would completely change and revamp it. I thought I’d do a lot of things I’d always wanted to do.” As it turns out, though, Drake found that it was surprisingly difficult to change an established business. “It’s like steering a big ship,” he says.

One aspect of the studio he has been working on, though, is a new business model. “In the past, the concept of the mom-and-pop studio has been a single artist supported by a few staff members,” says Drake. “I felt, early on, that I’d like a different business model for our studio. We’ve patterned it more on a law firm, where each photographer is more autonomous. Our pay structure is not a salary; it’s based on actual production, so our photographers initially operate like non-equity partners in a law firm. If they want to take off two weeks and go sailing, I don’t worry about it because they’re paid strictly on commission. Also, we’ve allowed them to develop their own reputations; they sign their own work, and we advertise them in addition to the studio, so they build their own clientele.” This has allowed Drake to avoid the revolving-door syndrome many studios face, where they are always training new photographers—photographers who, wanting more money and more recognition, soon leave and open up shop three doors down.

As a result of this business model, Busath Photographers, Inc. boasts many staff members who have stayed with the studio for 10 years or more. “We’ve found a way to give them the income they need,” says Drake, “and more importantly the recognition and respect they want. As a result, we have this team energy. We’re artists working together. We show each other our work—we have this real synergy.”

Of course, more than the structure of his business has changed over the course of his career. Says Drake, “I thought for a lot of years that I was a commercial photographer. I did that, and developed a commercial arm of the business. Then, later on, I realized that I liked the lifestyle of a portrait photographer even better. As a result of that experience, though, I got a little more commercial in my thinking and style, so I brought that back to the studio where my father was a completely classic portrait photographer. I feel like we’ve maintained this classic reputation, but everything has to have this little advertising twist—it has to have some impact, it has to have a dynamic composition, and there has to be a dynamic expression.”

The last part of that equation, the expression, has become a primary concern to Drake as he has matured as a photographer and portrait artist. “More than subject matter, more than graphic design,” he says, “lately I’m interested in what happens between the top of the head and the shoulders.” Drake feels this is a process of growth that most photographers experience—they start out driven by composition, impact, color and design but then become increasingly interested in the connection with the person in front of the camera.

Says Drake, “I’m more influenced by the subject than I used to be. I used to be in complete control over the session at all times, and now I’m more open to their input and there’s more of a dance between us. I’m asking the subject to participate more in the session and contribute more to it. I’ve relaxed a little more and take a little more time with my sessions. Better images come given just a little extra time—it’s something my dad used to talk about but I never understood. So that’s what drives me now, and I’m always trying to beat it into the photographers here. I tell them, ‘Slow down; scratch your chin a little bit more; ask the client more questions, watch their bodies and their faces; allow things to evolve a little bit.’ As far as style goes, that’s what interests me most.”

Another important component in Drake’s professional life is teaching, from which he says he benefits as much as his students do. “It’s been important. It’s helped me keep shooting creatively to know that I’m going to have to show my work to my peers and not just my clients,” he says. “It’s been beneficial to me to have to show my whole body of work. When you do print competitions, it’s a good educational experience. But when you have to speak for two, three or eight hours, you have to show an entire body of work instead of just a few prints a year, so it really motivates you. I think teaching is a continuing-education program for the speaker as much as the students.” In recent years, Drake has also taken his teaching abroad, for a series of acclaimed workshops in Italy. These bring professionals (and some amateurs) together in a beautiful place where they can spend a week freely focusing on the art of photography, rather than the craft of creating images for clients.

So how does Drake feel about his career? Well, it’s certainly not the “uncool” field he thought it would be back in high school—in fact, today, local high school kids are eager to sign on as interns at the studio. “I’m just thrilled that it’s cool now. My kids even think it’s cool—they relate it to making snowboarding videos, so I guess I’m back in the ‘in’ crowd!” he laughs.

Visit Drake Busath at www.busath.com or www.italyworkshops.com/.

Michelle Perkins is a professional writer, designer and image retoucher. She has written for PC Photo and is the author of Beginner’s Guide to Adobe Photoshop, The Practical Guide to Digital Imaging, and Color Correction and Enhancement with Adobe Photoshop (all from Amherst Media).