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Rangefinder
Magazine Profile: Larry Lee by Lou Jacobs
Jr.
Mustered out of the service, Larry realized he wasn’t ready to be a “real” photographer. He worked a few assisting jobs and eventually connected with Photographic International, a small photo group with ideas and ambitions. He began in the lab and after a few years he was doing assignments and was into sales. During that time he was also married. When Photographic International went bankrupt, Larry decided to start his own business with a few of his own clients. Almost immediately, he recalls, he was able to make a survival living. He took a variety of assignments for clients like Time, the Gas Company, United California Bank and Occidental Petroleum. He avoided a large overhead, worked out of his home, and felt he had the talent, “but the hardest part was the business,” he says. He learned to show portfolios, talk with clients, write letters and keep his financial records, but he had to frequently brush up on business practices. Larry developed industrial and corporate assignments through gradual connection with oil and construction clients. “Most jobs had related marketing opportunities,” Larry found. “There were partners, services and vendors involved, some of which became clients that my portfolio reflected. I’ve always loved to travel, and would go out of my way to arrange opportunities. Most oil and energy locations were distant, and combining assignments became a natural occurrence. It gave me a chance to advertise to clients that I specialized in petroleum operations and I could get pictures they needed on locations and divide expenses among several of them.
This promotion led to extensive petroleum site photography and to new opportunities where industrial assignments took me. I was shooting stock as well, before stock was a popular business, and I made opportunities to constantly expand the quality and quantity of my picture library. Combining the pleasures of photography and travel, I began feeling I had found the perfect profession.” Larry isn’t sure how many countries he’s worked in, but he guesses about 75. He’s worked in all 50 states and has been to Europe about 50 times. He observes, “The only major areas I haven’t visited are Africa, except the Mediterranean coast countries, Russia, most of China and the Eastern block. I did have one job in the Ukraine. I’ve always tried to generate as many as-signments as possible, and on location extra days are devoted to stock. I try to drive between locations when possible, so I can take country roads where I find things of interest, photographically. I have developed a good understanding of what kinds of subjects are saleable.”
Nikon 35mm equipment has always been Larry Lee’s preference, though he has a complete 6x7 Mamiya outfit as well. He sticks with various Kodak Ektachrome films and his equipment case is very complete, including a fisheye lens, but it’s compact, too, for efficient travel. Everything he takes, equipment and personal, he carries by himself, which is reasonable for security reasons, and since he’s 6 feet 5 and 275 pounds. The petroleum industry and its oil rigs have always been considered a multiple challenge to Larry. He ex-plains, “You have to take a dirty, rusty, greasy subject and make it look good. It’s quite a difficult concept, but with some artistic talent, photo tools, previous experience and luck, there is usually something that can be done visually to satisfy the client. I can often get cooperation to rearrange or improve the situation. However, photography usually has a low priority to a company trying to produce energy, so whatever I request can’t interfere with their main operations. It’s usually how you say ‘please’ because you can’t demand anything.”
When I asked if working oil rigs and platforms is risky, Larry told me, “Actually, I’ve had few really difficult situations, and I’ve never been involved in dangerous situations like a war. Flying in a helicopter to offshore rigs with weather problems, or huge equipment moving around me in a coal mine I consider normal. Aerials of offshore platforms have to be shot during the copter’s regular schedule, but safety regulations require waiting until a half hour after sunrise, and not shooting in the half hour before sunset. Sometimes a boat will stand by so you can be lowered by crane in a personnel basket to do water level pictures or sunsets. “ For platform pictures, I usually walk around the area, and when something looks good, if no one’s working there, I try to arrange for someone to model. I try to stay over-night for the best morning light con-ditions, and clients will usually pay for the time, but sometimes I have to absorb the extra time to realize optimum stock circumstances. Of course, the time is worth it because other photographers don’t get these opportunities unless they’re on assignments.” Stock has remained one of Larry’s main commitments, and he started with Image Bank soon after they were established about 25 years ago. Early on he says, “I mainly gave the stock agency extra images from assignments, and I didn’t put much effort into production. But stock became more visible and profitable, and my attitude changed, especially in the past decade when stock has become a major force in my business, through agencies and in my own marketing efforts.
“ When my five year contract with Image Bank was up I switched to Westlight. Craig Aurness and Chuck O’Rear put enough pressure on me to join their small but growing group. [Craig and Chuck founded the agency and both were profiled in previous issues or Rangefinder.] The subjects I shot were what they needed, and they were devoted and ambitious so I had special input to do the right things. With excellent leadership and Craig’s knack at marketing choices, things worked well. The agency was sold to Corbis a few years ago, and the whole industry has recently changed drastically. I’ve especially put effort into selling my own stock, which produces additional income and helps relationships with present and new clients.” Larry has long been an advocate of marketing his business, at first through promotional channels such as the Black Book, the ASMP Book, Showcase and the Art Director’s Index. They had good visibility, he feels, but not much success for him. He turned to doing an eight-page brochure for himself which at the time was a unique way to make himself available to many clients. As the electronic age dawned, he first bought a special, and expensive, typewriter that could do the start of mail merge. When computers were to be had it became much easier to mass market to a list.
His current promotional effort in-cludes a web page (www.larrylee.com), which he upgrades and improves as he shoots new images, and he created a CD with over 1000 images on it. “It’s not reproduction quality,” he says, “but it shows my work as a portfolio and catalog of potential stock pictures. This is working extremely well, and is now my main marketing tool. I’ve also made a trade with a major oil magazine. I give them cover or article photos and they give me usually two full page ads. I’ve also created a series of surreal oil images that people seem to remember. Without the ad visibility, my website or CD would be hard to find. Also God bless Photoshop, perhaps the greatest softwear ever in-vented. Almost every image can be improved with Photoshop and lots of patience. It’s on both my Macs.”
The surreal ad images Larry created include a drilling rig between the pyramids, an offshore platform in a waterfall and helicopters lifting a rig with drill pipe running down through the clouds, etc. “I’ve done about 25 ads so far,” he says, “and I’m always thinking of something new. I also do a normal ad with a classy sample shot, and one showing part of the free CD that can be requested.” Larry feels he’s had excellent results from the ads. I wondered if the political situation in the Middle East has affected Larry’s location jobs, and he told me, “I’ve had a minimum of concern, although I recently suspended making an itin-erary to South America because of conditions in Argentina and Venezuela.”
A byproduct of Larry’s travels is his collection of photographer figurines or small statues. “I’m up to 125 figures now, though I lost about 30 of the best in the big earthquake that stretched from the San Fernando Valley north to Valencia. The collection represents animals, historical people, cartoon characters and normal looking photographers. For example, there are 10 Santa Claus photographers, some that move, light up or are musical. They’re made in all kinds of mediums from wood, pewter and plastic to ceramic or porcelain, and they’re sizes from an inch to over a foot. About half the shelves and tables in our home are covered.” When I first met Larry some years ago, he mentioned experiencing for-eign misogynistic attitudes, and ex-plained how he’s learned to be re-spectful of others’ customs. Recently, after seeing a collection of his oil drilling platform images, I realized he’s now a veteran at his specialty. And with remarkable equanimity, as well. Lou
Jacobs Jr. is the author of 25 how-to photography books, the latest
of which, PHOTOGRAPHER'S LIGHTING HANDBOOK (Amherst Media) was recently
published. He has taught at UCLA and Brooks, is a longtime member of
ASMP, and enjoys shooting stock during his travels in the U.S. and
abroad. |
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The course
was two years and after graduation he realized his new skills would
have to produce income. “The military draft was something of
a concern to young men,” he states, “and I didn’t
want to drive a Jeep or shoot a cannon. The Army had a three-year
enlistment that included an education, and I selected motion picture
school. I trained at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. and afterwards was posted
to Okinawa, but traveled throughout Asia shooting mostly news and
training maneuvers. It was good experience, and prepared me for my
later photo career.”
