Q&A with Jim Jordan ← Back to the Interviews

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Please start out by telling us a little about yourself and your work.
I am a celebrity, fashion, lifestyle, advertising and kids photographer and director based in LA and NYC. I shoot for clients such as Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair, Levi’s, Mercedes Benz, American Express, to name a few, and shoot tons of celebrities including Charlize Theron, Leonardo Dicaprio, Drew Berrymore, Mila Kunis, Jessica Alba, etc.

Now a days you’re shooting for some pretty major brands, but how did you get started?
I have always had a passion for beauty. When I was in high school, I would ditch class to roam the streets of Los Angeles, scouting potential models who would let me do their hair and makeup. I would give them makeovers and then take photos of them that I would hide away in an 11×14 black box. I never showed these photos to anyone in fear of being judged or criticized, but I continued photographing each potential model I would makeover and saved every image.

I left high school early and moved to Milan and Paris to do hair and makeup in the fashion industry. I worked with the most famous models and actors of the time, such as Sofia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Farrah Fawcet, Cindy Crawford, to name a few, and spent a ton of time on set with the world’s biggest photographers, including Herb Ritts, Peter Lindbergh, Steve Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, etc. These photographers deeply inspired me and I would watch and absorb their every move while I was on set with them. In the mean time, I continued to photograph the models I would make over and hide the images in my black box.

One day I was on set doing hair for one of my clients named Emily who was the owner of J Crew. She said that some of her models told her I was an amazing photographer and asked to see my images. With much hesitation, I showed her the images in my black box. She was very impressed and loved the photos. She immediately started booking me to shoot for J Crew, which began my career as a photographer.

What advice would you give up and coming photographers about the business?
I want every aspiring photographer to remember that their journey will be unlike anyone else’s. I would tell them to not look around at what others are doing or listen to the voices in their head telling them that they are not good enough. Building a portfolio and learning about the business takes time and experience. Aspiring photographers should remember this and focus on following their vision and believing in their God-given potential.

Can you recount your single favorite day holding a camera?
I am so lost in the moment each and every time I am holding my camera that it is almost impossible to say. It was probably a day when I was photographing a beautiful supermodel in the water during sunset in a stunning, exotic location.

What’s one noun you haven’t gotten to shoot that you want to?
I have always wanted to shoot an underwater couture fashion story.

What is your favorite gear to use?
I am a Canon user. I use my 5D Mark II for the majority of my photo shoots and plan to get the 1DX when it comes out for my directing because I love the new video autofocus feature. I fill my camera with high-speed Lexar memory cards. They are the only memory cards I use and I am yet to have one fail. I use California Sunbounce reflectors and scrims any time I ever shoot using natural light. California Sunbounce also makes an amazing product called the Wind-Killer that prevents the wind from ruining the model’s hair and wardrobe. In studio, I use my Broncolor Para Umbrella, as well as heads and packs by Broncolor and Profoto. I always keep a portable Drobo on set with me, filled with always-reliable Seagate hard drives to back up my images as I shoot them. Last, but certainly not least, I store all of my equipment in my durable Tamrac bags that always keep my equipment safe and protected.

How do you showcase your images?
Having visually appealing and easy to use websites is a key factor in the success of my photography business. My LiveBooks Scaler website is made to shrink or grow to the size of the viewer’s monitor. This makes it appealing to all viewers, regardless of the size of their computer screen. LiveBooks also allows me to make custom access galleries that are specific to a client’s needs. For example, let’s say I get a call from a client asking to see all of my lifestyle images. I use LiveBooks to create a custom gallery of all of my lifestyle images in just minutes, and then send the client the custom access link that takes them directly to the gallery I created for them. It is a great feature that clients love!

I also have a website that I built through PhotoShelter specifically for my stock photography. My PhotoShelter stock site not only allows me to beautifully showcase my stock images in a number of galleries, but it also allows me to sell the images directly from my website. The site is incredibly easy to browse and search through which keeps clients coming back.

What do you do to get new clients and market yourself?
Finding new clients is difficult for any photographer, regardless of how long they have been shooting. The way I connect with the majority of my new clients is through an incredible database called Adbase by Agency Access that provides the contact information for the best creative contacts at the biggest retailers, advertising agencies and magazines around the world. Agency Access also offers a number of marketing services for photographers who do not have agents. They offer consulting to assist photographers in finding the right potential clients for them, and can then call those potential clients to introduce the photographer’s work to them. Agency Access can then design, print and send direct mailers and emails to those clients on a monthly basis to keep the photographer’s work fresh on their minds. I recommend Agency Access to any photographer looking for new clients, which is every photographer I know!

In addition to Agency Access, I use social media to get my work out for the world to see. I have Twitter and Facebook pages that I update regularly with my new work, tips, contests and behind-the-scenes photos and videos of my shoots. I also use a number of different blogs to showcase my new work as it comes out. I have been approached several times by clients who saw my work on one of my social media outlets and are interested in booking me for a job.

See Jim’s work at www.jimjordanphotography.com, www.facebook.com/jimjordanphoto and Twitter www.twitter.com/jimjordanphoto