Student Success Story: Christopher Descano

I love seeing students of mine become highly successful photographers, so here’s a story I just had to share with you.

I got an email a few weeks ago from a former customer who wrote:

“This is Christopher Descano. About a year and a half ago I purchased your portrait course online. I have taken your advice and teaching to heart and I have slowly progressed to the number one headshot photographer in Philadelphia.”

I immediately thought: A year and a half to go from novice to the number-one headshot photographer in a big city? That’s impossible! (Turns out it took him closer to three years. But still…)

Then I took a look at his website. Wow! Now I believe it. He is doing great work!

It always thrills me (and humbles me) to see a former “student” doing better work than I have ever done. Not only are his headshots absolutely top-notch, we can all learn a lot from the way he is running his business.

I wrote him back to see if I could share his story with you. Here is what he had to say:

How did you decide to become a photographer?
I’m a professional actor by training, and as soon as I realized that it was impossible to get a New York or LA caliber headshot in my hometown of Philadelphia, I knew it was time to become a photographer. There was a void, and I saw this as a business opportunity which I could couple with my love of photography.

After I returned home from finishing my training to become a professional actor in England, I had my head shots taken locally in Philadelphia, and I was disappointed, to say the least.

I then had them redone in New York, and they were better, but the price was astronomically higher, about $600 per session. That’s about three times as much as the going rate in Philly. In my opinion, that’s a lot to ask of struggling artists just starting out.

So I started to shoot some of my actor friends for free, and consequently they started using those headshots as their main headshots professionally. They received excellent feedback from casting directors, which in turn was passed along to their agents. Their agents started to contact me directly to shoot more of the talent they represented, and that’s how the ball kind of got rolling for me to shoot professionally full time.

How long did it take you to go full-time as a photographer?
Let me be clear, this process did not happen overnight. I would say conservatively that it took about a full year for me to make the switch to do this full-time. I was extremely proactive in making connections, networking, and just simply getting my name out there.

There was already some very well established photographers doing headshots in Philadelphia, so I knew that I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to be successful.

How important is your website for getting new clients?
I think having a great website is one of the most important factors of being a professional photographer. It really only comes second to having great photos.

Also, having a properly constructed website from the back end is mandatory from a SEO standpoint. It’s very important to make sure that your website is functioning properly from the inside out, and not just the exterior. Having a visually appealing website aside, if you’re not showing up in the search engines then what’s the point? It’s no fun being on the 10th page of the search results, so study SEO and figure out what the factors are that can cause your site to rise in the search results. It’s not rocket science, but it takes time, effort, and consistency.

Tell us how you shoot your photos
When I shoot subjects outside, 99.9% of the time I shoot them in shade. Sometimes I use a reflector to bounce light, and sometimes I don’t. It really just depends on a few factors. It depends on who I’m shooting and what they need the photos for, it depends on the time of day, and it also depends on the weather.

For example, if I’m shooting an actor’s headshot and looking for a very theatrical look, I won’t use a reflector because I like how the light will drop off on one side of their face. For me it creates a more dramatic effect.

On the other hand, if I’m shooting an actresses’ commercial headshot, then I might use a reflector, because I’m going to want to use that light to fill in all of the subtleties on her face.

For me, I like seeing my commercial headshots come across as light, approachable, and friendly. If you don’t have those three factors working in conjunction with one another for a commercial headshot, then ultimately you have not achieved what a commercial headshot should be.

I always tell both myself and my client: “think toothpaste commercial.” It works great to lighten the mood, and I think they understand what we’re after in terms of mindset and headshot. Fun, friendly, and marketable. Those are the adjectives that come to mind.

Tell us about the gear your use to light your shots
One of my favorite new techniques in shooting models is using colored gels to illuminate the background.

I used to think that photography was all about the subject, then I thought that photography was all about the equipment, but today what I have come to realize is that great photography is really all about lighting.

That’s what I enjoyed so much about Phil’s course on shooting with speedlights. Prior to that course, I didn’t really understand how composing a shot actually has more to do with how you light it than who you’re shooting.

I started out modestly with my lighting equipment. I first purchased a set of studio strobes with umbrellas to defuse the light. At that time I simply couldn’t afford to buy the Canon speedlights, so I had to go economical at first, but I learned many lessons from buying those cheap studio strobes.

The first lesson is that when you buy cheap strobes they usually come with extremely cheap light stands that aren’t very durable. Secondly, when you buy cheap studio strobes you usually have to buy cheap transmitters to fire the strobes, which I learned very quickly were unreliable.

Eventually, after a few months of bearing with those cheap strobes, I invested in one quality studio strobe with a very durable light stand that was able to hold a huge softbox. This helped me in several ways, but one of the most beneficial things about buying a quality strobe is that I was able to control the output of light that it fired. Before, I simply had to move the cheap strobes closer or farther away from my subject to achieve the amount of light I wanted to be emitted.

It was really awful looking back on it, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to if you want to shoot indoors.

So a few months passed, and I was able to afford to buy another quality strobe which I used primarily as a fill light. I would’ve loved to have been able to afford $500 Canon Speedlites, but that just wasn’t feasible at the time.

Ultimately it was more beneficial for me to learn and master a one-light setup, and then after a few months learn to master two light setups.

For example, if a new photographer went out and bought four or five speedlights or strobes right off the bat, I guarantee that they wouldn’t fully understand the dynamics of how each strobe or speedlight affects the shot.

Describe the three photos you included here

These photos have three different lighting schemes.

The girl who’s wearing a blue shirt was shot outdoors with no reflector, no strobes, and she is only being shot in the shade.

Outdoor shots depend on the time of day to get great lighting. You simply just need to experiment and find what works for you in the geographical area that you’re shooting.

The photo of the young boy wearing the hat was an example of a headshot that I did with a two light setup.

My main light is coming from the front right side of the frame and my fill light is coming in from the opposite side, like a sandwich.

I tend to use this lighting scheme often because I like how the light will wrap around the back of someone’s head and onto their jaw. I chose not to light the background behind him because I wanted to put most of the attention on his face.

The final photo I have included is a shot of a girl wearing a tank top standing up against a wall with the background illuminated in different colors. When I’m shooting models I like to use gels over my strobes or speedlights to create a vivid background.

There are actually five lights at work in this shot. The main light is illuminating her face from the front right of the frame. Behind her about three feet above her head on both sides are two lights pointing down, providing rim lights around her head and body.

This creates separation between her and the background. On the floor pointed upwards behind the two rim lights are strobes that are covered one with an orange gel and the other with a purple gel. I just think that they make the shot pop more, and I tend to use gels more and more in my photography. Remember, it’s all about the lighting.

How did you learn theses techniques?
When I first started out, I purchased Phil’s off-camera-flash headshot course because I needed some guidance with understanding basic lighting in photography.

Everybody knows that you can go to YouTube and search a plethora of different tutorials from a bunch of different people; however, I wanted to learn all of these different tips from the same person. Three years later, I’m so glad that Phil happened to be that person.

I cannot think of a more fundamental and straightforward way of learning lighting in photography than what Phil’s course taught me. The way that the course is designed I didn’t feel rushed, and I also felt like I was absorbing everything that he was teaching because of the pace that he was creating for the course itself.

One thing that I thoroughly enjoyed about Phil’s course has actually more to do with him than the subject matter itself. I dare say that Phil has a “Mr. Rogers” style about him that is very unassuming, approachable, and easy to listen to.

I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for Phil’s course on lighting that my businesses would not be in existence today, and that is the absolute truth.

I have expanded into many different types of photography these days covering actors and models, corporate professionals, senior portraits, and real estate photography. The lessons that I learned from Phil’s course gave me the foundation to build a successful photography business many times over. I would feel comfortable putting my head shots up against anyone’s at this point, and Phil would be one of the top people to thank for that.

[Phil replies — “Thanks, man, but you’re making me blush here.”]

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?

Photography for me is all about experience and putting the time in. You’re never going to shoot magazine covers right off the bat, it just doesn’t work like that.

The best piece of advice I could give young photographers is to simply shoot as many people as possible, and gradually over time you will learn what works, what doesn’t work, and you’ll start to develop your own style.

————–

[Phil again]

I think we can all learn a lot from Christopher. First, just look at his photos. You don’t get that kind of result without a lot of hard work, and he’s obviously putting in the work and paying his dues.

But even more, look at his ambition and hustle. He has been working hard, networking to get clients, putting the effort into a great website. And he’s already branching out! Not content to be the #1 headshot photographer in Philly, he now has launched additional websites for school portraits, corporate headshots, and real estate photography.

By this time next year, I expect he’ll be mayor of Philadelphia as well.

Seriously, what an inspiring role model for up-and-coming photographers.

Christopher, thanks for sharing your story.