We are talking with Tony Bynum, Montana photographer and business owner. Tony, tell us about your businesses.

 

I operate a business called FinalShot Photography where I capture and produce commercial images, images of wildlife and natural landscapes, mainly in the Rocky Mountains and Montana. I also operate, with two partners, a gallery in East Glacier Park called Glacier Impressions – you can find both on the web, as well as twitter, facebook and linkedin and I also have a blog, glacierparkphotographer.com. The gallery is on Highway 49 in East Glacier Park and features my photography, watercolors by Gina Rink, oils by Bob Rummel, and the oils by Roger Rink. It is open seasonally, so generally we will be open by the Memorial Day weekend, and we stay open through September, weather allowing.

 

Discussing FinalShot and your work as a photographer - how much time do you spend capturing photos?   What is your typical day like, as a photographer?

 

Well, percentage-wise I would say, if you look at shooting on an annual basis, it is probably near twenty - twenty-five percent of my time is out on location, shooting photographs. 

 

There are valleys and peaks when it comes to operating a photography business - which means for a week or two, or three, or even a month you are going nonstop - you wake up, a couple of hours before it gets light, then work until after it’s dark. You’re running hard, you might have a couple of weeks when you are working entirely in the office - and that is no less work, but it is not the same work as being outside. 

 

Capturing images is one piece to a photograph business. People have an illusion about what it is to be a photographer - which is an okay illusion - it is just that it takes a lot marketing, time, and production – it’s not all glory. 

 

It takes a lifetime to capture these images, it’s collective and one experience builds on another and the best shot is when your experience and a little luck converge. You have to know what to do with what you have and that comes though experience. You see a great photograph from one of your favorite photographers and you look at it and you say, “Wow! I wish I could have been there!” or “Wow! How long did it take for him/her to get that photograph?” And the truth is “A lifetime” probably. 

 

We can be in the right place at the right time - but this is sort of a lifetime achievement. When you create great images, they are products of what you know and what you have learned over the entire course of your life and therefore we really never stop learning.

 

The simple answer in most cases, though, to capturing great images - and the one I think most people are searching for - is, “Oh, you know, I sat there for about twenty-five minutes and this thing / this animal appeared, and the sky got really nice and I took the shot, and I exposed the image and I was all done!”

 

But that is not really how it works. Occasionally people get lucky with a great photograph here and there, but to produce high-quality imagery, consistently, it is almost a 24-hour-a-day job. I know I never stop thinking about it. After a while, the images wind up in my head first then I spend whatever time and effort it takes to make them real – capture them on “film.”   

 

For me it is the best thing I could be doing. Some people might not want to leave their job; some people really want to home at 5 o’clock. I don’t want to leave my job at 5 o’clock.  Its with me all the time, my photography business; it’s there. I love it. 

 

Starting in the morning, I get up; I’m either shooting or I’m working out of the office. It is a year-round commitment, lots of travel, lots of being away from home - but I can’t imagine doing anything else! If you're not a morning person, I’d highly recommend that skip even trying to be a nature photographer and just enjoy what others create.

 

The business side of photography. Is your work commissioned? Do you provide service by contract? Are your images sold in the gallery? 

 

Yes, all three, but it’s a bit more complicated than that - as I think anybody in business would agree, or at least understand. In today’s media world - I consider myself in the media business, and I am also in the art world - but it is a combination and it is quite complex. To simplify, the business side of my photography is selling stock imagery. For example, I sell stock imagery of Montana, Glacier National Park, and wildlife. The images are sold for advertising and editorial use. 

 

Editorial would include popular magazines; “outdoor life” type magazines, Montana Outdoors, hunting magazines, wildlife magazines and books. On the editorial side - Montana Magazine is a good example of one that carries my work and hires me to shoot. One would have to stay real busy to make it only in the editorial business because prices aren’t what they used to be, demand is as high as ever; supply is almost - I mean I hate to say - unlimited in some cases; there millions of photographs out there to choose from! You are building a business relationship with editorial staff all over the country that have deadlines, who need things now, and they need high-quality imagery. For example, Farcountry Press used my shot for the cover of the Glacier National Park book, “the first 100 years,” by Missoula, Montana author Carol Guthrie. The book has since once several national book awards.     

 

I can give you a quick story: Recently I did a short shoot for Western Horseman where they were writing an article; they needed photographs tomorrow. It is not uncommon to have editors call you up and say, “Look, we need a photograph of this / that.” Many times you don’t have it because it is an assignment - they want you to go shoot somebody or something. You are reacting in that environment, in order to stay viable, you have to be able to react and provide the service in those situations. I finished the shoot in sub-zero temperatures and high winds the very next morning and the magazine went to print two days later . . .

 

The second part of my photography business would a “paid to shoot” situation where you are actually under contract to produce certain images (like the Western Horseman example). I was selected last year a Montana based add agency to be a “guest photographer” and my one year assignment was to produce images of eastern Montana. What a lot of fun that was – you can see a few of them in this years Montana Destination Guide put out by the Office of Tourism – I just was published and is out for circulation now. In another example Headwall Magazine of Missoula may need or want a certain event photographed - I did one this fall which was a hunt on Freezeout Lake, Headwall hired me to photograph the hunt - photo journalistic style, where you are on the go, it is not set up - everything is just what it is - and you have to be moving, and you have to be shooting (photo) or ready to shoot all the time. You get it done and you deliver the product.

 

Another aspect would be a product shoot where a company needs there product shot in a certain environment. They call me and we work out an agreement: “I need this product shot. I want this kind of style.” Or oftentimes they will just leave it up to me; they will say, “Look, we know what you do. Take this product, do what you do with it and send us the images.”

 

Those kinds of agreements, are the kind of business situations that I like the best because of the flexibility and it allows me to use my creativity more. While it can be a bit nerve-wracking, plenty of pressure - it gives you the freedom to create images that you think fit the product. 

 

Those are the main aspects of my photography business, but I operate an art gallery too.   

 

Selling photography as fine art means basically people are willing to pay for my imagery because they make a connection. That connection often is two-fold starting with the image and next with me, they want to build a certain relationship with the artist.

 

For me, having the gallery, having websites, and providing images to the public that can be purchased as Fine Art is important because editorial isn’t always going to carry the day, and commercial photography isn’t always going to be there. I look at the Fine Art aspect as just one part of my complete business plan, and my efforts to get my images to buyers.

 

The fine art market is not highly lucrative – particularly in this economy; and it is a lot of work. What you are really doing, from a business and personal standpoint, is networking, or building those one-on-one relationships, it takes a lot of time. Most often, my customers want to know the story; they want to know “Where was that shot taken? what were you thinking; how long did I take; what was your camera, how far were you from that animal, where were you born, why is there a town named after you?” And then they want to know all the different ways the image/s can be displayed, print on paper, canvas and aluminum for example. 

 

You ultimately have a dialogue with individuals in order to deliver to them the product that they want. I feel like that is my job – working one on one with my customers to make sure they get what they really want. It is very seldom that I deliver a product to someone without having some dialogue with them. I want to make sure they are going to get what they want, and I want to stand behind my product, I want to control the content, and I want to control the delivery so that I know that what they are getting is what they expect.

 

I don’t often do sales where someone just goes on my website and buys an 8 x 10 print of the subject. It happens but it is not very frequent - mostly because with Fine Art your customer will want to know the artist, they want to understand what they are buying.

 

I appreciate that complete description of the business side. In the remaining little time that we have left Tony, you have I think probably one of the greatest workplace environments that anybody would want. What is it like going to work each and every day in Glacier Park, or in a mountain range - in the Montana outdoors? What is that like?

 

What’s it like? For me, let’s see… it’s a good question. What’s it like? I am trying to step out of the business side and think about it in terms of what is it like personally; how does it make me feel, what does it look like?

 

You know, it is spectacular. I think if I had to use an adjective to describe the place and to describe the feelings… “unreal” is the word – “unreal.” Perspective though is very important, you have to realize where I come from to understand why 8 months of winter and -40 f is a place where I love to be.   

 

I have a natural desire to be outside, to see the natural world, to watch the sun come up every day and watch it go down. I am motivated by the physical geography of this place in Montana, the Rocky Mountains. I love weather, wind, snow, cold, warm rain etc. For me, stepping outside every day and looking at “What does today bring?” is inspiration for me to keep working. It is what motivates me. It is what drives me. And so it is spectacular!

 

I would also be reckless with the facts if I didn’t say for six months, living on the eastern edge of Glacier Park, can be daunting; the weather is rough up here! If you are not a weather person and you are not really into that kind of thing, nature photography is not your business! You have to be motivated to get up early and stay up late. And if that is challenging for you, you really have to do something different. Because you have to love what you’re doing; you have to love to be outside. And in Glacier National Park anything can happen on any day - it could rain, or the sun could shine, or you could run into an elk, or a Grizzly or all of that in one morning. It is something different every day. It keeps me motivated. And it really comes from some internal drive I have to be outside - and wherever that comes from, I’m grateful. Thank you for the interview.

 

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