Just Ask to Take the Picture

Blindfolded Eating

If you have listed to Rick Sammon for any length of time, you will have heard him tell the story of how he asked a local firehouse if he could take some portraits. He explains that he asked to take portraits of the firefighters in exchange for providing them with some 8”x10” prints of the photos he took. Though I had never tried anything similar to this, I would pretty much give the advice “just ask” whenever someone said they wished they could take a picture of something.

In the past few weeks, Elyssa and I have driven past Cedarwoods Arabians a number of times, and each time Elyssa would stare out the window at the horses. I figured, with her birthday approaching, what better time to test out Rick’s theory about asking. Not surprisingly, the process was quite easy. I went to the horse farm one afternoon and talked to the girl at the front desk.  She gave me the owner’s card, and a phone call later, I had my permission to take photos. It was a pretty painless process.

One thing that Rick commonly points out, and that I will emphasize, is to make sure you deliver on your promises of prints. I made sure to go through my photos as soon as I got back home, picked out a couple that I wanted to process for prints, and prepped them for sending to WHCC. Not only is this important for your credibility, but it’s also important to establishing credibility for photographers generally. How would you feel if you went and asked someone to take photos and they said no because the last person who promised him/her prints did not deliver?

So, once again, what is the lesson to learn from Rick Sammon? If there’s something, or someone, you really want to take a photo of, just ask.

Three's a Crowd