Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luke Copping. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Luke, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

We need to be more than our craft. The simple fact is that there are more talented and driven photographers now than there ever have been. The barrier to entry is low, toxic gatekeeping is slowly eroding (thankfully), and non-traditional forms of education have given rise to a new generation of talented artists.

There is a very toxic (but thankfully small) subset of the industry that is all too happy to stick their head in the sand and ignore this fact, or even worse, actively punch down, letting their fading relevance and insecurity drive continuing toxic attitudes in this industry. I hear far too many complaints about evolving aesthetics and “Instagram photographers” ruining things, but really it is all just scapegoating. It’s all just a refusal to accept change or put the effort into evolving one’s vision and outlook on this business. The world does not stop when you find success, if you stop growing, it will leave you behind.

Being a great photographer is the bare minimum now. You need to develop a whole host of ancillary skills to set yourself apart — creative ideation, production, communication, client experience design, and many more. And you have to be a nice person. No one wants to work with a jerk. Especially not one who complains constantly.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a commercial photographer based in Buffalo, NY. I work with brands including Ardbeg Whisky, Bureau, Darian Bryan, Condé Nast, ESAB, Filzfelt, Forbes Magazine, GMC, M&T Bank, NBC Sports, Puma, Sports Illustrated, Tommyrotter Distillery, and many more. I specialize in portraits that capture the character and drama of my subjects and what they do. These subjects range from corporate giants to counterculture rebels. Most of my work is in the advertising and editorial worlds.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

In this business, I constantly learn and have to unlearn simply because the creative world is never static. Trends and paradigms come and go. They work for a while; then they become old and tired.

You need to be just as adept at knowing what you need to learn as you are at knowing when it is time to discard something that no longer works. Some thought processes can be helpful for a while but then turn toxic if you devote yourself too dogmatically to them. Always reassess your personal assumptions about the world and how you create within it.

This is not just about the aesthetics of our work or changing trends in advertising but also in how we communicate, market ourselves to clients, and approach the overall societal impact and relevance that our work has. You need to be a student of culture. You must also be smart enough to realize what you don’t know and where/when you need help.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Due to my own experiences as, at one point, a full-time freelance assistant. I know all too well how assistants and crew can be treated in this business, being forced to wait weeks, if not months sometimes, to be paid by photographers and producers when they are often the lowest-paid team members and are the ones who will suffer the most from cashflow issues. Too many photographers will happily make the crew wait for payment. One of the core ethical rules I set for my own business when I started it was to make sure that I can create a financial ecosystem in which I know that my crew is taken care of fairly and quickly. I insist on client production deposits to ensure that I can pay crew promptly, keep my crew on a regular pay schedule to manage expectations, and partner with a payroll company to ensure that all my crew payroll complies with state/federal law.

The photo industry needs to reassess how it treats those taking their first steps into the business and stop treating unfair payment practices and unpaid labor as a form of dues-paying or hazing.

The upside of this is that I have grown a tight-knit and incredibly dedicated team that I work with.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lukecopping.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukecopping
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-copping-2995a69