Our group managed to get in contact with Australian Underwater Photographer Glen Cowans, who was quite informative about his career in this field.
Glen Cowans
Q: What was the driving reason for you choosing underwater photography as a career?
A: My original career was as an electrician fitter, which became a controls engineer, I did this from the end of 3rd year high school until 2005 (29 yrs ago) but the ocean was always my passion and I wanted to be a marine biologist but hated study. I started doing underwater photography straight after formally learning to dive in 1994 and my skills developed, I wrote freelance photojournalism for dive magazines and entered a few competitions in UW photog as well as sold the occasional image, which slowly raised my profile just a little.
End of 2004 Louise my wife pushed me to exhibit my ‘Arty’ shots which almost no one else had seen. Galleries were not interested in my work and would not even look at it. I remember one snobby gallery owner met me in a cafe, I took one of my canvases out of a box and showed her (despite that she had said it was not the kind of thing that would be good to sell) and the girls behind the counter just went WOW. The gallery owner said, well I guess some people would like it. We left there quit dismayed.
Then the Freo Maritime Museum looked at my work looked at my work and immediately loved it and my first exhibition became a major public exhibition and Louise and I would play games about who could actually get the most sales on the day, we immediately began selling local, interstate and to overseas visitors. So I just quit my job, exhibition snowballed to 30+ in five years and my profile rose.
Q: What skills did you need to acquire in order to become an underwater photographer?
A: A love of the ocean, very competent diving skills, buoyancy control that you don’t even have to think about so that you can get within inches of coral without touching it and moving at all in case you scare the creatures or damage the coral.
Q: Do you have any formal qualifications in photography? (Ignore if answered above).
A: Absolutely none, I have read a few books about film and slide photography when I was eighteen and had a cannon AE1 Programme SLR (my first camera), then got bored with it but took up photography again when I started diving. Still totally self taught, I would look at images and try and work out technically how they took them. Shot slide film for 12yrs under water and there was a lot of through away stuff, began digital about 2004, I think, this was another steep learning curve
Q: What equipment do you use/are required for underwater photography?
A: Underwater flash (called strobes) are a must, I shoot manual, no TTL at all. Nikon SLR D300s at the moment (I like the D3X but the size and weight and the bigger housings put me off as I travel a lot) Subal housings and ports for the lenses and0 Inon strobes.
Q: Roughly what kind of daily/hourly rates do you charge clients who wish to employ you?
A: That can depend a lot. Sometimes around $120 an hr but I also do a lot of contra work when I supply images or journo work in return for exotic destinations.
Q: Does your underwater photography provide you with a full time income or do you have another job as well as underwater photography?
A: Yes I am lucky enough that it has provided me with enough income especially from my limited addition work for the last almost 6 years it has made enough profit.
Q: How do you promote/market your business and do you assign a rough budget to marketing/promoting, If so approximately how much?
A: Marketing? No real budget, we just take on marketing ideas that look good, probably on average per year, $12000, but it does vary on things a lot.
Q: Do you have any other photographers that have inspired you throughout your photography career?
A: David Doubilet mainly, also a local guy called Peter Nicholas was great inspiration to me. I always try to develop my own style. I get a bit frustrated sometimes now that I see other photographers that never before shot like it, have seen my success and tried to almost exactly copy my style, but I guess they say that imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Summary of Assignment 2
Careers Paths
Fine art photography – Exhibitions, online sales, prints
Stock images
Working with advertising agencies
Instructing/teaching
Shooting for magazines, books, publications, etc.
Gain sport diving qualifications as well as commercial diver qualifications
Take on a photography course, whether diploma or bachelor, so you can learn the technical camera, digital imaging and lighting skills every photographer needs to strive and put themselves apart from other photographers
Own the right equipment; underwater camera, or an airtight housing that fits around the camera you already have
Assist other underwater photographers to get a feel for the work
Start entering your work into competitions and local exhibitions
Start exhibiting your work at larger studios
Get represented by an agency and or/ start own business
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