The making of Shepherd’s Delight

At first: I thought that the biggest problems for those trying to break into the photography was the costs of equipment/photography education.

After my interviews: I saw that a real problem my interviewees were having was not money related but skill related. Those I interviewed found it extremely difficult to strengthen their photography skills on their own and did not know who to turn to for advice/practice. They stressed that outside of the handful of college photography classes they took and their peers (who mostly had the same skill level as them), they didn’t know where their next step was before becoming full-fledged photographers. Especially in the time of COVID-19, most of my interviewees were not keen on professional networking events to meet new people in the industry, especially with their small array of skills, they didn’t have the confidence to know what to say or do even if they met someone who had a great photography opportunity they could apply for. 

My top ideas for a prototype at this point were:

1.) A photography festival for photographers, models, make-up artists, etc. to meet, have fun taking photos, trading advice, making connections, and follow each other on social media.

2.) A community space for photographers to work at, meet other photographers, collaborate, and possibly even check out/rent equipment to use for projects. Space would be similar to a WeWork community work space.

3.) An app or website like that of LinkedIn crossed with that of Instagram, specifically for those in the photography/media industry looking to showcase their work and network to pick up jobs and strike up collaborations. (photographers, set designers, make-up artists, wardrobe people, etc.) This was the idea I felt strongest about for my prototype.

After talking with my expert: he emphasized the value of mentorships, giving me more details of how helpful they actually are and not a place where a lot of hand-holding occurs as I had originally thought. While he did like my top ideas and thought they could work, he enlightened me on previous attempts at these business designs, if they had failed or succeeded, and any problems he immediately saw with them being pursued now. With this new advice, I decided to shift my focus towards a mentorship.

And thus, the brainstorming for Shepherd’s Delight had started.