William Long explains "My passion for dancing drove my photography"

Originating from the UK, William Long studied both the performing and visual arts. Starting his professional life as a performer, resulting in a 17 year career as a Principal Ballet Dancer with The Scottish Ballet.

William's photographic career effectively began in 1975, quickly establishing a niche market in Europe, within the highly specialised field of ballet & performing arts photography. His work evolved to include a varied range including corporate, commercial & advertising photography.

The  1990's brought about a permanent move to Australia, forming Longshots Photography; concentrating on the exciting and varied world of Corporate, Industrial, Advertising and Studio photography.

How long have you been picking up a camera?

Amazingly its been over 35 years now. I’m not sure if I’m surprised as to how old I am, or the fact that in photography, there is always something new to discover or learn, so you barely notice the time going by.



Did you always know that you wanted to be a photographer?

No. I wanted to be a dancer from the age of 5. And after a similar style “Billy Elliot” story, I joined a leading theatre school in London, moved to Rambert Ballet School as a student, joined Northern Ballet as a soloist, and then moved on to become a Principal Dancer with The Scottish Ballet. It was because of the move from Northern to Scottish, that I had 4 weeks holiday wages due to me from Northern, and I was starting with Scottish. So like any other young guy with too much money in my pocket, I blew it all on a whim of wanting a camera. A Nikkormat with a 50mm lens. Brilliant, the thing was bomb proof it was so well built.

What is your speciality as a photographer?

Well I bought the camera, because I was frustrated by photographers not understanding the technicalities of dance/ballet. And I innocently believed that I could have a go, considering I did understand ballet. I soon found that other dancers, and then other dance companies were buying my work or commissioning me to shoot their next production. And because of that, I began to have a dual career, as a ballet dancer and performing arts photographer.



Once my camera was bought, almost immediately, I started to photograph my fellow dancers in rehearsals and class, and it was like a light bulb moment, when I decided after the 2^nd or 3^rd roll of film, that I was going to be a dance photographer. And thats what developed, a speciality market, where my dance training, experience and knowledge gave me a much higher edge over any non dancing photographer . And so I now photograph heavy industrial sites and buildings...... ah the never ending journey of discovery.

When your not shooting for clients, what kind of images do you like to shoot?

Most of my work would now be labelled as “Commercial”.

I love architecture, and heavy industry, but I enjoy shooting just about anything really.



You have been an international judge for many years now, how did you first get into judging?

I remember it was about 17 or 18 years ago, I was asked if I would like to judge at Qld Pro Photography Awards, and then I think the same year at APPA. I've been a deputy chairman of jurors at APPA’s and chairman of jurors at Qld level numerous times. I also panel chair at National and State awards. I enjoy judging at any level.

Do you think there are extra considerations to be made when entering an International versus Local competition?

Not not really. The formula, if there is one, to ensure that what you’re entering is the very best work you can enter, and that its flawless in the production. At the end of the day, the subject matter can be hugely subjective and what will appeal to one judge, may not appeal to another. Which is why I think that the APPA and IAA judging systems work so well.

It's been said many times that entering a competition is more than just winning. What do you take out of a competition when you enter?

What I get out of it is the satisfaction of continuing that photographic self motivation, that constant push to produce something that would be an award image, not just in my eyes, but in the eyes of the judges.

What are the first 3 things you look at in your images when you enter a competition?

Composition, Subject Matter, Light.



What advice would you offer photographers entering a competition for the first time?

Have a go. Check everything. Put your print up on the wall and stare it for a week or longer. Seek alternative viewpoints, and importantly don’t justify your reason of liking it, just listen to all views and opinions. Some of the best advice I’ve received is from those who have no involvement in photography. Although I never thought I would say this, winning isn’t everything, taking part is the most important part. Photographic competitions aren’t similar to a simple athletic race, but are judged on so many subjective variables, that a winning image from one competition isn’t necessarily going to be judged as high in another.



You can find out more about William at http://www.longshots.com.au

Entries to The 2010 International Aperture Awards close on 15th October.

6 ways to improve your photography website.

In my last post about photography websites I wrote that I'd give you 6 easy to understand ways that you could look at adopting to get your website traffic moving again.

A few of the most important things to consider in the assessment of your site is the user experience.

1. Am I giving people a reason to visit my site?

2. Am I giving them a reason to come back?

3. Am I making it easy for them to tell others about me and my site.

Put yourself in your visitor's shoes. You visit websites don't you? Well think about the sites you visit often. What is it that appeals to you about those sites? Is it the content, or the ease of use or the community they attract?

Now look at your site. What appeals to you about your site, apart from the fact that your name is splashed across it.

Does it tick any of those boxes that you find so attractive in your favourite sites? I hope so.

When assessing your site you have to look past the pretty pictures and think like a visitor.

Ok here come those promised tips. No need to hold onto your seat for startling revelations, or to get out your abacus for advance calculations on predicting web traffic. Most of this information relates to common elements to think of when implementing a website but are quiet often forgotten.

1. Why are they here? - Why are people visiting your site? "How the hell should I know?" you say. If you don't have a website traffic statistics program on your site this is the first thing you should look at implementing. If you don't know why people visit your site and what they are looking at, how are you going to improve their experience? "Ummm,  I do what to what now?" Implementing a stats program sound super technical? Well its not. One of the easiest to implement is Google Analytics. All you need to do is create a Google account. You can add your website to your profile and then you Cut & Paste a section of code into the bottom of your website pages. This is probably beyond most people's web skills but your web developer can implement this for you in under an hour. If it takes them longer you may need to look for a new developer. Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink, Know what I mean, Know what I mean.
2. Make it easy to use - Find it hard to navigate around your own site? How do you think your users feel. If your familiar with your site and still find it hard to use your users are going to be completely lost. Make your site navigation obvious, having funky clever navigation is great, but if it's impossible to find or use you are going to lose visitors.
3. Give them a reason to come back - Why would anyone visit my site more than once? This is an important question to ask yourself. A great way to build your traffic is by increasing your chance of returning visitors. If someone visits you more than once they are more likely to recommend you to others.One of the easiest ways to increase the likelihood of returning visitors, is to add a blog to your website. "But I have nothing to stay!" Huh! You do so. You shoot jobs don't you? Why not post one or two of the images from each job on the blog with a short description. No one ever said you had to write an essay. This gives you multiple benefits. The client from the job has something to share with friends, family or co-workers. Its a great showcase of your skills to general web traffic and having new information on your website all the time shows Google and other search engines that your website is active and they will push you higher up the rankings over more dormant websites.
4. Sharing is easy - Have you ever visited a website and thought "Oh Jane would be interested in this, I'll send it to her." Adding sharing links to your site means that it is easy for people to spread the word. Most people think about sharing websites or articles but if they have to manually copy links and address' it usually becomes to hard and they don't bother.A really easy way to add the ability to share your website pages is by using AddThis. Addthis is another free easy to implement widget that can be placed in any part of your website. Create a free account and choose your button style. All you have to do is cut & paste a small section of code onto your page. Again its a quick job for your web developer to implement. Add this will give your users the ability to bookmark, print and share your pages on all major social networking sites.
5. Network - Social networking can be a great way of driving traffic through to your site. Get on Facebook. Create a Facebook fan page for your business. Start tweeting. Facebook and Twitter can be great ways to bring in addition traffic to your site. On the flip side they can be a great way to waste huge amounts of time. God Damn you Bejewelled!!!!! But if you treat them like a marketing tool instead of endlessly catching up with friends from primary school you can tap into huge viral networks. Put follow me on Facebook and Twitter buttons on your website (that's right make it easy for your visitors.) and then post links to the latest information or happenings related to your business.
6. Offer Incentives - This relates back to giving people a reason to visit your website. Offer exclusive website discounts and promotions. If your customers know that you offer online deals and specials it will soon grow your website traffic and your sales.

Think about the ideas that have been put forward here. Make your site easy to use, encourage your users to talk about and share your site and give them a reason to keep coming back.

And remember if you don't know what your visitors are doing when they visit you website you are working blind. Adding visitor statistics is not hard to implement or understand and it will make a big difference to understanding your audience going forward.