It was very slow at first, as there were plenty of established photographers about, but gradually I obtained more regular clients and I rented a much larger studio in the Jewellery Quarter, trading as 'Actuality PhotoDigital' by then I was doing more product photography and I took on designing logos, the printing of brochures and leaflets for my clients.
I had as clients; Jeff Lewis Kitchen Interior designers, Steel Stockholders, Saville Gordon Group, Kidderminster Carpets and Lucas Car Parts, apart from a few Jewellery manufacturers.
My biggest difficulties were as quick as I obtained new clients, due to the worst recession anyone could remember, I just as quickly lost other clients as one after another were wiped out - bankrupt! Worst still some of them owing me money!
I also got involved with Kenmore producing concepts for the glass 'Worktop Savers' they made, creating the photographs that became the main part of the product as well as designing and printing all their literature and packaging.
One of the biggest problems I had, was that I soon became known as the photographer that could do special effects and ended up having lots of work that most other photographers did not want or were unable to do. This certainly gave me some headaches at times, but all my clients were more than happy with what I did for them! As an example, Willard Wigan (a Jamaican gentle giant) came to see me, he had tried without any success to have his incredibly tiny sculptures photographed for promotional purposes and was told to come and see me. Just to see them one needed a strong magnifier (more about this later).
The other difficulty I came across was that most clients waited till the very last minute, before giving me the order to proceed and then expected everything to be done, to meet almost impossible deadlines!
jncohen.net/actuality
I took on all the photography for Moulinex Swan Brand (their factory was just a few minutes' walk away) they were pleased with what I did for them and soon were giving me more and more products to photograph, so many that I found it hard to keep my other clients happy too! This seemed good for me, but they then kept making me wait longer and longer for payment, till eventually having had to work much longer hours and pay for all the large format film and processing costs, not to mention the time spent chasing the payments.
This could not be allowed to continue and in the end, I had to
take them to court, as although they were using my photographs, they
were delaying payment for over 6 months!