Patrick James Miller: A Master of His Environment

When asked what he likes best about shooting portraits for magazines such as Esquire, Men’s Health and GQ, Patrick James Miller gives a simple answer: It’s fun. Actually, he says, “it’s really, really fun,” mostly because it gives him an excuse to meet interesting people who are doing really cool things.

“I always used to say that I was so afraid of working one job forever and not meeting new people,” Miller says. “What I love about shooting environmental portraits is that it’s always different; one day, it might be a celebrity whom you’re really fond of, and the next day it might be a more story-based assignment about a scientist who invented something.”

It’s no mystery to Miller why he wound up with a career that fits him perfectly: he’s carefully curated a portfolio comprising bright, crisp studio and environmental portraits to show clients and photo directors, separating this from his personal, film-still-life, landscape and documentary work. “I wanted to really push my portraits, because I felt that I was getting hired for them, and most importantly, I really enjoy shooting them,” Miller says. “I wanted a photo director or art buyer to get a sense of who I am and what I want to shoot.”

LOVING THE IDEA
Miller didn’t necessarily follow a straight road to his photography business, which is based in Brooklyn. With an interest in the arts from a young age, the SoCal native actually began his career as a painter, having studied at UC Santa Barbara before briskly changing course after taking a photo class just for fun. “When I was painting in my studio for hours a day, it was just me by myself,” Miller says, “but with photography, I really loved the idea of getting assignments, meeting new people and not really knowing what’s going to happen next.”

He went from loving the idea of being a photographer to considering it as a full-blown career after an alumnus, Brad Swonetz (for whom Miller assisted in L.A. for six years), showed Miller his travel photography book.

Following suit, he began building a portfolio of travel photography, taken with his first camera, a Pentax 35mm point-and-shoot. He stuck with film (his Mamiya RZ67 and Fujifilm GA645 were his favorites) and medium format for awhile, but today he shoots with a Canon 5D Mark II and III and a variety of Profoto packs.

GETTING THERE
After assisting with various shooters on the West Coast and building a workable portfolio of portraits from the smaller music publications he was shooting for, Miller decided to make the full-time solo plunge in 2010 and move to New York. For the last few years, he’s been in the habit of toting his book of work to show anyone who would look at it. “With the environmental portraits I do, everything kind of comes through New York first,” he says, “and I really wanted to be apart of that.”

Miller, who isn’t currently represented, drummed up as many meetings as he could. He relies on his online portfolio as a promotional tool and has found the perfect promo recipe: he mails them to editors and clients twice a year, and emails them new work about once a month.

“I try to be respectful of people’s schedules, and I know they’re very busy with email blasts, but at the same time, being at the right place at the right time is really important,” he says. “You want to bug them politely.”

LEARNING TO ADAPT
This method seems to work for Miller, who’s a regular shooter for magazines like Fortune and commercial clients such as Apple and American Express. When it comes to doing a successful gig, he’s learned that preparation is key—as much as possible, anyway; he gets a week’s notice for shoots at most, but more often than not, he only has a couple of days to come up with a concept and gather his gear.

His clients probably also like how at ease his subjects seem in front of his lens, and for Miller, there’s no cookie-cutter trick to this. “I just try to be myself and be as nice and friendly as possible,” he says. “It depends on each character and personality. Sometimes I talk about myself and tell them my story, or talk about what we’re trying to do. That way, especially for actors, they feel involved and know what to do to be helpful.”

Miller estimates that about 60 percent of his work is environmental, or “story-based” shoots, with 40 percent being the celebrity portraits. Shooting stars, he says, is pretty similar to just getting another assignment—the only difference being that most celebrities usually have tighter schedules—it’s all just part of the job, depending on what comes up.

“I never really set out to be a celebrity photographer, per se,” Miller says. But it was an inevitable next step, considering the publications for which he was shooting. “And once you get one celebrity in your book, it kind of opens up the door for more.”

ACTING NATURAL
That being said, Miller admits his first celebrity shoot was “pretty nerve-wracking.” He remembers it well: with just a handful of hours’ notice, he was assigned to photograph Robert De Niro.
Miller tries to talk to the celebrities “like normal people, about normal things—not necessarily about their movies or work—just to be on a human level,” he says. “They do so much press and they’re asked the same questions over and over. You gain a little trust from them by connecting with them a little more.”

So in a tiny room at the premiere of Silver Linings Playbook, Miller got just a quick 30 frames in before they had to wrap things up—but not before a friend of the actor asked Miller for a quick iPhone snap of the two of them. He shot the photo and, handing back the phone, said, “Don’t worry about it—it’s on the house.” In what would become one of Miller’s proudest moments, De Niro—who’s known for his hard-edged, steely roles in Martin Scorsese films such as Goodfellas and Taxi Driver—actually laughed. And then it was, as Miller says, “over as quickly as it started.”

LOOKING FORWARD
Miller answers the age-old “what’s your favorite shot” question in one of the most optimistic ways possible: “The next shoot, the one I’m looking forward to, is always my favorite. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but what I love about this job is that you don’t know when your next job is coming and you don’t know what it’s going to be, but you get that call or that email, and it can be a life-changing or career-changing experience. The fun of it is always having the next one on the horizon.”

The Best Advice Patrick James Miller Has Ever Gotten…
Shoot as much as possible of the things you love and want to shoot, and show it to photo editors, agents, colleagues and any other relevant pairs of eyes for a critique. “Getting your work in front of people when you’re at that beginning process, when your work isn’t quite there yet, is big.” he says. “You can cut out the stuff that doesn’t work, show fresher work, and actually grow from it.”

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