Today’s new technology and social media are bringing a change to the business and marketing of photographic services. The question is—how can it work for you? It is a very different means—one that you join and participate in rather than direct and control, as you often can with your traditional marketing media. New technology and the changing and developing expectations of your...
Whether you are starting out, adding income to your business, or changing marketing direction, sports photography provides opportunities for creating and selling exciting and interesting images. The subjects vary between products, portraits, and lifestyle. Though Sports Illustrated magazine most often springs to mind, the clients can range from editorial to advertising and everything in between.
Yes, there are staff jobs for photographers! Not as talked about as those who earn their living working freelance, this career path proves to be still viable today. The seven photographers interviewed for this column have a variety of job titles and work for a broad range of companies, including newspapers, big corporations, educational institutions, and hotels/resorts. Though they work in very different environments, it was interesting to me how much they have in common. As I learned, you will find that just being a technically competent photographer is not enough for a staff photography job. Also, make note of their employers’ use of freelancers. You’ll find that freelancing (working as a stringer) is one path to a staff job.
With such a strong balance of business and photographic skills, Bill Bachmann is the successful author of five books, his two newest books being Images of Woman and Send Me Anywhere. He is also a best-selling stock photographer.
Bachmann was destined from childhood to be a photographer; his mother was a photographer and writer and gave him a Brownie...
Many photographers wonder about the state of stock photography now and in the future. There are many questions and a good deal of controversy about the answers. Some of the big questions include: how are traditional stock and microstock competing? Is there still money to be made in stock image licensing? How tough is it to sign up with a stock photo agency? Nature and travel images were once the...
It is true that documentary photography dates back to the Civil War but most photo history textbooks credit the era of the 1930s to the 1950s when photographers such as Robert Capa, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Alfred Eisenstaedt raised the public awareness of photojournalism and became famous for their magazine and newspaper work.
With new technology and more savvy consumers, the wedding photography business has seen some big changes in the last few years. The photojournalistic “fad” has turned into an established style. The proliferation of digital cameras has turned everyone’s “Cousin Bill” into a photographer and has pushed the professional to create more and better services for their...
While previously thought of as a niche, boudoir photography is now a thriving way for photographers to make a living. Usually a gift to a loved one or one’s self, boudoir photography consists of an intimate photo of a woman or man suggestively covered or even fully nude. Although the photographers I interviewed all have different businesses, they all have one thing in common: tremendous kindness and compassion. Thanks to the following photographers for sharing how they have made their businesses a success: Mariah Carle, Lynn Clark, Lindsay Rae D’Ottavio, Megan Drane, Kristi Elias, and Mistie Simone.
Editorial photography has always been a glamorous and sought-after career with many dreaming of National Geographic-type assignments. The reality of selling editorial work today is the focus of this month’s column, and as you’ll see it’s not all glamour and glitz. Finding and keeping editorial clients is hard work, requiring marketing expertise as well as good people skills.
Editorial photography can be broadly defined as images created to illustrate a magazine or newspaper story. For many photographers it is a highly sought-after career, perhaps because of the newsstand exposure factor and perhaps because photographers invariably receive printed credit for their images. But the main reason is that photographers get a chance to do what they really want to do most:...
Next to people and products, fashion photography is one of the most popular areas of commercial photography. Images are used for a wide range of uses: to tell a story (editorial), to sell apparel (catalogs, websites), and to promote a fashion brand (advertising). Not to be confused with portrait photography, models are almost always used to achieve the highest level of focus on the products.
Questions about the viability of travel photography as a way to make money are inevitable in my marketing workshops and classes. The allure is undeniable—it seems to be all about exotic places to visit and fascinating people to meet. While lots of photographers want to get into travel photography, it’s also one of the most competitive fields in freelance photography.
There’s no question that travel photography has long been a top pick when photographers look at career paths. The promise of seeing the world, making images, and getting paid for it all is a very attractive proposition. But does reality meet fantasy here? To find out we interviewed four photographers from the travel field to get their feedback on sales, marketing, and how they feel about the changes in the travel photography business. It is not an easy road. Photographers have had to adapt to new technology, to changes wrought by eCommerce, and to the shift from assignment work to stock sales. Each of these photographers have made many changes to compete successfully in this business.
Travel photography is one of the most oft-named areas of interest by photographers polled in my marketing workshops and classes. The allure is undeniable--it seems to be all about exotic places to visit and fascinating people to meet. While lots of photographers want to get into travel photography it's also one of the most competitive fields in free-lance...
Getting work as a travel photographer has never been easy. Today, factors of the economy and technology have added obstacles that require even more knowledge and planning. The travel photographers we interviewed work with clients ranging from editorial to corporate and advertising. Each have their own story, but they all share certain thoughts about the business.