How to Succeed in Commercial Photography : Insights From a Leading Consultant

been counseling photographers from every discipline from

portrait to advertising, from editorial to photojournalism, for

the last twenty-eight years. My clients now reside across the

United States and Canada, with some located in the United

Kingdom, India, and Australia.

CHANGES IN TODAY’S BUSINESS

Beginning a career in professional photography as I did,

with one year’s worth of photo school and no business training,

worked in the seventies, but today’s market is jam-packed and

the “business of having a business” today is extremely complex.

Due to the onslaught of the branding craze, clients now

hire a photographer if there is a match between their corporate

client’s brand message (as exhibited in a layout) and the photo-

grapher’s vision. This is a huge change from when an existing

relationship between a buyer and a photographer was the

exclusive reason to hire a talent.

Licensing, an issue since the “new” 1978 copyright law went

into effect (which gave photographers the option to resell their

work), is still a mystery to many, clients and photographers alike,

and the onset of the digital age has waved in not only a new way

of capturing images but a new way of seeing and pricing photo-

graphy. Buyers now peruse Web sites with eyes once reserved for

print portfolios, and prospects are seemingly younger and some

would say far more inexperienced than their predecessors.

Unbelievably cheap royalty-free photos, along with visually stun-

ning stock photography images that come in every shape and

size, have narrowed the assignment market dramatically.

Yes, today’s world is not for the faint-hearted or for those who

throw themselves into a business with little preparation or plan-

ning, and it is certainly no place for those who choose to

approach their tasks with a negative “I can’t win anyway” attitude.

Over the last two dozen or more years, I have had the

opportunity to work side by side with hundreds of photogra-

phers. I can confidently tell you that with the exception of a few

minor specifics, each area of photography requires the same

type of attention, and the steps one takes to insure success are

quite similar.

INTRODUCTION

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