INCOME FROM PHOTOGRAPHY

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: BRIEF HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY............................................................................... 5

CHAPTER ONE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................. 7
CHAPTER TWO: INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY AS A BUSINESS .............................................. 8
CHAPTER TWO SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................. 9
CHAPTER THREE: GOING PROFESSIONAL................................................................................................. 10
GETTING STARTED..................................................................................................................................................... 10
PHOTOGRAPHY TRAINING............................................................................................................................................ 11
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION.......................................................................................................................................... 12
PET PHOTOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................................................... 12
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................ 13
FAMILY PORTRAITS.................................................................................................................................................... 14
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS.................................................................................................................................................. 15
TRADE JOURNALS...................................................................................................................................................... 16
COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................................... 16
WEBSITE PHOTOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................. 18
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER THREE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................ 21
CHAPTER FOUR: ADVERTISING YOUR SERVICES....................................................................................22
GENERAL ADVERTISING.............................................................................................................................................. 22
INTERNET ADVERTISING.............................................................................................................................................. 23
CHAPTER FOUR SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER FIVE: MARKETS FOR YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS......................................................................... 26
POSTCARDS............................................................................................................................................................... 45
CALENDARS.............................................................................................................................................................. 46
ART GALLERIES........................................................................................................................................................ 46
CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................... 49
CHAPTER SIX: THE BUSINESS OF STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY................................................................... 53
CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................. 69
CHAPTER SEVEN: PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT ..................................................................................... 35
DIGITAL VS. FILM CAMERA......................................................................................................................................... 35
SLR VS. POINT-N-SHOOT.......................................................................................................................................... 36
LENS........................................................................................................................................................................37
FILM........................................................................................................................................................................ 38
CHAPTER SEVEN SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................ 41
CHAPTER EIGHT: LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS ............................................ 42
MODEL RELEASES..................................................................................................................................................... 42
PROPERTY RELEASES.................................................................................................................................................. 44
TRADEMARKED IMAGES.............................................................................................................................................. 45
COPYRIGHTS..............................................................................................................................................................45
CHAPTER EIGHT SUMMARY......................................................................................................................................... 48
CHAPTER NINE: FINANCIAL MATTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS ....................................................... 49
SPECULATIVE VS. NON-SPECULATIVE............................................................................................................................49
SOLE-PROPRIETOR VS. INCORPORATION......................................................................................................................... 50

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 “S” TYPE CORPORATIONS........................................................................................................................................... 51
“C” TYPE CORPORATION............................................................................................................................................ 51
“S” TYPE VS. “C” TYPE AT-A-GLANCE..................................................................................................................... 52
LLC CORPORATIONS................................................................................................................................................. 53
SALES TAXES............................................................................................................................................................ 53
CHAPTER NINE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................................... 56
CHAPTER TEN: HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU CHARGE?............................................................................ 57
ART SALES............................................................................................................................................................... 57
LICENSING FEES........................................................................................................................................................ 58
DIRECT CLIENT SALES............................................................................................................................................... 59
CHAPTER TEN SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................ 62
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................... 63

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Chapter One: Brief History of Photography

The process of making photographs first came to the public’s attention in 1839. For
several years before that, a few scientists had been able to make pictures, but these were
experiments kept largely confined to laboratories. Then in 1839, France publicized a process of
producing pictures on metal called the daguerreotype, so named because of the inventor of the
process – Louis Daguerre. The following year, an Englishman named William Talbot invented
the calotype. The calotype was a process by which pictures were produced on paper with the
light parts of the image showing up as dark and the dark parts of the image showing up as light.
These were the negatives. The positives were produced on yet another piece of paper
pretreated with special chemicals and presto – photographs, as we know them today, were born.
Two decades later, Frederick Archer would invent a process of producing negatives on glass
instead of Talbot’s process of using paper. This allowed for the mass production of prints.
These prints were also of much higher quality and greater in visible detail.

One early characteristic of photography, which separated it from other forms of art,
prevailed from the earliest days of the invention and continues to this day. Unlike other artists,
photographers need to know very little about the means through which they produce their art.
Painters know how colors are produced. They know to mix one color with another to produce a
third color. The canvas on which they paint is no mystery. For sculptors, too, the process of
producing apiece is simple in nature. The clay is molded then dried.

However, few photographers can explain the mechanics that allow an image to appear

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on paper by simply pushing a button. Moreover, they don’t have to know. Even the earliest
cameras, which were clumsy and enormous in size, required little technical knowledge on the
part of the photographer. The ability to produce art through a means that required little time
and even less technical skill appealed to the public masses. Particular among them, in the early
days of the camera, were trained artists who were not talented enough to make it as painters. In
fact, it was from this group of failed painters that photography produced some of the best and
most successful photos in the early days of this craft.

Because photography was so new, the earlier practitioners of the art experimented quite
a bit. From their experiments came a wealth of images that are, to this day, considered some of
the best in the field of photography. Much of their work was done for their respective
governments, photographing historic monuments and places of particular importance for their
countries. Work was also found taking portraits of the wealthy and famous, who were already
quite used to sitting for painters. But for the most part, these early photographer snapped
anything and everything, simply for the experimentation and the adventure, heedless of the
need to sell or create art. Photography as a full-fledged business dominated by professionals
did not begin until the late 1800s.

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Chapter One Summary

• People first began taking photographs in 1839 and although initial photography
equipment was big and cumbersome, it required less talent than it does today.
• Daguerreotype was producing photos on metal and calotype was producing them on
paper (negatives).
• As early as the 1800s, professionals began working and full time professionals.

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Chapter Two: Introduction to Photography as a Business

The primary logistical problem that faces photographers who wanted to make money from
their art was finding clients who were willing to pay. Photography as a professional endeavor
suffers from the fact that it does not cost very much to own a camera, purchase film, and pay
for development of that film. In recent years, the purchase of film has become optional first
because of the ubiquity of disposable cameras and now because of the wider public’s access to
digital cameras. This latest development has also all but obliterated the need to pay for
developing photographs.

Despite all these obstacles there does exist the potential to make photography a professional
and more importantly, a successful business. One trick is to specialize in one or more fields
where it is not as feasible for the client to produce his own pictures. Usually, for clients who
themselves are in a business related to photography this will be because they require a quantity

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or diversity of photos they cannot supply themselves. For the run of the mill public, however,
this will usually be because of an event they are participating in and therefore cannot take the
pictures.

Chapter Two Summary

• Finding clients isn’t necessarily easy but it is doable.
• Specializing in one or more fields is a great way to gain clients and become a
successful photographer.

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Chapter Three: Going Professional

The field of photography has always been a booming business potential. Despite the
fact that few people know this, enough of them have figured it out and have created a market
saturated with photographers who consider themselves professionals. Because of the advent of
digital cameras and the Internet, more and more people are attempting to make a go of
photography as a professional career either on a full-time or part-time basis. However, the
chances for making a decent career out of photography are still good if one goes about it the
right way. Magazines and newspapers purchase more than 60 million photographs each year.
Many of these photos are taken and sold by professional, already-established photos. Despite
this, there is plenty of room for beginners who are passionate about photography and are
willing to specialize.

Getting Started
There are three primary considerations you must approach in deciding how to go about
getting into the photography business. First, ask yourself whether you need or could benefit
from additional training to become more skilled at taking pictures. Second, decide in what area
of photography you would like to specialize. Third, consider whether you want to be more of

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an amateur photographer making a little money on the side, a professional photographer
running your own business, or something in between. Answering this question will have
important financial and tax implications for you.

Photography Training
What makes photography different from many other art forms, such as painting or
sculpting, is that anybody can take pictures. All the knowledge that is required is where to
press the button on the camera. There are issues such as lighting that need to be considered to
make the pictures appealing to the eye. However, automatic and digital cameras have made
lighting yet another burden removed from the person holding the camera.

Where photography education comes in most handy is in the artistic arena. That is, for
people who take pictures meant to be used as art or décor. The quality and type of pictures
meant for this arena differs dramatically than for pictures taken to accompany a newspaper
story or magazine article, where the picture is meant to illustrate a point being made in writing
and not meant to stand alone as a statement. If your intention for entering the photography
world is strictly artistic, to see your photographs gracing the walls of art galleries, you would
probably benefit from taking some photography and art classes.

If this is not your intention, then you may be better off taking the money you may have
spent on photography school to purchase film and equipment and learn to improve the quality
of pictures you take simply by taking many pictures. Indeed, most professional photographers
learned their craft as they went along, without benefit of any formal training. Another way of
getting some training is to apprentice with an established photographer or get an internship or
part-time job at a studio.

If getting classroom education is important to you and just something you would be
more comfortable doing before calling yourself a pro, it isn’t necessary to spend what could
amount to thousands of dollars for an art degree. Most every city and town in the country has a
community college where residents can take a photography or art class. You may also want to

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call your local photography studios, as they sometimes offer a variety of photography classes
during their off hours.

Areas of Specialization
Beginning photographers are well advised to stay away from certain markets which are
already saturated by professionals and which are exceedingly difficult for novices to break into.
Well known national magazines and big city newspapers deal almost exclusively with
professionals they have used in the past. Many of these magazines and newspapers also have
their own staff of photographers. Trying to sell pictures in these markets can be an exercise in
futility and has caused many photographers to quickly drop their dreams of going professional.
This does not have to be a situation you find yourself in, if you take the time to figure out what
areas you are passionate about photographing.

Pet Photography
This is an area of specialization perfect for photographers who are also animal lovers.
Pet owners are notorious for spending lavishly on their adored parrots, pooches and kittens, and
also like to show them off. Pictures are a perfect way to do this. Advertising your services to
pet owners can be as simple as posting cards or flyers on the bulletin boards of pet stores.

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Wedding Photography

Weddings are perhaps the one occasion in people’s lives where pictures are always
wanted. A beginning photographer has an advantage over established wedding photographers
because they can charge less, especially if they have little overhead such as a studio to pay for.
Most everyone knows a friend or family member who has an upcoming wedding, and
advertising your services may first be by word of mouth. Bridal journals are another good
place to advertise. Check out your local newspaper’s announcement section and send a card
directly to the engaged couple, advertising your services and specifying the price you will
charge to photograph their wedding.

There are some basic pictures that are always taken at a wedding, so that gives a
beginning photographer a leg up on the whole process. You already know that the bride will
take a picture alone and so will the groom. Then there will be bride/groom photos and, from
there, it will gradually expand to include more and more of the family and the bridal party. It is
important before the day of the wedding to get a list of the important people the couple will
want to have additional pictures of. Usually these are parents, grandparents, maid of honor,
and best man. You’ll need to be around to take pictures of the toasts that are given to the
couple, the cutting of the cake, and the throwing of the bouquet. Become familiar with the
basic setup of the wedding service, especially if the couple’s religious practice differs from
your own. For example, the couple will want to have a picture taken when glass is broken at a
Jewish wedding ceremony.

It would be to your advantage if you could take as many pictures as possible before the
actual ceremony. Brides and members of the bridal party are notorious for being late in their
preparations so, often, the groom and his groomsmen may just be standing around waiting.
This is a perfect opportunity to pull them aside for pictures and to take group pictures of the
audience. Don’t forget that the couple will also celebrate wedding anniversaries, so be sure to
mention to the newly marrying couple that you are available for taking pictures five years down
the road. Older couples in the audience should also be approached since 25th and 50th wedding
anniversaries tend to involve big celebrations.

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Family Portraits
Parents love to take pictures of themselves with their children. It is a way to remember
them young and chart their growth. Becoming a family portrait photographer requires very
little overhead. Often families will want the pictures taken in their own homes. And even if
they don’t, you can use a room in your own house as a ‘studio.’ Simply purchase a decorative
poster or sheet to tape to the wall and you can use that as a background. Advertise your
services where families frequent, such as the local library or the local supermarket. The
traditional yearly school pictures are also taken by portrait photographers, so once you have a
nice-sized portfolio, contact your local school district and find out the procedure for putting in a
bid for the school picture contract. Many towns and cities have several school districts within
their borders, so are aggressive and make bids for all the districts that are a comfortable
distance from you.

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Local Newspapers
While big city newspapers and national magazines are almost impossible for a novice
photographer to make a living from, small town newspapers almost always use freelancers.
Their budgets often do not allow them to keep a full time photographer on their staff. And
even in cases where they do have one, that one photographer could not possibly cover all the
events of one town or county. Small town papers are more involved in local events and local
personalities than they are in national news, which is covered by papers better financed for such
work. In fact, small newspapers get their national and international news from press
conglomerates and wire services. The bulk of their time, therefore, is spent covering events of
local interest.

By attending council meetings, high school sports’ games, weddings, parades, festivals,
religious events, and even parties of local VIP’s, a photographer can make a good sideline
selling pictures to the town’s paper. In addition, by maintaining a good relationship with the
paper’s editors, a consistently decent photographer is likely to be called upon as a freelancer for
the paper.

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Trade Journals
Trade journals are those that are geared to a specific specialty. There are trade journals
dealing with just about everything imaginable from roofing to hair braiding and from herb
growing to woodworking. You probably have a hobby or an interest that is rather specific and,
chances are, there is a journal devoted to it. Do a general search using the Internet or your local
library’s reference section for keywords relating to things that interest you. Once you find a
journal on that topic, flip through several issues and see what kind of photographs they publish.
You may stumble onto a lucrative business opportunity that few other photographers would
think about.

Along the lines of trade journals are special interest magazines. These are more general
than trade journals but they, too, are geared toward a specific topic. While trade journals are
often available only through subscriptions, specialty magazines can often be found at large,
well-stocked magazine stands. Specialty magazines might deal with hobbies such as rock
climbing, knitting, gardening, or weightlifting. There are also specialty magazines for mothers
of preschoolers, African-American teenagers, nursing professionals, vegetarians, dairy farmers,
etc. Chances are there are specialty magazines you already pick up on occasion. If you gear
your photography business towards interests you already have, you are much likelier to stay
interested and succeed financially.

Commercial Photography
Banks, mortgage companies, insurance agencies, and real estate agencies all deal
extensively with photographs. Banks and mortgage companies need to keep updated and
accurate records of the properties in which they are invested or own. Because so many

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companies are merging and becoming national, there is a growing need for subcontractors to
assist them in keeping track of properties that may be hundreds or thousands of miles from their
headquarters. It isn’t cost-effective to keep full-time or even part-time employees in every
locality that the company may own properties. It is much more efficient to hire photographers
on a freelance, as-needed basis and that is where you come in.

The obvious properties that come to mind when one thinks of banks and mortgage
companies are houses. But boats, apartment buildings, shopping malls, and other structures
housing businesses all have mortgages on them. Some mortgage companies that hire
freelancers may be near you, so start by checking the yellow pages. Once you get in touch with
them, let them know you are available on-call for photographing properties and give them your
general geographic parameters; that is, let them know how far you are willing to travel. Just as
it would be inefficient for you to drive miles to take just one picture, it would also be inefficient
for the mortgage company to hire you to do this. So more likely than not, when you are called
for an assignment, they will have a list of places they need you to check out.

When you go see these prospective clients in person, don’t forget to bring along a
portfolio tailored just to the kind of work they would need done. Take great pictures of houses
and other properties and remember to photograph all sides both up close and from a distance.
This will approximate the kind of work you would be doing for these clients and will impress
them more than candid black-and-whites of your Uncle Sal.

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Website Photography

Just about everyone these days is setting up his own website, it seems. The desire to be
on the worldwide web just might rival the desire to start one’s own photography business.
Both those who want to put together their own websites and professional website designers
need photographs. Of course, this need is only perceptional. A website can be up and running
just fine by using nothing but text. But websites look better with graphics and pictures and
website owners and designers know this. Website owners and designers, though, are not
necessarily professional photographers and do not necessarily have their own stock of pretty
pictures to paste on their website in order to draw the online masses to visit them.

A professional photographer who is computer savvy can make a business out of

licensing their photos specifically for this use. Actually, a professional photographer who is
just moderately competent with computers can make a go of this specialization. What you need
is lots and lots of photographs and the ability to post them on the website that you will create,
or the ability to needle a friend into creating a website for you. Once that is done, you want to
use keywords for search engines that will draw website designers and ordinary folk to your site
to browse all the great images that could be gracing their website. Presto – a business is born.

The downside? It should be obvious. Because your images are already online, what is
to stop those website coveting folk from simply copying the images they want from your
website and posting it on their own? The answer is ‘Not a heck of a lot.’ This is where the
importance of copyrighting comes in. Make sure that all the photos you post are registered
with the U.S. Copyright Office before you post them. Place your copyright symbol and name
directly on the photograph by digitally superimposing them so that, if infringers are caught,
they can be slapped with extra fines for removing them.

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Aerial Photography
Are you not only a photographer but also a daredevil, a risk taker or simply someone
who loves to fly? Aerial photography may be the specialization for you. There are several
groups of clients who are in the market for photographs that need to be snapped from up on
high. Real estate developers are one. Aerial photographs allow them to better configure the
plans for the residential or business communities they wish to build. There are aspects of any
natural terrain that will be important for builders to take into consideration but are only clear
from an above-the-site view.

Local and state government entities also need aerial photographs. These photographs
are used for everything from making maps to determining city and town boundaries. Aerial
photographs are also great for artistic projects that you may later sell for use on postcards,
calendars, or posters. The trick is to take advantage of your time in the air because hiring a
pilot will be an expense significantly greater than expenses incurred in other photography
specialties. While some of this expense can be passed onto the client, you can take advantage
of already being up in the air by snapping as many pictures as possible, so that you do not need
to re-hire a pilot when it comes time to build your own portfolio.

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 Advice from Patricia, owner of Pets Love Pictures Too!

“Choosing the right specialty is so very important if you truly want to excel in the
photography business. I myself started on a part time basis while working as a real estate
agent. When just starting, I basically took on any assignments that came my way. Weddings,
family photographs, and soon found that I totally excelled at creating awesome pet
photographs. I guess this is because I have always been an animal lover and believe that I am
totally intoned to their inner beauty so that became my niche. I now photograph pets, dogs,
bird, cats, ferrets, turtles and even pigs. The coolest thing about my pet photography business
is that it is always fun to find interesting poses and to get my subjects to participate but the
rewards are so worth it when I find just the right shot to capture each animal’s unique
personality”

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Chapter Three Summary

There are three main considerations that you must consider. First, ask yourself whether you
need or could benefit from additional training to become more skilled at taking pictures.
Second, decide in what area of photography you would like to specialize. Third, consider
whether you want to be more of an amateur photographer making a little money on the side, a
professional photographer running your own business, or something in between.

Professional training may be more beneficial for artists looking to see their work on galleries,
etc but for those seeking to make money, practice is the best form of education.

It is typically better to specialize than not specialize. There are so many specialties including
but not limited to wedding, pet, commercial, and aerial photography. As the saying goes, “The
Sky is the Limit”.

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Chapter Four: Advertising Your Services
No matter how good a photographer you are, no one will hire you to do projects for
them if they do not know that you exist. As is the case with every business, you must advertise
your existence or close up shop. Advertising is most critical when you are first getting started.
As the years pass and your reputation builds, you will get more and more clients coming to you
because they heard about you from other satisfied customers or because they saw your work
somewhere. Even then, you will want to be consistent about advertising but, depending on just
how successful you become, it may not need to be the forerunning concern of your business
that it should be when you first open shop.

General Advertising
Your most basic form of advertising will and should be through your local town or
city’s yellow pages. This may seem strange advice considering the ubiquity of the Internet, but
people actually still use the yellow pages and use them extensively. This is especially so for
consumers who are searching for services that, by their very nature, need to be provided
locally. A couple getting married in Missoula will not hire a photographer based in Miami to
take pictures of their wedding. The Internet may be a great place to find photographers but the
Missoula phone books will be a quicker way to narrow down the choices to the local
possibilities.

Wedding photographers should also seek out the places that engaged couples would
visit in planning the celebration of their nuptials and get permission to post flyers or leave
business cards advertising their services. This includes tuxedo rental outlets, catering

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companies, and perhaps most importantly, bridal gown shops. Most hometown newspapers
have a society section where they announce engagements, weddings, and anniversaries, usually
on a weekly basis. Ad space for those pages are sold specifically to businesses that cater to
people involved in such events including, of course, photographers. Similarly, pet
photographers will want to advertise at pet supply stores and veterinarians’ offices and portrait
takers might consider contacting school districts in their area.

Even photographers whose specialty would not be in need by the vast majority of the
public should advertise in the yellow pages. Insurance companies or real estate mortgage
holders needing photographers to document their properties may simply look in the yellow
pages under “Photographer’ to find generalists, and think how pleased they would be to find
your name and a notation that you do exactly the type of photography that they are seeking.

Internet Advertising
It is wise to advertise in places that are specific to your geographical locale but it is
equally as wise to advertise on the Internet. Though people still do use the yellow pages and
still find photographers through posters in stores and other public places, the number of people
who automatically let their fingers do the walking across their keyboards to find providers of
services they need is just too large to ignore. And it is growing by leaps and bounds, as you no
doubt know. In addition, the population of people who use the internet as their primary source
of purchasing products and services is considerably skewed to the young. It is wise business
sense to make yourself known well and early to this population.

In order to set up a website, you will need a service provider. Don’t be nervous if you
don’t know anything about building a website. The company from which you will purchase a
web address will provide you with relatively easy-to-follow instructions and tools to build a
rudimentary site. They will also provide the means through which you can enter the keywords
related to your business that will allow your website to pop up (along with a list of others)
when an internet user types in a search term.

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 If you are willing to spend the additional money, you can also pay to have your website
among the top sites that will appear in any given search for which your keywords are entered.
Of course, the more you are willing to pay, the more visibility your site will be given. For
those photographers whose only or primary means of sales will be on the internet, it makes
sense to spend as much as you can to get the best returns, providing of course, that what you
spend does not ultimately cut into your profits so much that they are virtually non-existent.

On the other hand, the cost of this, as well as general advertising, can (and should) be
considered when fixing the price for your prints in the first place. For the photographer who
wants to advertise on the Internet, but knows ahead of time that she will only take on local
projects, it is imperative to put in the name of your state and hometown in your list of search
terms, as many people will use geography to quickly narrow down their list of possible
photographers from whom to choose.

Advice from Samantha, owner of Pictures Rock

“I’m going to be honest with you. Advertising isn’t cheap but it is so necessary if you want
clients. Before I placed an ad in the yellow pages, all five of my clients came from word of
mouth. Although word of mouth advertising can work (if you’re willing to wait), you should
always use it in combination with other methods if you really want your phones to ring off
the hook want your business to grow fast. My advice is to try out a bunch of nontraditional
and traditional advertising methods and then see what works and what doesn’t and then do
more of what works. That’s what I did and it worked for me.”

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Chapter Four Summary

• It is always better to advertise than not. Traditional and nontraditional

advertising can work.
• Word of mouth is very good in combination with other methods.
• You should always try various methods and then do what makes the most sense
according to your specific specialty.

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Chapter Five: Markets for Your Photographs

Marketing Strategies for the Photographer

Whilst marketing strategies sounds a mouthful, it means putting more bucks in your pocket.
Marketing is the commercial phase of transferring a product from one owner to another. In
other words you generate more sales. It has never been easier for the photographer to take
effective steps to generate these extra sales. There are more photographers’ than ever before,
but the market has also boomed exponentially, so it makes economic sense to cash in on that
boom.

Whilst there are many effective steps you can undertake, they do have International, National,
and also local effects, some will have an immediate effect, and others will have a long range
benefit,

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Immediate Local Impact.

You do not have to have a PhD, in photography to work out that the area, fifty miles from your
front door, is the geographical area you know best. To widen your net in your immediate area
will have immediate impact.
Your Marketing Plan
Many people will say, “hey I’m creative I don’t need this “****!”, but everyone needs a
business plan in the modern world; it is your orientation course, it tells you where your at, and
where you need to be, as well as the steps, that will help you to achieve your individual goals.
Identify the area you wish to exploit. To keep you on track all the time write it down. It may
appear time consuming, as indeed it is, but it is a document that you can refer back to often, and
see if you are achieving your individual targets. No one else need ever see this document, but it
is important that you are able to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise you are
doomed to fail, it may be easier trying to set up a wedding photography business in the Vatican
City!

Outline of a marketing plan.

Market research.

How does your customers rate you? When you deliver your finished product send out a pre-
printed questionnaire. Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertisement, but it does
not have to be a positive feedback. If people are not hiring you for the second time, because of
a mistake you made the first time, then you need to know about it, to be able to take corrective
measures.

Like any other business the photographic business has an element of repeat orders. If you have
photographed someone’s wedding well, they may not want you on the honeymoon; but your
name may well be remembered when “official” photographs are needed for the birth of a first
child, or a christening. If you are not getting your share of repeat business, why are you not
getting it?

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You cannot rectify the problem without isolating it. In this aspect it will throw up your
competitors strengths, and you need to know how strong they are. Is there a weakness there you
can exploit, either by undercutting their prices, or by going the extra mile on service. You need
to know where exactly you stand in your local workforce and in relation to your competitors.
Unique marketing points

What makes your individual business unique? These are the points you need to communicate
when carrying out target marketing. When you have taken commissioned photographs, are you
willing to send a free photograph enlarged, preferably one that “tugs at the heart strings”
because it’s content is emotional. Are you prepared to go that extra mile where service is
concerned? If you exceed your customer’s expectations every time you work, then you will get
repeat business. Repeat business is your cornerstone to success. Sloppy work, and inattention to
detail always yields sloppy returns.

When offering your services to individuals, for any form of “people photo” are you prepared to
scan and restore a possibly damaged favourite old photo? That may offer you the commission.

Are you prepared to give the customer a free compact disc, with the images on?
• Exploit potential.
There are millions of people with both pets and cameras. However it is harder to take a
professional photo with yourself and the mutt in it! B Are you exploiting the add-on services to
their full potential. Sometimes people love their animals more than other people. Animals
always exert an emotional pull. Get yourself a picture of a dog the cuter the better, and have it
made into a tee shirt, or get the image transferred to a coffee mug. Go to the local park near
where you live, and wear this tee shirt. You don’t need your dog! - just the camera, and offer
to have one made when someone admires the tee shirt (after taking the photo).

Have some business cards printed, and go and cover local sporting events and contests, there is
always someone without a camera, especially if they win, they will want a photograph. Or you

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may like to consider joining a local society, and advertising yourself as a photographer, there is
nothing as effective as word of mouth advertising, all the money paid for advertisements cannot
beat it!

• Competition
Find out exactly what your competitors are doing, what exact services, are they offering. E-
mail them, or telephone and ask, as a prospective customer. If you have the e-mail then you
have a permanent copy for future reference. You also need to check these prices periodically
and keep your information current. You need to know how competitors there are, and whether
or not your pricing structure is competitive. Other variables should be considered, the customer
after sales service, and their promotional services.
• Identify your target audience.
By careful analysis of your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, you nay be able to find a
gap in the market that you can easily tap into. If you are not able to analyze this information for
yourself, speak to a professional who can!
Primary customers
If you specialise in wedding photographer, then you primary target is the newly engaged
couples, are you reading the engagement ads in your local paper. Can you persuade a local
jeweller to place an advertisement for your services in his shop?
• Articulate your short, medium and long-term objectives.
Is it necessary to target more customers, can you handle the excess demands on your time,
without letting your existing client base suffer?
Or are you looking for a wider client base for existing photographs. Where can your business
realistically expand? Sometimes it is necessary to be exceptionally ruthless here, I want to be a
millionaire overnight will not do, you have to have specific and achievable gaols. Without this
a marketing strategy is doomed to fail. The have to be able to measure that the steps you are
taking, are creating the results that have specified. If you are trying to maximise profit, it is
better to aim for an increase in turnover of about 3%, over the course of a year, than say I want
to treble my profitability.
Profit objectives state the bottom line progress you want your marketing efforts to achieve. You

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may set the goal of achieving 2 percent profit in your first year, and increasing it by 10 percent
every year hereafter. Do you merely want a larger share of a particular sector? If this is the
case, how and where can you target your intended audience so that they are aware of the
services you are offering?
• Strategies
This is the most central aspect of your plan, you have identified, where improvements can be
made and it is necessary to capitalize on market tools. How are you going to entice new
customers’ to buy your goods and services? Whilst this can be done on a national level, the
immediate impact is in your local area. You can improve your business relations, by brushing
up your PR skills. If you have realised that there is a gap in the market you can advertise and
target the specific audience. This can be done by direct mail. An instance here is if you are a
wedding photographer, read the engagement columns of the local papers, these are usually
extremely specific, such as Mr R. W. Smith wishes to announce. There may be a lot of Smith’s
in the telephone directory, but they should be traceable. Another idea would be to read the
banns for future marriages. These all give you a target clientele to send direct mail to, or
contact personally. Ask your local church leaders, if they would be willing to give out one of
your business cards. You have to decide how much time, and money you are prepared to devote
to this, and set a time limit. You should be able to assess within three of four months whether
this strategy is working.

If you intend to advertise in the media, then you should have a list of the publications, the cost
of this exercise and how long the advertisements should run. Your local paper may have
discounted rates for a long running advertisement. The same rationale applies if you intend to
run radio advertisements.

A timetable will allow you to follow up any business leads that you have, a blitz of an
advertising campaign, can be destructive, as you have not got the time to spend to follow up on
all the enquiries. Remember to take into account the cost of other expenses, as a result of this
campaign, such as postal rates, and any other printing costs that you may incur. Within this
schedule you have also to ensure that the printing can be done in the time span you have
allocated. If you cannot follow up any generated leads, then don’t make them in the first place.

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It is always more expensive to generate more customers that to keep existing one’s as there are
always extra cost. It may even mean an extra member of staff. You may find, that after looking
at the budget of a targeted campaign that this option does not fulfil your best interests. It might
be better to widen your net of sales.

More Ways to Widen Your Net Locally

Passive Advertising

This is local advertising on the local radio, and in the media. It may work for some, but for
others it is not an effective a way of generating new income; because in some regions the cost
is prohibitive. Don’t underestimate the areas that can give you free advertising space. The
supermarket billboards, other connected businesses, such as your local developer’s. This form
of passive advertisement means that the process is often more effective when it is ongoing,
which only increases the expenditure. Recent marketing research has also suggested that it is
better utilised with other services that use your time rather money, to keep yourself in the
public eye.
Get yourself in the public eye

• Increase your profile

Is there a new restaurant opening near you, or one being refurbished, if so, ask them if you can
provide free décor. Take photographs and frame them, making sure that you place your name
and contact number within the frame. Whilst you are at it talk them into letting you take the
photographs for their new menus or cocktail list, or use their cocktails as décor. Nothing tastes
as good as actually looking at a cocktail with the correct lighting.
• Run local seminars.
Run a local seminar for free, and get your local paper to cover it. Perhaps take the children
from your local school out on a photographic field trip. It may not necessarily get your work

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shown, but as children are an emotive topic, it will get theirs shown. You will have the added
benefit of the kudos, as the person who organised it. You may also get some commissions as a
result of this.
You can always run a free seminar for adults as well, even if you do not have an office, see if a
local church will donate their hall, or use a school, or college.
• Charging for field trips
If you are known and respected in your area, then perhaps you can consider charging to take
people out on a field rip. This is only for the gregarious, as the interest factor may be just as
much in your lifestyle, as your work. Also bear in mind any additional insurance costs that you
will require here.
• Ask your local paper
It may be worth checking if your local paper is interested in a series of ongoing articles about
photography in your area. They may be prepared to pay you for this series, as they are always
looking for material of local interest. If you do not feel that you are competent to do this then
ask all your local radio stations if you can give a talk, about a specialist photographic subject,
or photography in your area.
• Use your website as a promotional tool
If you have a web site maximize it’s potential. Set up a forum to discuss local issues, donate
several pages to a local amateur sport’s team so that they can use it as bulletin board. The
possibilities are absolutely endless here, focus on what would benefit your local area, and
generate publicity.

If you do not have a web site get one for free with Yahoo. If you do not know how to create
one then use Rent a Coder. You ask for people all over the globe to create you a site, they will
send in a quote and you decide whom you would like to commission. The initial outlay is low,
and also the cost of maintaining a site is getting cheaper all the time. Having your own web site
also establishes that you are committed to the business of being a photographer.
If you are really smart, you can devote several pages to a local group, with member’s under
twenty-five, and get them to make you a site, and you have only to pay your annual fee to host
it.

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 • Work for a non-profit organisation.
One of the challenges facing photographers in a competitive field is to find an emotive image.
To work for a non-profit organization is an extremely cost effective way of allowing you to
promote your work. It does not matter what cause you work for and whether it is national or
local, but find something that you are really passionate about.
There are many opportunities here, as many of the non-profit organisations need your work as
much as you need the publicity. It can be a local fund raising event. Other alternatives are an
organization that uses plenty of images as promotion, or send out a high number of newsletters.

If you have not got an option to work for an existing organisation, then consider starting your
own local campaign, about an issue that concerns you personally. Every area has a community
issue that needs to be addressed. This may well be time consuming, but it will catapult you into
the public eye. The Encyclopaedia of Associations lists all the major organizations in America,
volunteering in Australia, is the equivalent link for Australia, these links will demonstrate the
criteria you need to join. It is also useful in finding a cause that you can feel involved with.
Without doubt other countries will record that information, check with your local reference
library, or the Chamber of commerce.

Geography will to some extent dominate what this will be, for instance it will be time
consuming to work for “save a whale”, if you are in the center of Australia, but there will be a
local environmental issue that will need to be addressed. The advantage of working within your
local community, are more diverse than just maintaining a high profile. If you are involved then
it is feasible that you can call on local director’s, of the organization. Whilst it is unlikely that
you will get a direct commission, their endorsement of your work allow you to use that as a
promotional tool. It will also increase the number of people who will talk about your work. It
would not be unreasonable if after completing some work that you ask for a client testimonial,
you do not have to be paid to request this.

It may also mean that you will be working in conjunction with more seasoned photography and
you will have the opportunity to learn new techniques.
You may get a film company to sponsor you for the price of the film and development costs, if

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the cause has a high enough profile. If this is not a viable option, then ask your local suppliers
to sponsor you, it will give them the opportunity of free publicity as well.
• Volunteer Work
When you are first starting to market your photographs you are spending more time marketing,
than actually working on creating images. However getting your work noticed, by future
potential clients is important. Read your local paper and if you notice that there is a local
charity, or a non-profit making organisation having an event; offer to be their professional
photographer for free. Your time will be better spent, with high profile events, but getting
published at any level is the first step to recognition.

Another way to get your work shown is to try and get local businesses to show your work.
There is an enormous potential here. Perhaps your local butcher wants to demonstrate to his
customers, how he cut the meat, he may allow you to take photographs and display them in the
business. Or perhaps a local supermarket is undergoing major renovations. Perhaps they would
be prepared to display before and after photos.

All these ideas to keep yourself in the public eye are especially beneficial, when you are
working from home. Thirty years ago I owned a business that was worth twice the price of an
average home, I earned more than my Doctor, but I could not get financing on a house, because
I was self employed. I was regarded as a fly by night, even though my assets meant my wings
were severely clipped. Times have and are changing, but this residual feeling towards a self
employed person has partially remained, These efforts gives you a real profile as a genuine
person, and this can only increase your personal respect in the business community. No
business survives on a permanent without good will and respect. Everyone on this planet has
encountered a cowboy; make sure your image is professional.
• Grit your teeth and shadow a politician
Ask a local politician if you can shadow him for a day or a couple of days.
All elected officials at whatever level need publicity far more than you ever will. You can also
guarantee that they will work that publicity to their best advantage. If you are willing to take
the pictures, they will work to get them published. However if you are going to choose
someone with contentious views, make sure that you agree with them, unless you want to get

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caught up a possible backlash. A great time to do this will be just before an election,
particularly if that person does not look as though they are certain to be re-elected.
• Local Photographic competitions
There are also International photographic contests, run by Kodak, and Olympus, entry forms
are often available online, and also in photography magazines, but the standards here will be
extremely professional. Having a win in a local photographic competition increases your
standing as a professional. If you have won make sure that you prepare a press release for your
local papers. Exercise a precaution and read the rules, under certain circumstances a
competition will be organised where the entrants will lose all copyright. That means that a
competition has just been organised to get in loads of pictures at no cost, if that is the way for
you, fine, but do read the small print.
• Make a contribution to an online encyclopaedia
Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia that anyone may edit. It is mainly in English, French
and German, but they also use other languages, You retain copyright of the article and the
photographs.
• Professional associations.
Whilst you are checking out your local Chamber of Commerce, it may be worth your while to
consider joining. It will widen your network of contacts. Not only will it help you cooperate
with other photographers, but also remember the local business community, often are the
wealthier people. These are all potential clients and many a deal has been struck as a result of a
casual conversation.

Are their any local professional groups you can join? This will not actually help you get new
customers, as most of the other people will be in your field, but it may be useful to get your
face noticed!

Remember though that if you have cut priced your work, to a level others regard as
unacceptable, you may have made yourself a “pariah”, and the community may not be so
prepared to help you. If you are unsure about how to realistically price your work, then have a
chat with a local established competitor. He may not be thrilled to have more competition on
his patch, but he will be more amenable to one offering a similar price structure. It is worth

35
asking what factors he assessed when making up his price structure. This can be more
informative than you imagine, if there is a hidden costs, that you have not estimated, it may
help you to take a more methodical approach to evaluating your costs. However in a free
market economy there is always a place for someone who is prepared to work cheaper than
anyone else.

Whilst discounting your prices will surely bring you business at least in the short term there can
be a huge downside. If another photographer feels that you have literally taken the bread out of
his mouth, he may feel aggrieved, and take retaliatory steps, such as bad mouthing you to his
entire customer base. Whilst you can probably live with that, suppose he tells the local tax
authorities, about a sideline you have developed. If you are going to go down this road, make
certain that you are squeaky clean. If this strategy is going to make you vulnerable consider the
consequences carefully. You never know when you will need the help and support of the “local
competition” Also you need to establish whether or not you are a serious hobbyist who wants a
bit of extra pocket money, or do you want to make photography your career.
• Discounting your price structure.
Photographer’s can compete in a free market, and can undercut another’s pricing structure. In
the past the way forward for photographic agencies was to streamline all their work processes,
thus keeping cost down, and increase their volume of sales. The Internet and digital film has
had a major impact on the climate in which a photographer can work. Digital photography cut a
major cost, film, and sometimes even development costs. It was at this point that the
photography business really blossomed, and it affected how images were supplied. As the
supply of images became larger, the individual price of each image dropped. Here the
individual photographer became king; the industry was no longer dominated by agencies.
When each individual photographer has to work independently to work out their market
strategy, which means that the most successful will establish market precedents.

Take into account your realistic overheads, including the depreciation of your equipment, your
insurances, legal fees, accountancy fees, repairs, travel time and costs, subscriptions, and
possible rent, both of equipment and studio space. If you are using digital technology, spend

36
some time explaining to your client, that though it is more expensive, it can offer them higher
quality work. The more the client understands new technology, the less likely they are to balk
at paying for it.

If you have had another career, and want to transfer your energies into being a photographer,
remember that there is more to it than taking photographs. A lot of your time at least initially
will be spent marketing your business. You need to build up a firm network of contacts. If you
wish to make a career out of it contacts are important, but also knowing the ins and outs of how
the business works is also important. Price structure is important here.
A photograph has a price dependant on two values. On the one hand it is a commodity, like a
washing machine or a bicycle. In this respect you just look out for the best value in your price
range. However despite it being a mass produced commodity it also has a value as a unique
representation it usually glorifies something else. Taking into the extra value to the buyer, a
photograph can command its own price. The art of pricing this product is certainly not precise,
and no two buyers will agree on this. To balance and command the additional value is an art.

This extra value should not be diminished to the basic price of a piece of paper. Perhaps is you
do not fully realize this concept, them you may consider hiring a sales representative on a
commission only basis.

Clever marketing increases the price of this piece of paper, with an image on it, and correct
marketing can enhance the value of a photograph, making it a work of art rather than a printed
image! Selling is the business of transferring ownership or rights of an article from one person
to another. Conversely negotiating is fixing a level that the buyer wants pay, and the value he
has set on it, and what the seller will accept. You cannot begin to market any product, unless
you have perceptions of its value.
• Primary Research
To see if you are carrying out all the services, which are required locally, do some primary
research when you deliver your photographs. Add a pre-printed questionnaire, so that you can
evaluate the feedback. Calculate your aims before doing marketing what does your business
need from it. Do you know the sales each sector of your business is generating, do you need to

37
widen the sales or do you need new customers? How profitable is each sector. Will it benefit
your business to discount your prices? Are uyou wasting your time in areas that you like to
photograph, but in fact they give financial remuneration. If you are developing an on going
style here it may be relevant. Otherwise look for other areas to exploit.
• Raising your profile nationally.
There are several non-profit organisations, which display images along a certain theme.
Consider attempting to get them to produce on of your images. Non-profit Art Organization
offers a complete listing, for the United States. It is split into states, so that you can target the
most prestigious, or the one that will give you local fame.
The same site also offers information on grants for fine art photographers’. As this is a very
subjective and wide branch of photography, you do not necessarily have to be a specialist
photographer to cover fine art; it can be a sunset, as well as a image of a Leonardo Da Vinci.
• Resources
The 2005 Photographer's Market is a useful resource for photographer’s it covers, over two
thousand listings for book publisher’s, art fairs, businesses who need photographs. However
again this has to be considered a long-term game plan. For a variety of reasons the publishers
may not be bothered to look at your work. It does work if only on the principal of the numbers
game, if you contact fifty publishers there may only be one or two positive replies. Sometimes
this feels like banging your head against a brick wall, but if you persevere, you will eventually
hit gold, by the sheer number of people you have contacted. In certain cases it may be worth
contacting a specific publisher again; maybe the publisher had a bad hair day, the last time he
was contacted. Edison’s quote is applicable here “genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety
nine percent perspiration!”

Perhaps you are also a talented writer as well as photographer. Contact your local paper
regarding articles, which can be accompanied by a photograph. If you do not feel confidant
about writing yourself, try contacting a local creative writing class, and ask if there is anyone
interested in joining you as a team.

Take a good look at your portfolio, and try to target the people most likely to need them. Have
a look at postcards, and contact the publisher their address is usually on the back. If you own

38
the copyright, to the photograph you can have repeat sales. Perhaps the image has more than
one use. Is it any use to a publisher? Check out your local library for lists of specialist and
general publisher’s

In this respect use your local Chamber of Commerce; there may be a publisher near you. Phone
and ask for an appointment to show your portfolio. If your portfolio is large enough and good
enough it may be worth considering publishing a book for yourself. Again your reference
library can help with a specialist publisher. If that option is not open to you, have a look at
Amazon, and check the publishers who may have an interest in your work.

Widening your client base by selling stock photographs.

Stock photography differs from assignment photography, in that you make an image, on a
speculative basis. It is not commissioned, and may never sell. This stock business was founded
in the Nineteen twenties, (yes that is correct there is no typo here). Its chief function was to sell
the images that did not sell when an assignment was finished. It had a lower price, because the
buyers just bought them on speck

However the market grew out of all proportion twenty years ago when stock libraries became
online. Two things happened, it put the pricing structure out of the hands of the agencies, which
had until this time dominated the market; and placed it firmly in the hands of the individual
photographer. The second thing to occur was the stock market altered the supply of the photos
chain, and anyone could buy a photograph quickly and cheaply on a WYSIWYG, what you see
id what you get theory.

There are several types of stock libraries online. Once you have submitted some photographs to
them, and they then sell the right for others to reproduce them. The price structure of this type
of photography is variable, and dependant on when and where it is sold. Someone may want
one print to place on a private web site, or it may go into a travel brochure with a print run of
nearly a million. Once the library has sold your photograph, then they deduct a percentage of
your commission for their marketing costs, and a profit for themselves.

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There are pros and cons to selling stock photography. The biggest plus is that if you are not
good at selling, then someone can undertake this aspect of marketing for you. Also it does free
your time, so that you can take more photographs, and the bigger your portfolio, the greater
your chance of generating more sales.

Also in most cases you always retain the copyright; which leaves you free to make many sales
from one image. The biggest disadvantage is that you have to take a long-range view here. It
can take a long time for your photographs to be shown on line, you cannot guarantee or even
expect to make money immediately. Another point to bear in mind is that stock photography
libraries, want you to sign for an initial time period, which may be years, so it could be a while
before you can be sure you have chosen the correct company. For this reason it is often
necessary to undertake commissioned work as well especially in the early stages.

The buyers of stock photographs find them cheaper to use than to get a photographer out on an
assignment. As they work on the WYSIWYG theory, “what they see is what they get”, they
know if the photograph is going to be any use. The popularity of stock libraries is growing.i
To sell stock photographs you can use more than one agency to represent you. This way you
can appeal to an international market, or you can create a website and represent yourself.
Another offshoot of the stock market business is that the stock agencies have branched out to
find editorial or advertising work for their photographers.ii

How to choose a stock library.

There are general stock libraries on the Internet who will market all types of photography. The
question is how can you find the best agency for you. Sell Your Photographs has a library and
thousands of listings for you to inspect and contribute to should you choose to.
If you decide to sell stock photographs it will probably widen your scope as a photographer.
Remember that the clients who buy stock photography are not just in the printing and media
business but they are also printing calendars, and the greetings card market.

If you are considering playing the “stock market”, remember a few basic rules, it is not all

40
about creativity. Treat every agency as a very valued client, communicate with them regularly
so that you can listen to market trends, the market has become more discerning as it evolves.

Also they are more likely to invite you to collaborate on certain projects, if they know who they
are. Another downside of this method of marketing is that hundreds if not thousands of images
are added every day, one of the reasons they can take so long to get on line. The net result of
this is that images, which are old, are not seen. The reasons for this is that buyer’s reach a
saturation point, they have looked at so much that they cannot see the woods for the trees, So to
utilize this sales tool effectively you have to keep adding to your portfolio. In fairness most
stock agencies try to treat their photographers equally, in the inimitable words of George

Orwell in Animal Farm, “SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHER’S”. So keep on top of
it, it is better to choose a library that is prepared to assign to you an individual sales
representative, and then you can establish a rapport.
What makes a top photographer for a stock agency is
• Someone who has been shooting images for years, with an age of at least twenty-five
years,
• Photographers with a proven track record in a specialist line, or at the very least a huge
portfolio, which is comprised of images which are instantly marketable
• Photographers who moved up in the ranks within the agency.
The lowest common denominator is years.
Big players who swallow up small agencies dominate the market now. If you have an enormous
portfolio it may be better to join the big boys as a little fish in a big ocean. However there are
new stock agencies growing, whilst their contacts may not be huge, you can start of a medium
fish in a goldfish bowl and grow with the,
In this respect I am talking about displaying the qualities of a top-notch photographer making a
serious living.

For many semi pros and pros and even amateurs, the notion of a few bucks extra income is
attractive. In the real world 98 percent of the wealth is in the hands of 2% of the population. It
sure looked to me when researching this article that the majority of buyer’s stick with one big

41
company, and they but at least three quarters of the images. Equally three quarters of the
business seem to go to the seriously dedicated professional photographer, who is prepared to
put in the dedication and time and effort to make it a full time business.

This is an advantageous idea, if you are a specialist, as the sales representative that you have
selected, will have the contacts in your field. Also a buyer may be more predisposed to see a
sales representative, as they will be carrying the work of more than one client. This may also
work for you if you are not within commuting distance of a big city.

Freeing Your Time to Take More Photographs

Hiring a Sales Representative

For some the idea of any form of marketing is an anathema, some people are just too creative,
to combine being an artist, with the more prosaic demand of running a business. For these
people, or for the just plain lazy, there is actually anther alternative. You can engage an
established sales representative on a commission only basis. Remember that this involves no
cost to yourself, other than producing a creditable portfolio, but your earning power is
diminished, because when a sale is negotiated you will lose part of your profit in commission.
The commission is around thirty percent of the net sale.

This is an advantageous idea, if you are a specialist, as the sales representative that you have
selected, will have the contacts in your field. They will have a better idea of the true value of
the image, and if it is good enough they will be able to successfully negotiate the price. Also a
buyer may be more predisposed to see a sales representative, as they will be carrying the work
of more than one client. This may also work for you if you are not within commuting distance
of a big city.

Selecting a Sales Representative

The photographer’s market book, has a complete list. If you are situated within a cosmopolitan

42
area, but still decide this is the way you want to go, then also try phoning the large advertising
agencies and asking for the names of their most consulted representatives.

Whether to be a Generalist or a Specialist

There are more theories on this one than I have had hot dinners, and believe me that’s a lot. It is
difficult to give a comprehensive answer. If you are just shooting images as a sideline then it is
not really that important. However if photography is going to be your career, then it is a
different ball game. Obviously if you are a city person, and hate the great outdoors, then nature
photography is not a wise career choice, it is obvious to say concentrate on perfecting your
techniques in an area you enjoy.

Choosing your specialist area also involves your personal temperament. For instance to really
get the best out of your images when shooting people then you need to have a rapport with
them. It is necessary to able to instil into them the confidence that you have that you can make
it work. If you are really passionate about one area, it makes sense to specialise, particularly if
your temperament is suited to that type of work. Other areas where it is more likely you will
become a specialist is perhaps in marine photography. There are practical considerations here,
the equipment tend to be more capital intensive, as a camera has to be waterproof, diving is still
in most of the world an expensive hobby, and not everyone can do it.
However it does combine well this travel and or nature, as well as people in an outdoor setting.
It does not make economic sense to combine this with portrait photography. My own personal
perspective as a seriously dedicated amateur photographer is that if you have a passion, or
specialise in photography that needs special skills, such as photographing food, and providing
the area is marketable then specialise. My perspective as a businessperson with over thirty
years experience is that it makes economic sense to generalize in areas that are compatible.
However there is no easy answer to this one, it depends on your skills, preferences and
circumstances. The only thing that I can add both as a businessperson and as a photographer is
that if you are going to generalize do three or four areas really well. The reasons for this is that
specialist areas need specific techniques, and it is not really possible to concentrate on all of
them, unless you have been to photographic school and have trained as a specialist

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photographer (in which case you will not be reading this, because you will have studied the
aspects of marketing in that study period).

However it occurs to me that there is another aspect here if you specialize, it may be easier to
market your work. Particularly if that specialist area is constrained geographically. If for
instance you specialize in photographing deserts then it may be easier to get a gallery on or
near a big desert to exhibit your work.

Equally your work may be attractive to postcard manufacturers. Under these circumstances, it
may be advisable to work as a specialist and sell as a generalist. Another instance if you
specialize in traditional images for Christmas greetings cards, then the work may also be sold
as nature photography, equally food photography can also be marketed as fine art.
When I started to write these articles, I did not promise a formula for you to be a millionaire
overnight (if anyone knows that please e mail me immediately.) Nor did I promise it would be
easy, each and every one of these steps take time effort, and or money, and all take thought.
What I can guarantee is that the market for photographs is increasing, and you are able to take
effective steps to take advantage of these. If you consider each step in relation to your business
plan you will take immediate steps to capitalise on your business. Every business needs a
strong base; ands each step outlined to you has given you a stronger base.

All of these proposals are a trade off, for some people’s gaols stock photography will not work.
I cannot tell any one individual how to run their business (at least not for the price of this
article!!) however they are sound guidelines, and you must use your own judgement as to how
you use them, within the constraints of your personal circumstances. I wish each and everyone
of you success in your business, but unless you put the work in no one else can do it for you,
nobody said it was going to be easy kid, but it is achievable by everyone, irrespective of
gender, race, age or geography. If you want to be a millionaire in a week, maybe you should try
Vegas.

If you are specializing in something like wedding photography or school portraits then you
have a built-in market for your work. The trick is simply advertising and getting them to
choose your services over the services of your competitor. For those professional

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photographers who take pictures first and try to sell them later, you will need to have some
sense of what markets are available for the product you have to offer. You will also need a
sense of how much time you can realistically devote to tracking down buyers in these markets
and convincing them to purchase your prints.

Postcards
This is probably the most difficult of areas for the professional photographer to
specialize in. There are those whose business is exclusively selling postcard photographs but
those numbers are tiny in comparison to the number of people who try to make this their
specialty. Most photographers who sell postcard photos do so as only a tiny part of their
regular photography business. Even more common, postcard companies spot photographs they
like and contact the photographer directly, either to purchase that specific image or to hire the
photographer to produce images for them.

The reason for the difficulty in this area is that the amount of money it takes an
individual professional to produce postcards is almost the same amount of money they can
make from selling them (if they can sell them at all.) In other words, even for those who are
‘successful’ at it, they make little or no money. In addition, the time it takes to deal with
postcard companies or to visit individual gift stores or tourist spots has to be added into the cost
to produce the postcards. Once the photographer’s time is taken into consideration, it is more
likely that he will lose money by attempting to specialize in postcards. Instead, photographers
who happen to have images that they think may make beautiful postcards might consider
retaining the services of a stock photo agency instead of specializing in this area.

Calendars
The difficulty in producing calendars lies in the limited time factor. Calendars are
purchased almost exclusively between October and December. Any calendars not sold by the
end of the year for use the following year are lost inventory and lost profits. Further, the cost
of producing calendar photographs is higher, because they are bigger in size than the average
picture. These two obstacles are the ones specific to calendar production, but this

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specialization also suffers from the same “cost of production vs. price of product” problem that
afflicts the postcard photography business.

Art Galleries
For many photographers who consider their pictures to be high art, thinking of art
galleries as a market in the economic sense may offend their sensibilities. But the buyers of
pictures for show, whether for an art gallery or for the walls of one’s home, constitute a market
as surely as buyers of photos intended to illustrate a fashion magazine. And even if you
consider your photographs to be art, if you intend on making a living as a professional
photographer, you are going to have to sell prints. That is where the business aspect of art
comes in and, to be successful, you must educate yourself about the market for artistic prints.

The jackpot for sellers of artistic prints is to draw the attention of an art patron. An art
patron can be thought of as an art connoisseur. They are the most sophisticated about
photography as art and tend not to have much concern about price. If your work is good
enough to be shown in art galleries, this is where you are most likely to first encounter an art
patron who may be interested in your work. There are also art patrons who are less into the
artistic aspect of photography and more into making investments. These patrons will buy prints
that they think will substantially increase in value, either because of that particular print’s
qualities or the potential they see in the photographer.

The down side to all this, of course, is that art patrons are hard to find because there are
so few of them. Less than five percent of art buyers can be considered patrons and they tend to
become loyal to a select and small number of artists. If you are lucky enough or talented
enough to draw the attention of an art patron, the most important step in your career may be
how properly you maintain a relationship with that patron. You should keep in contact with the
buyer who shows interest in your work and let them know what projects you are working on
and when future shows will be held. Those particularly interested in you may be a source of
occasional income by selling directly to them before the prints are even offered for showing at
galleries.

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 Art collectors are similar to art patrons, only with smaller pocketbooks and less
sophistication regarding artistic technique and style. But these are people who tend to really
love the prints they buy and are, therefore, willing to spend more than most people, as much as
they comfortably can. Because they have fewer dollars to spend, art collectors may find
themselves out in the cold when it comes to competing with art patrons for prints. Art
collectors, therefore, are a group that the beginning photographers should court aggressively,
since it will be some time before their photographs will be at the price level of more
experienced and established photographers. This strategy makes even more sense because
many art collectors eventually become art patrons. If you already have established a
relationship with one of these crossover art patrons, it may become a significant boost to both
your career and the value of the work you have done in the past and will do in the future.

Ninety percent of all prints are purchased by people trying to decorate their home or
office or by people who just happen to see a picture that appeals to them. These buyers are
extremely cost conscious and not very sophisticated about art technique and style. They buy
pictures because, to them, they are pretty or happen to match their living room curtains. The
identity of the photographer is of little concern to them because this is not the standard they use
in making purchases. Depending on repeat purchases by specific buyers in this segment of the
market, therefore, is not a doable option for maintaining a professional career. But obviously,
this is where the bulk of income comes for many artists, simply because casual buyers and
decorators are the vast majority of the market for prints.

Because the bulk of print buyers are not necessarily art connoisseurs trolling art
galleries and other ‘obvious’ places for pictures, photographers have to be aggressive about
getting their work out to be seen in as many places as possible. This is a business truism: the
wider the audience for your work, the likelier you are to find buyers. Approach businesses
such as restaurants or gift shops and offer to decorate their premises with your photographs, in
exchange for the right to sell the prints that hang there. Enter your work in contests both
regional and national. Post your work on websites. Rent a booth at the local festivals that
many towns hold several times a year and show and sell your prints there. Develop

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relationships with professional interior decorators so that they become intimate with your work
and can recommend your prints to their clients.

Advice from Paul, owner of Paul’s Photography Studio

“I sell the majority of my prints at local art galleries. It is a relatively inexpensive way to get
your name out there. My advice is to get to know as many art gallery owners as you possibly
can and show them your portfolio. Then follow up with them to see if they are interested in
featuring any of your works. This is what worked for me and it can work for you too.”

Chapter Five Summary

• Familiarize yourself with your market and make sure that you know the
advantages and disadvantages of producing calendars and postcards.
• Consider marketing to art galleries and always be on the lookout for clients so
that you can aggressively market your products and get your name known.

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Chapter Six: The Business of Stock Photography

Stock photos generally refer to pictures that already exist in the portfolio of a
photographer. These pictures may or may not have been taken for a specific purpose or a
specific client in mind. But, by the time they reach the level of stock photos, they are being
sold to buyers who need them for catalogs, books or advertisements. Basically, stock photos
are comprised of pictures depicting everyday things and everyday people.

There are instances when buyers of stock photographs are seeking specific images. For
example, a magazine for horse lovers and horse breeders will need lots of different pictures of
horses. The subject matter, or what the horses are doing and where they are doing it, are likely
not to be very important. A photographer who happens to already have many pictures of horses
could sell them as a group. But for the most part, the stock photography business is a way for
photographers to make money from pictures that are not already earmarked for a specific
purpose or a specific buyer.

The major consideration when deciding to sell stock photos is whether a photographer
should sell directly to buyers or work with a stock photo agency. Stock photo agencies do all

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the marketing and deal directly with client buyers. From the photos that are sold, they take a
certain percentage and pay a smaller percentage to the photographer. This may seem
counterintuitive to the novice photographer. Why give someone else part of your income to
sell your pictures when you could sell them to buyers directly and keep all your money? It is
possible to have your own stock photography business but changes in the industry brought on
by digital cameras and the internet make this proposition exceedingly difficult.

Before digital cameras and the Internet, the biggest problem facing both sellers and
buyers of stock photographs was distribution. In order for photographers to make a profit in
the stock photo business they had to deal in bulk. Not only did they need a vast supply of
photos, they also needed to cultivate relationships with several buyers. Furthermore, there was
the expense of delivering these photographs to potential buyers, waiting for them to accept and
pay for the pictures or reject and return the pictures, in which case the process would begin
again. This problem for the individual photographer was largely solved with the birth of the
stock photo agencies. In return for the convenience of time, the photographer gave up part of
the income they would have made from selling their pictures themselves. Though agencies
typically keep more than fifty percent of the picture’s selling price, photographers find that, by
dealing with these agencies, the expenses saved in time and postage, as well as the time freed
up to take more pictures, actually put them ahead financially in the end..

The Internet and digital cameras practically solved the problem of distribution. Stock
photography, more than any other area of the photography industry, has been transformed by
computer technology. In fact, those wishing to work in stock photography nowadays have little
choice but to do so digitally. But while technology solved one problem, it created another. The
ease of making pictures and contacting numerous buyers simultaneously has flooded the stock
photography market with pictures taken by everyone from seasoned professionals to computer-
savvy teenagers with their first cameras. This has created a situation where selling stock photos
is more difficult than ever.

Where buyers first made out like bandits with the increasing number of photos
available, they, too, are now suffering from the market saturation of pictures because they have

50
to sift through so much more stock to find a product that is useful to them. In turn, this has
created a situation in which novice photographers are finding it difficult to be noticed because
overworked buyers are going back to established photographers who have a record of
accomplishment and with whom they have worked in the past. Those who are still determined
to get into this business despite these obstacles are finding that specializing in one or two kinds
of stock photography improves their prospects.

Advice from Trina, purchaser of stock photography

“I purchase stock photography all the time and will continue to do so as my various
entrepreneurial efforts grow. My advice to photographers is to use their creativity when
taking shots and ask themselves if they would buy a particular shot. In addition, you should
also sign up with as many places as you can. I personally recommend istockphoto.com
because they have a sound reputation, stock photos aren’t too expensive, and seem to help
one get maximum exposure for photographs.”

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Chapter Six Summary
• Stock photos generally refer to pictures that already exist in the portfolio of a
photographer. These pictures may or may not have been taken for a specific purpose or
a specific client in mind
• Stock photography, more than any other area of the photography industry, has been
transformed by computer technology.
• Stock photos are typically sold to buyers to use in books, magazines, and websites.
• You can make great income by selling stock creative photographs.

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Chapter Seven: Photography Equipment

Digital vs. Film Camera

There is no difference in the types of pictures digital and film cameras take. Both
cameras are adequate for taking pictures at night or in bright sunlight, of action or portraits, of
long distances and close-ups. The results depend on the knowledge of the person holding the
camera, not in the camera itself. But there are reasons why one might choose digital over film
or vice versa.

Digital cameras are best for those for whom picture taking is extremely casual, like
snapping shots of family outings or of the kids’ baseball game. Digital cameras are also a good
option for those who plan on taking a lot of pictures. Though digital cameras are more
expensive than traditional cameras, if you take enough pictures, the money saved on film and
processing will eventually offset the original expense of the digital camera. Digital cameras are
also best if you plan on posting lots of pictures on the Internet or if you simply like to have
your results immediately but want better than Polaroid quality pictures. And if your picture
taking purposes do not require super large prints, the digital camera may be the way to go.

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 On the other hand, many magazine editors still require that the film negatives be
submitted along with prints. If you work for several clients in this category, it may not benefit
you to spend the money a good digital camera requires. Film cameras also, of course, allow
you to develop your own film, which many people consider a hobby in and of its self. And
film cameras are the way to go if you should need prints larger than 14x20.

SLR vs. Point-N-Shoot

There are also basic differences between film cameras that should be taken into
consideration before making a purchase. The two basic types of film cameras are SLR cameras
and point-n-shoot cameras. If you are considering taking your photography to the professional
level, you will need to purchase an SLR camera, not the lightweight sometimes-disposable
point-n-shoot variety that does not allow you to choose your focus and other features. SLR
stands for single lens reflex and refers to the way that the camera is built. The three important
components of the SLR camera are the body, the lens, and the film.

Quality of pictures depends on the film and the lens. That is, when purchasing a
camera, it is important to get the best quality lens that you can and not worry so much about the
body of the camera. The body of the camera is more cosmetic than anything else. Cameras can
be bought in kits to make the mixing and matching of lens and body possible. An initial
investment for a beginner who wants to get a decent start will be anywhere from a couple
hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars. The exact sum will depend on just how sure you
are that you want to, and can, make a part-time or full-time career out of photography and, of
course, on what your personal budget will allow. As with any major purchase, you should shop
around for the best prices and best quality of equipment, not forgetting to concentrate on the
lens.

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Lens
You will need longs lens and short lens. Long lenses are good for portraits and zoom
shots. Shorter lenses, also called ‘wide angle’ lens, are used for inside shots and landscapes
and such. If you can afford it, try to purchase an IS lens for your long lens option. IS stands
for image stabilization. This technology produces slightly sharper pictures of night scenes and
also prevents blurring due to a shaky hand holding the camera. For a beginner, the IS lens may
allow you to produce better pictures than you might otherwise be capable of, while working on
other skills such as medium, lighting, and subject, in addition to marketing yourself. Wide
angle lenses don’t come in an IS option, since the problem of hand shaking is a lot less likely to
occur with a shorter lens.

Both wide angle and long lens come in varying mm ratings such as 75-300 on a long
lens or 20-35 on a short lens. If money is less of a hindrance to you, then purchase the lens that
offers the greatest mm range. Otherwise, in order to narrow down your choices when doing
research for purchasing equipment, make note of the mm of the cameras used to take pictures
that are most like the ones you would like to take.

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Film
The quality of the film you use will determine the quality of the pictures you produce
far more than will price and fanciness of the camera you use. But there is no such thing as the
‘best’ film. Some film is better for picking up details. Other film is better for showing
contrasting colors. In other words, there are pros and cons to all film and the type you use will
depend on what kind of picture you want to take and the look you want to achieve. You are
almost guaranteed to need more than one type of film. Deciding which brand or the exact type
will ultimately be a matter of trial and error as well as personal preference. But there are some
basic differences and, once you know them, it will make the choosing process a bit easier and
quicker.

The two basic types of film that exist are called positive film and negative film.
Positive film may also be referred to as slide film or transparency film and negative film is
sometime referred to as print film. Positive film produces an image that you can see simply by
holding it to a light. Negative film, on the other hand, reverses the color of the original image.
Lightness in an image appears as dark and dark areas appear light in negative film. Negative
film also reverses image that are in color, not just black and white or light and dark.

Both kinds of film also come in differing latitudes and that determines the range of light
that can be captured with that film. The film’s latitude is also called a stop. Each stop, or level
of latitude, lets in a certain amount of light. Moving from one stop to the next higher up
doubles the amount of light that is let in. The greater the latitude range of a film, the more it
can capture very bright and very dark areas of the same image.

Positive film has more limited latitude than negative film. Positive film tends to have

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anywhere from three to five stop levels. Negative film has up to nine stop levels. But the
latitude limitation in positive film is the same quality that allows it to produce pictures that are
more brilliant and sharp in color and smooth in texture. Negative film, while allowing for
pictures with more range in color and lighting because of its greater range of latitude, produces
images where the details are less fine than that produced by positive film.

In other words, in order to get the most detail, capture the most nuances in color and see
the clearest contrast between light and dark areas, a photographer would use positive film.
Doing so, however, would limit the ability to see extremes of light and extremes of dark in the
same image. In order to get a more extended range of light, particularly useful for images that
include shadows, a photographer would use negative film. In return, the images would be
grainier than with positive film and the colors would be more muted.

Besides the latitude of different film, photographers must also consider the film’s speed.
Film that can be purchased at your average discount or department store comes in ranges from
100 to 800 speed. The higher the speed, the quicker the camera’s shutter clicks. This allows
for taking pictures in lower lighting. Higher speeds also reduce the likelihood of producing a
blurry picture because of a shaking hand. But the side effect of higher speed is more graininess
and haziness. Lower speed film is better than higher speed film for most photographs and
actually costs less as well.

For all kinds of film, limited latitude or extensive, low speed or high, it is very
important to store them properly to avoid them being degraded. Film is best stored away from
light and heat. Even freezing film will not hurt it but, of course, it must go though defrosting
before it can be used. Therefore, storing film in the refrigerator is the best option to keep it
preserved and ready to use immediately.

Advice from Daniel, owner of Sunrise Photography

“Choosing the right equipment is so very important when you’re establishing your
photography business. My advice is to really do your research and decide what your short and

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long-term goals are. If you’re only interested in working on a part time basis then it wouldn’t
be economically feasible to purchase a 1500 camera to start and to purchase pro grade film.
Instead, you might purchase a cheaper but effective camera and regular film and once you’ve
mastered that you can move on. I myself started off with a Canon Elan 7 and upgraded to a
Canon EOS 3 with my profits and to me this was very smart indeed.”

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Chapter Seven Summary

• There is no difference in the types of pictures that digital and film cameras take. Both
cameras are adequate for taking pictures at night or in bright sunlight, of action or
portraits, of long distances and close-ups. The results depend on the knowledge of the
person holding the camera, not in the camera itself.
• Digital cameras are best for those for whom picture taking is extremely casual, like
snapping shots of family outings or of the kids’ baseball game. Digital cameras are also
a good option for those who plan on taking a lot of pictures. Whereas film cameras are
best if you plan to submit to magazines. In addition, they allow you to develop your
own film, which many people consider a hobby in and of its self. And film cameras are
the way to go if you should need prints larger than 14x20.
• Long lenses are good for portraits and zoom shots. Shorter lenses, also called ‘wide
angle’ lens, are used for inside shots and landscapes and such.
• If you can afford it, try to purchase an Image Stabilization (IS lens) for your long lens
option.

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Chapter Eight: Legal Considerations for Photographers

Model Releases
A model release, which is a document signed by the person who is being photographed
or the person who owns the property that is being photographed, stipulates the use and/or
limitations of use for the picture and notes any compensation that may have been given. The
first thing to know is that, despite the name of the document, it is not intended only for
professional models of the runway variety. Anyone who is the subject of a picture is
considered a model.

The other thing to know is that the model release is not something that is required by
any kind of law. The reason they are used is that despite the lack of a law requiring a
photographer to get a release, not getting one can open up the photographer to civil lawsuits
brought by the model in the photograph. The model is the only person who can object to the
use of his or her image. Note, however, that minors cannot sign model releases, so permission
to use their image must be obtained from a parent or guardian.

Getting a model release in any and every situation may be your safest course of action,
but there will be situations where getting a release is not possible. There are also situations that
do not require a release. Since model releases are not required by any law, this last statement
should be read to mean that there are situations when, despite the fact that you didn’t get a
release, you are not likely to be hauled into court and sued by the photo’s subject. Then there

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may be those sticky situations where you will not want to get a release because you are
reasonably certain that permission will not be granted for use of the photograph.

Although there is no law mandating that you get a model release, there are laws which
make it very easy for photographers to be sued if they do use pictures without a release. The
most common and clearest reason for needing a model release is when the picture taken will be
used for commercial purposes such as selling, advertising, promoting, or supporting a product,
a political viewpoint, or religious idea. This is a where model releases are always needed, or at
least highly advisable.

Model releases are not needed when the subject of the photograph cannot be identified.
Most of the time this will be quite obvious: either you can or you cannot make out the face or
other identifiable features of the person in the photograph. But beware, because this standard is
subjective. There may be little stopping a person from filing a suit claiming they are the person
in the photograph (whether they are or not) and claiming that their lawsuit is reasonable
because they did not sign a release and did not receive compensation. This is a far-fetched
scenario; however, if it does occur, you should be aware that the decision as to whether or not
the person is identifiable will be left up to a court and will probably cost you some legal fees.
Again, when it is possible, the best option, and the way to avoid a situation such as this, is to
get a model release even if you know the model will not be identifiable.

Model releases are also not required when the picture is intended to be used for news
stories. This is because of the First Amendment right of free speech. Newspapers, magazines,
and even school textbooks can use photographs of people who are clearly identifiable, without
obtaining a release for the photo. Of course the photo in the newspaper or magazine must
accompany the news story (or be the news story itself) and not be used in an advertisement.
That use would trigger the model release requirement.

There are instances when you cannot use a photograph in any medium for any purpose.
This has to do with how the picture was taken. You cannot sell or use pictures that you
obtained by breaking the law, not even for use as a news story. So breaking and entering or

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trespassing, two tactics of very few but very bold paparazzi, makes any pictures you take
absolutely useless. But taking a picture of public figures doing things in public, which they
would rather not let the rest of the world know about, is perfectly fine to sell to news outlets,
just not for advertisement purposes. In a situation such as this, a model release is not needed,
not to mention that it would likely not be signed even if it were presented to the subjects.

The other important part of getting a model release is the compensation. A model
release is considered a contract and the contract is not complete unless there is value attached to
it. Value does not necessarily mean money. Releases can be signed in return for a copy of the
photograph or in return for services. Fashion models will often sign releases in return for the
photographer agreeing that the pictures taken can be used in her portfolio to secure additional
fashion modeling jobs. But for photographs of the run-of-the-mill person on the street,
exchanging services for the right to take the picture could be more trouble than it is worth, so a
token dollar or two is usually enough to satisfy both parties.

Finally, oftentimes photographers will have a need to take pictures of a group of people
gathered at a public place such as a festival or park. Even if some of the people are clearly
identifiable, as long as the picture is not ‘about’ them or clearly intended to single them out, a
model release and, therefore, compensation is not required.

Property Releases
Pictures of people may require model releases. When pictures are taken of property the
release needed is called a property release. Determining whether a property release is needed is
similar to determining whether a model release is needed. The main issues are whether the
property is identifiable and what the intended use of the photograph is. A picture of a private
home or business taken from a public street and meant for non-commercial use does not require
a release, even if the property is identifiable. A picture of the same property taken on the
premises (which would be private property) requires a release regardless of the use. As a
matter of fact, permission in this case is usually needed even before taking the picture, as it

62
would be required to gain access to the property in the first place. Otherwise, this may
constitute a case of trespassing, which would make any use of the picture illegal.

Trademarked Images
Trademarks are used to identify a specific brand of product and are usually logos, such
as McDonald’s golden arches, artwork like the Mona Lisa, or buildings such as the Empire
State. Trademark holders have the right to limit the use of their trademark and have the sole
right to allow their use. This applies to photographers as well. Taking pictures of a trademark
for your own personal, non-commercial use is perfectly legal, of course. But once that
photograph is meant for display, whether or not that display is for a commercial reason, you
need to obtain permission that goes beyond a simple model or property release. Just as in the
case of model or property releases, however, there are exceptions for use of the images of
trademarks. If the picture of the trademark is intended for news, editorials, or satire, then this
use is considered protected under the First Amendment and permission is not needed.

It is also common for certain trademarks holders to not pursue cases of illegal use that
they may have, because it is simply not worth it. Pictures of the Empire State Building, for
example, are so ubiquitous and are worth little compared to the cost it would take to direct legal
action against a photographer who failed to obtain the proper permission for its use. Still, as in
the case of model and property releases, photographers should obtain permission for use of
images of trademarks, whenever possible, because it is better to be safe than to be sorry. The
United States Patent and Trademark office has a search link on their website that allows you to
quickly determine whether or not an image you have photographed is trademarked and thus
might require permission to be used in anything other than a private setting, for news, or for art.

Copyrights

Copyrights differ from trademarks in that a copyright is something that a photographer

can obtain to prove ownership of his own pictures. Photographers, like writers and other
artists, can give permission for their work to be used by others. This permission can be in the
form of a contract, which stipulates that the photographer will be paid for use of the picture or

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pictures. Photographers can also give permission that their work may be used for free. But
even though permission is granted for use of the picture, the ownership of that picture is still
retained by the photographer, unless he specifically and legally transfers his ownership to
someone else. In this case, the copyright and all that it entails would transfer to that new
owner.

You may not automatically own the copyright to your photographs if those photographs
were taken under a work-for-hire situation. For example, if you work for a magazine or
newspaper, and taking and submitting pictures is part of your job description, the likelihood is
that both the pictures and the copyrights to those pictures belong to your employer. That would
mean, once you left that employer, you would have no right to use, sell, or distribute the
pictures you took under their direction.

Although copyrights come into effect as soon as you take a picture, it is still necessary
to register your work for complete protection. If others use your images without your
permission and are caught, they are not likely to have to pay you much more than they would
have paid you had they received permission in the first place, if your work is not registered.
Most photographers do not register their work. And many illegal uses of images are not even
known to the original photographers. So for many end users, it actually makes more sense,
both financially and time-wise to simply infringe on a photographer’s copyright.

But if your work is legally copyrighted and someone infringes on that copyright, you
could be in for a huge windfall. The law is set up so that the copyright holder can collect not
only the legal fees he spent defending his copyright in court, but also up to $150,000 per image
used without permission. A new law even provides additional compensation to the copyright
holder if the infringer removed the copyright notice from the image. The copyright logo,
therefore, should always be on your images, even though the logo is not required to be present
to make your copyright legal and official.

In order to copyright your work, check the United States Copyright Office’s website for
information. There are different forms, procedures, and deadlines, depending on whether your

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image is published or unpublished, the date of publication, or if it is a single image or a
collection of images. There are also different forms that are acceptable to submit copies of
your work to be copyrighted. Sometimes film negatives will be acceptable while other times
your best bet might be to have a video copy of your images.

Advice from Peter, an attorney

“My advice is to find a legally sound model release and have a licensed attorney review it.
Then, make sure that you get all models or their legal guardians to sign it at all times. In
addition, you should also get a copyright stamp and mark every one of your pictures with
copyright signal, your name and the year to ensure that your rights are protected.”

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Chapter Eight Summary

• A model release, which is a document signed by the person who is being photographed
or the person who owns the property that is being photographed, stipulates the use
and/or limitations of use for the picture and notes any compensation that may have been
given.
• Model releases help protect your rights and help you avoid lawsuits so if you intend to
sell your photos then you should get them from the subject or the subject’s guardian.
• Model releases are not needed when the subject of the photograph cannot be identified.
• A property release may be needed when the property is identifiable and depending upon
the intended use of the photograph. For instance, a picture of a private home or business
taken from a public street and meant for non-commercial use does not require a release,
even if the property is identifiable. However, a picture of the same property taken on
the premises (which would be private property) requires a release regardless of the use.
• Taking pictures of a trademark for your own personal, non-commercial use is perfectly
legal, of course. But once that photograph is meant for display, whether or not that
display is for a commercial reason, you need to obtain permission that goes beyond a
simple model or property release.
• Copyrights differ from trademarks in that a copyright is something that a photographer
can obtain to prove ownership of his own pictures. Photographers, like writers and
other artists, can give permission for their work to be used by others. This permission
can be in the form of a contract which stipulates that the photographer will be paid for
use of the picture or pictures.
• In essence, photographers should obtain permission for use of images of trademarks,
whenever possible.

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Chapter Nine: Financial Matters for Photographers

Speculative vs. Non-Speculative

If you decide that your photography business will consist of you trying to sell pictures
you have taken on your own without the direction of another or without having been hired to
take those specific pictures, then you are engaging in speculative photography. Many people in
this category are stock photographers. Photographers who take pictures hoping to sell them to
newspapers and magazines for specific stories are also in the speculative business.

As a speculative photographer, there is no guarantee that you will ever sell the pictures
you have taken if you and, even if you do sell them, there is no guarantee as to when you will
get paid for them. As a speculative photographer, you may end up finding a buyer for a picture
you took years earlier for your own use or enjoyment, before you even entertained the thought
of becoming a professional photographer. One advantage however is that as a speculative
photographer, you own the images and hold the copyright to those images, but you license the
right for another person to use those images through a contract.

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 On the other hand, non speculative photographers take specific pictures for a specific
client who hired them for that purpose. Non-speculative photographers include specialists such
as wedding and fashion photographers. They get paid upfront fees to simply photograph the
event., time you are hired to take pictures and you are paid regardless of whether or not the
hirer purchases reprints, you are engaging in non-speculative photography. As previously
stated, the main benefit of non-speculative photography nis that you are sure to be paid for the
work you are performing. On the other hand, there is nothing stopping any photographer from
doing both speculative and non-speculative work and, in fact, many do both.

Sole-Proprietor vs. Incorporation

Most professional photographers in business for themselves do not incorporate and are
considered sole proprietors, which is just another way of saying you are self-employed. Along
with your regular income tax forms, you would attach a Schedule C form. This is the simplest
form of business because the paperwork is minimal and already closely resembles your general
income tax filings. However, sole proprietors should be aware that they are much more likely
to be audited than other types of businesses. This is because the Schedule C is notoriously the
most common method used by people to evade taxes. The IRS knows this, of course, and so
pays especially close attention to those who file them.

Maintaining your photography business as a sole proprietorship also affords you very
little legal protection against lawsuits or divorce. If you use your house, as your studio and a
client were to have an accident there, you as the sole owner of your business would be liable.
Your homeowner’s insurance policy would likely come into play in this situation but, because
of these liability concerns, insurance companies may automatically increase your rates or
simply offer you less than the best coverage as soon as you declare a sole-proprietorship. Also,
if you are married and happen to live in a community property state, your spouse owns fifty
percent of whatever part of your photography business you conducted while you were married.

Setting up your photography business as a corporation prevents some of the problems

associated with sole proprietorships, but doing so is decidedly more complicated. The level of

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complication depends on the type of corporation you set up. The “S” type corporation was
designated specifically for individuals who own their own small companies as opposed to a
corporation being owned by a conglomerate.

“S” Type Corporations

The “S” type corporate designation allows your company to earn money without having
the IRS tax you twice, if you happen to also have another job. It is also a beneficial designation
to declare if you aren’t exceedingly wealthy and the money it will take to get your photography
business off the ground is going to cause you to lose money on the effort in the beginning.
When you lose money from your “S” type corporation, the IRS allows you to offset such losses
with the income from your other job.

In essence, though you may lose money in the start-up of your business (or at any other
point in your venture), you will get a slight tax break because of it – or at least not have a tax
burden because of it, if your corporation is registered as “S” type. Any losses the company
suffers can be reflected on the owner’s personal income tax returns, where the losses can be
deducted from the total income, which is to be taxed.

“C” Type Corporation

The “C” type corporate designation is the one with which most people are familiar.
Most of the big name companies and brands we are familiar with are “C” type corporations,
simply because, for most of American business history, this was the only type of corporation
that existed. If you owned a company, big or small, one employee or ten thousand, you were a
“C” type corporation, plain and simple.

“C” type corporations are stand-alone entities. They pay taxes on their income after
adjusting for allowable deductions. That is, whether they take in income or suffer losses, that
money or lack of it, stays within the company. The exception is when owners pay dividends to
their shareholders. This exception is what brought on the desire by small business owners to

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have a different corporation. When a business makes profits, it pays taxes on those profits.
Then when they pay dividends to their shareholders and share the profits with them, the
shareholders then pay taxes on what is, in essence, additional income.

The problem for the self-employed photographer using a “C” type corporation should
be immediately obvious. The business that pays taxes on its profits, and the shareholder that
pays taxes on the dividends, is one and the same person. In other words, under the “C” type
corporate designation, self-employed small business owners were being taxed twice. Hence the
creation of the “S” type corporation.

This is not to say that the “C” type corporate designation is wrong for all self-employed
small business owners. The corporate tax rate is lower for “C” types than for personal income
taxes, for one. Secondly, by keeping your business a completely separate entity, you prevent
the corporation from becoming a community property and avoid vulnerability in the case of
divorce.

And third, there is a built-in disincentive to using the “S” type corporation. Because of
the higher levels of fraud associated with “S” types, business owners using this designation are
required to pay a minimum of $800 a year in taxes, regardless if the company makes money or
not. This is not the case with “C” type corporations which, therefore, may be a better
designation for the photographer starting her own business, depending on her best guess for
income expected in the first few years.

“S” Type vs. “C” Type At-A-Glance

The bottom line is that there are pros and cons with both the “S” type and the “C” type
designation. The “S” type designation is almost as administratively easy to handle as simply
declaring yourself a sole-proprietorship. Built into the “S” type is a level of protection against
creditors that is stronger than that found in the “C” type. The tax advantages are ultimately
greater in the “S” type corporation. Despite the $800 minimum tax for “S” type corporations,
most photographers who own their own small business find that this is the better corporate

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designation for them, overall.

LLC Corporations
The third type of corporate designation is the LLC, or the Limited Liability Company.
This corporate type is almost never suited for those in their own photography business. It
exists for cases where there are a multitude of partners in a business who are not actually
involved in the running or working of the company. In other words, they are simply investors.
If the people who are actually involved in the working of the company were to be sued for
negligence, for example, the other partners would not be liable.

So incorporating as an LLC is simply a way of getting others to give you money for
your company while assuring them that they will not be held legally accountable should
anything go wrong. Huge photo studios or chains of photo studios might consider this type of
corporation. The average small business photographer need not bother and instead should
concentrate on choosing between “S” type and “C” type, depending on the one best suited for
his particular situation and needs.

Sales Taxes
Once your business is up and running, you will hopefully begin to sell pictures or take
on clients who will hire you to do photography projects for them. Just as you pay taxes on
almost everything you buy, from boots to bowling balls, and on services you receive from cable
installation to car washes, you, too, will have to subject your paying clients to this IRS
mandated tradition. There are exceptions and rules to tax sales that you need to be aware of.

The first thing you will need is a business license, if you plan on selling from your place
of work (even if that place is also home) or if you plan on selling to the public. Contact your
local tax commissioner’s office to find out the exact procedure for your town. Once you have
the business license you will also need a resale license. Resale licenses are generally provided
by the same authorities that provide business licenses. Again, you’ll need to find out

71
specifically for your locale.

If you plan on selling your photos exclusively online, you may not need a business
license and you also may not need to pay sales tax. This will depend on the state in which you
live. The laws vary. Your state’s Office of the Secretary of State would be the entity you
contact to find out the tax and business license laws for where you live.

Once you have your resale license, you need to determine the type of client you are
dealing with, because this will determine whether or not you will charge them a sales tax. If
you are selling pictures to a client whose business is to then turn around and resell those prints,
then you do not charge a sales tax. That is, there is no sales tax when the transaction is between
two business entities.

If you are selling directly to a public consumer, then you must charge them a sales tax.
The tax will be a percentage of whatever your bill to the client is. The exact percentage
depends on the state in which you live. The tax board of your locale will let you know what the
sales tax is, if you are unsure. If you are selling online and you have determined that your state
requires you to collect sales tax, you need only collect sales taxes from customers who are
buying from, or live in, your state. Out-of-state sales transactions are not taxable.

Then there is a special sales tax case that many photographers are subjected to because
of the nature of their work. Many photographers do not sell the ownership of their pictures but
rather the license, or right, to use them. This is the case, for example, if you are doing freelance
business with a newspaper or magazine. In these cases, whether or not you will charge the
client a sales tax will depend on your state’s particular law. Once again, check with your local
tax board.

So, if you live in a state where there is no sales tax required for licensing a client to use
your photograph, and if you are charging that client $400 for the license, then the pay you
collect would be just $400. If the client were to request something like a physical print, instead
of requesting that the image be transferred to them through the Internet, you could charge them

72
an additional $5 for the print plus $5 for postage. In that case, you would collect sales taxes on
the print and postage cost, not on the entire $410 owed.

More Advice from Peter, an attorney

“Seek the advice of a qualified attorney and an accountant at the very beginning and make
sure that you completely and totally understand the advantages and disadvantages of sole
proprietorships vs. incorporating and that you correctly file your taxes. I counsel men and
women every single day that simply started a home based business and went with what was
easiest, a sole proprietorship. They didn’t give incorporating any thoughts and didn’t properly
file their taxes. Now several of them are experiencing legal ramifications and/or face cases
with IRS simply because they didn’t know what they were doing at the beginning. So, don’t
let this happen to you. Seek professional help now and take your business photography
business seriously.”

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Chapter Nine Summary

• Sole proprietors should be aware that they are much more likely to be audited than other
types of businesses. This is because the Schedule C is notoriously the most common
method used by people to evade taxes In addition; it offers little legal protection against
lawsuits or divorce.
• “C” type corporations are stand-alone entities. They pay taxes on their income after
adjusting for allowable deductions. That is, whether they take in income or suffer
losses, that money or lack of it, stays within the company. The exception is when
owners pay dividends to their shareholders.
• The “S” type designation is almost as administratively easy to handle as simply
declaring yourself a sole-proprietorship. Built into the “S” type is a level of protection
against creditors that is stronger than that found in the “C” type. The tax advantages are
ultimately greater in the “S” type corporation. Despite the $800 minimum tax for “S”
type corporations, most photographers who own their own small business find that this
is the better corporate designation for them, overall.
• The third type of corporate designation is the LLC, or the Limited Liability Company.
This corporate type is almost never suited for those in their own photography business.
It exists for cases where there are a multitude of partners in a business who are not
actually involved in the running or working of the company. In other words, they are
simply investors.

74
Chapter Ten: How Much Should You Charge?

Knowing how to properly incorporate and pay sales taxes is good for keeping the IRS
off your back, but the average beginning professional photographer struggles with the issue of
just how much to charge for their services and for their prints in the first place. What you will
charge, and just how you will go about it, depends on what kind of photography sales you are
involved in. There are three basic types and it actually is most common for photographers to be
involved in all three. There are art sales, commercial licensing fees, and client assignments.

Art Sales
Art sales are when you sell your print – sometimes frame included, sometimes not – and
the buyer’s objective is to have it to look at. They may want to look at it in their home or their
office or art gallery, but the basic premise is that art sales is the sale of decorative photography.
For some photographers in the business of selling prints for art, the question of pricing is taken
out of their hands because they sell through galleries, distributors, or agents who represent
them.

For the do-it-yourselfer, a basic step to take is to visit an art gallery and find
photographs that most closely match the style you produce and see what the selling prices are.

75
Once you do that, you will have a general ballpark idea of how high or low you may want to set
your prices. This is especially a good step to take if you are planning on selling your work
locally as opposed to through the Internet. Prints will sell at different prices; depending on
what part of the country you are doing your business.

There are two caveats to this way of setting prices for your prints, however. First, the
prices you see at galleries or other distribution points will include a certain percentage for the
gallery and distribution center owners. These percentages will vary and it isn’t likely you can
find out what the percentages are just by asking. The second caveat is this: pricing art for sale
to collectors and decorators isn’t the same as pricing other products. Lowering your prices
won’t necessarily make you more sales. This is because unsophisticated art buyers are the
price-conscious ones. They will tend to nitpick about your price, no matter how low it is, and
then they tend not to buy anyway.

On the other hand, serious collectors and art patrons are less sensitive to price, as they
are more aware of quality and value, not to mention they tend to have deeper pockets. Pricing
your art reasonably but out of the range of the unsophisticated consumer will drive many of
them away. What this will do is free up your time to deal with the higher end consumers who,
though smaller in number, will be more likely to purchase your prints if they are good in
quality and technique.

Licensing Fees

For those who sell the license to use their images, there are actually computer programs
designed to help you determine how much to charge. These will not be helpful in all cases and,
in fact, often fail to consider some serious factors. For example, these programs tend to deal
with general magazines, often national in nature. Those photographers who specialize in a
highly specific field might not be getting any help for pricing, even if the client they are dealing
with also has a circulation of 30,000 subscribers. Thirty thousand subscribers to a fashion
magazine is bound to mean something totally different in terms of photograph license fees than
thirty thousand subscribers to an electronics journal. The programs may also provide a range of

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prices, as well as an average price for certain images, but this does not tell the professional
photographer if that average is a result of the bulk of images being licensed at the extremes of
the ranges.

Nevertheless, they provide a starting point for the professional photographer who is
wondering what price to quote to a magazine interested in using an image for a news story or
for an advertisement. One relatively decent program is called Fotoquote. This program uses
price information and statistics in the photography industry from the previous sales year to
determine their numbers, so at the very least they are up-to-date.

Direct Client Sales

This is the most common type of sale that photographers engage in. The photographer
is hired specifically to shoot pictures for a predetermined use. This is the kind of sales that
specialists such as wedding photographers, school portrait shooters, and others are involved in.
Even these sales, however, come in two different types: general direct sales and work-for-hire.
Where the difference is most important is in who owns the images.

Most photography specialists will set up shop and then have customers come to them to
have pictures taken. The pictures are taken and sold to the client, but the photographer actually
retains the copyright to those images. In other words, what the photographer sells to the
blushing bride and groom after their wedding are not the wedding pictures, but a license to use
those pictures as they see fit. Usually, of course, this means for albums that will become dusty
in a few short months or for websites promoting the new and blissful union. The photographer,
because he retains his copyright, can also use those pictures as he sees fit. (This is something
that should be made clear to the client –even if only in the fine print – in the contract that is
signed prior to the project.)

As far as the price that should be charged for these direct client sales, it completely
depends on the specific specialization, the time that it will take to complete, and other expenses
that will be accrued. Again, the first best step in determining what you should charge will be to

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check out what others in your special field are charging. Call or visit your local wedding
photographer or portrait taker and simply ask about their fees. Check several professionals in
your specialization, since there is bound to be a range of fees charged, even if slight. Besides
asking about the fees, ask how long they have been in business. This will allow you to gauge
prices charged in conjunction with level of experience, which will help you determine what
price seems to be justifiable based on your own level of experience.

Don’t forget to calculate your expenses into the price that you quote. There is a wide
range of expenses you may need to take into account. Some of these expenses will need to be
stated directly in the contract while others will be built into your overall price. Determining
which expenses fall into which category depends on the nature of the task you are hired to
perform. Certainly, you should think about the cost of your film and the cost of developing the
pictures. These are expenses that need not be itemized separately in your contract but are part
of your overall price.

On the other hand, if you are hired to do a photo-shoot that is a considerable distance
from your home or office base, you may choose to charge mileage and tolls, if applicable. For
projects that are time consuming, it is not out of bounds to charge an hourly rate for your time.
Wedding photographers, for example, often have to be on site and at the wedding for almost as
long as the ceremony and celebration lasts. Taking the religious service and the party together,
this can be as long as seven hours or more. It is perfectly fine to charge a rate for your time
that is in addition to the price of the film, the finished product, and other expenses that you
incur. Follow the same technique that you used to determine your photo prices to determine
your hourly rate: find out what other established photographers in your area charge as an hourly
rate, when they do charge such rates.

For photographers who are truly beginners, brand-spanking newbies, the value of doing
work for free, or at radically lower prices than the competition, should not be overlooked. If
you do not already have a stacked portfolio demonstrating your prowess in your particular area
of specialization, consider offering free or steeply discounted packages to the first few clients
who show interest in hiring you. The benefit to this tactic is threefold. You will build your

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portfolio, gain experience, and make contact with people who may serve as paying customers
in the future.

A work-for-hire project, on the other hand, is when a client pays a fixed fee or pays you
an hourly rate and then takes ownership of the images, including ownership of the copyright.
How this happens and becomes different from the general direct client sales is that the client
requests it and it is written into the contract. Clients who ask for this usually don’t really need
to have the copyright and ownership, but do so because of some misconceptions about the
benefits of retaining the copyright or misconceptions about what calamity will befall them if
they allow the photographer to keep those rights.

The downside for the professional photographer in a work-for-hire situation is that the
pictures could be ones helpful to his or her career, either as samples for a portfolio or, more
likely, an income generator through stock photography sales. On the other hand, there are
some work-for-hire contracts that are so specific to one person or to one product that losing the
copyright would cause little distress to the photographer, since the images have such limited
use or future value.

More Advice from Samantha, owner of Pictures Rock

“My advice is to charge according to your experience. If you’re just starting off, you should
be more concerned with establishing a solid client base than making huge profits Once
you’ve done this, your clients will come to you and you can up your price based on your
experience and creative talents. You in essence can then start making the big bucks. I did this
and it worked for me now I make a six-figure income and have more clients than I ever
dreamt possible”

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Chapter Ten Summary
• Art sales are when you sell your print – sometimes frame included, sometimes not – and
the buyer’s objective is to have it to look at.
• Prints will sell at different prices, depending on what part of the country you are doing
your business.
• When setting prices, you should keep in mind that the prices you see at galleries or
other distribution points will include a certain percentage for the gallery and distribution
center owners and pricing art for sale to collectors and decorators isn’t the same as
pricing other products.

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Conclusion
The artist who wishes to make photography a serious profession must remember that
specialization, passion and dedication are key to making it successfully. A photographer
willing to specialize in a field which is not already saturated by others photographers is more
likely to get clients and build a consistent and growing clientele base.
Of course, one must not choose a specialization solely because few other photographers
in your geographical area are doing it. In fact, this may be a serious warning sign about the
viability of such a specialization. A specialization should be chosen because who are truly
interested in taking pictures in that area. Nothing will sink a business faster than taking
multitudes of pictures day in and day out depicting something you have absolutely no passion
about. Spend sometime dipping your professional toes into three or four fields to get a feel for
them before you finally pick one. And remember, depending on your clientele base, your own
time availability, and your own interests, you may ultimately decide on two or more
specializations on a permanent basis.
Finally, a successful photographer will need plenty of dedication. Photography is a
field in which you will spend as much time trying to find clients or trying to get them to pay
you afterward, as you will actually snapping away pictures, at least in the beginning. The
importance of proper advertising cannot be overlooked. Nor can the importance of having
clients sign contracts which clearly state the payment that is expected of them and when that
payment is expected. Proper paperwork keeping is essential and along these lines so is proper
maintenance of tax records.
Photography is a field is which many unprepared people are entering because it seems
simple on the face. Snap a picture, develop a picture (or print one out), hand it over and collect
money. It takes much more work than that and the photographer who enters the profession
willing to put into practice the hints listed here will be well ahead of the pack.

References
PICKERELL, J. (1992b) Taking Stock. Available from Jim Pickerell, 110 Frederick
Ave., Suite A, Rockville, MD 20850. 2(3):Jan.
ROSENSTOCK, S. (1995) RE: Rough copy of Stock FAQ (LONG!) May 20.

81
i
PICKERELL, J. (1992b) Taking Stock. Available from Jim Pickerell, 110 Frederick Ave., Suite A, Rockville, MD
20850. 2(3):Jan.
ii
ROSENSTOCK, S. (1995) RE: Rough copy of Stock FAQ (LONG!) [e-mail to J. Day]. [Online]. e-mail:
stacy@bway.net, May 20.
Notes.
Specialised stock libraries slr film
Flora and fauna

Address: A-Z Botanical Collection Ltd, 192 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7DT.
Library Manager: James Wakefield
Tel:. 020 7253 0991
Fax: 020 7253 0992.