The Complete Commercial Photographer

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I constantly discuss with my clients what I think will work and will not work based on what they told me they want. For example, I’m in a manufacturing plant…

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You can’t just wait for the phone to ring! Any photography business will not be successful these days if your marketing effort consists of sitting by the phone and waiting…

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The following charts provide the base price guidelines and are simple to calculate the base price. From there you consider all other factors.  What you will not see in these…

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E-mail marketing The real advantage to e-mail marketing is of course the cost. It’s very cheap and cost effective. These days you can track and observe how many were opened…

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Nike was a huge client of mine in the 90’s and I shot about 1.2 million shoes for them (really rough guess), actually I just shot a lot of shoes…

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Non-Profits You may at some point find yourself negotiating with a non-profit or asked to provide an image pro-bono. Letting images be used by non-profits and whether or not to…

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The client came back with a request for more uses as a tourism related advertisement, running nationally in 4 travel magazines with a combined print run of 2.5 million. The…

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So what types of clients can you charge usage for? I would say any client willing to agree to pay it. Now the hard part is determining who will pay…

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Self-promotion Throughout my career, I have utilized a variety of different approaches to marketing my photography business. I have done source books, including the Black Book for 3 years, Direct…

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I was contacted by a former student of mine whom I will call ‘Bob.’ Bob took a commercial photography course from me last year. He is I believe in high…

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Other photographers who are working in the high end of advertising photography are not only successful in getting top pay rates, but they also get usage fees, and the client…

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If you flew to Africa, hired a safari guide to take you into the outback, you have greater production value than going to the zoo or game park. Be sure…

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Keeping clients tuned into what you are doing and on a regular basis helps eliminate that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ problem that will plague every photographer if they…

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One photographer friend of mine has a great strategy for dealing with situations like this. The client provides him a list of how many shots are needed and he looks…

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How Unique is the Image? Good selling images often are unique in some way, some more and some less. The usage of a one-of-a-kind image is certainly more valuable than…

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Finding The Clients You have no business without clients! And how you find them, market to them, and work with them is crucial to the success of your business. You…

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Whatever price you establish should be based on your image qualities, the market for that usage, and then input from the client about their budget. Hopefully there is an acceptable…

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More on Calculating your fee This is without a doubt the toughest part of your job in trying to earn business. Some photographers charge very little like one half or…

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Pros and Cons The good side of either type of relationship is that you get business and hopefully plenty of it. You want to be the first photographer they call….

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How is the image going be used? How the image is going to be used is the first important consideration. Will it be used in an advertisement, an editorial spread,…

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Advertising is designed to continuously generate income for the client as long as the ad is running. Ads are higher profile and have more views, like web page views, so…

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 What does the set look like? Do you need background materials such as canvas, paper, or are you building a fake set to simulate a location. For example, one time…

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Client Layout: does the client have a layout to show you what they envision for the photo? If you’re shooting for advertising, design projects, annual reports, or any other print…

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Managing your ego A good ego is crucial when it comes time to present you and your work, estimate a project, or negotiate a sale. It provides you the confidence…

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This happens when a buyer wants your photo, for whatever reason, and may be willing to pay more to get it. Evaluate your work and compare it with similar work…

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If I’m working for a new client then everything is in writing right from the beginning. I can tell you of one bad experience I had years ago. A graphic…

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Are you the worlds greatest photographer? Really, raise your hand if you are the best photographer in the world. Did you raise your arm high or merely twitch your pinkie…

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A Few Tips on Clients Accessibility. Clients want to be able to locate you and receive prompt replies. I can admit that I have lost sales and assignments because I…

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Here is the same photo in two uses, one for a non- profit private school and the other for a shopping center. The private school piece is a brochure, limited…

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We all would like to get usage fees, but the reality is that is quite difficult on a local level. I chat with other photographer/friends about this and the general…

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If you were with a large agency back then, you could use a rough estimate of earning $1 per month for each image in an agency file.  Now it is…

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Understanding Clients: First, look at your own experiences How many times have you dined in a restaurant and felt your grumpy waiter was lousy? Have you ever greeted a gas…

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Then you can do another assignment in the afternoon for another client at the half day rate. Here again, you have to be careful. If they want a simple head…

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What to Charge, that is a tough question When I receive a call from clients regarding a shoot, they usually fall into two categories: clients I have worked with and…

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SELLING YOUR STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY Your phone has just rung from a prospective client who wants to buy one of your images for a specific use. If you are new to…

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As you prepare to enter the world of commercial photography, you will begin by developing a list of clients.  You will target this list based on what you feel are…

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No matter what you wish to shoot in stock, do your research to see what is being photographed and marketed. Understand that people and business far outsells nature and wildlife….

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I snowshoed out into the winter woods with a box of red bulbs and my cameras.  I decorated the tree and then shot.  It was a hazy overcast so there…

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Keep in mind environmental disasters are good sources for salable nature photography.  A noted nature photographer here in Oregon was packed and ready to jump in an airplane as people…

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GETTING STARTED Now if you are feeling that I have made it all sound hopeless, it is not.  I am being realistic! As the old saying goes, ‘where there is…

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Here are some of the categories for landscape and nature subjects:  Wildlife. This is the smallest market category in this subject area.  There are plenty of fabulous wildlife photographers already…

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LANDSCAPE AND NATURE Nature and the landscape photography is a wonderful subject that I personally find to be the most satisfying and personally rewarding of all my photographic pursuits. Fresh…

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This birthday party photo is now outdated but is a great example because it has been very successful due to the diversity of people.  It is a good mix of…

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YOUR INDOOR AND OUTDOOR STUDIO We have discussed several techniques for outdoor people photography.  To create salable images in your outdoor studio you will need to evaluate several factors.  The…

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When photographing people in general, you need to show a sense of happiness, contentment, satisfaction, and pride that comes with a happy life, unless you are illustrating a different concept…

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Here is an example shot list I would prepare prior to shooting a senior woman gardening and tending her roses.  (Watch for background distractions) A semi wide, vertical shot, from…