How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Photography Business

How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful

PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS

By Bryan Rose

with Joni Strandquest

How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Photography Business

Copyright © 2010 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.

1210 SW 23rd Place• Ocala, Florida 34471 • Phone 800-814-1132 • Fax 352-622-1875

Web site: www.atlantic-pub.com • E-mail: sales@atlantic-pub.com

SAN Number: 268-1250

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1210 SW 23rd Place•e, Ocala, Florida 34471.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rose, Bryan, 1976-

How to open & operate a financially successful photography business : with companion CD-ROM / by Bryan Rose.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-018-0 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60138-018-6 (alk. paper)

1. Photography--Business methods. I. Title.

TR581.R62 2010

770.68--dc22

2010001083

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bear’s memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

– Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

•  Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.

•  Support local and no-kill animal shelters.

•  Plant a tree to honor someone you love.

•  Be a developer — put up some birdhouses.

•  Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.

•  Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.

•  Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.

•  Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.

•  Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.

•  If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.

•  Support your local farmers market.

•  Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Dedication

To Brian Watling – for your love, friendship, and support.

To Laura Rose – for always being my inspiriation and for

all the lovingsupport you have given me.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Life of a Photographer

Chapter 2: Why Start a Photography Business?

Chapter 3: Writing a Business Plan

Chapter 4: Determining Start-Up Equipment and Costs

Chapter 5: Building Your Vision — and Your Business

Chapter 6: Setting Up Your Business

Chapter 7: Getting Started in Marketing

Chapter 8: Putting a Marketing Plan into Effect

Chapter 9: Methods to Include in Your Marketing Plan

Chapter 10: Setting Your Rates

Chapter 11: Running Your Business

Chapter 12: Growing Your Business

Chapter 13: Putting Your Business to Work for You

Chapter 14: Photography and the Law

Chapter 15: Your Photography Business

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography

Author Biographies

Preface

As photographers, we do so much more than take pictures. We are storytellers who use images to document everything from the mundane to the magnificent.

In lieu of telling stories with constructed sentences of subjects, verbs, and nouns, we tell them with light, composition, and subject. Texture and color serve as our adverbs and adjectives. All components are interwoven to make a statement, convey an attitude, or communicate a message that, ideally, will draw the observer to action or understanding. With the click of a button, we capture moments in time. We document joys, sorrows, and rites of passage. Our images have the capacity to make people think and feel. We activate the minds of others.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, photographers held about 122,000 jobs in 2006. More than half were self-employed, which is higher than the average for most other occupations. They also estimate an expected growth rate for the profession at 10 percent through the year 2016. One reason for the growth is technology, which requires more images to populate the increase in Internet-based advertising and editorial choices.

Despite this growth, the competition to make a living will be high in the field as more people seek self-sufficiency and self-reliance, holding interest in the perks of life as a photographer. Start-up costs, particularly in the realm of digital photography, are low.

The median annual earnings of salaried photographers in May 2006 were $26,170, with the middle 50 percent earning anywhere between $18,680 and $38,730. Only the highest 10 percent in the field grossed more than $56,000 during that year, according to the Department of Labor.

Although you probably will not become a multimillionaire as a result of being a photographer, you will enjoy a quality of life that is not enjoyed in many other professions. Whether you desire to see the world or capture the innocence of a newborn’s face, the rewards are many.

I hope this book will help you establish a firm business foundation, no matter what your dream.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I started in photography by accident. Taking a job as a sports editor at a small-town newspaper, I was also responsible for taking my own photos. The training method at the newspaper basically consisted of taking a camera and being wished good luck — I really learned on the fly.

As many of you know, once you start in photography, it pulls you in, regardless of how much of a learning curve you had when you got started. I was hooked after my first assignment, and over the years my love of photography grew. As my career wore on, I found myself leaving the newspaper, but I could not leave photography behind. At first, I continued to hone my skills as a recreational photographer. I soon turned that recreational drive I had developed into a freelance business, taking product shots for small companies.

This book will teach you what you need to know to create that business, and that life, as a professional photographer. You will learn how to enjoy the freedom and artistic creativity of the field, in addition to running a successful business.

I have made many mistakes in my career, and hope that I have included every lesson I have learned from those errors in this book.

In the early chapters, I will guide you through making the decision to become a professional and setting up your business. Unlike, say, accountants, photographers tend to open their own businesses with little business training. Thus, I will help you develop your business and marketing plans and understand what it will take to make your business succeed.

Money is, of course, the most important part of running a business because you are not going to remain in business if you do not both make money and manage it. I will help you with pricing and fee structures, as well as with managing your money.

You will need to know how to run your business within the law, maintain your copyright protection, and manage contracts with suppliers and customers, so I will devote time to discussing those topics. As a photographer, you may know how to function in the field, but you may be new to the business world. Learning to balance these aspects is important to establishing a viable business.

Marketing, sales, and public relations take up a large portion of the book, as no one is going to hire you if they do not know you exist. Marketing is the life’s blood of your business. I will walk you through the process of marketing, promoting, and selling your services.

I will show you how to build your business so that it will prosper in the long run and continue to bring you a steady income and a fulfilling life.

Finally, I will go over what is on the CD-ROM, and how to use those forms and contracts to build your business from scratch. With that in hand, you will be able to start your photography business and, ideally, find yourself thriving in this wonderful field.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Life of a Photographer

Taking a moment and capturing it forever — that sums up the life of a photographer. Whether you shoot weddings, football games, senior portraits, mountains, or a house fire, you are documenting the lives of those you catch with your lens.

For good or bad, photographers are the chroniclers of our history, recording who we are and where we have been. From the battlefields of the Civil War to the lights and glamour of Hollywood, photographers are on the scene.

Although the photographer plays a major role in our society, not everyone who picks up a camera and points it can truly call himself or herself a photographer. A photographer is an artist, an empathetic eye, and an unflinching newsman. A photographer is an activist, a comedian, and a teacher.

You may have picked up this book because you too feel the need to document the lives around you, to preserve time for those who follow, and to bring justice or entertainment into the world.

However, the life of a photographer is not one of free-wheeling, always in the field on the hunt; rather, it is one of hard work and dedication.

Case Study: A day in the life

Emilie Sommer, emilie inc. photography

PO Box 2703

South Portland ME 04116

www.emilieinc.com

http://blog.emilieinc.net

photo@emilieinc.com | 207-272-2285

I own and operate emilie inc. photography, a boutique wedding and photography studio specializing in photojournalism. I have a 1,300-square-foot space in Portland, Maine to meet with clients, edit and tone images, host workshops and social networking events, and photograph indoor studio portraits during the winter.

I work from the studio on a daily basis during the week, unless I am on location for a portrait, and spend every weekend from June to October photographing weddings around New England. I spend the off-season months traveling to photograph destination weddings, attend conventions, and teach at various photography workshops.

This is my fifth year in business, but before starting my own company, I was a photographer and photo editor at USA Today and The Washington Post.

I had to work with photographers covering the DC sniper attacks of 2002, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Republican National Convention, and the Miss America Pageant.

I was working a 4 p.m. to midnight shift at The Washington Post as the night photo editor when I photographed my cousin’s wedding as a gift and really enjoyed it. I had an aha! moment where I realized I could spend a lifetime doing what I love and create my own career path, rather than just follow one. I photographed a handful of weddings at cost or as an assistant to an already-established photographer to build my portfolio. Once I felt comfortable with the flow and responsibility, I started building my own clientele, but learning the history and craft [of the business was] vital to success. You cannot just pick up a camera and expect to be an expert.

A Day in the Life

No one would imagine the day-to-day life of an artist to be one of monotony and number crunching, and that is also true with photographers. Each day is a new day to reinvent your craft, feel the freedom of your business, and face the new challenges that crop up.

No customer is the same, no wedding matches the one before, and no matter how many times you visit the Serengeti, something new will catch your eye. Every day for a photographer is different.

But that is likely why you chose this career path. Photographers tend to march to the beat of their own drums. You likely chose this book and this career to live a life of freedom — to live a life that offers new challenges every day.

Of course, that challenge can mean different things to different people, even though the underlying principle is the same. The challenges of a studio photographer are much different than those of a photographer working in a third-world country. Each challenge is unique.

The People You Meet

As a photographer, you are going to work with a wide variety of people, depending on which photography career path you choose. A journalist will work with a different set of people than a wedding photographer will work with, but at their core, clients’ desires are mostly the same. They all want the respect of the photographer. They want to know that you are there merely to document, not judge, embellish, or ridicule. Mastering how to deal with different personalities and learning to work with all kinds of people is one of the joys, and challenges, of photography.

Models

Studio photographers who work with magazines and catalogs need beautiful people. But, despite stereotypes, models are usually easier to work with than conventional wisdom might dictate They are professionals who have honed their skills and worked very hard to get where they are.

Most models are professionals, having worked on several jobs and in several different capacities. They want to be treated like professionals and given credit for their experience. They expect to come to work, be able to do their jobs, and be paid for their time and treated with respect — just like any working individual.

As with any other professional, problems arise when there is a lack of communication and respect. Keep those lines open and interact with your model. If you do, your shoot in that far off tropical location will go just as smoothly as you had hoped.

Art directors

Working on your own means you get to choose what photography jobs you want to do and what jobs you will pass on. But, it does not mean that you always get to call the shots once you get there. When you shoot for commercial clients, particularly advertising agencies, you will often work with art directors who make sure the photography works with the entire product, whether it be an advertisement, magazine article, or catalog. The key to making this relationship work is to understand that, while the art director is your client, he or she is also the employer and the boss for the whole project you are photographing.

Art directors have to take charge of every aspect of making the project come together, and they may seem a little too controlling or bossy. Art directors are usually intelligent, creative people who have a certain job — creating a great image. If you go out of your way to make their job easier, either by taking great photos or listening to art direction, you can build a lasting relationship that could result in repeat business.

Editors

Editors work at newspapers, magazines, and on Web sites. If photojournalism, a type of photography that captures the news as it happens and requires photographers to work more independently, is your chosen path, there is little chance you will not run into one of them.

Like art directors, editors have a certain job to do for their publication, which has its own style, guidelines, and norms. By listening to the editor early on, you are more likely to capture the correct picture at the

right time.

As an outside source, you are probably being hired to shoot for a specific article, and that article has a certain feel. It is the editor’s job to make sure you portray that feel to the reader. As with the art director, if you go out of your way to make life easier for the editor and work hard to capture the essence of the job you were hired to shoot, it could lead to another call the next time the publication needs a photojournalist.

Wedding planners

Wedding photographers may never get away from the nervous bride, the distrusting mother of the groom, or the camera-hogging aunt as part of the perils of their line of work, but if you ever work with a wedding planner, you will be thankful the profession is around.

The wedding planner is the steady hand hired to make sure everything goes smoothly on the couple’s big day. But, that means everything, and it is not solely his or her job just to make sure the photographer is happy.

Because wedding planners will plan many weddings in a year, probably once a week, building a strong relationship with a wedding planner can help grow your business and secure regular work. As the wedding planner gets used to your presence at the wedding, and gets used to the way you work, he or she may be more likely to recommend you to future clients.

Helping the wedding planner make sure that things happen when they are supposed to is the best way to continue working with that planner, as hiring the photographer is often included in the planner’s duties.

As a wedding photographer, your job is to make sure that the photography does not encumber or burden anyone in the wedding party. Create beautiful images while being as unobtrusive as possible, and you can expect to be hearing from that planner for future weddings.

Gallery owners

Any photographer is an artist at heart, and if you are one of the lucky few whose art is good enough to be put on display, you will run into gallery owners. These people love art, obviously, but they are also business owners, just like you. If you focus on providing the best product to their customers, you will do well working with galleries. To provide quality work that a gallery owner could sell to clients, it is a good idea to get to know what type of photographs that gallery specializes in and who the clientele are.

Keep in mind the gallery owner is your customer, not your agent or salesperson. Their focus is on their own customers — those people who come in and purchase the artwork or donate money to keep the gallery open as a viable business. Keep that end in mind, and you will be able to sell and display your work for years to come.

The public

In photography, there is no way to