The Photographer’s Survival Guide [Book Review]

“At last, a down-to-earth, no-nonsense guide that provides guidance and tools for all levels of photographers-from those just starting out to those who want to move to the next level”

I couldn’t agree more.

But first, a very special thanks to Amphoto Books and Watson-Guptill Publicatoins for sending this advanced copy of The Photographer’s Survival Guide: How to build and grow a successful buisness for me to review for you guys. As an added bonus they have generously provided an extra copy for me to give away to one of you lucky readers! Details at the end of the review.

The Photographer's Survival Guide How to Build and Grow a Successful Business Amanda Sosa Stone and Suzanne Sease

The Photographer’s Survival Guide: How to Build and Grow a Successful Business by Suzanne Sease and Amanda Sosa Stone

About the Authors

Suzanne Sease and Amanda Sosa Stone are consultants to photographers on creative and business aspects of their careers. Sease has been an art buyer for the Martin Agency and Kaplan-Thaler, working with such clients as Capitol One, Clairol Herbal Essence, and AFLAC. Sosa Stone worked with industry icon Elyse Weissberg and was the photo editor for Weissberg’s Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers, before becoming an art buyer for FCBNY. Suzann Sease and Amanda Sosa Stone travel around North America presenting a seminar that gave rise to this book. Sease lives and works in Richmond, Virginia; Sosa Stone in Orlando, Florida.

Breakdown

• Establishing Your Style
• Presenting Yourself
• Marketing
• Bidding The Job
• Doing The Job
• Keep Marketing Yourself
• Stock Photography and Creative Outlets

Establishing Your Style

The authors begin the book by defining style and explaining the benefits behind a photographic style. I like that this is the first chapter because it simply makes sense. Before you start marketing yourself you have to know what your marketing. They also go into achieving your own style and the various ways that a consultant can help you in this very important step.

Presenting Yourself

Flat out you need a website and a portfolio! In this section of the book the authors go over creating a budget and editing your work, as well as the pros and cons of hiring a designer or doing it yourself. In this day and age you must have these things in place. Art buyers and editors are busy and you need to stand out from the crowd.

Marketing

This is the real meat of the book. Marketing is the longest and hardest part of making it in the commercial art industry and aside from being “discovered” you need to market yourself and your business for ever. Daunting? Perhaps but realist nonetheless. There are challenges and benefits of marketing and a myriad of ways to go about getting your work in front of the right people. This is the authors’ specialty and it really comes across in the detail and care they took in this comprehensive section.

Bidding The Job

This chapter gets into the nuts and bolts of putting a bid together for a photography assignment. There are ethics here that you should pay attention to as well.

Doing The Job

There’s more to taking a great photograph in doing the job right. You need to know production value, what to do before the shoot, and what to do after the shoot.

Keep Marketing Yourself

Keep shooting, promoting, and making assignments. This is where blogging and the Internet will help you hold on to existing clients and, of course, gaining new clients. What, you thought after your first few jobs that other jobs would just start piling up? Silly photographer.

Stock Photography and Creative Outlets

This is where extra income and keeping true to your art come into play. The simple truth is that you got into photography because you love photography so you should do some photography for yourself. This chapter will help you be productive creatively which will help you sustain being a photographer in the long run.

Conclusion

I absolutely loved this book. The reading is fundamental and filled with so much information it could actually make your head spin (this is a good thing). There are real resources and examples throughout the book of where you can find tried and true vendors sure to help your career. I see myself referencing this book for years as I work on getting my art career in order.

I recommend this book to:

1. Aspiring Commercial Photographers
2. Aspiring Fine Art Photographers
3. Freelance Photographers
4. Commercial Photographers looking to further their career
5. Fine Art Photographers looking to further their career

I also think that if you’re business minded enough and creative enough you can use many of the teachings in this book to further enhance your career as photographer no matter the niche you are in. As an ex portrait/wedding photographer I could have easily used some of the ideas in this book to bring in more business. I’m just saying…

Bonus #1

This photography career book comes with a CD filled with 21 essential business forms that will help you get and stay organized and focused.

Bonus #2

I loved that a real life photographer/blogger was used throughout the book. Regular readers of Your Photo Tips should recognize the name Nick Onken. His website, portfolio, and marketing pieces were used as examples throughout so I highly encourage you to visit his website and to follow his blog.

It’s another giveaway!!!

The fine folks at Amphoto Books and Watson-Guptill Publicatoins were kind enough to send me an extra copy of The Photographer’s Survival Guide to give to one of you lucky readers. All you have to do is leave a comment saying that you want one and I’ll ship it to you. U.S. residents only!  I’ll use random.org to draw one lucky winner from the comments and announce who won on Friday.  So who wants a free book?!

Can’t wait?  Order your copy of The Photographer’s Survival Guide at Amazon.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Related posts:

1. The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure [Book Review]
2. National Geographic: The Ultimate Field Guide To Landscape Photography [Book Review]
3. Wedding Photography Unveiled [Book Review]
4. Fashion Photography [Book Review]
5. Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography [Book Review]