Photo Careers

Introduction

Feeding a Family: Pizza or Photography?
(Ireland)

I want to talk to you about a subject that many people find difficult to bring up, but which they think about it all the time. I mean, all the time. You don't just think about it, you do it. And you're not alone. I do it, too. So do your friends. Your neighbors. Yes, even your parents. We all do it. In our homes, in private; some do it in the parks and other public places. Others do it at school or at work. But when you want to talk about it, not many people know what to say. To some, it's too private to discuss. Many will even lie about it, while others are just ill-informed. The good news is, I'm not your parents, so I can talk about it freely, openly and honestly. And because I don't know you, I can tell you the ugly truth about it that no one else will tell you.

Yes, that's right. I'm talking about the Photography Business. While Photography is something that everyone is familiar with, the business of photography is a complete mystery. You probably can't talk to your parents about it, and people on the internet may just tell you rumors that probably aren't true. Talking to other photographers often doesn't help; most will try to talk you out of it, warning that it's a saturated market and there's no way to make a living at it anymore. As you may have already learned, pros are reluctant to share their "secrets," or provide much useful advice on what to do or how. (Of the photographers I've emailed when I was learning, few replied, and of those that did, none gave any useful advice. (One even tried to sabotage my efforts, since my goal of pursuing travel photography encroached on his turf.)

First: Setting Expectations

Man Viewing North Vancouver
(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

Photography suffers from a few misconceptions that affect people's expectations when it comes to developing a career. At the top of the list is the assumption that photography is simple. And they're right: it is simple. But that's irrelevant to building a career. That requires business skills, not photography skills. Another misconception people have is that they think they can just jump right in and start making a living if they only knew a few of the secrets of the industry. Hint: there are no secrets. One doesn't jump into this business the way you "get a job" and the paycheck starts coming. That may be true of some jobs, like the ticket-taker at a movie theater, but to get a good-paying job that allows you to earn a substantial living, one needs to invest more ahead of time. For example, going to college. In fact, even those who spend four years of their life in college—and get into considerable debt in the process—end end up making $35-40K in their first year out of school. And those are the lucky ones. Those who get a degree in some exceedingly interesting subject like Obscure French-American Poetry During the American Revolution are probably still out searching for jobs (if they're not already taking tickets at movie theaters).

So, the first thing to remember is: it's not about the photography. And the second thing to remember is that it's not something you just "start." You have to develop a career in photography. And, like those who go to school, your expectations of income have to coincide with the type of photography you do. For example, shooting abstract black and white photos of obscure, out-of-focus chairs sitting in completely empty poorly-lit rooms will find you working along side the college graduate who majored in French-American Poetry at the movie theater. Third, a career in photography requires time to establish not just the technical experience (which is insignificant in the grand scheme of things), but insight into your industry segment, the culture of your clients, critical business principles, and above all, a name for yourself.

It is this last part here that is so critical, it is the focus of this book. Establishing relationships and doing other business-building activities really become the crux of the topic: the photo business is not paint-by-numbers game that can be learned in a four-year degree at some school. Photo schools mostly teach photo technique, and that's it. Sure, that approach works for computer science because the demand for software programmers is high enough that one doesn't really need to learn more than that—you just go get a job. But the demand for photographers is far smaller, and the number of people who want to do it is very high. So being a good photographer isn't enough. You have to understand business. Not just the photo business, but the general concepts of business. And, you need to do it on your own fuel: your wits, life wisdom, and of course, finances.

Food Tablecloth
(Alaska, USA)

And this is really why most people who attempt photography aren't successful. It's sort of a catch-22: those who are good at self-management and have good business senses tend to go get real jobs that pay tons more money. Photography, as a career path, tends to attract... well, everyone else.

The good news is that far more people really do have these skills and intuitions, they just don't know it, or don't know how to hone in on them and organize them to their advantage. And this is where it comes back to a matter of time, and why it's not reasonable for one to expecct to make a living at photography until those skills and other resources are developed. Making it harder is the reality for most people that can't do it full time because they need to go make real money elsewhere at the same time.

Again, all of this is clearly doable, and is done by many people all the time. Those who fail usually do so because they started with the wrong set of expectations first. The rest of this chapter gets into the details of each of the things mentioned above, and deconstructs what paths there are to a photo career, and what pitfalls there may be along the way.

Paths to the Photo Business

Careful of what you wish for...
(San Francisco, California, USA)

There are many paths that lead into the photography business, but they tend to fall into one of these three basic categories:

Hobby/Enthusiast

Student/Traditional Paths

Migration from Another Career

What each of these has in common is that they take time. As I tried to stress vigorously in the previous section, it's simplistic to think that one can just "start" a photography business. Therefore, you are going to spend a lot of time with photography before it earns money. Therefore, you're going to have some other source of income while you're at it. This is no different than those going to college, or developing most any other type of career. There are those who work at photography in their spare time while they worked as a doctor, or shoe salesman, or stock broker, or garbage collector, or a retired high-tech executive who sold his company for millions of dollars. Hard though it may be to believe, none of these individuals has a greater advantage over the other for success because success is not about how good you had it before you started photography, it's about being smart. There is no way to "cheat" to get ahead in this business. (We'll go over that more in a moment.)

Regarding the three paths to the photo business listed above, there is no "correct" one. One person may want to just have fun and pull in a few dollars to pay for the hobby, while someone else might want to put his kids through college. Many drift from one goal to another, as conditions in their lives change. (For example, I started out as a hobbyist and ended up making a substantial career out of it.) Your goals may vary depending on the strength of your photography ambitions, down to the lifestyle you are (or aren't) willing to endure. Also, your own past experiences in life and career will greatly affect your business potential and financial needs.

But, take note: while there are often tradeoffs between many goals, don't fall into the trap of believing there is only one path to success, or that there are strict rules for succession. No matter who you are, you will eventually learn the first rule of making money that applies to any and all business models:

"If it were easy, everyone would do it."

Beautiful? Yes.
Worth money? Well...
(Monument Valley, Arizona, USA)

This is my number-one mantra, one in which I've typed till I was blue in the fingers, and will continue to do so. You "can" make money, but it's simplistic to think that it's just a matter of doing tasks that someone tells you to do, or that it's just a matter of having the right forms, or looking in a chart to find out how much to price pictures, or getting the right portfolio in the hands of art directors. No business can be broken down into "painting by the numbers," especially in the world of photography. There are no secrets, whether it's becoming the celebrity star photographer for the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, or entering the less-ambitious greeting card market. Any task can be fraught with little gotchas that no book can prepare you for in "simple terms." At the end of the day, if it were that easy, then... well, you know.

It's natural to think that if someone else can do it, so can you, especially when you see the kinds of pictures that are used in magazines, postcards, and art galleries. This reminds me of the joke:

How many photographers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Fifty. One to screw it in, and 49 to say, "I could have done that!"

As a skill, photography is not technically hard. Everyone has a degree of creativity, but it often takes time to refine into a product that can yield income. That's why the joke above applies: most photographers with reasonable competency can look at "commercially successful" pictures and say, "I could have done that." But this isn't what makes you successful. It's having business sense. It's knowing what to bother shooting, and how to sell it to someone. You can probably make a good living shooting shoes for catalog companies, but is that what you really want to do? Because of the nature of the business and of your lifestyle goals, the first thing you need to do is envision what you want out of photography, then what you want out of a photography business. Here is my last quote on the subject:

"Trying to make a career out of photography is a sure way to ruin a perfectly lovely hobby."

Photography is more of a lifestyle than it is a labor that one does to earn an income. (One rarely goes into photography because he can't find any other way of making money.)

Money and Photography

Money and Photography: No Relationship
(Palau)

A costly mistake people make about the photography business is, unlike other capital-intensive businesses (that require cash to start), you can't buy your way to success. There is usually one reason for this: your value to photo buyers is not something you can purchase. They don't care that you bought your own ticket to that African Safari and got pictures of cute little leopard cubs. Nor does it matter that you are willing to shoot an assignment "for free," if you don't have the credentials to show your knowledge about the subject or to demonstrate your skills. And it wouldn't even cross someone's mind to consider you ahead of someone else because you had more expensive equipment.

The misperception that money buys access or success is one of the more "senseless" ideas that permeate the industry on both ends of the spectrum. Rich people who retire and go into photography believe that because money isn't a barrier for them, they'll rise above others without much effort. Likewise, professionals erroneously feel that rich people are hurting the photo business because they don't charge much (if anything) because all they want to do is get their images published. (The percent of rich people who do this is tiny compared to the general public who does it.)

They're both wrong, and this misconception of money's role in photography is responsible for the failure of both groups. The rich people will find they spent a lot of money on an elaborate hobby, and the few chance occurrences where their images were published, don't really amount to a career. (Sure, it's a hobby, and there's nothing wrong with that; but it's not a career, which is the topic under discussion.) As for the pros whose careers are stagnating, they've got other problems that go way beyond whatever those rich people are doing.

Celebrating Photography
(Whitefish, Montana, USA)

There are a few photo business models that do require more significant capital, such as a studio photographer doing high end product shots that involve substantial lighting equipment and big, roomy space. That can be quite prohibitive, especially if you live in an expensive city like San Francisco or New York. But, just because one can afford it doesn't mean he's ahead of the competition. He still needs to compete in terms of experience, portfolio, and credibility within the advertising community. More resourceful amateurs who have a lot less money are forced out of need to network within the community and establish relationships with existing studios. By consequence, they learn more and gain credible experience than their richer counterparts who try to go it alone.

The Serious Photographer

Ok, let's put this into context. Regardless of what path you choose to enter this business, when it comes to making money with photography, there are two kinds of people: the serious photographer, and the insanely serious photographer. The primary difference (of many) is that of lifestyle. You may think that you're just a casual hobbyist that wants to maybe pick up a few dollars for some pictures, but by the time you actually get those dollars, you'll have invested considerable time and effort. Many drop out by that time, so if you do get that far, now you're the serious photographer.

Now, you've achieved that level of "a few dollars," you'll believe that "just a little more effort" can yield considerably better returns. It's sort of like buying a soft drink in a movie theater: the smallest cup you can buy is ridiculously expensive, but for just a couple of quarters more, you can get twice as much. That's what the photography business feels like. But, by the time you learn "a little more work" is really a lot, you've graduated to being the insanely serious photographer.

Postcards: Fun, but Limited Upside
(California, USA)

Where you see yourself along this spectrum is really what will determine where you end up. Are you "the hobbyist that wants to make money," or do you want to build a real, bona fide career? There is no right or wrong to either choice, because the type of work (not just the amount of it) will greatly alter your lifestyle choices.

In fact, the two tracks are so completely opposite of one another, that you can actually do yourself more harm than good trying to make a career using the strategies that a hobbyist might. Similarly, the hobbyist would quickly lose interest by trying tactics that only the professional-minded photographer should use. Put another way, making short-term income often involves tasks that have no long-term benefit. Likewise, there is a limit to how much you can make as a hobbyist, simply because the tasks and methodologies are so brute-force and simplistic, that they can't be automated cost-effectively to yield any appreciable income.

Aquarium Strolling
(Chicago, Illinois, USA)

An example of this is the postcard business: you can make some money, but just getting to a point of generating revenue requires work and time that, if invested in other areas, yield more profit. Is that payoff worthwhile? For the amateur looking to tool around in a car visiting gift shops around town or in a vacation spot, the experience alone is often joyful enough. But, don't expect to raise a family on this strategy without having expanded into something that's no longer considered a "photography business." That is, people who make a living in postcards alone are usually in the distribution business and happen to spend little time doing photography.

What's the difference between a photographer and a large pizza?

A large pizza can feed a family of four.

The above joke notwithstanding, given the choices of how to invest time and resources, pro photographers differ from hobbyists this way: Hobbyists put lifestyle ahead of business; they photograph for fun, and then figure out how to make a living at it second. Professionals also love photography, and although it's fun, but they choose options where there is opportunity for long-term growth, and name recognition, which contribute to higher pay and recurring business over the long haul.

Note that these are two ends of a very wide spectrum, and not everyone is at one end or the other. Many photographers find themselves somewhere in the middle, and finding your place is your first objective. As you do your soul-searching, remember this quip:

"What you do to make money as a hobbyist is not what you do to develop a career."

This may help clarify why and how some people go about their photo businesses. Their intents may appear very different than what you see at first blush if you only look at it from one perspective.

"Vanity Business" vs. Career Path

Self-Portraits We Should Never See
(California, USA)

One of these middle areas that hobbyists and professionals share (where it's often hard to differentiate between the two), is The Vanity Business . Here, your main goal is to express yourself and your ideas using a business model in which earning an income is secondary. An example is a "vanity gallery," where the artist owns the retail space where he exhibits and sells only his own work. Other examples include selling prints at art festivals, cafes, or the county fair. Any of these are fun, rewarding, and even profitable. I've known many people (including myself) that have made "some" money at these venues. But, the path to financial success here is more ambiguous. Among certain demographics and in some geographical regions, the vanity business can be profitable enough to support a family, but these are exceptions to the rule. For this to work, the photographer is usually very well-known, or the artist has a large, rotating clientele in tourist-laden cities, such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and "art Mecca's," like Santa Fe, New Mexico. Or, it could be that the business is an adjunct to a much more active photo business behind the scenes, and the gallery itself is just selling its by-products.

Not all vanity businesses are as elaborate or involved. In fact, many don't necessarily have to be profitable. Examples include photo books or postcards, where the primary focus is to bring attention to the artist. (Normally, photo books are regarded more as marketing tools for artists than income generators.) Pros who've migrated away from their more established photography careers into vanity businesses often do so as a form of pseudo-retirement—they can leverage their existing stock of successful images as annuities that bring in residual income without having to remain as active as they used to be.

In summary, the vanity business is best accomplished when you're either laid back about your longer-term ambitions, or when you use it as an avenue to pick up additional revenue from images already created through other business means. Either way, this is rarely the end-objective for the career-minded photographer (although it may certainly be an exit strategy after loftier goals have already been accomplished). This brings us to the next section.

The Insanely Serious Photographer

Insanely Serious Photographer
(California, USA)

There are those who are so set on becoming a photographer, that they have considered animal sacrifice. For some, this happens at a very early age, where they have visions of shooting supermodels in bathing suits, or car ads for magazines, or war zones and other news-breaking events for newspapers. (The family cat looks upon these young people with caution.) Others get the itch at an older age, when they've decided they've had it with their current careers and need to change to something entirely within their control, so they can attack it with all their (remaining) vigor.

For the younger members of this group, there is the option of going to photography school, whereas, older adults usually consider a direct migration path, often involving minutes of dedicated research and seconds of getting out the credit card at the camera store. Let's address each of these approaches.

Photography School

I have two extremely strong points of view on photography school. (Ok. Three.) It's either the perfect (if not only) option, or it's such an incredibly bad personal decision, you might as well spend your money on a good therapist, because that's where you're going to send your parents when they see what's become of you. (While they're on the couch, you'll be in coffee shops, reading the want ads and bitching to friends about how unfair the world is to artists.)

My third perspective? Well, let's get to that after I clarify my first two perspectives.

The Strong Advocate of Photography School

Townview (2)
(Hvar, Dalmatia, Croatia)

For the emerging art photographer or photojournalist who wishes to follow a more serious path in either of these markets, to make "statements," or to have influence (or at least an effect) on the art community or in world events, I am a strong advocate of going to art school. In fact, you should get a Master's degree from a reputable university first, or failing acceptance there, a specialized photography school. If that doesn't work out, get a regular degree at a normal college and take a lot of art classes. (If this option is undesirable, get one of those fake-diplomas online through one of the many spams they send.)

Most successful artists and photojournalists emerge from academic circles. Of course, there are myriads of exceptions, but statistically, they come from fine art schools. Educational programs provide avenues to resources and networks of people who can lead students through the labyrinth of this quirky and often unforgiving realm. You come out with credibility that is respected by people and venues where you'll establish your career. It's such a tight-knit world that, if you're not in school, you may find it hard to compete against those who have access to the movers and shakers in the industry.

While I do believe that photography school is imperative for certain people, I have some reservations about this avenue as well. Hence, my second view of art school:

The Moderate Supporter of Photography School

"Let's talk about it."
(San Francisco, California, USA)

When it comes to younger people considering college for a commercial photography track, I'm sort of "in the middle." You definitely get a good education and hands-on knowledge on how to do things like configure studio lighting, put together a portfolio, send out marketing postcards, and various and sundry "tasks" associated with running a business, but these are things you can learn on your own. Photography is a formidable and honorable career, and the networking on the inside can be useful for the top students in the class. (Thus, the benefit of school.) Yet, competing in the outside world, where you also have to compete against non-academic types who compete tooth and nail in ways that school didn't teach you, that's another thing.

The photo world is very difficult, competitive, and doesn't pay well. And that's the good news. The bad news is that it's also terribly unfair and unforgiving. To succeed, you need to learn business skills and ideas, that will be more responsible for your success than whether you know how to configure studio lights to yield a 2:1 lighting ratio. Most photo schools teach nothing about the real world of the business, and what they do teach has been made mostly obsolete by how business (not just technology) has changed. I'm not talking about digital photography, using Photoshop, or anything like that. I'm talking about how photographers can no longer build businesses on the same foundations they used to.

If it sounds like I'm talking you out of photo school, I'm not. I'm just concerned that you will put all your eggs in one basket in terms of your education. Well, unless you're really, really sure. You know, "insane." (I realize you've probably already heard all this from your parents. But remember, I'm not your parent.) And I'm no longer inside parentheses, so you can't pretend you don't hear me. Which leads me to my third perspective on photography school:

WhatEVER!

Confused
(San Francisco, California, USA)

As long as you're going to college, I'm happy. A well-rounded education and rich set of life experiences makes for a better artist overall, because you learn to see multiple perspectives on broader world issues. And, remember: you can always do photography along with something else. Just about any other career can also involve photography in your "spare time." (And if you're that wild about photography, I guarantee you'll find that time is copious.) You're also fortunate: photography isn't expensive, and it doesn't require anyone else to participate (unlike that rock band you had back in high school). If you develop your photography to the point where you're making money, great! You can always quit your other job then.

Migrating to Photography

Migration: A Long Journey
(Morocco)

If you're past college age, chances are that a career in photography is a migration path from another job. The majority of the population (and probably most readers of this book) has taken pictures, and a huge percentage of them are very good at it, despite having had no formal training in photography. This is partially why many people feel that a migration to the photo business is an arm's length away. So, for these people, it's an alluring prospect to give up the day job, or enter into retirement, and pick up photography as a fulltime job. What isn't expected, however, is that 90% of this business is not taking pictures and living the romantic life. It's managing your business. Because of reasons like this, the majority who try, drop back out.

I leverage my skills and interests in ways that are not only successful for me, but it's easier to beat my competition. (This point is critical.) Photographers who try to emulate what I do, simply because I've been successful, may be making a big mistake unless they understand the broader concepts of how companies use imagery to market their products or services. Someone with a strong marketing background might do well in this regard.

Alternatively, someone migrating to freelance photography from having worked as a photojournalist would be well-suited to sell stock photography into the very market segment from which he came. Having contacts is one thing, but also knowing how the business works—price points, negotiating points, and other inside business inside information—provides a great springboard for upward mobility.

If someone is adept at managing teams of employees, who are good at setting up assembly line processes, and can manage distribution channels, that person would be much better suited to selling into the commodity sector, such as gift manufacturers, and so on. The point is, we all came from somewhere. Use that place to your advantage.

Remember, all of this applies if photography is your career. If it's just a small money-generating hobby, the "business management" aspect needn't be so time-consuming or troublesome. This is why the migration path can be a more attainable and fun activity. If you have realistic about what an "arm's length" is, and reasonable financial expectations, you're set.

What I Don't Cover

Bad Photo: SOLD!
(Prague, Czech Republic)

There are various things that I don't cover. First, and foremost, I do not discuss "what images sell," because the sad truth is, any image can sell. I'm not going to have you spread your photos out on the floor and compare them with those you see in magazines, because all you need to do is look around and see the pictures that are out there to understand what I'm talking about. For example, the photo shown here is a billboard-sized image that's advertising a shopping mall. Someone seemed to snap a camera at a group of people and plastered the photo on a wall. I see examples like this all the time, even in extremely high-profile business environments like stock brokerages. On one occasion, I saw a completely out-of-focus picture of trees with a caption that read "seeing the forest for its trees." It's a fine marketing piece, because it demonstrated the idea it's trying to communicate. But one doesn't have to have a good picture—or be a good photographer—to use these kinds of images. In the art-world, they are euphemistically called, high-concept imagery, because the message isn't the photo, it's the concept.

Don't get me wrong—I don't mean to suggest you don't need to achieve a degree of proficiency with your talent in order to build a long-term business. You do. It's just that trying to discuss what is "good" or "salable" imagery is irrelevant. The photo business is less about quality images as it is about knowing how to get people to buy them. And that's what this book is about. If you can do that, your natural ability to create the kind of images that people buy will evolve.

On a similar vein, this book is not a "how-to" book on taking pictures, printing, using a camera, or other instructional matters. I do not give advice on what cameras are best, or recommend business services, or websites that can suit a specific need. I present issues that are important to the decision-making process. There other resources for teaching hands-on tutorials on photography tasks. I assume you know how to take the kinds of photographs that suit your fancy; my goal here is to merely present the business issues for leveraging what you produce.

Learning the Photo Biz
()

If I give specific examples on products, brands, or websites, they are to illustrate points only. For example, I may say, "a search on google.com reveals several hosting companies that serve web pages," but it doesn't mean that I recommend any of them (nor am I specifically advocating Google as a search engine). I'm just showing you to do your own research.

The reasons I don't spoon-feed you answers are two-fold: First, you need to be resourceful and learn how to evaluate your research results, and how to think critically in business terms. Second, the world is changing far too rapidly for any single piece of advice to remain valid long enough to warrant recommendation. Anything I might say as I write this may be obsolete by the time you read it.

Lastly, every subject I discuss here can have several volumes of books written about it, so it's impossible to cover everything in the depth it duly deserves. There are many caveats to every issue, and it's infeasible to cover them all, so I focus on the most typical and common cases that may affect you. If you have additional questions, I have written considerably more on all these subjects in related articles on my website (www.danheller.com), which I encourage you to read and send me email. That said, reading this book will certainly get you on the right foot for starting a fundamentally sound business model (or extending your existing one).

The Reader's Responsibilities

Blind Man Walking
(Mulege, Mexico)

All of the discussions in this book are based solely on business strategies that thrive in a heavily competitive environment where your peers aren't necessarily looking out for your best interests. The assumption here is that you are ultimately responsible for your own career.

So, now that you know what I'm going to cover, it's time to do your part. First, see the big picture. The biggest mistakes just about everyone makes when reading business books are:

Looking for the quickest or biggest gains.
You don't make money in the photo business quickly. Short-term strategies that may pay quicker dollars rarely turn into longer-term strategies that earn the greater returns.

Looking for specific information to address an immediate question.
There are no hard rules about what a "fair price" is for a photo, and even if you find price guides, it won't help you understand how to negotiate. Similarly, enquiring whether a particular image requires a model release isn't black and white; you have to understand the process of weighing many factors. Most questions I get, as well as those asked on discussion groups on and off the internet, attempt to get quick answers to complicated situations.

Looking for the easy way.
Photography is not a simple industry to play around with if you're planning your future or drawing a livable income. Play all you like, and rake in those pennies for fun and profit, but when it comes to your security, you can get in a lot trouble if you don't understand the bigger picture of how it all fits together first.

In the grand scheme of things, it's better to learn how to think for yourself, be analytical, resourceful, efficient and effective. These are timeless business attributes that will garner success in any endeavor.