Michal Heron - Creative Careers in Photography: Making a LIving With or Without a Camera

Creative Careers in Photography

Making a Living With or Without a Camera

Michal Heron

Creative Careers in Photography

Making a Living With or Without a Camera Michal Heron

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ALLWORTH PRESS

NEW YORK

Dedication: To my family

Acknowledgements: My great appreciation goes to the generous professionals who were interviewed for this book. Their experience and advice in their profiles provides an invaluable tool for those starting in photography.

The Allworth Press staff, as usual, performed with extraordinary skill, understanding, and patience. Thanks to Nicole Potter-Talling, Derek Bacchus, Michael Madole, Cynthia Rivelli, Katie Ellison, and Tad Crawford.

Finally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Cynthia Matthews and Helen Marcus for their insightful contributions to this book and for many years of friendship.

2007 Michal Heron

All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan-American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

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Published by Allworth Press

An imprint of Allworth Communications, Inc.

10 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010

Cover design by Derek Bacchus Interior design by Mary Belibasakis

Page composition/typography by Integra Software Services, Pvt., Ltd., Pondicherry, India Cover photo by Jeff Babitz

ISBN-13: 978-1-58115-469-6 ISBN-10:1-58115-469-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heron, Michal.

Creative careers in photography : making a living with or without a camera / Michal Heron. 1st ed.

p. cm. (Creative careers in photography)

ISBN-13: 978-1-58115-469-6 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 1-58115-469-0 (pbk.)

1. PhotographyVocational guidance. I. Title.

TR154.H47 2006 770.23dc22

2006035276

Printed in Canada

Contents

Preface vi

PART I THE WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY

1 Understanding the Profession

Being a PhotographerCareers with a Camera Specialties Stock Digital Being a Picture Professional: Careers without a Camera

2 Making Choices

How Do I Choose? CriticismCan You Handle It? Lifestyle Choices Working Freelance Working on Staff Ownership Issues Power of Organizations Its a Business Understanding the Trends

3 Who Uses Photographs? Buying and Selling

Are You a Photographer or a Seller? The Other Side of the Desk:

Are You a Client or a Buyer?

PART II THE PHOTOGRAPHER: CAREERS WITH A CAMERA

4 Photography for Publication

Advertising Photographers Corporate Photography Editorial Media/ Publicity Catalog Other Specialties in Publication Photography Profiles with: Stephen Wilkes, Melanie Stetson Freeman, David Seide, Ron Gould

5 Consumer Photography

Types of Consumer Photography Weddings Portraits The World of Event Photography Marketing Consumer Photography Profiles with: Andy Marcus, Jim Roshan, Joe Slayton

6 Service Photography

Real Estate Documentation Forensic Photography College and University Photography Medical and Scientific Photography Museums Government

Profiles with: Charlie Walsh & Drew Webb, Carl Leet

7 Fine Art Photography

Styles in Fine Art Photography W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Crossover: Can You Do Both? How to Be a Fine Artist What Media to Use Finding a Gallery Marketing Fine Art Photographers Profiles with: Joyce Tenneson, Karen Amiel

8 Stock Photography

Definition of Stock Digital Stock Careers in Stock Photography How Is Stock Photography Marketed? Rights-Managed versus Royalty-Free Portals The New Economics of Stock What Is Your Place in Stock? Getting an Agency to Represent You Plan for the Long Term Using a Portal to Market Stock Marketing Your Own Work Profiles with: John Kieffer, Jim Pickerell

9 Digital Photography

Speed of Change Digital versus Film The Clients View on Digital Getting A Handle on Workflow Small Business Digital The Art of Digital Photography Imaging Software Digital Photography Books Profiles with: Sanjay Kothari, Jessica Oyanagi

PART III PICTURE PROFESSIONALS: CAREERS WITHOUT A CAMERA

10 Buyers, Sellers, and Dealers

Overview of Photography Uses and Users The World of the Photo Buyer Who Buys Photographs? The World of the Photo Seller

Representative/Marketing Coordinator/Creative Management Stock Photo Agent Fine Art Galleries and Curators Profiles with: Angela Gottschalk, Jennifer LaFond, Chrissy McIntyre, Karen Amiel

11 Location and Support Services

Photographers Assistant Production The Crew Services off the Set Profiles with: Catherine DeMaria, Sam Willard, Victor Frey

12 Careers in Teaching and Writing about Photography

Being a Photography Educator Writing about Photography Profiles with: Chuck Delaney, David Walker

PART IV STARTING A CAREER

13 EducationTraditional and Online

Flexibility Educational Choices Evaluating Educational Programs Workshops as Continuing Education On-the-Job Training Education for Picture Professionals OrganizationsJoin As a Student Broaden Your Education

Profiles with: Jeff Wignall, Bryan Peterson

14 Finding Work in Photography

Assisting and Interning Starting in Freelance Going for a Staff Job

Running Your Own Business

Profiles with: Maria Lyle, Tracy Mack-Jackson

15 Building Your Business: Overhead, Pricing, and Negotiating

The Economics of Photography Overhead Negotiating Being in Business

16 Marketing

Begin with Design Whats in a Name? Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan Marketing Tools Marketing Consultants Portfolio Web Sites Web Site Design Profiles with: Maria Piscopo

17 Copyright: What Do We Own?

Copyright Overview Model Releases and Invasion of Privacy

APPENDIX A: Photography Schools/Degree-Granting Institutions

APPENDIX B: Workshops

APPENDIX C: Organizations

APPENDIX D: Promotion/Source Books

APPENDIX E: Photography Publications

APPENDIX F: Photography Museums

APPENDIX G: Manufacturers

INDEX

Preface

There is an allure, an appeal to photography that defies explanation. It helps us find intimacy with the world; it ties us to places and people in a way that seems almost magical. We are transported by the touch of light on golden fields, stark buildings, or cherished faces present and past.

Historically, in other cultures and other centuries, there was the belief that photography steals your soula concept that may not be so farfetched. At the very least, photography borrows it. When we study nineteenth-century photographs of a sod-hut frontier family or a twentieth-century Dorothea Lange portrait of an impoverished Depression-era worker, we feel the power of that soul coming to us across time.

Photography has an addictive affect once it takes hold of you and can influence and enrich a lifetime.

If you love photographs, and want to find a place in the world of photography, where on earth do you start? For those who are drawn to images, photography often becomes a passion. But when trying to choose a career it can become downright dizzying to face the variety and complexity of ways one can work with photographs.