Amanda Sosa Stone - The Photographers Survival Guide: How to Build and Grow a Successful Business

Copyright 2009 by Suzanne Sease and Amanda Sosa Stone

All rights reserved.

First published in the United States by Amphoto Books, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com

eISBN: 978-0-8174-3587-5

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2008935794

Senior Acquisitions Editor: Abigail Wilentz
Art Director: Jess Morphew
Editor: Patricia Fogarty
Designer: Debbie Glasserman
Production Director: Alyn Evans
Cover design by Amy Sly
Cover photographs (top row, from left to right): Doug Sonders, Jeffrey Lamont Brown, Amy Sly, Amy Sly, Deborah Hardee; (bottom row): August Bradley, Colby Lysne, Nick Onken, Colby Lysne, James Quantz
Title page photraphs by Nick Onken (left) and Colby Lysne (middle and right).

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We offer a very special dedication to Elyse Weissberg (April 9, 1956July 21, 2001). Elyse was one of the greatest consultants of our time. Her knowledge and words will always be remembered.

We highly recommend Elyses book, Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers: Expose Yourself Properly (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2004). Before you read anythingeven The Photographers Survival Guideyou must read Elyses book.

PHOTO: CHRIS CASLER
COVER PHOTO: DENISE CHASTAIN

Years ago, I had a conversation with a wealthy elderly woman in New Orleans who was drinking me under the table. She imparted to me a wise phrase in an attempt to put my weak financial status as a photographer into perspective: Only God is multitalented enough to not have to delegate. Being the humble young man that I was, I dismissed her comment and thought about seeking other drinking partners who would be a little less honest about the reality of my career status.

Somewhere in the annals of history, photographers became associated with coffeehouses, martinis, glamorous lives, and insufficient funds. We have our brethren in other creative genres to blame for that. No one ever talks about the well-to-do writer or artist making an impact; they talk about the insane, impoverished, absinthe-drinking genius drawing upon his or her destitution for the inspiration of great works. Even though photography is a creative genre of the same ilk as painting or writing, shooting pictures for a living is different.

Photography has more commercial viability than any other art form. We can pursue any of the various subgenres within the photography world and make a buck while also producing wonderfully obscure art-istic works to feed our tortured genius and to have a reason to talk beautiful men and women out of their clothes. So, given that I work in a profession with so much profit potential, I have always wondered why I spent my twenties excusing myself to restaurant bathrooms in order to secretly call my credit card issuers to see if I had enough on the card to pay for the pending bill.

We are blinded by our own ego. Photography is a profession of many hats. We must be, among other things, great visual storytellers, technology experts, travel mavens, and politiciansall this in an industry that requires us to manifest these skills on the fly. So why wouldnt we assume that were also brilliant marketers and businesspeople? The problem is that we do assume were brilliant marketers and businesspeople. Consequently, we blame the fact that were not reaching our fiscal potential on horoscopes, global warming, and alien visitations.

The Photographers Survival Guide is a lot like a sober version of my conversation with the elderly woman from New Orleansreally smart advice that we dont want to hear because we think we already know it all. What we know is photography. The authors of The Photographers Survival Guide, Suzanne Sease and Amanda Sosa Stone, know the business of photography. Ms. Sease and Ms. Sosa Stone have taken decades of experience, most of which is from the other side of the ad agency door, and put it into a language that we photographers can understand and easily implement into our careers.

If you are a photographer who has made superabundant amounts of money in your profession, then put this book down and buy me a Ferrari. But if you are looking to realize more profits from your passion and inherent talent as photographer, then The Photographers Survival Guide will inspire you to think differently about the way you approach the business side of your career.

A huge thank you! to all of our contributors, whose willingness to help educate others is forever appreciated. For providing their insights, based on their years in the business, and for allowing us to use material that has been published elsewhere, we thank Kat Dalager, Ellen Boughn, Rob Haggart, Nadine Stellavato Brown, Lou Lesko, Mary Virginia Swanson, and Tamera Haney. Our book is enriched by the unique voices of Nick Onken, Ray Behar, Carolee Coker, Jessica Hoffman, Angela Lewis Reid, Tiffany Correa, Jackie Contee, Doug Truppe, Rosie Anderson, and Gregg Lhotsky, who provided special words of wisdom. Special thanks to Keith Gentile at Agency Accesshis support is neverending.

We would like to thank our families, who have been there with us through the writing of this book and have supported us as we traveled around the country. Suzanne thanks her husband, Doug, and her two sons, Aaron and Spencer. She would also like to thank all of the wonderful clients and friends who helped with images, quotes, and information. Suzanne feels so fortunate to have all of these people in her life. Amanda thanks her husband, Jedidiah, for his love, support, and patience, and her parents, whose guidance has helped her on this path. To her grandparents, siblings, and in-lawsthanks for always being such a fantastic support system. She is grateful to all the clients who have helped her get to this point in her career. Lastly, a heartfelt thanks to Elyse Weissbergs familyHannah, Sonny, and Ted Sperowhose support has been a guiding light.

The world of commercial photography is changing dramatically. With so much going on todaythe dot-com market going bust, big changes in our economy, the issue of stock vs. assignmenthow is a photographer to keep up? With The Photographers Survival Guide we present a path to a solution. This book is for all levels of photographersfrom those who are just starting out to those who have been in the business for years and want to move to the next level.

This guide covers topics from everyday photography-business basics to those uncomfortable What do I do? momentsreal-life situations that can arise in the industry. The chapters include information on who to market to, how to present work, how to assess the expectations of a client, invoicing, when to expect to be paid when you finish a project, and everything in between, including discussion of and guidance on those What do I do? moments.