The Business of Photography

January 15, 2019

Fair Use And Other Foibles
Steps you can take to help protect your copyright when posting images online
By Samuel Lewis / Photography by Russell Brammer
Earlier this year, the court decision in the case of Brammer v. Violent Hues prompted a considerable amount of discussion and concern among photographers. This angst grew out of a lawyer’s article suggesting that the court ruled photographs are “factual depictions,” copying them is fair use, and the decision has the “potential to seriously erode... Read more
January 8, 2019

Special Delivery
How to market your photography with a world-class newsletter
By William Sawalich / Photography By Michael Clark
Bold full-bleed images with refined typography are used to open stories and create a visual experience that draws recipients to engage more deeply with the content than one might with a less-polished presentation. As content creators, professional photographers are inherently well positioned to create interesting marketing materials. After all, we’re... Read more
October 17, 2018

Stock is Dead. Long Live Stock.
Inti St. Clair makes authentic and beautiful lifestyle images for advertising clients and significant stock sales
By William Sawalich >> Photography By Inti St. Clair
Stock photography is dead. That’s what everybody told me, anyway, until I met Inti St. Clair. She’s a lifestyle photographer who got her start in stock more than a decade ago. Stock photography, she assures me, is alive and well, even if it isn’t always treated with the respect it deserves. “Stock photography over the years has gotten a bad... Read more
October 2, 2018

Is Your Agent Really Your Agent?
Legal and business implications of working with stock agencies
By Samuel Lewis
Periodically, I encounter photographers who are frustrated with the agents and stock photo agencies that license their work. Although the particulars may vary, there are some common themes: agencies that take too high of a percentage of the license rates as a fee for passively licensing photographers’ images, agencies giving publishers favorable pricing... Read more
September 24, 2018

The Business Of Creativity
Shooting stock photos and video can be as liberating as it is profitable
Daniel Brockett
Creating content for stock means anticipating the needs of a wide variety of users. Images and footages need to be generic enough to fit multiple uses, but specific enough to suit the needs of a given project. As a still photographer, videographer or cinematographer, making the same income or increasing your income can be challenging in our ever-evolving... Read more
September 17, 2018

Multi-Person Studio
A true team of innovative equals
By Meredith Winn > Photography By France Photographers
The members of France Photographers are good friends and a great team.
The members of France Photographers are good friends and a great team. Sara France spent years making a name for herself as a photographer in the wedding industry before she created France Photographers. Combining her love of travel and photography with her deep personal beliefs around empowering women in business, Sara designed a groundbreaking business... Read more
April 2, 2018

Enforcing Your Copyright Tomorrow And Beyond
Copyright law is changing, but will it be for the better or for the worse?
Samuel Lewis
Recently, while thinking about the future of copyright enforcement, I was reminded of one of Robin Williams’ comedic visions of the future. “In the future,” he quipped, “we’ll travel at the speed of light; they’ll have to lose our luggage beforehand.” The same sort of vision of the future seems to apply to copyright enforcement. While... Read more
November 20, 2017

See, And Be Seen
How to get your portfolio in front of editors
Brett Wilhelm
business of photography
With so many talented photographers in the market, creating and maintaining relationships with editors is critical to the success of your business. Here are simple tips for expanding your profile in the editorial market and getting your foot in the door with publications and brands. Update Your Business Profile Professional editors desire to work with... Read more
October 6, 2017

Video Viewpoint: Staying Current In Today’s Media Landscape
Remaining grounded, profitable and moving forward as the video and cinema world shifts beneath you
Dan Brockett
video business
The business facts, on their face, seem grim. In video and digital cinema, the tools are better, cheaper and more accessible to the masses than they have ever been. Software is quickly making many production tools and techniques obsolete. How people consume media is changing everything in our business. Award-winning films like Tangerine, shot on smartphones,... Read more
September 6, 2017

Social Media: Brand Recognition
We ask a major brand what it’s looking for in a social media photographer and in its online campaigns
DL Byron
social media photographer
Instagram influence is about nuance, and in this instance, the escape of riding off into the mountains with nothing but a bedroll and a long beard. Photo courtesy of R. Mankoff Brands are turning to Instagram to find influencers, and we asked Sean Estes, the global PR manager of Specialized, a bicycle manufacturer, about the process. Specialized was... Read more
August 28, 2017

Sony: Lessons On Business And Passion Learned In Japan
On a first-ever trip to Sony’s Japanese image sensor factory and headquarters, much was revealed about Sony’s photographic business
David Schloss
Sony photographic business
Digital Photo Pro was among a select group of U.S. media invited by Sony to make a trip to Japan to visit the company’s Kumamoto sensor factory and its Tokyo-based global headquarters. At the meetings at the locations, Sony revealed quite a bit about its recent sales successes, as well as some of the missteps it has made along the way and some business... Read more
August 11, 2017

Throw The Book At Them: A Selection Of Output Services For Photographers
Choices abound for the wedding and portrait photographer looking to give their clients stunning books and prints
DL Byron
output services for photographers
The key thing that most people don’t understand when they embark on a career in wedding photography is that the photography is only one part of the business. I’m not referring to the pounds of paperwork and the endless self-promotion that occupy the bulk of a wedding photographer’s day, but instead to the tangible final product. While a number... Read more
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