Photographers at Work

TODAY, BEING A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER is about much more than the ability to make a technically perfect image, and photographers need to use many other skills that go beyond the production of a photograph. What are the relationships between photographer and clients really like? How should you prepare for a special effects shoot? What steps should you take to protect your equipment while shooting on location? In Photographers at Work, photographer and best-selling author Martin Evening examines these issues and much more, offering advice to help you succeed in an ever—changing—and challenging—field. Answers to these questions will give you the practical information and guidance you need to make it as a photographer in the creative fields of editorial, design, or advertising.

This book takes an in-depth look at the industry, covering key topics that every working photographer needs to know—from working with models, to the legal and safety issues of working on location, to owning and running a studio, securing clients and work, and handling the complex finances of a business. While sharing his personal experience, Evening also introduces you to 18 working photographers and industry pros through interviews in which they share their perspectives on this rapidly changing industry and offer advice to help you succeed as well. The book includes links to video interviews by many of the featured photographers that complement the interviews in the book, offering more image examples, anecdotes, and insights into the lives of working photographers.

• Focuses on all the skills a photographer needs to succeed—from handling the hidden costs of running a studio to finding and working with models to insuring a business.
• Offers essential tips on how to get started as a photographer, such as where to find clients and how to keep them.
• Includes detailed interviews with working photographers, richly illustrated with examples of their work.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Choosing a career as a photographer
Learning from mistakes.
Shoot what you know (Know your subject matter and developing a style)
How good are you, really?
10,000 hours experience (how experience builds the more you shoot)
Matt Wreford profile (perspective of a relative newcomer)

Business skills
The essential business skills every photographer needs to know
Where photography and business meet
Developing good production skills.
What’s the day rate?
The true cost of running a business
The client’s perspective
Paying attention to the details
Cashflow crises and how to avoid them
Dodgy deals
Employment and insurance
It’s your copyright
Mike Laye profile (discussing career as an arts photographer and copyright)

Working with clients
How to find them, how to work with them, how to keep them
Who do you want to work for?
Communications agencies: advertising and design
PR companies
Editorial
Direct clients
Book publishing
Record companies
Picture libraries
Getting noticed
Building contacts
Networking
Awards and building on success
Self-analysis and editing your portfolio

Getting Technical
From F stops to Photoshop
Camera systems
Medium format systems
Digital SLRs
Shooting video
Should you rent or buy?
Digital training
Computer software
Image editing
Image management
Business software
Reliance on technology (and when to upgrade).
Jeff Schewe profile (discussing digital technology)

Photographing People
Working with models, celebrities and people on the street
Street photography
Working with models
Finding models
Booking models
Planning a model shoot schedule
Shooting tips
Working with child models
The celebrity interview
Privacy issues
Julian Calder profile (portraits)
Eric Richmond profile (portraits, performing arts and dance photography)
Stuart Weston profile (studio fashion)

Photographing on Location
Travels with your camera
Planning ahead (Google Earth and other Internet resources + apps)
Keeping it simple
Equipping for location (camera equipment and more)
Officialdom and legal issues
Location services.
Marc Schlossman profile (reportage photography)
Thomas Fahey profile (fashion location photography)
Keeping safe
Teamwork
Preparing for the unpredictable
Peter Andreas profile (architectural photography)
Peter Hince profile (advertising and underwater photography)

In the Studio
Equipment, costs and alternatives
Owning and running a studio
Equipping a studio
The hidden costs
Craig Robertson profile (food photography)
Bob Marchant profile (special effects liquids photography)
The hire studio alternative
A portable studio
Beyond the studio (retouching and special effects)
Carl Lyttle Profile (combining photography and 3D)

Fine art
Exploring the art market
How do you become an artist?
Printing your work
Outlets for selling art
Charlie Waite profile (landscape photography)
Karena Perronet-Miller profile (India reportage photography)