The Successful Professional Photographer

Learn how to confidently build a thriving and profitable career as a professional wedding or portrait photographer!

For nearly a decade, renowned wedding and portrait photographer Roberto Valenzuela has been sharing his vast knowledge and unique, systematic approach to making photographs as he has taught workshops around the world and written five critically acclaimed and bestselling books that cover composition, posing, lighting, and wedding photography (his Picture Perfect and Wedding Storyteller series of books). He has helped countless photographers improve their craft.

But the truth is that you can create the most amazing photos…yet still have a failing business. And what’s the point of being a great photographer if you can’t build a career, pay your bills, and feed your family? In order to create a thriving business, you need a different kind of knowledge and a new set of tools to succeed. In The Successful Professional Photographer, for the first time Roberto turns his focus on the business and marketing of your photography so that you can build and sustain a highly profitable business as a wedding and portrait photographer. Roberto shares all his hard-earned knowledge regarding finding clients, marketing and presenting your work, and getting paid what you deserve. Topics include:

• Best practices and strategies for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook

• Being found through SEO

• Promoting yourself and your work

• The role that testimonials and reviews play in your success

• Creating long-term client relationships

• Forming personal connections with clients with promo videos

• Why you should feature your work in publications

• Pricing your work and the gentle art of the up-sell

• Understanding and conveying the crucial importance of selling prints

While the photographs you create are the core of your work as a photographer—being exceptional at your craft is a must—that’s only half of the formula you need for building and sustaining success. The other half of the formula is here, in The Successful Professional Photographer. Implement the strategies and techniques outlined here, and you’ll have everything you need to succeed and build a long, prosperous, fulfilling career as a wedding or portrait photographer.

Foreword by Luke Edmonson

Learn how to confidently build a thriving and profitable career as a professional wedding or portrait photographer! For nearly a decade, renowned wedding and portrait photographer Roberto Valenzuela has been sharing his vast knowledge and unique, systematic approach to making photographs as he has taught workshops around the world and written five critically acclaimed and bestselling books that cover composition, posing, lighting, and wedding photography (his Picture Perfect and Wedding Storyteller series of books). He has helped countless photographers improve their craft. But the truth is that you can create the most amazing photos...yet still have a failing business. And what's the point of being a great photographer if you can't build a career, pay your bills, and feed your family? In order to create a thriving business, you need a different kind of knowledge and a new set of tools to succeed. In The Successful Professional Photographer, for the first time Roberto turns his focus on the business and marketing of your photography so that you can build and sustain a highly profitable business as a wedding and portrait photographer. Roberto shares all his hard-earned knowledge regarding finding clients, marketing and presenting your work, and getting paid what you deserve. Topics include: -Best practices and strategies for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook -Being found through SEO -Promoting yourself and your work -The role that testimonials and reviews play in your success -Creating long-term client relationships -Forming personal connections with clients with promo videos -Why you should feature your work in publications -Pricing your work and the gentle art of the up-sell -Understanding and conveying the crucial importance of selling prints While the photographs you create are the core of your work as a photographer--being exceptional at your craft is a must--that's only half of the formula you need for building and sustaining success. The other half of the formula is here, in The Successful Professional Photographer. Implement the strategies and techniques outlined here, and you'll have everything you need to succeed and build a long, prosperous, fulfilling career as a wedding or portrait photographer. Foreword by Luke Edmonson TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: How to Stand Out Chapter 1: Unleashing Instagram's Business Potential Chapter 2: SEO for Portrait and Wedding Photographers Chapter 3: Client Testimonials Chapter 4: YouTube and Facebook Live Broadcasts Chapter 5: The Effective Business Promo Video Chapter 6: Featuring Your Work in Magazines and on Blogs Part II: How to Get Hired Chapter 7: The Impact of First Impressions Chapter 8: Understanding a Prospective Client's State of Mind Chapter 9: Delivering a Skillful First Prospective Client Meeting Part III: How to Make Money Chapter 10: The Perceived-Value Tier System Chapter 11: Client-Centric Pricing Strategy Chapter 12: Anchored Collections Sales Method Chapter 13: A La Carte Sales Method Chapter 14: Final Design and Presentation Conclusion

Give your photography business an edge with these professional insights There are already more than 150,000 professional photographers in the U.S., according to Department of Labor statistics, and thousands of serious amateurs are continually seeking to become established. Whether yours is a new or long-standing photography business, you have plenty of competition. Lara White has collected the best advice from her popular photography business website, Photomint.com, into this guide for your reference. She covers establishing your brand, defining policies, setting prices, creating a marketing plan, networking, and a great deal more. Photography is a rapidly growing industry, placing both established and beginning photographers in tough competition for business Author Lara White runs a popular website teaching successful business strategies to photographers; this book collects and organizes valuable information to help newcomers get started and existing businesses grow Covers business fundamentals including establishing a brand, defining studio policies, setting pricing, creating a marketing plan, understanding your audience, networking, and effective social media marketing Provides proven tips for building a successful photography business Photography Business Secrets is packed with advice that can help your photography business succeed and thrive, even in today's economy.

After more than thirty years in photography, an industry veteran speaks out in How to Succeed in Commercial Photography. These essays provide photographers at every level with all the tools they need for a great career. Author Selina Maitreya offers proven tips for focusing on client needs; building a team from today’s marketing assistants, reps, and consultants; developing an online portfolio; self-promoting; and much more. Through up-close interviews, professional commercial photographers reveal the missteps they made in their work--and how others can avoid making the same mistakes. A special section explores how photographers can set goals, survive tough times, overcome creative blocks, and more. Anyone seeking a successful and well-balanced life as a commercial photographer needs a copy of this illuminating guide. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Within the Frame is a book about finding and expressing your photographic vision, specifically where people, places, and cultures are concerned. A personal book full of real-world wisdom and incredible images, author David duChemin (of pixelatedimage.com) shows you both the how and the why of finding, chasing, and expressing your vision with a camera to your eye. Vision leads to passion, and passion is a cornerstone of great photography. With it, photographs draw the eye in and create an emotional experience. Without it, a photograph is often not worth—and can’t capture—a viewer’s attention. Both instructional and inspirational, Within the Frame helps you on your photographic journey to make better images of the places and people you love, whether they are around the world or in your own backyard. duChemin covers how to tell stories, and the technology and tools we have at our disposal in order to tell those narratives. Most importantly, he stresses the crucial theme of vision when it comes to photographing people, places, and cultures—and he helps you cultivate and find your own vision, and then fit it within the frame.

There’s much more to being a professional photographer than simply taking great pictures. Today’s self-employed photographers must have marketing savvy to spare. This guide from a widely known and respected industry insider provides that—and much more. In Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers, freelance photographers learn what they must do to improve their skills after the pictures have been developed. Featuring sections such as “Focus Your Image,” “Sharpen Your Client Focus,” “Identify Your Market,” and the ever-important “Spot Trends,” here are dozens of surefire strategies for selling services, staying on top of the latest market trends, and winning enough high-paying work to survive and thrive in this very competitive business. For any photographer looking to make it big behind the lens, this indispensable reference shows how to get the right exposure every time.

Foreword by Skip Cohen Translating the chaos of the real world into a breathtakingly simple, beautiful photograph can often seem like an impossible task. With busy, cluttered backgrounds and subjects who don’t know how to pose, how can you take control and get a great shot no matter the situation? In Picture Perfect Practice, photographer Roberto Valenzuela breaks down the craft of photography into three key elements–locations, poses, and execution–that you can use to unlock the photographic opportunities lying beneath every challenging situation. Valenzuela stresses the need for photographers to actively practice their craft every day–just like you would practice a musical instrument–in order to master the art of making great images. With chapters that offer practice exercises to strengthen your photographic abilities, you’ll learn how to approach a scene, break it down, and see your way to a great photograph. The Location section features chapters that cover symmetry, balance, framing, color elements, textures, and much more. The Posing section includes the Five Key Posing Techniques that Valenzuela uses every time he’s shooting people, as well as a complete list of poses and how to achieve, customize, and perfect them. The Execution portion, with sections like “Lighting through Direction” and “Simplicity through Subtraction,” reveals Valenzuela’s overall approach to getting the shot. The book also includes an inspiring and helpful chapter on deliberate practice techniques, where Valenzuela describes his system for practicing and analyzing his work, which leads to constant improvement as a photographer. If you’ve been frustrated and overwhelmed by the challenges of real-world locations, posing your subjects, or executing a great image–or if you simply want to become a better shooter but don’t know where to start– Picture Perfect Practice gives you the tools and information you need to finally become the kind of photographer you’ve always wanted to be: the kind who can confidently walk into any location, under any lighting condition, with any subject, and know that you can create astonishing photographs that have a timeless impact.

Grounded in real-life experiences and scenarios, this practical guide offers editorial, non-profit, foundation, and corporate photographers an honest and insightful approach to running a freelance photography business. Pulling from thirty years of experience as a freelance photographer, veteran Todd Bigelow presents a timely and detailed account of the methods and tactics best used to navigate and succeed in the profession. He explores the topics that define the business of freelancing, including: analyzing photography contracts; creating and maintaining an image archive; licensing for revenue; client development; registering for copyright; combating copyright infringement; and understanding tax issues, freelance business structures, and more. Chapters feature examples of real contract clauses and emails to better prepare readers for the practical daily activities that are essential to growing a success business. Likewise, Bigelow shares conversational anecdotes throughout to provide real insight into the world of freelancing. Based on the author’s sought-after Business of Photography Workshop, this book is an essential guide for emerging, mid-career, and experienced photographers interested in starting or improving their own freelance business.