How to get your work published
Many photographers aspire to have their images published in magazines and books. There’s a lot of competition for this type of work but with a plan and dedication you can make it a reality.

As a teenager I wanted to be a photographer for motorcycle magazines. By the age of thirty I had fulfilled that dream, shooting and writing for publications around the globe. Here are some of the keys I found to getting published.
You’ll need to find a market for your work
What are your interests …

thirty seven s…
volume 1 2006
By Jim Talkington

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In 2006 I started a photo blog and decided to publish a photo a day. There was a definite purpose to this. No, it wasn’t so much to get my work seen by a bunch of people, it was so I would commit to creating new work. It was a way to force me to continually create. As a professional commercial photographer I continually photograph for clients. You might think the last thing I’d want to do …

Last week we looked at what charging a fair value means to photographers, particularly those just starting out.
So what happens when you start your business, you’ve calculated your cost of doing business, but people just aren’t willing to pay what you need to survive? Should you take these jobs anyway? Last week we looked at value as it relates to the photography industry. Remember, if you don’t charge enough to preserve the value of photography in general then the whole industry goes down and you go along with it. This …

“Can you talk about pricing vs. what the market will bear? For example in the “Pricing Photography” book you link to , they insist that you charge at least your daily overhead, well that’s fine, but will the client be willing to pay for that? This is especially relevant to a starting business like myself. More established photogs have higher buying power, so to speak.” - Mike C.

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This question cuts right to the chase: how can I charge enough to survive while growing a business? If I …

At the core of the photography business, whether it’s taking photographs or running the business end of things, my job is to be a problem-solver for the client. In order for me to solve their problems I need to ask questions. In this post I’ll mention three questions I find important to ask any new client. These inquiries naturally lead to other conversation. My job is to carefully listen and interpret what the client is really asking for.
As I’ve mentioned a few times, I then write down our conversation in …

Portrait and wedding photographers usually have a price list. Want to know how much something costs? It’s there on the price list. Public relations photographers may charge by the hour. For commercial photographers it can get a bit more complicated because most every job is different. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start and what questions to ask.

Last week I referred to Blinkbid software and how it greatly aids thinking through a job. Here’s a screen capture from the soon-to-be-released new version. How ’bout those numbers?

Most of our clients …

What’s involved in delivering professional photography? There are a core group of services we provide on most every job. I thought it might be interesting to show you what services we charge for on most every commercial photography job. This is the basic “skeleton” of charges. If stylists, props, rentals, etc., are needed then that all gets added and a 10-15% markup is tacked on for handling, facilitating and carrying costs. These are the basic core group of services that our photo studio provides.

I want to say that I used …

In high school I had a great class called “consumer decisions”. In that class we learned all sorts of practical things including defining purchasing decisions as either “wants, needs or desires”. Do you want, need or desire a new camera? When is it time to actually buy?
I’ve probably mentioned before that it’s much easier for me to make a purchase decision for my business than for myself. A business purchase must go through pretty defined justifications, including (primarily) return on investment (in other words, making money). By looking at the …

Today’s business talk is about the photo community, a constantly growing, shifting entity that has similarities to years ago and many differences. This has been on my mind recently as I’ve watched photo labs and camera stores disappear from the local landscape.
Twenty five years ago I worked in a downtown Cincinnati camera store, a great place for a young man with dreams of becoming a professional photographer. Career connections could be made (along with a modest living) and being surrounded by all the toys of the trade made it fun …

Today I’d like to share a letter from a reader. Questions like this are always welcome and they give genuine purpose to what I hope to accomplish with prophotolife.com. This young man is the future of the profession…
Hi, my name is Matthew,
I’m 17 years old, and a Junior in High School.
I’ve been taking Graphic Editing and Graphic Design classes for a few years, and photography has caught my interest. I love cameras, I think they’re incredible. I started saving up for a Canon Rebel XTi, and I should have …