Best Business Practices for Photographers (Paperback)

~ John Harrington (Author)
Key Phrases: permissions coordinator, assignment images, location management, Case Study, Pricing Your Work, John Harrington Sent (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A truly successful photographic career means not only financial success, but also personal satisfaction and fulfillment. The goal of Best Business Practices for Photographers is to help you achieve success in each of these areas. This book is not a guide to taking better pictures or selling your photography. Instead, it explains how photographers can meet important business objectives. It covers the focal points of best practices - best practices in interacting with clients, best practices in negotiating contracts and licenses, and best practices in business operations. It provides a roadmap for successfully navigating these - and many other - issues facing photographers today.

About the Author

John Harrington has built a photography business that has been successful, with income having risen ten-fold since he started. He is a teacher that can communicate to an audience. He has spoken in the past at courses and meetings of The NPPA's Northern Short Course, The White House News Photographers Association, Smithsonian Institution, Corcoran School of Art and Design, American Society of Media Photographers Capital Region, University of Maryland, Northern Virginia Community College, Trinity College, and the Northern Virginia Photographic Society. He has worked for over 16 years as an active photographer in Washington DC and around the world, working with both editorial and commercial clients. Editorially, his credits have included the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, The National Geographic Society, USA Today, People, MTV, and Life. For corporate and public relations clients, John has successfully placed images with the wire services (Associated Press, Reuters, Gannett, Agence France Presse, and UPI) over three hundred times. Commercially, John has worked with well over half of the top fortune 50 companies, and even more of the top 500. Ad campaigns for Seimens, Coca Cola, General Motors, Bank of America, and Freddie Mac, to name a few, have been seen worldwide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (October 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598633155
• ISBN-13: 978-1598633153
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #136,286 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Business, November 15, 2006

By	Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Here's a well written photography book that most photographers will not want to read. That's because it's aimed at professional photographers who already have at least a little business experience under their belt. Moreover, it's aimed at assignment photographers, rather than studio or fine arts photographers, although some of the people who shoot in these genres may benefit from discussions of things like rights, pricing and insurance. It's all business, with no photographic technique or vision (although Harrington certainly does describe business techniques and vision). Finally, even though it's an excellent book, it does not deal with every aspect of the business of photography.

The author begins by reminding the professional photographer that he is in business. There is a brief discussion of equipment in which the author urges the readers to get the best equipment he or she can afford, and a warning that the professional had better consider the logistics of every job.

In another part Harrington discusses working with assistants, employees and contractors as well as pricing, including consideration of factors like retirement accounts and insurance. He discusses hiring accountants and lawyers. To me, the meat of the book is in the discussion of contracts. Besides furnishing the reader with samples of his own documents, he explains essential provisions. There are also chapters on infringement and enforcing contractual rights. There's a brief tour through archiving images, although the essence of Harrington's message is, read Peter Krogh's "The DAM Book", a point with which I heartily agree. The author also touches on the market for stock photographs.

He finishes the book with chapters on care and feeding of clients (literally), training yourself and others, and a discussion of your obligations to your family and community.

A theme that keeps coming through is the importance of protecting your work by making sure you keep your ownership interest in your images and that you charge enough for their use. I agree with Harrington, but he certainly is a little strident on the subject.

I do have bones to pick. He covers the IRS's 20 factors that determine if a person is an employee or a contractor, which is important if you don't want to be responsible for paying that person's Social Security and income taxes. He suggests ways of avoiding the characterization of a person working for you as an employee. However, if you follow his suggestions and comply with federal regulations, you may find yourself paying someone who can't be made useful to you, or alternatively paying those taxes at a later date. Read this section with care so that you understand the regulations, but then discuss it with your lawyer.

There is also a discussion of negotiating indemnity agreements in contracts. I suspect many readers don't even know the consequences of an indemnity agreement, which will make it difficult to negotiate these provisions. Hopefully this will be explained in the next edition.

Finally, Harrington is sometimes hardnosed in his advice for dealing with clients. If you follow his advice, you better make sure your diplomacy skills are also in place.

Photographers who are just getting started in business would probably benefit from reading books like "Starting Your Career As a Freelance Photographer" by Tad Crawford or "American Society of Media Photographers Professional Business Practices in Photography". However, once you are on the road as a professional, this is certainly a must-read book

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a fine book, but..., January 5, 2007

By	B. Jackman (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...don't be confused. This book IS NOT for people who want to start a photography business. This book is for people who already run a photography business.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opener, November 16, 2006

By	S. Austin "little big man" (Yellowstone) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While the book is meant for full-time working photographers, this book taught me a great deal about what it would be like if I relied on photography for all of my income. I license stock images occasionally and this book opened my eyes to issues I don't deal with due to my limited vocation experience. I think the title should be "Case Studies: Best Business Practices for Photographers" as the author uses actual examples from his business in many lessons, and it gives the reader a blow-by-blow account of what he does from start to finish on many photographic jobs. After reading this I have learned much, and more importantly, become more aware of what I'm ignorant about in this industry.