How to Grow as a Photographer: Reinventing Your Career [Paperback]

Tony Luna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006

Are you bored producing the same old work, but do it because it’s safe? Are corporate politics, outsourcing, or the digital revolution too much for you to handle? Has a personal tragedy caused you to reevaluate your career path?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, look no further than this inspirational guide.

Topics include:
--Recognize when something is wrong
--Use work-history and personal timelines to meld your passions with your career choices
--Reeducate yourself when faced with creative challenges
--Embrace risk and evaluate your assets to make your next move
--Sell your unique vision through a “Passion First” marketing approach
--Manage your time and your business effectively
--Use time-management techniques to stay focused and increase your creative output

You will also be inspired by the stories of other creative entrepreneurs who have made their own successful transitions. Whether you are a mid-career professional or just starting out, this book will set you on the path to creative and professional growth.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tony Luna, president of Tony Luna Creative Services and cofounder of New Media Marketplace, has been executive producer for Wolfe and Company Films for the past thirty-three years, working on memorable advertising campaigns for Visa, Apple, Kawasaki, Honda Motorcycles, McDonald’s, and many other major clients. He lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581154461
• ISBN-13: 978-1581154467
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Changing Directions, November 5, 2006

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Grow as a Photographer: Reinventing Your Career (Paperback)

Not only should one not judge a book by its cover; one should also not judge a book by its title.

To me growth as a photographer means becoming a better picture taker. That can be accomplished by learning and applying technique and, as or more importantly, developing one's vision so that one can more easily see the photographic. (I know that's probably a tautology. But a clearer explanation will have to wait for a different book.)

That's not what growth as a photographer means to Tony Luna. To him, growth means striking out in new career directions. Perhaps Luna ought to call himself a career consultant instead of a creative consultant.

Luna's book is centered on what he calls "Transition Analysis", a five-step process that includes recognition, assessment, planning, implementation and validation. Luna's method is to recount his interviews with various professional photographers whom he suggests have changed their career directions. Most of the stories are interesting, but they impressed me not as stories of changes in direction but rather as stories of natural growth that didn't require much conscious application of the author's process. Alternatively, it may be that the process described is just a natural way of doing things. What would have convinced me of the value of transition analysis would have been the story of a photographer who was dedicated to a specific genre, like, say, landscape, who had reached a creative and financial dead end, and had then applied transition analysis to find a new career as, say, a wedding photographer. (Perhaps I'm not being fair. The author does recount the tale of a photographer who wanted to spend more time with his family so he gave up being a car photographer and became a wedding photographer. But that sounded like such a natural change that I don't feel it supported the author's process.)

Moreover the advice to "follow your passion" which is reemphasized throughout the book reminded me so much of Joseph Campbell (George Lucas' mentor) saying "follow your bliss" that I half expected Obi-Wan to whisper "Let the force be with you."

Other than aiming his book specifically at photographers, there's nothing here that other creative consultant's like Eric Maisel haven't been saying for years. Moreover, if you are a true artist and driven by your art, the kind described by David Bayles and Ted Orland in their brilliant "Art and Fear", neither a five-step method nor a twelve-step method may be of much help to you.

Still, if you're a professional photographer, and you feel like you've hit a wall, and have to change something, this book may help you to change direction. But if growth means greater vision, don't look here.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful Info for Photographers, May 12, 2007

By 

Thomas J. Wu "TJ Wu" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Grow as a Photographer: Reinventing Your Career (Paperback)

While reading some not so positive reviews from the post but went ahead to buy it anyway and am glad I did. This book is for photographers and their business. If you want to be inspired or having creative block, then other books may be relevant. There are some practical and difficult questions to the readers on growth and change which I myself is resisting or too lazy to adapt. Mr. Luna shares some honest and practical based stories and interviews from the pros to illuminate some of the myth about success. If I may be bold to say, do your best work and tell everyone about it and hopefully you get noticed. But read it and get inspired.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff, December 12, 2006

By 

Sue Smith "Sue" (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How to Grow as a Photographer: Reinventing Your Career (Paperback)

I have been a working photographer for 20 years. I only wish I could have read this book before I started. This book reveals the peaks and valleys that we all deal with and how to make the most of every situation. I highly recommend this book to any person who is making a living in the commercial arts.