Customer Reviews

Make Money with Your Camera

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book lacks any real depth. This publisher (Amherst Media) clearly believes in leaving plenty of white space on each page. Of course, they had to considering what little material the author (David Neil Arndt) included. Anyway, most of pages are only about half filled with text and b&w pictures, with the remainder of the page blank. As a result, the entire chapter on "pricing your work," which is only two and a half pages in the book (not enough in itself), would occupy only about a single page if that entire page is filled. In my opinion, a chapter should be longer than a single page of text.

Many job specialities, such as jewelry, fashion, theater, and so on, is covered in only a paragraph or two. Accounting is covered in eleven short paragraphs, with taxes getting seven and insurance eight. Even worse, nothing of real substance is covered in those paragraphs. For example, the paragraph on fashion photography says, "Fashion photos are a subset of advertising photography. They generally attempt to make the clothing look good. Some fashion pictures attempt to set a mood and let the advertising copy make the sale. Still others merely attempt to get attention and show the company logo."

With the exception of three photos with captions ("children can also model fashions"), that's the entire discussion about fashion photography in this book. Since entire books have been written on the subject of fashion photography, surely this author could have found something more to say about how to "make money with your camera" in this field.

In the end, the "recommended reading" chapter is longer than some other chapters in this book, with most of those books not at all related to the subject of this book. I recommend others skip this book and find something else to read.

Author David Arndt takes the still photographer through key areas in making a buck with a camera. ~But the budding picture-business person might have a tough time cashing in if he or she decides to use solely this book as a guide. There's really not much here.

From shooting architecture to advertising, portraits to performance, Arndt offers hasty hints of what to shoot...and not much more on how. He does jog the brain, though, in giving us a horizon of possibilities (some that we might never have thought of before) on shooting for dollars, but he never shares the details. Public relations, nature, medical, construction and even livestock (!) photo ideas are among the many...but in typical form, less than a hundred words on shooting heifers at the county fair isn't much to go on.

In locking down photography assignments, exactly whom to call, when to call, how to call, why to call are important questions that go unanswered. Maybe his including a sample phone pitch would have been good. Even a model sales letter might help send the reader off in the right direction. Too, what to put in a photo portfolio and what to do with it are not part of the mix. The advancing photo hobbyist, who perhaps has no "portfolio" at all, requires specialized start-up attention and might have at least been mentioned. The giant black-and-white photos spread throughout are great examples, but many might have been cut (or cut down in size) in favor of more helpful gettin'-into-the-biz details.

The book's list of photographic associations, their names and addresses, is valuable; and Arndt's "104 Ways to Fail" in the photo business is compact and practical, many being just common-sense notions, though [Don't: "Write bad checks"?!! "Don't lie to the IRS"?! "Don't steal"?] Instead of a vacant list, he might have offered specifics on some of these "Ways." A brief account on why it's bad to "Over-specialize for your location," for instance, and what to do about it would have been useful. The book's breakdown is in its consistent lack of details.

The author streaks through slim information about equipment, business plans, business cards, accounting, taxes and pricing
-all in a span of several pages. ~Matter of fact, most everything in the book seems equally summarized and vague. As you read, you're expecting more on the topic, but it's just not there. Arndt opens up more freelancer questions than he answers. All in all, it's a nice, quick "outline" on the subject, top to bottom, but this book's only a start. ~An ok read -but not necessarily one for the home or business reference shelf.