Customer Reviews

Photos that Sell: The Art of Successful Freelance Photography

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As other reviewers before this one have already stated, this is the bible for free lance photography. It tells you what to shoot and how to market your work. It also becomes apparent as one reads this book that there is a lot of extra work, and a lot of expense, involved in this business. It's maybe 25% taking pictures with the other 75% taken up with preparation, sales and marketing, bookkeeping, etc.It involves taking thousands of pictures and keeping them on file with a picture library. There are pointers from professionals on what sells and how they work. Several, believe it or not, manage to do it while holding down a full time job elsewhere.As for expense, many shots you will have to taken with a medium format system if you hope to find a market; lots and lots of film; computer programs; labels, etc.If you're planning a career in this business, read this book first. Lee Frost will tell you exactly what you are up against.

Lee Frost is an extremely able photographer who also happens to be quite a practical businessman. In Photos That Sell, he shares a good deal of what he has learned about taking and marketing photos successfully. He begins by walking you through the main markets that are likely to be open to your work and then moves on to what types of shots you can best hope to sell. Helping to iilustrate all of this is a collection of hundreds of Mr. Frost's photos. The variety and quality of these photographs is worth the price of the book all by themselves. It's fairly impressive how deftly he shifts between portraiture, landscape, and still life photography.

If this book has a shortcoming, it is that it could stand revising to bring it current. In the digital age, things have a way of changing quickly and this book is now 5 years old. While the book does cover digital technology, it was written in a time when digital cameras were far less capable than they currently are and many markets have opened up to them as they have improved.

Overall, I would certainly recommend the book. If the author brings out a new edition to cover the ever-increasing role of digital photography then purchasing it will be a must for budding freelancers.

I've read a lot of books on the stock photography industry and this book is by far the best. When I first got it a year ago I paid too much attention to the extraordinary photography and not enough to Lee's text. Recently, I went back and very carefully, slowly (one or two pages a day) studied Lee's advice. I've sold images myself to clients around the world and can tell you this book is what you need if you're interested in selling images. It's accurate, complete, and packed with tips that few others would be willing to share. I have and will continue to look back to this book for ideas in producing my own work. The author provides great advice across the range of stock subject matter as well as the various markets.

The are two things that really make this book shine though. The first is the numerous photographs accompanied by sales info: number of sales, where it sold, and the total sales to date in U.S. dollars. Not all the images in the book have this information (most have the standard equipment and exposure stats), but some do. Next, there are several two-page interviews with other stock photographers. They share their backgrounds, markets, and tips.

Buy this book. It's worth it!

If your too cheap to buy the book or what to take a closer look, a big portion of its contents are thrown all over http://www.ephotozine.com/freelance (I noticed this after buying the book). However, I'd still consider buying the book. I personally would rather read a book than read text on a monitor.

I have bought many photography books over the years and alot of them have been associated with marketing and finding new avenues to sell my work. This book is probably one of the best, if not THE best, I have found. This book is full of inspiring photography, sensible approaches and useful information. I would recommend this book as one of your first on your quest for better photography.

I noticed in reading the reviews that the only person that seems to have a negative view of this book was talking about the lack of modern digital information. Digital changes by the day so I don't expect anyone to keep up with it in a book, but that is not the point here anyway. Stock photography is pictures that photographers have taken and sell to buyers. Buyers generally care less whether it is digital or film. What I liked about this book was some of the simple things he talks about that you can shoot for stock that you might pass over, thinking you need to get 3 people together doing something. For example, he had a shot of a hand with a credit card (I think) which can be used for illustrating people using too much credit or the ease of use of a credit card. You could shoot a sizzors cutting up a credit card showing how to kick the habit. Pills on a table could be used for taking too many pills or the cost of medicine now days. If you can get one idea from this book that makes you a sale, than the book has paid for itself. I was impressed. Ric.

This book is outdated for todays Market of digital photography and the vast use of computers for post production. It talks alot about "film" submission. Stock photography is big business and almost ALL submissions are done digitally. I was looking more for information on Stock photo business and this didnt seem to offer "enough" or updated with todays requirements.

I do think this book has some useful information still. It did give me some directions I never would have thought of...but as I said, this is outdated.

When I get discouraged and feel I don't have what it takes as a photographer, I turn to this book. The information is simple and shows you that any quality shot can find the right buyer. I have reread this book over and over and its the most valuable tool in my arsenal of books.

This book is hopelessly outdated -- there are some good pointers on what kinds of pictures to take buried in the text, but in this day and age, a book that tells you to avoid digital at all costs because nobody accepts digital images yet is in serious need of an update.

Very well written and contains valuble information for the budding freelance photographer. There's really no reason to second guess buying this book if you're looking for ways to market your work more effectively, well worth the price!