Business Trends

Many photographers wonder about the state of stock photography now and in the future. There are many questions and a good deal of controversy about the answers. Some of the big questions include: how are traditional stock and microstock competing? Is there still money to be made in stock image licensing? How tough is it to sign up with a stock photo agency? Nature and travel images were once the...

There is a long tradition of photographers giving workshops, either self-sponsored or within an established workshop organization structure. Workshops cover a wide range of topics, from fashion/beauty to nature/travel, and take place all around the world. Workshops can serve as both a marketing tool and an additional source of revenue, and while there are some who are constantly on the workshop...

Every workshop I give, someone asks, “How important is a website for marketing my work?” Marketing with a website is still a relatively new technology compared with print marketing, and most pros agree it mainly serves as an addition to the marketing mix and does not replace other tools. If there’s one thing I learned when researching this story, though, it’s that we are...

Like many aspects of commercial photography these days, the music industry has seen many changes that affect how a photographer finds clients and promotes their talents. One of the biggest changes, according to photographers we talked with for this story, is that there is no one single “contact” person anymore and that to broaden your scope you have to deal with numerous individuals...

Getting work as a travel photographer has never been easy. Today, factors of the economy and technology have added obstacles that require even more knowledge and planning. The travel photographers we interviewed work with clients ranging from editorial to corporate and advertising. Each have their own story, but they all share certain thoughts about the business.

First, you cannot...

“The availability of professional-quality digital still cameras tempts many photographers to consider adding video to increase clients and business income.”

More consumer and commercial clients today want to add video to their still photographers’ assignments to get “one-stop shopping” service. The availability of professional-quality digital still cameras...

Nick Vedros (www.vedros.com) graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Photojournalism in 1976 and then quickly found his true passion in the world of commercial photography. From his Kansas City-based photo studio, Vedros has won top honors from the ADDY Awards, Effie Awards, Archive International, Communication Arts, the Top...