Harold Davis Explores New Frontiers of Photographic Art

According to renowned artist-author-printmaker Harold Davis, Photoshop, DSLRs, and pigment-ink printers have empowered artists to produce photographic works that go far beyond what they could print in traditional darkrooms. Now that digital capture equipment, processing software, and printing technology have matured, he believes digital photography has emerged as an entirely new art medium.

With his background as a classically trained painter, accomplished professional film photographer, and meticulous printmaker, Harold Davis is proud to be at of the forefront of this new art medium. Through his experiments, craftsmanship, and unique insights, Harold Davis is expanding the definition of photography to include realms that go beyond documenting the decisive moment.

“Gates after Rodin” is part of the Multiple Exposures collection by Harold Davis. The series shows an unusual photographic technique in which Harold Davis captures in-camera multiple exposures that are precision timed in the studio using strobes and motions choreographed with a model or models. The artisanal pigment prints are output on Moab Slickrock Metallic Pearl on an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printer with Epson Ultrachrome HDR inks. Photo: ©Harold Davis
“Gates after Rodin” is part of the Multiple Exposures collection by Harold Davis. The series shows an unusual photographic technique in which Harold Davis captures in-camera multiple exposures that are precision timed in the studio using strobes and motions choreographed with a model or models. The artisanal pigment prints are output on Moab Slickrock Metallic Pearl on an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printer with Epson Ultrachrome HDR inks. Photo: ©Harold Davis

Harold Davis describes his current work as “Digital paintings that use photographs as the medium.” With the power of Photoshop and advanced digital printers and inkjet media, he believes that photographers who have the vision to tie it all together can craft images and styles that are uniquely their own.

Castelo Marvao by Harold Davis
This artisanal pigment print of Castelo Marvao in Portugal was printed on Moab Exhibition Luster 300. Photo: ©Harold Davis

To put his concepts in perspective, let’s review how digital photography workflows have evolved and why traditionalists in the art world must overcome some misperceptions about how Photoshop is being used.

Photoshop Preceded Professional Digital Cameras

First, it’s important to remember that Photoshop and digital photography didn’t always go together.

According to the timeline Adobe created for Photoshop’s 25th anniversary, the first version of Photoshop debuted in February, 1990 – about 15 months before Kodak launched the first DSLR camera.

In an interview on Adobe’s website, one of Photoshop’s creators Thomas Knoll explained that the first few versions of Photoshop were primarily for graphic arts and publishing. Photography workflows weren’t practical with Photoshop until inkjet printers enabled photographers to scan their film, manipulate the file in Photoshop, and then print each image without the cost of making film separations for each photo.

In the mid 1990s and early 2000s, DSLR cameras became more powerful and less expensive. The popularity of Photoshop surged, because digital photography made it faster and easier to bring digital files into Photoshop.

To inspire the huge new wave of photography enthusiasts to “shoot like the pros,” the digital camera and printer manufacturers encouraged professional photographers to adopt digital photography and the “digital darkroom” in which Photoshop was used in conjunction with pigment inkjet printers. This required the technology developers to make products that could generate digital prints that were as good as (or better) than the prints that buyers expected from professional film photographers.

This took a while, because many established pro photographers were reluctant to change. Many photography pros might still be shooting film if their editorial and advertising clients hadn’t demanded the workflow and cost benefits that digital capture provided.

Unfortunately, eager newcomers to professional photography never learned how to shoot film. Many regarded Photoshop as a fast way to “fix” photographs that weren’t properly composed or lit on location. Plus, graphic designers routinely “doctored” images of models and celebrities that would be featured on magazine covers. Because some of these photographs looked “unnatural” and “off,” photographs that were “manipulated” in Photoshop were initially shunned by photography contest organizers and art collectors.

Those attitudes are changing because most professional photographers today have become much more skilled in the nuanced use of Photoshop. Digitally manipulated images have become the norm – in print and online. Most people really can’t tell if an image has been “Photoshopped.”

So now, photographic artists feel free to experiment and explore everything that’s possible with Photoshop. In addition to replicating film photography, Photoshop can be used to execute the artist’s inner visions.

Photographic artists such as Harold Davis don’t necessarily care if their work looks like a traditional “photograph” or not. They make images and visual stories that until now could only exist in their mind’s eye. Today, if an artist can dream it, they can depict it in photographic art.

Experience in Multiple Disciplines Pays Off

Harold Davis thoroughly understands the vast differences between film and digital photography because he has such an eclectic background. In the 1980s he supported himself as a commercial film photographer after studying painting in college. In the 1990s, he took a break from art and photography and wrote books about software and computer programming. He missed all the technology iterations that professional photographers struggled with as the digital imaging tools matured.

By the time Harold Davis’s publisher asked him to write a book on digital photography, most of the quality and permanence hurdles had been resolved. Digital capture, processing, and printing technology had become incredibly powerful, versatile, and accessible.

When Harold Davis picked up a DSLR for the first time in 2004, he quickly discovered that with Photoshop and new advances in printing media, he could combine his love of painting with his love of photography. He quickly recognized that his Photography 2.0 digital photography career would be vastly different from his Photography 1.0 film photography career.

One collector of Harold Davis’ work appreciates his unusual and effective use of technology in support of the classical tenets of photographic art and is excited about its possibilities: “I would compare his work to Ansel Adams’ and Edward Weston’s work during the crucial 1930s and 1940s time frame.”

Inspiring Others to Make New Forms of Photographs

To inspire other creative souls to push the boundaries of what’s possible with digital photography, Harold Davis leads workshops, posts webinars, and write books on topics such as Monochromatic HDR Photography, Creative Black & White, Creative Landscapes, Photographing Flowers, and Creative Lighting.

The Way of the Digital Photographer cover

His newest books encourage photographers to develop their own visions of what a photograph might be. In his award-winning photography book, The Way of the Digital Photographer, Davis emphasizes that previsualizing an image today not only includes how a shot will be composed and lit but also how it will be processed in Photoshop and printed. Creative choices can be made during every phase of the process.

His next book (which Focal Press has scheduled for publication in August, 2015) is entitled Achieving Your Potential as a Photographer. The book presents an organized and cohesive plan for kickstarting your creativity and taking the resulting work into the real world. The concepts are accompanied by a workbook of exercises that can help you refine your thinking and skills.

Making Artisanal Prints and Limited Edition Portfolios

In a recent post on his blog, Harold Davis answered questions about “Making the Artisanal Inkjet Print.” Unlike the inkjet prints you buy from places such as Costco or giclee printmaking studios, artisanal inkjet prints are crafted one by one in the studios of solo artists. They take their time and fret over every detail. Taking into account file preparation, printing, and post-print issues, Harold Davis says he might spend five to ten hours making one print. Sometimes, he prints the same image 20 times until he gets the desired result.

“Just as much craft, skill, and artistry go into making a good artisanal pigment print as ever went into a print made in the chemical darkroom,” says Davis. His printer of choice is the Epson Style Pro 9900 with its Ultrachrome HDR pigment inks.

This artisanal pigment print “Star Magnolia” is featured in the Botanique limited edition portfolio of floral images. Botanique shows the type of art that can be created with the new digital workflow and backlighting technique Harold Davis invented to create luminous translucent imagery. The image looks fantastic on Moab Moenkopi Unryu Washi paper. Photo: ©Harold Davis
This artisanal pigment print “Star Magnolia” is featured in the Botanique limited edition portfolio of floral images. Botanique shows the type of art that can be created with the new digital workflow and backlighting technique Harold Davis invented to create luminous translucent imagery. The image looks fantastic on Moab Moenkopi Unryu Washi paper. Photo: ©Harold Davis

He considers paper selection an important element of the printmaking process and has experimented with a number of different papers. Because he is a huge fan of the range of Moab photo and fine art papers and an expert printmaker, Harold Davis was named a Moab Master in 2012.

Harold Davis numbers and signs each print he makes, but doesn’t sell limited editions of single prints. The concept of “limited editions” arose from printing processes in which it made sense to destroy the plates after relatively small number of copies were printed. But most photographers are unwilling to destroy any of their best files that could be used to make additional prints. So if a “limited edition” of one size print sells out, they might simply change the size of a print and call it a new edition.

“What I affirmatively do is keep track of my prints,” explains Davis. “That way, I can look up how many copies have been printed of any one image. Knowledgeable gallerists and collectors I have discussed this with tell me that this provides them with all they really need – a good sense of how many copies of a given print have been made.”

Harold Davis does make limited editions of the portfolios he prints. The first portfolio he made (in collaboration with his wife, graphic designer Phyllis Davis) was called Botanique. Each collection contains 21 original floral prints that emerge delicately from the hand-assembled presentation box. The images are printed on a variety of substrates, including Moab’s Moenkopi Unryu Washi, Moenkopi Kozo Washi, Moab Slickrock Metallic Pearl, Moab Lasal Exhibition Luster, and translucent archival vellum.

Because so much work is involved in hand-crafting each portfolio, Botanique is limited to an edition of 25 copies. Each book is hand-signed and numbered, and accompanied by a 9 x 12 –inch print of Harold Davis’ popular “Red Poppies” image.

Harold Davis has also released a portfolio entitled “Monochromatic Visions” and is currently working on “Kumano Kodo.”

Images from the Monochromatic Visions series by Harold Davis. Photo: ©Harold Davis
Images from the Monochromatic Visions series by Harold Davis. Photo: ©Harold Davis

Monochromatic Visions consists of twelve high-dynamic range black and white prints, created in an edition of 12 portfolios (plus three artist proofs). The idea of the portfolio is to show the capabilities of new high-tonal range black and white printmaking in the context of an apparently classical portfolio presentation.

The center spread of the limited-edition Kumano Kodo portfolio crafted by Harold Davis and Phyllis Davis. Photo: ©Harold Davis
The center spread of the limited-edition Kumano Kodo portfolio crafted by Harold Davis and Phyllis Davis. Photo: ©Harold Davis

A Modern Pilgrimage: The Kumano Kodo portfolio is based on photography of Harold Davis made during his journey through rural Japan in 2013. This portfolio is unique, hand-assembled and strictly limited to 12 copies plus 4 artist proofs. Each copy is hand-signed and numbered, and embellished with the artist’s hand-applied personal Japanese inkan.

The primary portion of the portfolio is printed on one continuous 16 ½ foot long piece of archival Japanese kozo washi produced at Awagami on Shikoku Island, Japan. (This paper is distributed in the United States as Moab Moenkopi Kozo.) This printing technique combines traditional paper with technological innovation and ideas into a handmade artist book creation.

The portfolio is wrapped in a cover showing a view of Kumano Sanzen Roppyaku Po, meaning “the view of 3,600 peaks,” from a high pass on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail. The cover is printed on a single piece of archival, mould-made cotton paper.

Webinars and Workshops

To learn from Harold Davis, you can watch some of the webinars he has posted, order one of his books, or apply for an upcoming workshop in several locations in California, at the Heidelberg Summer School of Photography in Germany, or the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. In October, he will lead a 15-day photographic adventure to the Sea-Girt Villages in Italy.

Achieving Your Potential cover

Harold Davis is excited to be pioneering new forms of photographic art. He believes the type of prints and portfolios he is currently creating could never have been produced before because the technology simply didn’t exist: “I am able to create in a domain where many techniques and crafts have come together for the very first time.”

“Times of disruption bring great opportunity,” says Harold Davis. “Basically, digital photography is emerging as an entirely new art form.”

LINKS

About Harold Davis Studio

Book: The Way of the Digital Photographer

Book: Achieving Your Potential as a Photographer

Webinar Recordings Harold Davis Workshops and Events

Blog Post: Making the Artisanal Inkjet Print

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Can You Believe Photoshop Debuted 25 Years Ago?

Take Your Photography to the Next Level by Hacking the Digital Print

Digital photo printing has reached the point at which anyone who knows how to push the right buttons can create a decent print. Getting a high-quality image out of a desktop printer is no longer the challenge it once was.

In her new book, “Hacking the Digital Print,” artist Bonny Lhotka illustrates how photographic artists can take their work to the next level through alternative methods of capturing and printing photographs. She proves that the hands-on art of printmaking is alive and well in the digital age. And she explains why you don’t always need Photoshop to alter the reality that you capture through your lens.

HackingWorkshop

By using analog distortion filters and lens modifiers you can create images that look like you—not an app—made them.  As Lhotka explains, “Capturing altered reality is different from altering captured reality.”

In the book’s introduction, Lhotka points out that, “A photograph is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional world. We can restore the third dimension by using materials such as slate, granite, wood, or metal that have heft, mass and texture.”

In “Hacking the Digital Print,” Lhotka shows how to make original art objects and hand-crafted photo gifts by transferring your photographs to materials such as wood, glass, plastics, and metal. Lhotka also shows how to create skins that can be layered to make mixed-media photographs.

Some projects explained in the book use non-toxic digital alternatives to re-create classic printmaking techniques. For example, Wonder Sauce is a water-based transfer solution that is safe enough to use anywhere, whether it’s the studio, classroom, or kitchen counter.For the truly adventurous, Lhotka shares her custom techniques for taking photographs and applying them to 3D-printed objects created with popular consumer-model 3D printers.

Part artist/part mad scientist, Lhotka has spent many hours experimenting, hacking, and tearing things apart to discover new ways to take, make, and print images.

In the early days of wide-format color inkjet printing, Bonny Lhotka organized “Digital Atelier: A printmaking studio for the 21st Century” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and was an artist-in-residence there for 21 days. The artists of the Digital Atelier demonstrated some of the creative possibilities of scanning and inkjet printing.

Lhotka is also a recipient of the Smithsonian/Computerworld Technology in the Arts Award.

Bonny says she designed “Hacking the Print” for “artists and photographers who enjoy serendipitous discoveries—those intuitive accidents that lead to new discoveries and possibilities.”

She encourages you to take the techniques in this book, hack them, and make them your own. She cautions that the process will be messy, and failures may require you to keep trying: “But in the process, you will make your exciting discoveries, find solutions, to your problems, and create a body of work that is uniquely yours.”

HackingWorkshop2

You can purchase “Hacking the Digital Print,” through Amazon or buy a signed copy through the DASS ART website. “Hacking the Digital Print” was published by Peachpit, the Pearson imprint the publishes technology books, e-books, and videos for creative people.

On the DASS ART website, you can also register for related workshops or order the specialized transfer media Lhotka has developed for transferring images printed with pigment inks on inkjet photo printers.

DASS-ART-Logo-800-300x82

DASS has also started a Facebook group for artists and photographers who are creasting work with the techniques featured in Bonny Lhotka’s two previous books on contemporary printmaking techniques: Digital Alchemy and The Last Layer.

According to Lhotka, “The Facebook group is a place to post your work, share processes, and ask questions. I will pop in an out to answer questions and post tips.”

LINKS:

Hacking the Digital Print: Alternative image capture and printmaking processes with a special section on 3D printing (Voices That Matter)

The Last Layer: New methods in digital printing for photography, fine art, and mixed media (Voices That Matter)

DASS ART

Guide Explains How to Exhibit Your Photography

ExhibitingPhotographyMore photographers now have opportunities to exhibit their work, thanks to the rapid increase in the number and range of photography exhibitions and venues. Today, photography is not only exhibited in museums and galleries, but also in community centers, open studios, cafes, bars, restaurants, libraries, temporary event spaces, theater lobbies, schools, photo competitions, and street displays.

For tips on how to exhibit your photographs in a way that will maximize the benefits of the exposure, check out the book “Exhibiting Photography: A Practical Guide to Displaying Your Work, 2nd Edition.”

In the book, author Shirley Read leads you through all of the details associated with exhibiting your photography. Using real-life case studies and anecdotes, she discusses everything from finding a space and designing the exhibition to constructing a show and publicizing yourself, 

Chapters cover topics such as preparation, storage and archiving, approaching a gallery, the curator’s role, publicity materials, mailing lists and audiences, printing for exhibition, and hanging the exhibition. In this newly expanded second edition, Shirley Read further illuminates the world of social networking and exhibiting and selling photography online.

The guide includes photos of internationally successful exhibitions, checklists, and good questions to ask before accepting an opportunity to exhibit your work. Shirley Read emphasizes that before exhibiting your work, you must be sure that your work will be presented well in any context, that appropriate information will be available, and that your work will be treated with respect.

“No one can predict what an exhibition will bring the exhibitor or who will see it,” writes Read. She points out that even if the exhibition doesn’t generate big sales or glowing reviews, the exposure can lead to other opportunities such as teaching offers, commissioned work, magazine spreads, or other exhibitions.

Shirley Read is an independent curator based in London. She teaches exhibition workshops and writes for photography publications. This book was published in June, 2013 by Focal Press.

LINKS

Exhibiting Photography: A Practical Guide to Displaying Your Work

New Book Shares Techniques for Surreal Photography

SurrealPhotographyA new book by photography writer and educator Daniela Bowker explains “Surreal Photography: Creating the Impossible.” Published by Focal Press, the book pays tribute to a genre of artistic photography that fuses fantasy and reality to depict a mysterious and seemingly impossible world.

Bowker explores a wide range of artistic techniques, including straight-from-camera image composition, phoneography, and sophisticated digital manipulation. She also shares imagery and the insightful processes of influential surreal photographers such as Natalie Dybisz, Jon Jacobsen and Dariusz Klimczak.

“This book demonstrates how to create a surreal image, regardless of your expertise or equipment. With the right technique, a smartphone can produce a truly incredible image,” said Bowker. “Surrealism defies realism, and can be as fantastical as you want it to be. What’s really important in shooting surreal photography is the richness and depth of your imagination.”

With an eye for digital art, Bowker shares the know-how to help photographers create imaginative, dreamlike masterpieces. “Surreal Photography” simplifies the shooting and editing process so beginner and advanced photographers can easily understand and apply new skills to their workflows and imagery.

As a seasoned photographer, photojournalist, writer and artistic curator, Bowker serves as the editor of Photocritic.org and authored “Composition,” part of the acclaimed “Michael Freeman’s Photo School” series. Additionally, Bowker founded and co-operates Photocritic Photography School, which is a free, online school with more than 1,800 students enrolled.

LINKS:

Surreal Photography: Creating The Impossible

Photocritic Photography School

 

Guide Shows How to Use iPad for Both Photography and Photography Business

iPadforPhotographers-DerrickStoreyIn his new guide, “iPad for Digital Photographers,” photographer Derrick Story explains many different ways an iPad can support your photography and your photography business. For example, you can use the iPad as a portable portfolio, editing tool, and payment-tracking system.

“The iPad is a terrific tool for photographers because it allows us to travel much lighter than carrying a laptop around,” said Story, “Not only is the iPad good for quickly uploading photos and editing them, but also for helping us keep up with our day-to-day business needs through email access, invoicing, and scheduling client appointments.”

In the guide, you will learn how to:

  • Use your iPad to schedule client appointments, accept payments, sign model releases, and track business expenses.
  • Make on-the-fly edits when using the iPad on location.
  • Use Apple’s iCloud or other cloud services such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
  • Show your portfolio on an HDTV.
  • Make time-lapse movies.
  • Use weather, mapping, notes, checklists, and reminder apps.

The information is organized in ten chapters:

  • Chapter 1: Adding Pictures to Your iPad
  • Chapter 2: Organizing Your Photos
  • Chapter 3: Editing Your Photos
  • Chapter 4: Transferring from the iPad to a Computer
  • Chapter 5: Transferring from the iPad to the Cloud
  • Chapter 6: Presenting Your Mobile Portfolio
  • Chapter 7: Shooting, Editing and Sharing Movies
  • Chatper 8: Take Care of Business
  • Chapter 9: Transporting an iPad and Camera
  • Chapter 10: Tips for the Road Warrior

Published by Wiley, iPad for Digital Photographers is now available for purchase online and at retailers nationwide in both print and all e-book formats.

LINKS

Wiley: iPad for Digital Photographers by Derrick Story

iPad for Digital Photographers

Book Explains Printmaking Techniques for Photographic Art

LastLayerIn her new book “The Last Layer,” printmaker Bonny Lhotka shows you how to expand your creative voice by combining centuries-old printmaking techniques with the full creative potential modern imaging technology.

With these techniques you will get physically engaged with the materials and produce distinctively different prints. Unlike digital photo prints that all look alike, your handiwork as an artist will be clearly visible in each print you sell.

“The Last Layer” is more photography-focused than “Digital Alchemy,” the first book Bonny Lhotka wrote about alternative printmaking techniques for fine art, photography, and mixed media.

In “The Last Layer”, you can learn how to create modern-day versions of anthotypes, cyanotypes, tintypes, and daguerreotypes as well as platinum and carbon prints. Lhotka also reinvents the photogravure and Polaroid transfer processes and explains groundbreaking techniques for combining digital images with traditional monotype, collograph, and etching press prints.

The techniques in “The Last Layer” don’t require the toxic chemicals used in the original processes.
The only equipment you need to get started is a desktop inkjet photo printer that uses pigment inks and a few readily available materials.

What’s The Last Layer?

Digital photographic artists use Photoshop to build images layer by layer, with each layer adding complexity and meaning. Ultimately, the work must be transferred to a substrate – paper, wood, or the glass screen the image is projected upon. “It’s the last layer that makes it a complete work,” says Bonny.

While imaging software and digital printers are powerful tools for photographers, Lhotka contends that “We’ve lost that final handwork performed in the darkroom that allowed us to create truly unique original work.”

With the methods outlined in this book, you can produce handmade works of art that can’t be duplicated with an app, filter, or software package.

Experience the Sensory Pleasure

In the book’s foreword, Kathryn Maxwell of the School of Art at Arizona State University notes that creating photographic prints digitally has become more of a cerebral process than a physical one.

“No artist’s touch is visible in the final output,” says Maxwell. “The artist determines conceptual and visual outcomes on a computer monitor.” With traditional lithographs, etchings, relief prints, or screen prints and darkroom photographic prints, the artist is physically involved with the materials used to create the works.

“Curators and collectors prize the obviously handmade object due to the imperfections and indication of the human hand evidenced in the form,” says Maxwell.

About Bonny Lhotka

Bonny Lhotka is a painter and printmaker who began experimenting with technology tools when she added a Macintosh to her studio in 1986.

I first started following Lhotka’s work in 1997 when I was editor of a magazine about large-format digital printing and Bonny organized “Digital Atelier: A Printmaking Studio for the 21st Century” for the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We weren’t the only ones who saw Bonny Lhotka and the other artists of the Digital Atelier as digital printmaking pioneers. Bonny Lhotka is a recipient of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Technology in the Arts.

Over the years, I met Bonny and the other Digital Atelier artists Dorothy Krause and Karin Schminke at trade shows where they demonstrated wildly imaginative ideas for blending digital imaging and traditional printmaking. Because I was focused on writing about the printing technologies, I didn’t give Bonny’s art the full attention it deserved.

Bonny Lhotka’s artwork is included in several hundred private, corporate, and government collections, including those of United Airlines, Johnson Space Center, Consumer Electronics Association, the U.S. Department of State, the City of Denver, and The Boeing Company.

Having met Bonny, I wasn’t surprised to see “Last Layer” techniques such as the “Chlorophyll Emulsion Process” that involves a blender, 190-proof grain alcohol, and dark green leaves. But as I skimmed through the book, I was blown away by the body of work she has created.

In the book’s preface, master printmaker Jack Duganne (another early user of digital-printing equipment) notes that Bonny is a chemist, engineer, physicist, biologist, inventor, teacher, and tinkerer: “But above all, she is an artist!”

“The Last Layer” shows  works Lhotka has created with the techniques in the book. Bonny hopes these examples will inspire readers to find their own voices and develop their own signature looks as artists.

About the Cover

The cover image is a portrait of Russell Brown, the senior creative director of Adobe Systems.  Entitled “The Gaze,” it is an 8 x 10-inch pigment transfer print on aged metal. It was created using an inkjet-printable transfer film, DASS SuperSauce transfer medium, and aged-metal plates that Lhotka developed and sells through the Digital Art Studio Seminars website.

“The Last Layer” was published by the New Riders imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education.

LINKS

The Last Layer: New methods in digital printing for photography, fine art, and mixed media (Voices That Matter)

Table of Contents and Sample Chapter from The Last Layer: Finding Your Voice

Digital Alchemy: Printmaking techniques for fine art, photography, and mixed media (Voices That Matter)

Digital Art Studio Seminars

About the Digital Atelier: Printmaking for the 21st Century

 

 

Book Reveals Business Secrets of Savvy Pro Photographers

9781118488409_cover.inddIn a new book from John Wiley and Sons, successful wedding photographer Lara White has published advice from her photography business website, Photomint.com.

Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer’s Guide to Sales, Marketing and More” provides tips for building a successful photography business in fiercely competitive business environment.

According to Department of Labor statistics, there are already more than 150,000 professional photographers in the United States, along with tens of thousands of serious amateurs seeking to break into the business.

“Jumping into the photography business can be pretty easy, but actually earning a living as a photographer is another story,” writes White in the book’s introduction.

People with a passion for photography often fail to see the difference between the glamorous fantasy of a pro photographer’s lifestyle and the harsh realities of running a profitable business. In a chart listing some popular misconceptions, White notes that the percentage of time that a pro photographer actually spends shooting is just a fraction of time that must be spent in front of the computer.

The book covers business fundamentals including establishing a brand, defining studio policies, setting pricing, creating a marketing plan, understanding your audience, networking, and using social media as a marketing channel. Other topics include training, building a portfolio, accounting, legal concerns, insurance, and sales.

“Photography Business Secrets” can be purchased online or at book retailers nationwide. In addition to the 336-page print version, it is available in all e-book formats.

LINKS

Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer’s Guide to Sales, Marketing, and More

List of Retailers for Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer’s Guide to Sales, Marketing and More by Lara White