Learn how to confidently build a thriving and profitable career as a professional wedding or portrait photographer!

For nearly a decade, renowned wedding and portrait photographer Roberto Valenzuela has been sharing his vast knowledge and unique, systematic approach to making photographs as he has taught workshops around the world and written five critically acclaimed and bestselling books that cover composition, posing, lighting, and wedding photography (his Picture Perfect and Wedding Storyteller series of books). He has helped countless photographers improve their craft.

But the truth is that you can create the most amazing photos…yet still have a failing business. And what’s the point of being a great photographer if you can’t build a career, pay your bills, and feed your family? In order to create a thriving business, you need a different kind of knowledge and a new set of tools to succeed. In The Successful Professional Photographer, for the first time Roberto turns his focus on the business and marketing of your photography so that you can build and sustain a highly profitable business as a wedding and portrait photographer. Roberto shares all his hard-earned knowledge regarding finding clients, marketing and presenting your work, and getting paid what you deserve. Topics include:

• Best practices and strategies for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook

• Being found through SEO

• Promoting yourself and your work

• The role that testimonials and reviews play in your success

• Creating long-term client relationships

• Forming personal connections with clients with promo videos

• Why you should feature your work in publications

• Pricing your work and the gentle art of the up-sell

• Understanding and conveying the crucial importance of selling prints

While the photographs you create are the core of your work as a photographer—being exceptional at your craft is a must—that’s only half of the formula you need for building and sustaining success. The other half of the formula is here, in The Successful Professional Photographer. Implement the strategies and techniques outlined here, and you’ll have everything you need to succeed and build a long, prosperous, fulfilling career as a wedding or portrait photographer.

Foreword by Luke Edmonson

Learn how to confidently build a thriving and profitable career as a professional wedding or portrait photographer! For nearly a decade, renowned wedding and portrait photographer Roberto Valenzuela has been sharing his vast knowledge and unique, systematic approach to making photographs as he has taught workshops around the world and written five critically acclaimed and bestselling books that cover composition, posing, lighting, and wedding photography (his Picture Perfect and Wedding Storyteller series of books). He has helped countless photographers improve their craft. But the truth is that you can create the most amazing photos...yet still have a failing business. And what's the point of being a great photographer if you can't build a career, pay your bills, and feed your family? In order to create a thriving business, you need a different kind of knowledge and a new set of tools to succeed. In The Successful Professional Photographer, for the first time Roberto turns his focus on the business and marketing of your photography so that you can build and sustain a highly profitable business as a wedding and portrait photographer. Roberto shares all his hard-earned knowledge regarding finding clients, marketing and presenting your work, and getting paid what you deserve. Topics include: -Best practices and strategies for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook -Being found through SEO -Promoting yourself and your work -The role that testimonials and reviews play in your success -Creating long-term client relationships -Forming personal connections with clients with promo videos -Why you should feature your work in publications -Pricing your work and the gentle art of the up-sell -Understanding and conveying the crucial importance of selling prints While the photographs you create are the core of your work as a photographer--being exceptional at your craft is a must--that's only half of the formula you need for building and sustaining success. The other half of the formula is here, in The Successful Professional Photographer. Implement the strategies and techniques outlined here, and you'll have everything you need to succeed and build a long, prosperous, fulfilling career as a wedding or portrait photographer. Foreword by Luke Edmonson TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: How to Stand Out Chapter 1: Unleashing Instagram's Business Potential Chapter 2: SEO for Portrait and Wedding Photographers Chapter 3: Client Testimonials Chapter 4: YouTube and Facebook Live Broadcasts Chapter 5: The Effective Business Promo Video Chapter 6: Featuring Your Work in Magazines and on Blogs Part II: How to Get Hired Chapter 7: The Impact of First Impressions Chapter 8: Understanding a Prospective Client's State of Mind Chapter 9: Delivering a Skillful First Prospective Client Meeting Part III: How to Make Money Chapter 10: The Perceived-Value Tier System Chapter 11: Client-Centric Pricing Strategy Chapter 12: Anchored Collections Sales Method Chapter 13: A La Carte Sales Method Chapter 14: Final Design and Presentation Conclusion

Within the Frame is a book about finding and expressing your photographic vision, specifically where people, places, and cultures are concerned. A personal book full of real-world wisdom and incredible images, author David duChemin (of pixelatedimage.com) shows you both the how and the why of finding, chasing, and expressing your vision with a camera to your eye. Vision leads to passion, and passion is a cornerstone of great photography. With it, photographs draw the eye in and create an emotional experience. Without it, a photograph is often not worth—and can’t capture—a viewer’s attention. Both instructional and inspirational, Within the Frame helps you on your photographic journey to make better images of the places and people you love, whether they are around the world or in your own backyard. duChemin covers how to tell stories, and the technology and tools we have at our disposal in order to tell those narratives. Most importantly, he stresses the crucial theme of vision when it comes to photographing people, places, and cultures—and he helps you cultivate and find your own vision, and then fit it within the frame.

There’s much more to being a professional photographer than simply taking great pictures. Today’s self-employed photographers must have marketing savvy to spare. This guide from a widely known and respected industry insider provides that—and much more. In Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers, freelance photographers learn what they must do to improve their skills after the pictures have been developed. Featuring sections such as “Focus Your Image,” “Sharpen Your Client Focus,” “Identify Your Market,” and the ever-important “Spot Trends,” here are dozens of surefire strategies for selling services, staying on top of the latest market trends, and winning enough high-paying work to survive and thrive in this very competitive business. For any photographer looking to make it big behind the lens, this indispensable reference shows how to get the right exposure every time.

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. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

In this sexy, bold book, Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Brian Smith tells the stories behind the photos and lessons learned in 30 years of photographing celebrities and people from all walks of life. Smith’s long list of famous and infamous subjects includes pro basketball players Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal; billionaires Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Donald Trump; tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams; actors Anne Hathaway, Antonio Banderas, Christopher Walken, Taye Diggs, Jane Krakowski, and William H. Macy; and many more. You’ll get the inside scoop on what goes on at a celebrity photo shoot in this gorgeous guide to making professional portraits. Smith has mastered how to make a meaningful portrait on a magazine’s budget and on a celebrity’s schedule, which can sometimes be 15 minutes or less. Smith reveals his tips on connecting with people, finding the perfect location, telling a great story through portraiture, getting the ideal pose, capturing emotion and gestures, arranging unique group shots, and lighting the scene just right. You might not be photographing the rich and famous, but after reading Smith’s tell-all guide, you’ll know how to give everyone who makes their way in front of your camera the star treatment.

The author of Create presents “an all-in-one, easily accessible handbook . . . [that] will show you how the pros do it. Study this and take your best shot” (Chase Jarvis, award-winning photographer). In Advancing Your Photography, Marc Silber provides the definitive handbook that will take you through the entire process of becoming an accomplished photographer. From teaching you the basics to exploring the stages of the full “cycle of photography,” Silber makes it easy for you to master the art form and create stunning pictures. From thousands of hours of interviews with professional photography masters, you will learn valuable insights and tips on beginner, amateur, landscape, wedding, lifestyle, sports, animal, portrait, still life, and iPhone photography. Advancing Your Photography features: · Top tips for making outstanding photographs from iconic photographers and many other leading professional photography masters of today · Numerous step-by-step examples · Guidance on training your eye to see composition with emotional impact · Tips on mastering the key points of operating your camera like a pro · Secrets to processing your images to professional standards Photography and the technology associated with it are constantly evolving, but the fundamentals remain the same. Advancing Your Photography will help to bring you the joy and satisfaction of a lifetime of pursuing the art of photography.