Discover, Unravel, Redefine Your Future: Chase Jarvis on new marketing strategies for photographers

Photographers hoping to flourish in the uncertain years ahead will need to adapt to numerous changes, including the rapid and ongoing developments in camera equipment, technology and social networking. Photographers also must have the willingness to learn an entirely new way of thinking when it comes to the marketing and distribution of their work...

It's hard to believe more than 11 years have passed since I first met Gary Halpern and began editing and writing for PhotoMedia . Though I've never been a professional photographer, I've always been drawn to the exquisitely composed image. I was raised on the impeccable photography of magazines such as National Geographic and old issues of Life, which both inspired me to take some darkroom courses and experiment with....

Japan Earthquake Effects Reveal Troubling Retail, End-User Trends. How will the disaster affect the way you purchase photographic equipment this year?

The store at which I bought my first camera closed this month. Yes, camera stores close all the time, but this was reportedly the first to close specifically due to supply problems caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Boots Camera was a large retail outlet serving Fresno, Calif., since 1974. It stocked a wide array of cameras, photography supplies and other items that might appeal to imaging enthusiasts: papers, printers, proofers, digital storage cards and developing chemicals. It even carried telescopes at one time...

Here are some tips from Lonely Planet Images to help guide you through the daunting challenges of the new travel photography marketplace.

Provide something unique — With the flood of digital images in the marketplace, it’s more important than ever to make your photos stand out. Much of a successful photographer’s work is planning (having the right equipment and getting to the right place at the right time) and persistence (waiting for just the right light or expression). "I look for images containing strong, simple compositions with a clear point of interest that will inspire people to travel," says LPI photo editor Glenn Beanland. "They should offer something new or...

The dizzying changes of the last 10 years require a new way of marketing travel-related photos.

In the first decade of the new millennium, major technological changes have fundamentally altered the travel and photography industries. For both fields, the effect has been one of democratization.

Prices for digital SLR cameras have dropped, thereby lowering the barriers to entry for photographers, who are now able to access cameras with high enough resolution to meet the strict submission standards of stock agencies. Travel shooters are getting more instant logistics help than ever before with sophisticated planning tools like travel applications for...

Two opposing views from photo experts on how Congress is attempting to address images with uncertain ownership

For all the upheaval that has shaken the photography industry in recent years, one of the more contentious issues is the management of so-called “orphan works” – those created compositions that have no discernible owner or definitive copyright information.

While everyone agrees that something must be decided to protect the copyright of archival images that are currently in legal limbo, consensus had yet to be reached at press time.

Two opposing views from photo experts on how Congress is attempting to address images with uncertain ownership

For all the upheaval that has shaken the photography industry in recent years, one of the more contentious issues is the management of so-called “orphan works” – those created compositions that have no discernible owner or definitive copyright information.

While everyone agrees that something must be decided to protect the copyright of archival images that are currently in legal limbo, consensus had yet to be reached at press time.

Determining the value of your work is one of the most important,and overlooked, aspects of professional photography.

Most photographers live to see their work being used to sell, tell or intrigue — on walls, posters and web sites; in ads, books and magazines. Few of us were attracted to photo-graphy with the thought that it was a way to make money.

It's no surprise, then, that photographers tend to shy away from discussions of compensation for their work. For many, there's the ever-present anxiety that the very destiny of the image...