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Using Printed Photo Books for Your Portfolio

When you are working as a photographer, having a portfolio that allows you to show off your best work and to let your prospective clients see what sets you apart from you competitors is essential. When you use printed photo books rather than a traditional portfolio, you’ll find that, as soon as your prospects sit down to look at your work, they will notice that you’re not the same as everybody else.

That’s one of the things that’s great about using printed photo books: while they are increasingly common, not everyone uses them. When you’re able to start out with a portfolio that grabs attention from the get go - and then you are able to further set yourself apart with the photos that you take - you’ll know that you’re in a position to grow your business.

Of course, it won’t just be the overall look of your portfolio that is different; you’ll also be able to use the photos on the inside in a different sort of way. You’ll be able to change the angles of the photos as well as the sizes to create something more dramatic. In other words, when you use a printed photo book rather than a traditional portfolio to show your work, you won’t just be showing prospects your photos, you’ll be able to tell them a story of whom you are and how that shapes your work.

Is Self-Publishing Printed Photo Books Right for You?

When you are in business as a photographer, chances are good that - somewhere along the line - you’re going to look at coffee table books in a bookstore and think that it would be great to see your work published that way. Of course, when you start thinking about publishing houses and writing proposals and reaching a certain level of recognition, you may start to feel discouraged. However, when you are familiar with the opportunities that exist to self-publish printed photo books, you may feel a sense of relief.

When you self-publish printed photo books, after all, the only proposal process that you’ll need to go through involves laying out your book and deciding what to include. Similarly, when you make the choice to self-publish printed photo books, you’ll find that the only rejection that you get comes when you make the choice not to use a particular photo.

Simply put, when you make the choice to self-publish printed photo books, you’ll find that you’re in control of the process, can have the books printed on demand - if that’s the choice that you make - and that you are able to turn your hopes of seeing your work printed in book form into a reality. While self-publishing printed photo books isn’t for everyone, chances are good that it may be right for you - but then, that’s something that only you can decide.

Working with Printed Photo Books: How It Can Enhance Your Business

When you are working as a photographer, there are a number of things that you can do to set your business apart from others in your area. One of the best things that you can do - one of the things that you will find enhances your business - is to take advantage of printed photo books.

When you use printed photo books for your business, you will find that:

  1. You are able to give your clients their prints in a far different sort of way - a photo book allows them to see the story of the event that you photographed for them.
  2. You are able to have a portfolio that stands out from other photographers’.
  3. You are able to tell a story - even if it’s a story that you’ve told your kids and want to be able to share with others.
  4. You are able to collect your best work in a coffee table book that rivals those of other professionals.
  5. You are able to get your clients involved in the process of laying out the book - allowing you to make a deeper connection with your clients.

By looking into printed photo books - and of course, choosing professional quality printed photo books - for your clients, you’ll find that you’re able to set yourself apart. By letting people know who you are and what you can do with printed photo books, you’ll find yourself in a position to enhance your business by attracting more clients.

Printed Photo Books Can Help You Set an Idea into Motion

When you’re a professional photographer, there are going to be times when you have great ideas but don’t quite know how to move forward with them; with printed photo books, you’ll find that you are able to set your ideas into motion:

(source)Everything that makes Boston famously walkable — its dense, historic neighborhoods, its urban parks, and its accessible waterfronts — also make the city particularly photogenic. That coincidence is not lost on Saba Alhadi, a former travel agent and professional photographer. In 2002, Alhadi founded PhotoWalks, a series of guided strolls through Boston’s most picturesque places, laced with historical tidbits and photography tips. A few walks go year-round, but the summer tours offer more options, with a full schedule running from May through September.

In other words, if you’ve become a photographer over time and are looking for ways to combine your past experiences with those from the present, printed photo books can create that opportunity.

In the above excerpt, the photographer combined his travel experience, his location and his passion; in most cases, you’ll find that there are similar things that you can do in order to promote your own business - or to push forward with ideas that you’ve had for something that you want to do.

Photo Book Marketing: Creating a Price Guide

When it comes to marketing your business with printed photo books, one of the things that you’ll quickly discover is that photo books are an effective tool. You’ll also discover that a part of photo book marketing can be to create a pricing guide for your work.

If you do studio sessions, for example, you can market them in a printed photo book with possible backgrounds or posing styles, information about print packages and, of course, pricing.

Similarly, if your photography business involves shooting wedding, you’ll find that you are able to market your work with sample shots, information about the way that you shoot, details about the portrait packages that you have to offer.

In other words, with printed photo books, you’ll find that you are able to market your work with a catalog, show off your best shots and to attract additional clients. You’ll find that photo book marketing is effective because it gives your prospects to learn a bit about you, about what you do and about what you can do for them.

With photo book marketing, you’ll find that you can do more than create a simple price guide; you will be able to create an effective tool for growing your business.

Choosing a Supplier for Printed Photo Books

When you’re looking to find the right supplier for your printed photo books - whether printed photo books are something that you offer to your clients or you view them as a tool for sharing your images and your perspective - you’ll find that there are a number of things that you need to be looking at:

  • Price
  • Quality
  • Ease of use
  • Accessibility
  • Time of processing
  • Customer service

Simply put, when you are looking for the right supplier for printed photo books, you are going to want to be sure that you’re looking at all of the options that are available to you so that you can be sure that you’re choosing the best option.

When you choose the right printed photo book supplier, you’ll find that:

  • You are able to get the book that you want to offer without waiting indefinitely to receive it
  • You’ll be able to use simple software that will make designing a printed photo book easier than you thought that it could be
  • You are able to choose the best possible layout and make it work with the photos that you want to use.

In other words, when you choose the right printed photo book supplier, you’ll be able to design books with ease and to know that, when you receive the printed photo book, you’ll be getting exactly what you hoped to receive.

Layout Out a Printed Photo Book: What’s It Take?

When you’re getting ready to design printed photo books, you’ll find that you’ve got the photos ready, you’ll find that you’re ready to choose the right text and to tell a story.

All that’s left is laying out your printed photo book - so what’s it going to take?

  1. Choose the right order for your photos; remember that a printed photo book gives you the chance to tell a story, it helps to tell the story in order.
  2. Determine how much text you are going to use within your printed photo book and the best way to layout the photos and text.
  3. Determine whether or not you’ll be captioning your photos and what cropping needs to take place.

From that point forward, you will find that you are able to simply choose the right template and to put it to work for you and the photos that you’re using for the project. When you are working with the right photo book supplier, you’ll find that laying out your printed photo book is going to be a lot easier than you may have thought that it would be.

Your first run may not be ideal, but keep in mind that laying out a printed photo book is a process, not a one time thing; know what you want to accomplish and work to make it happen.

Creating Professional Photo Books Can Be Simple

When you are looking into creating professional photo books in order to market yourself as a photographer and to offer an additional service to your clients, you’ll find that there are some services that make it easy. Actually, you’re likely to find that there are a huge range of services out there, however, some of the options that you discover are not going to give you the professional looking results that you want and need to have a positive impact on your business.

When it comes to creating professional photo books, after all, you’re going to want to be sure that your books are printed with top notch inks and that the bindings are strong and designed to last; the ease of use part is secondary for pro books.

However, that doesn’t mean that the two cannot or do not go together. It’s possible to create professional photo books using a wide range of templates so that you know the book has the right look. It’s also possible to have guidelines for page bleeds and margins so that you can be sure the photo book, once printed, looks exactly the way that you intended for it to look. It’s all a matter of choosing the right supplier for your professional photo books.

Photo Book Marketing for Real Estate Photographers

When you are involved in real estate photography, it’s important to focus and getting the word out about what you do. After all, there are plenty of great real estate agents out there who are looking for services like the ones that you provide; with photo book marketing, you’ll find that you are able to show others what you are able to do for them.

With photo book marketing for your real estate photography business, you’ll find that you are able to accomplish more. Beyond simple marketing your work with printed photo books, you’ll find that you are able to market yourself to different types of real estate pros.

For example, let’s say that you’re looking into working with real estate agents who specialize in condos; you’re going to want to make sure that you are able to focus on showcasing the space that they are used to working with. The same is true when you photograph estate properties or when you are looking into helping those agents who focus on helping renters find a great place to be.

In other words, with photo book marketing for your real estate photography business you’ll be able to know that you’re putting the best shots out there and that they are being seen by the right people.

Printed Photo Books Let You Follow Your Imagination

When you are looking for a chance to work with some of your best shots and you want to be sure that you present them in the best way possible, printed photo books just might be the thing that you have been missing. After all, sometimes having a show of your work can be a bit limiting:

(source)
Ten images were selected from nearly one thousand color and black-and-white originals which were created on an exhilarating and exhausting summer day in 2006. The inspiration from those original images and advances in digital imaging technology has led to the finished products in this collection.

With printed photo books, the only way that you will be limited to ten images is if you choose to be. And, if you do choose to only have ten images, you will also be able to make the choice to add as much or as little text as possible.

In other words, when you make an effort to use printed photo books within your business, you’ll find that you are able to follow your imagination; whether you are telling the story of a burst of imagination that came to you during a day of shooting in the field or something that you went out planning to shoot.

With printed photo books, you’ll be able to follow your imagination where it takes you and you’ll be able to know that it’s something you can share with others.