In my humble opinion, VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography
by David duChemin, is an incredible book that both scares and inspires the reader. I purchased the book in hopes of finding some answers and while I did find many of the things I was looking for, I was left with many questions I would have never known to ask. David makes many things clear in his book. First, he states there is no secret to being a professional photographer. The bottom line is that all professionals share a few things in common: hard work, knowledge on how to please their clients and over deliver and the drive to constantly improve their craft.
The second fact David makes clear is that becoming a vocational photographer is not for the faint of heart. Photography by profession is not a get rich quick kind of business. He discusses many skills one must have from marketing to interpersonal skills to being financially sound. He discusses rejection, debt, etc. The bottom line is he's real about what one can expect in this field.
One of the things I appreciated most about VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography was David's use of many examples. First, he talks extensively about his own experiences which include some drastic career changes, poor financial management which resulted in debt and dealing with clients which often have small budgets for photography. He also included 4-5 page sections on six different professional photographers who offered their advice on different aspects of approaching photography as a vocation.
Things I Learned:
First, I learned that I have a lot to learn. The marketing section was especially eye opening. David talked about the importance of creating a brand around your photography. He discusses congruency between your blog, website, business cards, mailers, etc. The book really pushed and inspired me to learn as much as I can about marketing, especially with the progression of importance of social media (like this blog) in today's world.
I also learned that I don't have all the necessary tools and it may not be worth learning them. The bottom line is I'm not great in design. So, maybe it'll be best for me to one day higher a company to create my logo and help refine my website. I'm no expert in tax either so hiring an accountant is a must. While it seems like a good idea to learn to do these things on your own when you're just starting out, it may be more helpful to spend the time honing your photography skills then learning how to write off all your business expenses.
Finances, insurance and other liabilities are also discussed in depth. David really stressed living debt free (woohoo!) and I couldn't agree more. I consider myself a Dave Ramseyian (if that term hasn't been coined, I'm claiming it) and living debt free is priority number one for my financial plan. While I consider myself relatively financially savvy, I did learn a lot about insurance needs, including insuring your studio for liability should someone have an accident during a shoot.
Summary:
This book really is one of my all time favorite photography books. It's not the type of book that will teach you what aperture and shutter speed to use, which lenses to buy or even which website to use for your blog or webpage. VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography goes deeper than that. It challenges you to decide if photography is really something you want to pursue. It guides you and informs you of many different methods to achieve success, while always preparing you for potential collapses. It doesn't claim to have all the answers. It's meant for the person that thinks of photography constantly - the person who, as David puts it, can't not do it. That's me and I thought this book was exactly what I needed as I'm just starting out. If you want to check it out, I couldn't recommend it more.
Ratings (out of 10):
Content - 10
Images - 8
Writing Style - 9
Overall - 9
For those of you who aren't familiar with David duChemin, I recommend you check out his blog, this book and others he has written. As a whole, I think he's my favorite photographer. I love his cause (shooting for NGOs), his attitude, his work and his teaching style.
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