I’ve been thinking a lot about the business end of photography these days. I’m in the midst of reading John Harrington’s Best Business Practices for Photographers, a book intended for professional photographers with well-established businesses, but still a good read for those just getting started. It goes into almost painful detail about licensing and rights for all different types of photography, and what and why you should charge. It’s filled with all kinds of real-world scenarios from Harrington’s own business and I’ve gotten so engrossed with it that I’ve found myself still reading it at 2am. But, perhaps I’m just weird that way.
Photo by Thomas Barwick
As luck would have it, I also got to spend a bit of time this morning with one of the local Seattle photographers whose work I’ve been drooling over for the last six months or so. Thomas Barwick’s work really struck me in the November issue of Seattle Magazine. All of his photos in the issue (as well as subsequent issues…) have been beautiful, but the one that really grabbed me was a photo of well worn hands all covered in dark soil holding out a selection of cranberry and string beans… brilliant pinky purple speckled pods hiding a few dappled beans. Simply gorgeous. So, being the goof that I am, I googled to see if he had a portfolio, and popped off a piece of mail asking if he’d indulge me in a little chat over coffee. It took a few months for him to find some time in what sounds like a very nutty schedule, but everything finally fell into place this week, and we chatted for a bit at El Diablo Coffee, in the Queen Anne area of Seattle.
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