I was looking for a book that would give me a smart introduction to the field of commercial photography. There are a ton of books in the market about wedding and portrait photography but fewer that aim to cover Architectural, Product, Corporate, Food and other subjects. This book explains pricing, goes into good detail about marketing and is a very well written and informative look at a market that lots of people would like to get into.
My favorite part of the book is about Marketing. Tuck explains what has worked for him and why. The other thing I like about the book is that the author is very straightforward about his position in the market. He lives in what he calls a "second tier" market which means he's not in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago. He doesn't pretend that all of his clients are national, Fortune 100 clients. Kinda nice to see advice aimed at the kind of markets that the majority of people in the US work in.
While many "business" books are really dry and full of forms and stuff about accounting this book is more like talking to a good friend over coffee about getting your photo business off the ground. Only in this case your "friend" has about 25 years of really good experience, admits he's learned some stuff the hard way and comes from the same town you do.
While the cover design is cludgy and disconcerting the guts of the book are very well designed and the images are quite nice. The author also left his ego at the door in one more regard: He's brought in work by other photographers who are very gifted in order to break up sections and show off different levels of ability.
Books like this are a simple decision. With Amazon's pricing it's just a bit more than some magazines. If you are starting out in the business you'll need to know a lot. This book covers a great overview.
