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|  | |  | | | Fast Track Photographer: The Definitive New Approach to Successful Wedding Photography | | | | | SKU:
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Usually ships in 1-2 business days | | Only 1 left in stock, order soon! | | | | | | When photographers try to make the jump to the professional ranks, it is tempting to believe that a good approach is to mimic existing photographers who are perceived as successful. It turns out this approach is short sighted and can lead to some really bad habits that ultimately stunt the growth of enthusiast photographers.
In Fast Track Photographer, author Dane Sanders makes the case that a far more effective approach is to get clear on the gifts and talents you as an particular individual bring to the table and build a vision from that starting plot point. The trajectory of that vision needs to be informed by the evolving landscape of service based businesses globally and wedding photography in particular but the starting point remains consistent.
Start with your most powerful resource: You.
To help identify your talents and strengths, Dane provides a powerful self assessment tool called the Photographer DNA (pDNA) that both describes your gifts and prescribes a road map to individual success around your personality, raw abilities and circumstances.
By the end of the book, the reader is empowered to not only navigate the exciting waters of the wedding photography industry, but do so with grace and dramatic speed.
In sum, Fast Track Photographer gives you powerful tools for discovering your core strengths and a foolproof plan for maximizing them in the flat new world we live in. If you want to build a recession-proof, competition-proof photo business in the 21st Century, you need to throw out the old rule book. You need to get on the Fast Track. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Dane Sanders | | Paperback: | 224 pages | | Publisher: | Cut Frame Press | | Publication Date: | August 08, 2008 | | ISBN: | 0981745504 | | Package Length: | 7.9 inches | | Package Width: | 5.2 inches | | Package Height: | 0.3 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.6 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 84 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 84 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 29 found the following review helpful:
 Interesting, but would not buy it again Jun 08, 2009
By AvidReader
It has been quite a while since I read through the book, and I haven't felt the urge to go through it again. On the plus side, while many books on the business use outdated references and images, Fast Track is definitely written for today's photographer. I also appreciate that it is about business and not photographic technique, equipment, etc. I enjoyed reading the author's story ad even his overview of the different kinds of wedding photography businesses. What I don't love is the P-DNA concept; like any magazine-style personality quiz it presents you with a number of choices/preferences (which may or may not apply to you). I found it difficult to relate to some of the questions, which weren't always worded very well/clearly. So in the end, I ended up choosing the least false options, rather than the ones that were most true (hope that makes sense). After taking the PDNA, you get a result which is supposed to tell you what kind of photographer you are, and you're encouraged to retake it every year for $20 or so.
It might work well for some people, but even though I give Sanders an "A" for effort (b/c to my knowledge, no one else has attempted to create something like this) , I still think that the PDNA is poorly designed. I'm even not sure that it could have been better, as these sorts of questionnaires are inherently limited anyway. We're all unique. It helps to look at others' experience, but most people find success by learning from others, making mistakes AND forging our own paths--NOT by simply adopting others' techniques and business practices before evaluating how well they will work for us. For instance, Sanders really sells the idea of outsourcing many time-consuming tasks--and file processing/editing/retouching in particular--in order to focus on marketing, finding customers, etc. I think that it's wise and necessary to spend the most time on what you do best, but I don't think that everyone will need to outsource the same things. And I don't think that you're necessarily harming your business by doing your own editing or album design. In other words, you still have to figure out what works best for you, your business and your customers.
No one tool, book, seminar etc. can give you all of the answers, so I'm glad that this has been helpful to many others starting out. It did give me some ideas, and insight into different personality traits, business models, etc. But when I need to move beyond the philosophy and into the practicalities of running a photography business, I've found The Business of Studio Photography by Edward Lilley (there's a 2009 edition now) and Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington to be great resources....Glen Johnson's Digital Wedding Photography is also a wonderful book about wedding photography. The Strategy Avenue program by Laura Novak also gives you some good tools when developing a vision and plan for your business.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 An excellent book, but not in the Kindle version Mar 23, 2009
By Terrence C. Watson
This is a very fine book, written by an obviously intelligent and thoughtful guy. I agree with other reviewers about the book and especially its applicability to professions far distant from wedding photography, BUT ... If you want to get the full benefit of the book, DON'T buy the Kindle version! Two problems; one annoying and the other serious: First, the formatting for the Kindle is about like a text file dumped into a word processor. The chapters run together, there are no links from the table of contents to the locations in the text of the book, and the tables (important tables to understand the main point of the book) are totally unusable. Second, the whole book orients itself around a concept he calls "pDNA" which others have discussed. With a print copy of the book you get a code which allows you onto the website which the book describes as an essential part of the book. You don't get the code with the Kindle edition, and they (the author's website) won't give it to you if you ask and explain that you bought the Kindle edition of the book. You can buy the code from the website for $20. That makes your $9.99 Kindle book cost $29.99. There is now a warning on their website that you don't get the code with the e-book, but you do with the print or audio versions. I don't know if that was added after my complaint or before. It was not a part of the advertisement for the Kindle version.
So, it's a really fine book, but the e-book version is incomplete and defective.
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Not worth it, don't understand all the high raves and reviews May 09, 2009
By Amazon user in NC
I had high hopes for this book, after reading all the glowing reviews. At the end of the day, it is the same thing written over and over. I was really hoping for a real insight into ideas and techniques for wedding photography business. Instead, it is just a rambling of your typical feel good, small business "go for it" ramblings. There are one or two "real life" stories over a few pages which are nice, but, they're never expanded on. I read the whole thing in a couple of hours, and walked away with no new insight or ideas into expanding or adjusting my business. Too much talk about "pDNA" and blah blah blah. Don't waste your time or money.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Life Changing If You're Ready Sep 18, 2009
By Anika
This book truly gives you the 'BIG PICTURE'. Dane is acutely aware of the times we live in and how technology is changing. He gives practical reasons for why those elusive few are so successful and what that means to you. Typical? No. Useful? No doubt. This book isn't a nuts and bolts of having a business (though that is referenced for beginners), it's really about something more. And it will change your business and your life if you're on board. It's already changed mine. Incredible advice and some really amazing tools you can use to work out your dream on your own so you can actually live it. I can't thank Dane enough for his willingness to share such valuable things with the world. Not everyone is willing to tell you the truth about success. So if you want it, get this book.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Valuable insight on multiple elements of photography! Sep 06, 2009
By Timothy J. King
"Tim King"
This was an incredible book. It contained really valuable insight into what kind of photography a person (you) would most likely thrive in whether it's for business or hobby. Also, Dave explains in really practical terms - the incremental steps needed to establish yourself as a photographer in both the literal and figurative senses. I would recommend this book to anyone involved in photography, and will more than likely end up re-reading this book in the time to come.
See all 84 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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