"Imaginations: Earn A Fortune With Your Dramatic Photography" by Raymond Klein. Hardcover book. 124 Pages. Publication Date: May 2021.
Raymond J. Klein began his career in high school. His interest in photography bloomed after finding his dad's Kodak folding camera. At 14 years of age, one of his photographs was published in the local newspaper, as a subject of interest to the readers of that publication, and earned $10.00. He continued his education in a 4-year service career in the USAF in a photography unit. Another photograph, during his service career, earned $175.00. A series of photographs, after his service duty, produced for one of the nation's aircraft manufacturers, propelled him into an almost forty-year national advertising photography career. He earned a Master of Photography Degree by 1976, with the Professional Photographers of America Inc. During this period, the "Billing Day Rate" ballooned to $1500.00. This book is involved with earnings capable in that industry. This activity continued until he retired. Continuing his photographic interest by joining a camera club, and art gallery, where he still enjoys sales of his artful, and dramatic photographs, and recently won an important international contest in a magazine read around the world. The book discusses techniques and the trials and tribulations facing a commercial advertising photographer. He urges novice photographers to follow through with their own imaginative endeavors.
Kirkus Book Review
Retired photographer Klein looks back on his years of work in commercial photography.
This story of one man’s picture-taking career, which includes advice for those who aspire to same profession, begins in earnest in 1948. In that year, the teenage author took a photo that, after it was published as part of a newspaper competition, wound up earning him $10—an event that led to his making photography his calling. He went on to be part of a fledgling photo unit in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1950s, and, perhaps most importantly, worked in advertising in the late 1950s and ’60s. Then he started making real money, as advertisers always “need picture ideas” to sell their products, and the creative Klein proved his worth. The author walks readers through different assignments he had during his career, such as a 1965 ad for bathroom rugs that featured a Siamese cat, and helpfully includes the final photos at the beginning of each anecdote. He stresses that a lot of work would go into an assignment before any pictures were taken: “No one walked me into a completed room set and said, ‘Here it is, Ray. Shoot this!’ ” He provides some helpful pointers on making inroads into the business, as he knew it, but also stresses that one should never be afraid to “Experiment!” (He later sold his own abstract images via gallery showings in 2008.) The brief book moves quickly and flows easily, often pausing to impart insider tips, as when he details how the illusion of a setting sun was created for a camcorder ad. In another portion, he goes into how, exactly, one makes a light switch look good in a photo. These moments, in which he reveals how to create an appealing-looking scene, remain the most relevant, even if the technological aspects are sometimes outdated. Also, the book also includes several images of the author’s various awards and certificates of merit, which add relatively little to the text as a whole.
A concise and often informative account of a successful career.