The Photographer’s Playbook
Your resource to becoming an adventure photographer
The Adventure Photographer’s Playbook is an e-book created by full-time photographer Dalton Johnson to help new photographers go from nothing to booked in the adventure photography space.
This adventure photography e-book goes over the business and what “making it” as a photographer in the outdoor space requires. Covering topics such as pricing, marketing, building a body of work, reflection questions, and everything you need to know to make a career out of adventure photography.
Updated: June 2025
How I Think About B-Roll Before I Even Book the Trip
A working adventure photographer explains why planning supporting b-roll footage before a trip, rather than gathering it opportunistically, produces significantly stronger final deliverables.
Editing Retainers: The Income Stream Photographers Overlook
A working adventure photographer explains how recurring editing retainers, separate from shooting work, became a stable and overlooked income stream.
The Brief That Turns Into Three Deliverables Instead of One
A working adventure photographer explains how to plan shoot days to produce multiple distinct deliverables from a single briefed assignment.
Reddit Is the Most Underrated Distribution Channel for Photographers
A working adventure photographer explains why Reddit, used with genuine community-first participation, has become an underrated but genuinely valuable distribution channel.
What Belongs in Every Photography Contract, Even a Simple One
A working adventure photographer breaks down the core contract elements, scope, payment terms, usage rights, cancellation, revisions, that belong in every project agreement regardless of size.
Why I Put a Revision Limit in Every Contract
A professional photographer explains why every contract includes a defined revision limit, how it's structured fairly, and why it ultimately benefits both the photographer and the client.
What a Quarterly Deliverable Retainer Actually Looks Like
A working adventure photographer explains how quarterly deliverable retainer contracts actually function, from deliverable definition to pricing.
The Real Cost of Chasing Every Client Instead of the Right Ones
A working adventure photographer explains why chasing every inquiry out of scarcity quietly costs more than it earns, and how selectivity compounds over time.
Why I Say No to Projects That Pay Well But Don't Fit
A working adventure photographer explains why creative, working-style, and strategic fit matter as much as budget when evaluating a new project.
Chasing Invoices Is Part of the Job — How I Actually Do It
A working adventure photographer breaks down the staged, systematic approach to following up on overdue invoices, and why treating it as routine rather than confrontational produces better results.
What to Do When a Client Wants to Change the Scope Mid-Project
A professional photographer explains how to handle scope creep on client projects, from clear upfront contracts to documenting changes and holding firm boundaries without damaging relationships.
What I Track in My Weekly Business Check-In (And Why)
A working adventure photographer breaks down the specific financial, pipeline, and qualitative metrics tracked in a consistent weekly business review, and why the habit matters.
Model Releases: When You Actually Need One
A professional photographer explains when a model release is genuinely required, when it isn't, and how to handle releases with non-professional subjects in adventure and travel photography.
Why I Stopped Chasing Day Rate Work
A working adventure photographer explains why he moved away from day rate pricing as a default, toward pricing based on usage and value instead.
The Math Behind Charging for Licensing vs. Day Rate
A working adventure photographer breaks down the actual reasoning behind choosing between day rate and usage-based licensing pricing.
The Difference Between Being Booked and Being Busy
A working adventure photographer explains why a full calendar isn't the same as a genuinely healthy business, and how to tell the two apart.
The Difference Between a Retainer Client and a One-Off Client
A working adventure photographer breaks down what actually separates retainer client relationships from one-off projects, and how to price and scope each differently.