I know it's so easy to jump on social media (usually Facebook) and start locally advertising yourself as a professional.
Why not? You just bought a "professional camera", right?
I know that camera, all shiny and new, is just calling your name. What you think you hear it saying is that you can give up your day job and make money by barely lifting a finger...literally. You think it's whispering, "Freedom.... Money.... Fire your boss... Love your job!"
Your camera is telling you lies.
If you do this right, you're going to love it more than you have ever loved anything in your life.
What you don't realize is:
You're probably not going to make any money for a good while.
In the US, even the IRS expects you, as a new business, to show a loss for the first few years.Now, instead of only one boss, you have many bosses.
Image Source You have many more things to keep track of like taxes, licenses, your own education, quality control, inventory, gear maintenance, advertising, customer service, collections, fraud (you'd be surprised how often you get contacted via Facebook & email from scammers who specifically target photographers), and so on...
You no longer clock out and go home. Being a business owner is 24/7.
You are about to create a being that requires more time, attention, and nurturing than a living, breathing child.
You've actually just given up some of your freedom, not gained it.
We all had to start somewhere...
1. The very moment you start posting on social media (particulary Facebook) asking for session bookings, you are considered as advertising your services.
You'll need a proper, secure way to take payments from clients so that their sensitive information is kept safe. You won't always just be paid in cash. In fact, more often than not you'll probably get a check.
You'll need a client contract to keep yourself safe.
If you do not have these things and you are already trying to take clients, you are building a foundation of sand that will eventually fall apart.
2. Leave important events like weddings and newborns to more experienced photographers.
3. Do not - I repeat, DO NOT - use other photographer's work to advertise yourself in any way, shape, or form.
Snagging a photo from Google even just to "show the kind of photography" that you want to provide is stealing someone else's hard work for your own gain. Display only your own images. No excuses here.
4. Professional family photographs should not look like Instagram shots.
Since were on the subject of printing, also watch your horizons and your vignettes in editing.
A little tilt in your horizon is great, but when the baby looks like it's going to start rolling downhill at any moment, you've gone too far.
5. Don't talk bad about your clients on social media. Ever.
It's unprofessional and it's embarrassing. Stop.
6. Lastly, the biggest piece of advice I have is learn, learn, learn!
These are a few things that will put you on the road to becoming a professional photographer, not just owning a "professional camera" and having a Facebook page.
Good luck!!
This post was authored by my fiance, @jazzyfish. She originally posted it as a rant on Facebook, but I told her this needed to be on Steemit. To give her as wide an audience as I felt this post deserved, we agreed that posting it on my page with a credit to her would be the best bet. I edited her post, did a little wordsmithing, and added photos and formatting. We hope you enjoyed the read. :)
Oh, and go follow @jazzyfish if you're not already!
So very true. I have come across a few people who went out and bought semi-pro cameras and thought that qualified them as wedding photographers - then they went and ruined various people's big days who had to then get real photographers to redo them (via a mock ceremony) at great expense. The sad thing is many actual pros are finding it hard to get business because these jokers are undercutting them.
When I worked at the camera shop here about 17 years ago, I had a big rich doctor come in virtually demanding the most expensive, lavish camera we sold. We tried to probe a bit to find out his needs, but he didn't want to talk about any of that - he just wanted the biggest, best, most expensive unit we sold. Period.
Okay, fine. One Nikon F5 with matching expensive lens, coming right up.
He was back in 2 days asking for help on how to use the thing.
I'm sure he could have afforded to just take an introductory photography course! I think if you have the money there is nothing wrong in buying the best camera you can. It's just silly to expect that you will instantly be able to take great shots.
Well, he can afford the hardware. Hope he can afford the time to make good use of it.
Weird. I thought I replied to this comment a couple of hours ago, but I'm not seeing it here now. Oh well. What I said was that there's certainly nothing wrong with buying the most expensive camera you can afford, but I think it's incredibly important to know why you're doing it. Even entry level dSLR's are capable of quite a bit without having to spend much more than between $500-1000 sometimes. If you can afford to do it, I usually recommend to beginners to start with a beginner unit...and find its ceiling. Once you find that, you'll know why you need a more expensive, more capable unit and you can trade up with a more informed position.
I've only just bought my new camera and now I'm frightened to take it out the box, only joking good article mate. Cheers mike
As someone who falls squarely in the amateur category, I still appreciate everything in this rant. I've spent enough time learning how to operate a business that I understand the ramifications of becoming your own boss (like @jazzyfish said, you're losing freedom, not gaining it). But what I was really glad she mentioned was badmouthing clients. This never, never ends well, and even if it doesn't directly harm your business, it will harm your reputation. It's unprofessional and childish.
I love that you guys are on here. I'm looking forward to breaking out my Nikon when I have a little more time and start posting photographs as well :)
I'm so glad you feel that way concerning talking about clients on social media! I cringe every time I see it!
An unhappy customer can almost always be turned into a satisfied customer, but the moment you take it public, you have lost any chance of that happening. You have also alienated future customers because they are now worried that you will bash them publicly if they have a complaint with the product they receive.
A happy customer will tell one or two of their friends about you, but an unhappy customer will shout their experience from the rooftops!
You broke my heart. I just started taking photos from my iPhone for Steemit
Awesome written.
That's an exception to this, I think. This is more for folks who get a brand new camera and immediately start offering something like portrait services. Not much different than if someone bought a hammer and then immediately tried opening a carpentry business. In other words, it's not the tool that makes the skill. ;-)
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Two words: Screw Facebook.
I don't disagree, but a FB business page has worked wonders for our business. But to expand on your comment, FB has been making it harder and harder to be seen enough to be successful through them.
FB will make money off your content and privacy. I don't accept that and that's why I've never had a FB account (or any other social media for that matter). Steemit is my first and only. And not just that, FB has been playing really nasty to suppress Steemit links. There are a few posts on Steemit about that.
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Upvoted as usual :)
I do a series called becoming one with nature and just released the 4th one. It is going okay at the moment but if anyone could Resteem and Upvote that would mean the world as i think the pictures are pretty good :p
Thanks
Otto
Rightly said! Good post.
The work is very nice. I like it.
This applies to just about ALL self employed businesses. As you said its 24/7 all the responsibility lies on you, EVERYTHING.
Running a self employed business has its up sides for sure, it also has a lot of demands and responsibilities. Most people don't consider these things and thats why almost all small businesses and self employments fail.
My favorite part of your post is "learn, learn, learn"
Thanks for sharing~
SteemON!
You're so right! When I see a fellow photographer frustrated with a client, I can usually trace it back to something the photographer did wrong - whether it's not delivering a great product or just simply not communicating effectively.
Accepting that responsibility is particularly hard for some, I guess. Gotta learn from those mistakes so they are not made in vain! :)
Learning is the greatest!
Learn learn learn!
SteemON!
You mean to say I can't just start booking sessions because I bought a fancy DSLR?!
Actually, I completely agree with this article. It's been a phenomena that has really been gaining momentum, a I see a lot of people advertising their services but their portfolios are marginal at best.
It's best to take the time and take a few classes from a reputable teacher. Then, by all means, offer FREE sessions while you are building your reputation and clientele. THEN, after you have accomplished all that and you have people asking to hire you, I would bother with setting up the business license and all the legal documents.
To add additional credentials, you should become a wizard on photo editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom. After all that is done, I think you stand a chance at people taking you seriously as a professional photographer. You can buy all the toys, but without the knowledge, you can still have crappy results.
Bingo! I usually tell my students to learn Photoshop first, then lightroom. It's kind of like the difference between learning to drive an automatic vs. manual transmission on a vehicle. Ps has way more control and can do so much more for you if you learn it, but it's not an easy task. Lightroom is great for getting organized quickly, but you don't have nearly as much image editing power.
I also tell them to privately offer the free sessions while building their portfolio. This way, they get to pick their models and they won't be putting themselves in a position that makes it hard for them to start charging for sessions when they are ready. If you put it in the public's head that you are cheap or free, that is all they will ever expect. (This is something I wish I had known when starting out. Had to learn this one the hard way.)
Ahhhhh, excellent points @jazzyfish! I like you analogy of manual and automatic transmissions.
And yeah, I suppose you can privately ask friends and family first before even touching advertising for "free session". You could even ask for friends of friends so you can get some candid feedback. But you definitely have to build up the value for when you truly go professional. Thanks!
Holy cow... theres a LOT to learn, I wanted to be a professional photographer once...might give it a shot again
Lovely advice, i'm not a photographer but even I learned something from this little guide. "instead of one boss you have many bosses" very true.
That was an interesting read even for me who can't take a picture without putting his finger in front of lens.
Great post man, This is really helpful for newbies. I truly think when the passion comes from your heart, you don't need the best camera, or the most expensive lens, you just have to focus in your vision about what you want to transmit. Photography is a huge world, were you never gonna be able to learn all, theres always in somewhere, a person who probably have something to teach you. Thanks for this post, really like it.
It's a tough world out there for sure. Sensible tips.
So very true... I've has "pretty good" cameras since the earliest days of digital imaging; had 35mm SLRs before that and even to this day I consider myself to be "an enthusiastic guy with a camera," and NOT a photographer.
I have a lot of fun, but would never claim to be a "professional;" yet I see lots of people who couldn't shoot the inside of a plain white room claiming to be. I guess it's the "lure of easy money."
And from the graphic designer who has dealt with various photographers over the years:
Save your images uncompressed! Preferably raw!
And learn how to protect your highlights and shadows! Contrast is cool, but the most idiotic image editing I have seen has come from photographers.
That gets a bit more into the technical side of being an image creator of any kind, for sure. I plan on starting a new Basic Photography Tutorial series soon, and I'll definitely be going over those things.
Good. Maybe I should read them. I might also offer some hands on experience on making photography work.
The devil is in the details.
Great article. Thanks
This is so true.
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There's nothing wrong with instagram photos...
There's nothing wrong with Instagram photos as instagram photos. The whole point of instagram filters is to help those who don't know anything about photography feel like they've gotten artsy with their cell phone pics.
This look has no place in professional portrait photography as they do not print well, and the ultimate goal is to create a piece of art that looks amazing hanging on the wall.
I don't think there's anything wrong with Instagram filters until you try to offer a professional photography service using them.
Great points. I think the kicker to this issue is that it takes a special kind of jerk to ruin wedding pictures. I guess the really sad thing is the faux-tographers who don't think they've ruined anything. So, in addition to being jerks, they're also oblivious.
For sure. That's what I call the "they're just pictures" crowd - the people who don't realize what those photos are really going to be worth to someone 20 years from now.
ping @heart-to-heart Cece, check out the girl in the first picture of this post. I think she looks like you, haha! :D
I don't have a "real" camera. My wife asked why do i need one. I'm not going to be a professional photographer but still find this sort of entertaining and funny read.
So much great advice I don't know where to start, but the best is the quote above. You have so many people you have to answer to now. How many people are constantly looking at you, your body of work, and your niche. your reputation is everything. Working for yourself has many benefits, but it comes with lots of strings attached to. If I ever became interested in photography I would print this post and put it up and use it as a framework. Awesome awesome job!
Upvoted as aways
Congratulations!
Do not - I repeat, DO NOT 😀
I couldn't agree more... and I'd take this a step further..
this is relevant for ALL KINDS of freelance services and not limited to photography at all. Whether you want to become a writer, programmer or what-not... the advice above will serve you well!
For sure! You don't see your local restaurants tweeting, "Man, this family that came in today were just the worst! Screaming kids, food on the floor, crappy tip, the who nine yards!" haha!
Great post and Thanks for you advice.