I am trying to become professional photographer

NatalieValerie · Feb 26, 2014

I am trying to become a professional photographer but all i know i learn from YouTube tutorials

you might will just laugh at my pictures but if somebody will give me right advice i will be appreciate.

vipgraphx · Feb 26, 2014

Buy a D800 and your about half way. Buy a 70-200 2.8 lens and your are all the way there. Now start up a Facebook page and advertise your services. Charge top dollar and WALA professional photographer over night.

NatalieValerie · Feb 26, 2014

I satisfied with d 7000 actually i will buy something else one day but not now

i am wondering why this forum does not let me post my pict

tecboy · Feb 26, 2014

Did you click on the icon that says "insert image?" Is your photo jpeg?

MitchStrp · Feb 26, 2014

You said professional.. D7000 is not a professional camera. Professionalism in this industry does cost despite what others might say. Obviously anyone could drop 10k on pro equipment but the skill must be there as well. Now a days people pick up a camera and learn the exposure triangle and automatically are "professionals" what does that title actually do for you as of right now? Just be happy being behind a camera and continue learning, if you end up succeeding then great you are a "pro" if not, well then its not for you.

tirediron · Feb 27, 2014

What kind of professional photographer? Sports? Fashion? Family? Commercial? At this point your equipment matters very little, the D7000 is fine for learning, but your question is so general as to be unanswerable. What area(s) of photography do you want advice on?

EIngerson · Feb 27, 2014

Subscribing.

mmaria · Feb 27, 2014

EIngerson said:
Subscribing.

lol!

Judobreaker · Feb 27, 2014

MitchStrp said:
You said professional.. D7000 is not a professional camera. Professionalism in this industry does cost despite what others might say. Obviously anyone could drop 10k on pro equipment but the skill must be there as well. Now a days people pick up a camera and learn the exposure triangle and automatically are "professionals" what does that title actually do for you as of right now? Just be happy being behind a camera and continue learning, if you end up succeeding then great you are a "pro" if not, well then its not for you.

Define 'professional' camera.
A good photographer can create stunning images with a D7000, it's a really nice camera.

EIngerson · Feb 27, 2014

"If you can't take fantastic images with todays camera's, you're a moron." ~ a very smart and talented dude said.

weepete · Feb 27, 2014

How about starting with a class at your local college then? I know from reading some posts on here that some manage to start as a photographers assistant and work their way up from there after a number of years, but I would have thought that if you seriously want to go pro then you should make a good attempt at learning the basics first.

Gavjenks · Feb 27, 2014

Did you click on the icon that says "insert image?" Is your photo jpeg?

Dude. She's a soon to be professional. Think about who you're talking to!

@OP: In all seriousness, the D7000 is perfectly fine to use profesionally, if you know what you're doing. What you need is not a better camera. What you need is to stop watching youtube quite so much (some is good, exclusively no) and practice, no matter how good you are or aren't right now.

JoeW · Feb 27, 2014

Okay, you've got a career goal. Let me offer some advice...there are at least two general areas you need to get a lot deeper/knowledgable about: taking photos/creating photos and then the profession of photography as a business.

As for taking photos, others (like Gavjenks and Judobreaker) have pointed out, the D7000 is going to be more than fine for where you are right now. YouTube is a start but it's nowhere the best resource for learning how to get better at this. Willing to expose yourself to criticism and feedback is critical--you can't grow as an artist and professional unless you're willing to hear (and learn) from comments other than compliments. Look at how you learn best....books? classes? video? If you're really a video person (I'm not--I learn better from books) then check out Adorama TV...lots of very short, practical videos on a range of subjects and Bryan Peterson is a great guy...if you like his videos than you'll want to check out some of his books. But the other thing is to start giving yourself assignments. Give yourself a shooting assignment each week. Maybe this week it's to shoot using DoF. Next week it's to shoot using negative space. Maybe the week after it's 30 different perspectives (without using photoshop) of a common household object (like a pencil). The week after it's maybe shots that convey movement. Don't just go shoot (though that's a good thing to do), give yourself a focus and an assignment to judge yourself against.

Second, there are plenty of people who produce great photos who don't cut it in business. So you need to learn about photography as a business. For instance, in my experience, almost every successful pro is someone who has a niche. I know of a couple of very successful wedding photographers and 80-98% of their business is nothing but weddings. I know of two photographers who make livings shooting nothing but pets (and not just pets, one is nothing but agility competitions and pet portraits). Another photographer who specializes in office space and architecture. Another who has a business (with a bunch of subcontractors/temporary hires) shooting youth sports teams. Everyone who does this professionally will tell you that they're a businessman/woman first and foremost. So classes on marketing (not sales but marketing), business planning, taxes, the law (and how it applies to photography and a small business) are all relevant to you. You're going to need to become good at post processing (even if you have an assistant do that, you need to know enough to be able to project what can be done to a photograph, if it's savable, how time consuming it will be to edit it) for your pricing decisions as well as organizing a workflow. Whatever your niche is, you're going to need to focus on it...if you shoot weddings that you're going to spend a lot of time talking to wedding planners, locations that host weddings, caterers, tux rental shops...probably more time than you spend talking to other photographers. You'll immerse yourself in your niche so you become known as the local resource for photography for your speciality.

NatalieValerie · Feb 27, 2014

Automatically bad advice so you are saying when you decide to become a photographer first thing you did its you drop 10 k for equipment ? Do y realize that i know at least 3 famous photographers taking pict only using camera no extra equipment or even flash ? One of them saith extra equipment is not letting you to catch a lot of moments sins you more concern about carrying stuff or do not loose them Anyone can make great pict with 10k studio you try to create something with what you have and than you can move forward buying expensive camera

EIngerson · Feb 27, 2014

NatalieValerie said:
Automatically bad advice so you are saying when you decide to become a photographer first thing you did its you drop 10 k for equipment ? Do y realize that i know at least 3 famous photographers taking pict only using camera no extra equipment or even flash ? One of them saith extra equipment is not letting you to catch a lot of moments sins you more concern about carrying stuff or do not loose them Anyone can make great pict with 10k studio you try to create something with what you have and than you can move forward buying expensive camera

I changed my mind. Go back to school. That was painful to read.