20 Myths About Becoming A Professional...

[PhotoWrangler]

Very, Very, VERY good read.

20 Myths About Becoming a Pro Photographer (And their solutions!)

 

[tirediron]

Excellent, thanks for posting this.

 

[12sndsgood]

i personally like #18 and #19 ive had around 4 friends all start a "photography" business who have under a years worth of experience under there belts.

 

[Ballistics]

I don't know about #19 being a myth. In fact, my school provided a study regarding photography jobs and it is estimated within the next few years that there will be more jobs than photographers. #6 is also a tad confusing.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Very, Very, VERY good read.

20 Myths About Becoming a Pro Photographer (And their solutions!)

Bookmarked

 

[Noxire]

11# = Classic

 

[mc1979]

Thanks for posting a link to this site, I'm really liking ALL the articles

 

[KmH]

If they ever get their web site to work right, I'll read through those.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Yes, good link. But haven't most of those points been gone over and over and over right here on TPF? And this article has one major flaw: it makes the same assumption about photography that most beginners and so many members here do, the only photography out there is retail. And that is just so wrong and stupid. There are plenty of ways to make money in photography so long as you stay out of retail. Not to say you can't make money in retail but it is getting harder all the time.

But there is so much more than retail out there. You do need to know what you are doing, however, to get into the other areas. You may also need a lot of contacts in the business that is going to bring you clients and a big chunk of money to plunk down to get a serious studio going. But not always.

A friend of mine works in Insurance Photography. He has no studio because the disasters he photographs are not portable. He has to go to them. But he has two trucks full of gear ready to go at a moment's notice. Of course, we are not talking about shooting the Mrs's jewelry for an insurance contract here. He shoots industrial and other business mishaps. Major ones. He's had to use more than 50 strobes on a single shoot because there is a shipyard that calls on him where a single little flash unit is just not going to cut it.

Let's get real here. The main problem is that most people are dreaming. When photography is a serious business, it requires serious knowledge backed by a serious investment. I've mentioned what my new studio costs me in other threads. I won't repeat it. It doesn't matter. Even if you had the money to plunk down, you may not get the clients. Sorry. 75% of my work is automotive, 20% is music and the last 5% is misc.

You can get the extra 5% easily enough but the automotive part comes from years of my family being involved in the industry and the contacts I've made from that. The music chunk comes from my own history and it's contacts no one can recreate. At least not without spending the time with new musicians.

But if members stopped looking at me as a snob and, instead, started looking in what contacts they have because of their present life, and how those can relate to photography, they may well figure out how to make a living out of it.



That said, a couple thoughts about the article:

Myth #11 = So true. Same about the location photogs. Too cheap to have a studio. Plus they may not know how to use light because they also often are natural light photos at the same time.

Myth 17 = Now that's one that I don't remember seeing addressed here before. 99% of photographers' blogs I've read are as boring as can be. Not to mention that most of them are not even kept up to date on enough of a regular basis so they just look plain silly.

 

[jake337]

Yes, good link. But haven't most of those points been gone over and over and over right here on TPF? And this article has one major flaw: it makes the same assumption about photography that most beginners and so many members here do, the only photography out there is retail. And that is just so wrong and stupid. There are plenty of ways to make money in photography so long as you stay out of retail. Not to say you can't make money in retail but it is getting harder all the time.

But there is so much more than retail out there. You do need to know what you are doing, however, to get into the other areas. You may also need a lot of contacts in the business that is going to bring you clients and a big chunk of money to plunk down to get a serious studio going. But not always.

A friend of mine works in Insurance Photography. He has no studio because the disasters he photographs are not portable. He has to go to them. But he has two trucks full of gear ready to go at a moment's notice. Of course, we are not talking about shooting the Mrs's jewelry for an insurance contract here. He shoots industrial and other business mishaps. Major ones. He's had to use more than 50 strobes on a single shoot because there is a shipyard that calls on him where a single little flash unit is just not going to cut it.

Let's get real here. The main problem is that most people are dreaming. When photography is a serious business, it requires serious knowledge backed by a serious investment. I've mentioned what my new studio costs me in other threads. I won't repeat it. It doesn't matter. Even if you had the money to plunk down, you may not get the clients. Sorry. 75% of my work is automotive, 20% is music and the last 5% is misc.

You can get the extra 5% easily enough but the automotive part comes from years of my family being involved in the industry and the contacts I've made from that. The music chunk comes from my own history and it's contacts no one can recreate. At least not without spending the time with new musicians.

But if members stopped looking at me as a snob and, instead, started looking in what contacts they have because of their present life, and how those can relate to photography, they may well figure out how to make a living out of it.



That said, a couple thoughts about the article:

Myth #11 = So true. Same about the location photogs. Too cheap to have a studio. Plus they may not know how to use light because they also often are natural light photos at the same time.

Myth 17 = Now that's one that I don't remember seeing addressed here before. 99% of photographers' blogs I've read are as boring as can be. Not to mention that most of them are not even kept up to date on enough of a regular basis so they just look plain silly.

People often do forget there are other objects besides people that can make you damn good money. This is a member from another forum, but I would love to be in his shoes....or on his yacht.
Claris image builder, agence de publicite, photographie internet et presse Bordeaux, video, web agency, photo, communication, advertisement, agency

 

[Futurelight]

Thank you for doing this. I will read it later Much appreciated!

 

[camz]

Hey what's wrong with natural light photographers?

Honestly what caught me by surprise pursuing this business is the use of SEO. I was totally clueless about this marketing tool and didn't take advantage until we revamped 3 years ago. We use to be completely 100% based via referrals and I must admit SEO did help quite a bit with activity and revenue. And whoever says it doesn't is completely clueless. From back links, to tags, bookmarks etc, it will improve you're money making contact and revenue stream to your web base portfolio, website or blog.

I know now in the industry everyone and their mama is trying to get on the first page of search engines via "SEO Specialists". However, I think that's not the end all be all tool to SEO; key to marketing using SEO can still be optimized by the photographer themselves by remaining within your market of both clients and fellow vendors. Linking to vendors blogs, using place pages, adwords, facebook, writing articles, tagging venues - all within the local market. It is a very useful tool and I think one that is over alot of photographers heads, I know it was for mine.

Chris best article I seen in this forum regarding the pro business. I would like it but it won't let me...

 

[PhotoWrangler]

I rather liked the article because of the way it was written. It didn't just say "you can't make money", it stated the myth and then offered solutions to the issues presented.

 

[TenaciousTins]

I like articles like this because I can share them and show people WHY I do NOT call myself a professional and why I do not want to BE a professional. I love what I do. I want to continue to love what I do. I will learn how to use lighting and other equipment to better what I do. And maybe someday, I will go to school for it. But I don't think so. If I had to invest that much time, effort, and money into it, I probably wouldn't enjoy it anymore. I have several photographer friends who do very well and I refer people to them when my "just a bit better than snapshot" pictures won't suffice for their needs. I enjoy doing photo shoots for friends and people who can't afford a professional and aren't all that concerned about the pictures being "like the ones from that photographer". That gains me experience and keeps my interest piqued. People do compliment me...a LOT. I have had professional photographers compliment me and tell me I should go for it. But I know myself well and I wouldn't enjoy it at this point. Add to that that I don't have extra money to throw at expensive equipment (much as I would LOVE to, and am building up what I have slowly)...and I think I'll stay where I'm at, thanks anyway "people who think I should make money from it".

 

[blackrose89]

Pretty interesting. I do think it comes way too much of the perspective of retail photography. There are so many fields that hire photographers that don't require a studio and have job listings (Real Estate photographers insurance adjusters etc). Some places have equipment of theirs that you use. My cousin is a police officer and their photographers that photograph injuries and such use the studio that is available on the premises. Hell, if you want to learn the equipment any JC Pennys, Target, Wal-mart studios will hire people clueless to the field, train using their equipment. You won't make much money, but it's start.

One point that I think he should've brought up more is that you need to be able to accept the fact that the field you love may not be practicle if you're simply in it to make it. He dabbled a little bit in that subject when he talked about needing to do what the client wants. Let's say you love urban photography, just because you love it doesn't mean you'll get a job in that field. You may to have settle working for a jewelry company photographing their products, or a real estate photographer. Being flexible to what is in demand is important.

For me, I started photography school about 2 months ago. Pretty much I've learned parts of a camera, photography terminology, and what light is. Next we start going into image design and what is an acceptable photo and what is it not. From what I have learned and have a feel for so far, I think I'm leaning towards working for a company. A lot of my family is in the police force so I think I'd like to work for our police district. Crime scenes, Jails, sex crime unit etc.