Becoming a real professional?

[DGMPhotography]

Hey guys,

So I've been doing photography for almost 6 years now. And I've been here on The Photo Forum for almost as long. About 1-2 years ago I began pushing the business side of things, and about 3 months ago I quit my full time job at the bank to pursue photography and acting.

The other night I went out shooting the Perseid meteor shower with a photographer acquaintance and her husband. They both gave me a lot of insight on how to really step up my business. For one, I've been way undercharging myself. And I've been doing that because I've been ignorant. I didn't think the Richmond market had people who could afford more than what I'd been charging. But a testimony from her told me otherwise. She does mostly weddings and is charging $2,500/wedding (which I know is about standard) and has about 20 booked this year. To date, I had been charging about $600 for a wedding. She looked at my work and told me I could be charging way more. She and I have been shooting for about the same amount of time, and our work is on a similar level of quality I think. (Hers: Kourtney Smithson – Wedding & Lifestyle Photography | Richmond, Va ; Mine: Daryll Morgan Photography | Richmond Photographer). I guess I had never really thought about it. I thought I wasn't good enough. And who knows, maybe I'm not, but at least now my eyes have been opened so I can try new things.

And charging more is also inspiring me to do my best with each shoot, and to add on things that make working with me not just a way to get a photos, but also a pleasurable experience. I plan to do things like sending a gift basket to the brides to be with stuff to help them prepare for the wedding, and to thank them for working with me. I plan to upgrade to a digital gallery system instead of Google Drive. I plan to go above and beyond what I've been doing to make sure the client is happy. Until now, it had just been a job to me. While the art form has always been the primary focus for me as a photographer, whenever I had a gig, I considered it just a source of income. But now I'm inspired as an entrepreneur and want to make the client's happiness a priority of mine as well.

I also learned from the pictures we took that night just HOW much of a difference good glass can make. I thought my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 was good, but comparing my shots, to hers (she had an L-series 16-35mm. 2.8/f) showed me what an amazing difference the quality of glass can make. I always knew it was important, but never tangibly realized how important. And charging more will allow me to invest in things like that (here's looking at you AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm F2.8G ED from Nikon)

This post doesn't really have much of a point. I just wanted to vent. But if anyone has any thoughts, comments, or advice, I'd be happy to hear it.

Thanks!

 

[Designer]

The first gift basket needs to go to Kourtney Smithson.

 

[DGMPhotography]

The first gift basket needs to go to Kourtney Smithson.

Haha, no worries. She knows how thankful I am for her advice, and I will be certain to pay her back.

 

[SquarePeg]

Good for you for pursuing your dreams and determining to give 110%. Best of luck with your new business!

 

[astroNikon]

you've been shooting wedding with this ?
Nikon D750 | 50mm f/1.8 | 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 | 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

 

[tirediron]

Go get 'em!

 

[DGMPhotography]

you've been shooting wedding with this ?
Nikon D750 | 50mm f/1.8 | 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 | 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

Yep. Mostly the 50mm though.

Daryll Morgan Photography | Richmond Photographer

 

[pixmedic]

you've been shooting wedding with this ?
Nikon D750 | 50mm f/1.8 | 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 | 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

Yep. Mostly the 50mm though.

Daryll Morgan Photography | Richmond Photographer

for ~$1k you can get a used Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8
owned both and loved both. great lenses.
sigma has similar offerings for around the same price.
worth the money.
I also used the heck out of my 85mm.
for wider angles, you can get 17-35 f/2.8-4 lenses pretty cheap. (didnt use that one as much though)

 

[DGMPhotography]

you've been shooting wedding with this ?
Nikon D750 | 50mm f/1.8 | 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 | 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

Yep. Mostly the 50mm though.

Daryll Morgan Photography | Richmond Photographer

for ~$1k you can get a used Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8
owned both and loved both. great lenses.
sigma has similar offerings for around the same price.
worth the money.
I also used the heck out of my 85mm.
for wider angles, you can get 17-35 f/2.8-4 lenses pretty cheap. (didnt use that one as much though)

I'll have to look into that!

 

[acparsons]

Good luck!!! I'm be looking at going pro when I move to the US.

 

[reberra]

Good Luck Bro!! keep it up, i will go through it also.

 

[DGMPhotography]

Thanks, yall

 

[KmH]

Starting & Managing a Business | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov

SCORE | Free Small Business Advice

 

[Vtec44]

The key is always how do you get people to see the value in you and your photos. It's the perceived value that I have always talked about on this forum, and a few people have called it BS.

Welcome to the business of selling intangibles.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I wondered at first if I had the wrong person in mind and took a look at your profile page, so now I know I did have the right person in mind. It seems like this would be maybe the third job you'd be quitting in I guess a year or two since school? I don't know what your major was but maybe you should think about what you can do to figure out what you'd like to do and where to go from here.

This idea seems unrealistic. The money the other photographer makes might sound good but if you go into business yourself you won't have benefits, so you'd have to pay your own taxes since it won't be withheld by an employer, would need to provide for your own insurance, retirement, etc. Which isn't something anyone thinks about much probably at your age but at some point it's going to be necessary to consider and include in a business plan.

Photography itself doesn't seem to be a likely job or career for that many people to support themselves. I'm not sure that it ever was, and in recent years even less so. It seems to more of a sideline for most people. You seem to have ability but would probably benefit from continuing to develop skills. Your friend seems to be having success booking weddings but there are photos on her site that seem to still need improvement as I see what seems to have been editing done to correct for inconsistencies in quality. Which indicates to me being on a learning curve where the work is good but could be better in time. I suppose the average potential client won't necessarily see it but continuing to improve would help in being successful to be competitive with established photographers for this to be a long term career.

And acting? that doesn't necessarily seem like a lucrative job either but I don't know what experience you have in that.

I hope you can find a job or career choice that you'd enjoy and be a good way to support yourself. Photography may not be the best choice for fulltime work, but could develop into that in the future.