It is just impossible to get it off the ground!

[EAMArt]

They say, "oh you are starting out a photo business? I'll let you take my pictures, let me see your wedding work first."
.........but I'm a starting photographer........ I don't have a body of work..........
This is where I am at.. its like a "catch 22." The people want to help you but they want to see your work first. I just got an email from my high school friend that said, "sorry but my parents are paying for the photographer and they want an established one with a portfolio." And same thing goes for a second shooter. Everyone wants to see the body of work first.
Little help here plz.

 

[tirediron]

This can be tough, very tough; I feel your pain. Start with the easy stuff; advertise on Model Mayhem for girls with wedding & wedding-like dresses willing to shoot TF (Time for) to get some posed shots, and as for real wedding work, put an add up on Craig's List and similar 'sites offering to shoot free, explaining exactly why you are doing it. There are always couples who just plain can't afford a photographer. You can also contact photographers in your area and ask about being taken on as an 'intern' (read: "unpaid") or a second shooter.

 

[Overread15 3]

A few thoughts:

1) Invest in yourself; consider hiring models from sites such as Model Mayhem or other similar groups/resources. It will cost, but a handful of paid shoots and events with good models will work wonders - if you can get makeup as well that's even better. Remember the model isn't replacing your skill with the camera by looking good, they are showing what your photography does at its best.

2) Go free - free models or more typically trade for prints can be done through site like Model Mayhem - you'll get a fair few flakes who don't turn up, but do some research and get a few good models and you can do a good trade of skills with them and both parties can walk away with good photos to use in the various professions.
Again this is about giving you someone who knows how to stand and look at the camera so that you can show your best potential. It's going to cover your portraiture angles in your portfolio.

3a) Don't have a company name whilst getting your portfolio together - this is because you are likely doing free or low cost work at this stage and you don't want to market yourself as a company early on in that market sector because its basically unprofitable (free won't pay your rent). Keep the company name until you've a skill set and portfolio setup which can target the market group you want to market toward and let the company start out as you mean to be.

b) A word on fees - many people think they can start a company and charge cheap rates; then push them up when "they've got the experience/market." The problem is when you shift prices up significantly you lose your original market of customers; one or two might stick around, but most of them (and most of your referrals from them) will now find your prices too high and will seek photography elsewhere and you've got to build your whole market up again from scratch. So start out where you mean to be - you can always give discount or earlybird reductions on your stated fees early on to encourage customers, but keep the actual fees set where you want them.

4) Once you've got some solid portrait work you should be in a much stronger position to approach photographers to second shoot - or you could even consider interning/apprenticing under them. Learn the ropes of the company side of things and also gain experience without putting your business and name at risk. You might even find that working for a company and doing the photography is far better than running the company (where you've got to balance books and run a business not just shoot with a camera).

5) When rejected to second shoot always ask why - in a polite tone of course. You want info from them as to why; were you just in a sea of applicants and not lucky or were there clear problems in your personal presentation or your portfolio.

 

[pixmedic]

moving thread to the aspiring professionals forum.

starting out is tough. need a portfolio to get business, need business to get a portfolio.
try starting with some free work for friends and family and build a portrait portfolio.
look on Craigslist. TONS of people looking to get pictures done for free/CHEAP.
(any ad looking for photographers that want to get experience or portfolio pics pretty much means you will be working for free)
model mayhem is always an option as well, but unless you are doing a trade for deal, it will cost you money.

 

[12sndsgood]

All very good options above. I went the Model Mayhem route to get started and I have never had to pay for a model. You can get trade for models all day long. You can pay for a higher quality model and get someone more professional and who knows posing, but for me I decided most of my work will be done for clients who don't know how to pose so I had no problem working with newer models and working on learning posing as I go to add to my skills. once you start doing those shoots you will normally start getting to know more and more models and find people you can work with, I probably am friends with 60 or so models now on Facebook that if I want to try something new out I just put out a post on there and see who is available. I have even picked up paid work thru jobs and people that the models know of. and thru that, open houses at local studios I started getting to know other photographers in the area and getting into Facebook groups with them for finding work. one is a wedding photographer group where if someone is approached with a wedding they can't book they will tell the others about it and find someone to send to the couple as an alternative. Another way of generating work, and they also look for second's too shoot for them when they are needed. so don't be afraid to friend other photographers. Just slowly start building up your work.

Ovvereard also hit the nail on the head about fees. don't start cheap and work your way up. set your prices of where you want to be from day 1. then when you want to work you offer discounts. I do 50% off shoots a lot now still starting out. the client knows what my full price is and knows they are getting a big discount and they are happy. as I get more work my discounts are slowly becoming less and less as I become more established. And I always make sure I tell them I will give them a discount for the shoot and tell them my price so they always know what my normal price is.

 

[KmH]

Yep, it's pretty much impossible to get a business off the ground if you do not have a plan in place for doing so.

One of the initial business plan tasks is going through the body of photography work you already have, and putting together a portfolio of images that represent the type of photography the business will specialize in.
If you don't have the right type of images, you need to make a body of work that represents the type of images the business will do.

Model Mayhem is one approach, as is staging a wedding or two using rented wedding attire and models.

You've likely heard the saying, "It takes money to make money."

It is almost impossible to start a photography business without having some funding available, either already in the bank or from another income source to support the business until it consistently generates a positive revenue stream.

Starting & Managing a Business | SBA.gov
Free Small Business Advice | How-to Resources | Tools | Templates | SCORE

How to Start a Home-based Wedding Photography Business (Home-Based Business Series)
How to Start a Home-Based Photography Business, 6th (Home-Based Business Series)
Going Pro: How to Make the Leap from Aspiring to Professional Photographer

 

[EAMArt]

WOW!!! Thank you so much for all the comments! I feel like I hit gold by finding this website and you guys.
(pixmedict - thank you for moving this post in to its proper location.)
I just looked in to Model Mayhem for the first time. Never knew of this website. I will see what I can get from “trade for deal” and I am defiantly willing to put in some money. How much should I offer?
I am also not afraid to work for free and I been posting on CL for three months now explaining what I want to do but never got anyone. My friends are camera shy and keep on flaking out on me.
I also tried contacting a few photographers, but I want to hold off on that until I get a body of work that I am happy(ish) with. I don’t want to be the annoying person:
“Hey, remember me? I emailed you a month ago and you totally ignored me. I get it – I’m not mad or hurt or think you are a -…. My stuff was bad then but look at me now!”
Naa, I’ll wait till spring. By then I hope I’ll have something to show.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Are you trying to set up specifically a wedding photography business? - that's the impression I'm getting from the thread but I didn't see in the OP if you said that. I find it understandable why your friend's parents are not going to spend the kind of money it takes to hire a pro wedding photographer on someone who doesn't yet have wedding photos to show.

What are you photographing now? Is that giving you what you need for a portfolio? If not maybe you need to think about what could give you photos to show that you could handle responsibilities as a second shooter; then eventually to do a wedding on your own. I think you're probably looking at years to build up a reputation depending on the quality of your work and competition in your area.