trying to go professional is harder then i thought...

[azillian]

People still make music videos???

Yes.... they do. :???:

The video linked bellow is actually one that paid for most of my gear. My old boss Edward Martinez had a $65K budget, and i was his assistant at the time. I ended up getting the picture car in the opening scene (1952 Bentley w/ suicide doors), for free from my friends father, and i put down $2.5K for the budget and i kept it as well as the salary i was already being paid, lol yea, I can be sneaky.

 

[azillian]

5) If you want a website to generate some income there are websites that are setup which will provide you with a gallery, store page and payment processing features as well as printing and shipping. They'll do all the legwork; but you've in turn got to do lots in advertising yourself if you want to have any sales (simply putting up a website is NOT enough in today's market). I'd drop the name of the popular one but the name of it utterly escapes me at present

Could you possibly remember this website, or dig it up for me? Thank you in advance!

 

[azillian]

If i was you i would learn everything i could about your dads business ready to take over the reins when he retires and just enjoy photography as a hobby

I have two older brothers that are doing a really good job of running it already. My dad actually just retired so he's not even there anymore. I don't really plan on taking the reins there, there is no pressure to even do so, and as passionate as i am about cars, and as profitable as it is, i couldn't fix other peoples for a living for the rest of my life.

That is why i'm turning to Photography. I am passionate about it, i get to be around other things i'm passionate about on a daily basis (cars, fashion, people, music), and it's possible to make a living doing it.

 

[azillian]

A key to starting and maintaining a successful self-employed business is having a written business and marketing plan.

If you fail to plan, plan to fail.

I agree, and i have a general plan. I think deep down i know that photography isn't what's going to put food on the table for the rest of my life. I have a background in fashion. My ex gf was a designer and I did a lot with her in that industry and learned a ton, it's something I enjoy doing, creating clothes and designs for people to wear.

I eventually plan on starting my own brand (another saturated marked, i'm aware), and use my skills in photography and video making to make excellent content for the brand. After all, video and picture content is a very valuable asset to a business, especially fashion related brands, and i've worked with enough of them to know this.

Starting a brand costs money.... just like starting any kind of business. It's money i don't have right now, but i'm not worried because I know it will come, but before it comes my main focus is creating a FOLLOWING for my photography more then anything. I want to create a buzz around my stuff, and become social media famous in other words.

When my brand comes around my following is what is going to help my product be seen. I have contacts that will get my products on celebrities and what not, but even that doesn't generate a direct profit. But taking that picture of a celebrity and posting it somewhere where people can have a direct link to the product underneath the photo, THAT will generate sales.

So i guess my question is this: What is the best way to be seen and followed as a photographer??



AND BTW, can not thank you guys enough for the welcoming reply's and valuable information! This place is awesome! :hail:

 

[cgipson1]

So i guess my question is this: What is the best way to be seen and followed as a photographer??

If all the Aspiring Pro's here knew the answer to that question.. they would be doing it. All 600,000,000 of them!

The average full time Professional Photographer is lucky to make about 32,000 a year (before taxes)... and that doesn't sound like it fits the lifestyle you are used to... are you sure you want to even try?

Being a professional Photographer (or Professional Anything) is about the SKILLS you have (that you don't learn in a year or two), Business savvy (again... not a year or two.. and a business degree really helps!)... and HARD WORK (which is the opposite of why most people want to be a pro photographer in the first place... most think it is an easy, attractive, well paying job... but it isn't unless you are REALLY REALLY GOOD, or very lucky!)

Just buying a camera ( entry level or High End) does not qualify one to be a professional photographer, although no one will stop you from trying... lol!

 

[cgipson1]

Yes.... they do. :???:

The video linked bellow is actually one that paid for most of my gear. My old boss Edward Martinez had a $65K budget, and i was his assistant at the time. I ended up getting the picture car in the opening scene (1952 Bentley w/ suicide doors), for free from my friends father, and i put down $2.5K for the budget and i kept it as well as the salary i was already being paid, lol yea, I can be sneaky.

Sneaky? I would call that unethical, personally... but hey, call it what you want...

 

[amolitor]

It sounds like you're already plugged in to the fashion world, so I'd start there.

Demonstrate a consistent ability to deliver on time and with quality. Demonstrate a clear artistic vision. Unlike people selling portraits or wedding packages, you'll be dealing with people that know what an artistic vision is, so you damn well better have one or more handy. You'll probably also want to demonstrate an ability to duplicate other styles, as needed. Sometimes a client wants you, sometimes they want a knockoff of someone else, maybe with a little you mixed in.

You can probably figure out your own artistic vision yourself.

Copying others is about a) being able to read the lighting in a photograph quickly and easily and b) being able to guess at the post-processing.

Reading lighting is about observation. Look at the eyes, much of the light will be reflected there. Look at the backgrounds, the hair, look everywhere in the frame. Find all the lights and where they were. Estimate from the shadows how diffuse each light was. Practice, practice, practice (looking at pictures). I think there are many "strobist" web sites that have pictures together with the lighting setups. Look at the picture, guess at the lights, then look at the lighting setup. Keep at it, picture after picture. It's pretty easy to get pretty close, once you get the hang of it.

Guessing at post processing means: being able to read color balance and tonal placement, for the most part. If you can see how color and contrast are managed in post, you can get most of the way there toward duplicating a "look". Again, this is just practice. Go fool with a good photo editor. Adjust color balance, saturation, contrast. Use the curves tool. Desaturate specific color channels, not the whole thing. Learn how pictures behave under abuse.

All of this stuff will flow into you own artistic vision, and will help you clarify and define your ideas.

Oh yeah, you'll want a camera and you'll need to spend a couple hours figuring out how cameras work. They're pretty simple, though. You'll only get into trouble if you get the idea that this stuff is hard, and then, lo, it will become hard. Find a resource that makes it seem easy, and ignore the ones that complexify it for you.

 

[runnah]

This kid is gonna go far.

 

[amolitor]

He's already buyin' low and sellin' high.

 

[cgipson1]

It sounds like you're already plugged in to the fashion world, so I'd start there..

Having an ex-girlfriends who was a designer, makes you "plugged into the fashion world"? Then I should be a PRO Football Player.. since Bart Starr was married to my 2nd cousin! Wow.. the possibilities!

 

[runnah]

It sounds like you're already plugged in to the fashion world, so I'd start there..

Having an ex-girlfriends who was a designer, makes you "plugged into the fashion world"?

My neighbor's brother once saw Ralph Laruen at a rest stop in Boise Idaho.

 

[amolitor]

I was actually referring to the next paragraph, where the OP stated that he'd worked with several fashion related brands, Charlie. Did you bother to read the entire post? Why no, of course you did not.

 

[Overread14 2]

5) If you want a website to generate some income there are websites that are setup which will provide you with a gallery, store page and payment processing features as well as printing and shipping. They'll do all the legwork; but you've in turn got to do lots in advertising yourself if you want to have any sales (simply putting up a website is NOT enough in today's market). I'd drop the name of the popular one but the name of it utterly escapes me at present

Could you possibly remember this website, or dig it up for me? Thank you in advance!

Smugmug!

That's the name; though there are others out there doing a similar service. It's good for letting you put together a site and can also work for professional work if you need it to as they have private viewings and such. These services will cost you to use, but the cost is very low.

You can of course, build your own website to take orders and if you were doing very well you might find that its beneficial to build and maintain your own. However if its just odd sales and more of a portfolio then sites like Smugmug take a lot of the cost and work out of building professional and working website.

It really depends how far you want to go - if you really want to crack at the big business side consider these services, but also consider how they might limit you or cut into your potential sales; whilst also looking at website building (do you need to hire a designer) and also having and maintaining your own shop front and printing (that doesn't mean you have to print yourself, but means ensuring that you've a good trusting print house to output your product.

 

[cgipson1]

I was actually referring to the next paragraph, where the OP stated that he'd worked with several fashion related brands, Charlie. Did you bother to read the entire post? Why no, of course you did not.

23.. and

"

i worked at my fathers Mercedes Benz repair and auto body shop down the street from my house for the majority of my life until photography became more then just a hobby. In 2012 i decided to get a part time internship at a production company that a friend of mine worked at. While i was there i got to be behind SLR's and learn a lot about the industry, as well as get experience on music video set's and so on. I got to save up and purchase some pretty cool gear while working at my fathers part time and i've been shooting since on my own since.

In the last year since i've had my first SLR, the Mark iii (i'm a go big or go home kind of guy), I've managed to tour Europe twice, work a job at an online boutique shooting models and editing photos, shot two music videos of my own, and i've shot quite a lot of stills, some of women, some of friends, and obviously some of the 13 countries i visited. It's safe to say that my year has been busy.... but i've got some issues.

I had to quit my job at LeJolie.com (the boutique i was working for) to go on my last trip to Europe, so I'm currently unemployed in the photography industry, and back to working part time at my fathers to survive (i'm so blessed to have that to fall back on), and i'm not complaining because i still have time to figure things out and make some money with my photography.
l

Sounds like he has been very busy doing everything but Fashion.... and yes, I read the entire post... and SURE didn't see what you saw apparently....

Did you mean this? "After all, video and picture content is a very valuable asset to a business, especially fashion related brands, and i've worked with enough of them to know this." Again.. 23.. and spend his time touring Europe and working for his dad.. how did he find time to have "worked with enough of them to know this"

Not putting the OP down... but this really sounds odd.....

 

[Designer]

The video linked bellow is actually one that paid for most of my gear. My old boss Edward Martinez had a $65K budget, and i was his assistant at the time. I ended up getting the picture car in the opening scene (1952 Bentley w/ suicide doors), for free from my friends father, and i put down $2.5K for the budget and i kept it as well as the salary i was already being paid, lol yea, I can be sneaky.

Mr. Martinez may or may not care, but you'd better hope that he doesn't sue you. Now that you have admitted to fraud, and it's on the internet, he could see this quote at any time.