Wildlife photography full time job, where to start?

[Breezy85]

You will need a lot of luck and your pictures will have to be perfect, no room for error. Specialising in just one subject will make it even harder for you.

I second this. Which is why I have still not made a full time living out of concert photography in the 4 years I've been pushing through it.

 

[ac12]

Tasks for this year:
1. I will go to a local wildlife conservation group and join them, and to be helpful as I can, to be an active member. I have to look what kinds are out there and to chose wisely. I have to give something to get something. My logic is if I´m out there with biologists I will learn a lot of those animals, behavior, location, how to find it...
2. Search for local wildlife/nature/conservation photography contests, apply, meet people, exchange experience, learn from them...
3. Shoot nice images and make a portfolio.

Excellent goals.
Look for magazines/periodical pamphlets written by local/regional organisations and (once you've gained some insight) write an article about photography ie. "The Do'd and Don'ts of wildlife photography" or "Wildlife Photography 101" etc.
Being published (even if in a small periodical) with a well written article or two is also quite impressive for some clients and will aid in the appearance (if nothing else) of knowledge and respect in your field.

Good luck.

Yes, I taught about magazines, I´m a little scared that it will be hard because I live in Germany and I don´t speak this language perfectly. I´m from Serbia and I went to Hungarian school. It can be done but I´m scared that it will slow me down. I thought about this magazine thing and I think it´s a great thing to do, maybe it´s something that I should always do, sometimes to write small articles with big beautiful picture about the local wildlife, but first I have to improve my language knowledge to that level.

You need a lot of time in the field #1 studying the wildlife and #2 determining how to best take photos of them.
1 day a week is just not enough time to get that experience.

For writing.
Find a friend that is GOOD with the language and partner with him/her to do or edit your writing.
And ALWAYS ALWAYS have someone proof your stuff. A 2nd set of eyes will find mistakes that you miss.

Be very careful on language. In Europe there are many different languages, and words and terms in one language may not translate well to other languages. Even in the US, the language/terms that some of the younger people use is offensive to me. And those people do not realize the effect of their words to others not of their generation or group.

If you publish something, it NEEDS to be GOOD and ACCURATE.
Not the garbage that some people put out on the internet.
Remember, once it is published, it is out there for all to see, errors and all.
Your reputation for workshops and expeditions will be based in part on what people find about you on the internet and published.

Presentation is very bit as important as content. There are people on YouTube that I cannot stand watching, because their presentation is so bad/irritating, that it destroys whatever value is in the content. So I ignore them.
Reputation is hard to build and easy to destroy. And once destroyed, even harder to rebuild.

BTW, for workshops, if you do not speak German well (or at least decently), and that is who would be attending the workshops, then how will you communicate with them? This is part of presentation.

 

[ac12]

BTW, what you want and what you can do are two different things.
As others have said, the business of photography is HARD.
No matter what I felt, I made the decision that photography as a full time business was not appropriate for me.
I will keep it as a hobby or a very small side business.

 

[LK_Nature_Photography]

BTW, what you want and what you can do are two different things.

I came from Serbia, there I had 300€ payment as a driver for a fabric which made some cookies. Before that, I worked as a salesman for lots of different stores for 200-250€. In school I learned English, I loved this language and I learned it with ease. I have grammatic errors, but I can read, speak and write in English.

When I wanted to go to Germany to work, my dad said: "from what would you live". I had no money, he couldn´t give me too. I learned the German language to A2 level in one month, so I could get a job and make my life a little more livable. That was 5 years ago. Now I speak normally, I can read and write in German language but that isn´t enough for writing adventure stories and scientific stuff to the magazine. So, I need to learn at least to C1 level. Now I know 4 languages, 2 of them perfectly Serbian and Hungarian.

In Serbia, I had a point and shoot camera Canon SX120IS. When this camera came out, I gave almost my whole loan to buy it. Before that, I had a Zenith-E from my grandpa, before that I used my cellphones to take pictures. Every picture that I took it was from a bee, flower, tree, ants, birds... you name it. When I came here to Germany after 4 years of being here I stabilized my financial state and I have now something that I ever wanted, a real DSLR camera, in Serbia that was just a dream for me. Now I have 2 DSLRs, few lens, and a lot of other equipment.

I think I made some good steps toward it, now I need to go out and to practice a lot. So please, don´t tell me what I can´t.

You need a lot of time in the field #1 studying the wildlife and #2 determining how to best take photos of them.
1 day a week is just not enough time to get that experience.

I wanted to be a biologist, I never stopped reading encyclopedias, National Geographic magazine, and researching some species which interested me. I know 1 day it´s not enough, that is why sometimes I have to sleep outside.

For writing.
Find a friend that is GOOD with the language and partner with him/her to do or edit your writing.
And ALWAYS ALWAYS have someone proof your stuff. A 2nd set of eyes will find mistakes that you miss.

That is something that I must to do.

Be very careful on language. In Europe there are many different languages, and words and terms in one language may not translate well to other languages. Even in the US, the language/terms that some of the younger people use is offensive to me. And those people do not realize the effect of their words to others not of their generation or group.

Knowing 4 totally different languages I´m familiar with that.

If you publish something, it NEEDS to be GOOD and ACCURATE.
Not the garbage that some people put out on the internet.
Remember, once it is published, it is out there for all to see, errors and all.
Your reputation for workshops and expeditions will be based in part on what people find about you on the internet and published.

I´m not that type... I know it has to be the truth, and to be careful of others too, because others can make my reputation bad with there lies or some wird comment...

Presentation is very bit as important as content. There are people on YouTube that I cannot stand watching, because their presentation is so bad/irritating, that it destroys whatever value is in the content. So I ignore them.
Reputation is hard to build and easy to destroy. And once destroyed, even harder to rebuild.

I´m aware of that too. If you want you can check my YouTube videos on my channel, just click on the YouTube link below. It is a young and new channel, the videos are "behind the scene" type Vlog, about nature, places that I visit and photography.

BTW, for workshops, if you do not speak German well (or at least decently), and that is who would be attending the workshops, then how will you communicate with them? This is part of presentation.

I think it is going to be international, so I´ll speak the language which can the majority understand.

Thak you for the tips and concerns.

 

[ac12]

Have you really studied what the market is for a wildlife photographer where you live?
Is there really a market for your services?
And is the market big enough to support yourself full-time, at the same time that you have other photographers out there doing the same thing?

 

[KmH]

Few wanting to start a photography business do the necessary first step - Research and write a business/marketing plan.
how to make a business plan - Yahoo Search Results

 

[LK_Nature_Photography]

Have you really studied what the market is for a wildlife photographer where you live?

Yes, there is no market for a wildlife photographer.

Is there really a market for your services?

It could be, but not for the local people.

And is the market big enough to support yourself full-time, at the same time that you have other photographers out there doing the same thing?

Not from one thing, but from more things, maybe. I won't quit my job unless I can live out of it.
AC12, are you a wildlife photographer? Do you have a portfolio, to show me your work?
I mentioned before that it can last 10 years till it happens, till then I´ll try to do some things toward it. I read a book "The One Thing" it´s a book that can help to set your mind for business, I like the domino effect and I started to build it and to build some ground things for the ONE thing. I´m not in a hurry, I´m doing it from my heart and every single minute when I can. Just like yesterday and before that I was in the local forest photographing badgers. If you are following me on my YouTube channel then you'll see tomorrow the badger photos.

Few wanting to start a photography business do the necessary first step - Research and write a business/marketing plan.
how to make a business plan - Yahoo Search Results

Thanks for the advice, I´ll do that.

 

[zombiesniper]

Any updates?

Love to hear how it's progressing.

 

[Derrel]

Any updates?

Love to hear how it's progressing.

The OP WAS LAST seen here in October of 2019.

 

[weepete]

There's a link on his profile to his facebook page, then from there to his website. Looks like he's doing weddings and portraits though he's still got some widlife shots on his facebook.