Aspiring professional with questions? Read on!
I periodically get PMs from people asking me questions about what it takes to become a professional photographer. The inquiry in itself doesn’t bother me, but the specific questions that are asked sometimes do. Believe it or not, the most common PM I get is “I want to make money from photography like you do and get good looking pictures to give to clients, what camera do you use?” Never any mention of years of experience, suggestions, tips, portfolio, etc. Just “I want to make money, what camera do I need to make that happen?” Seems the digital age has turned anyone who has a right index finger into a professional photographer.
After two such questions waiting for me when I woke up the morning, I thought it might be time to create a stickied thread with some basic information for all of you aspiring professional photographers out there. It’s very long, but hopefully worth the read to some of you.
My disclaimer is as follows: I have been shooting photos since I was 5 and won my first camera in a coloring contest. I’ve been seriously into photography for a little over 9 years. I have been a ‘pro’ for about 5. I spent two years pursuing post secondary education in photojournalism and shoot everything from weddings to portraits to events to products to artwork, all for both money and pleasure. I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve also put in a lot of time learning, practicing and working my butt off. There are others on here that are pros as well, and I’m willing to wager they will weigh in on this thread with their own experiences. If this thread interests you, read on.
The basic definition of a professional of any field is someone who gets paid to do what they do. So as long as someone can find a person willing to pay them (no matter how researched or unresearched their choice might be) for photography services, then technically, I guess that would make them a professional photographer. That being said, I think you’d generally be laughed out of the industry if you claimed you were a pro because someone bought one print of a photo you took of their car on a cruise or your friend floated you a couple extra bucks for shooting some pictures at their budget wedding. There’s a lot more that should (and does) go into the actual profession of photography.
First of all, let’s clear up the biggest myth in the world of photography. I’ve been a crusader against people with this mentality for many years and find it’s only amateurs who disagree with me. BUYING A LOT OF EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL TAKE AMAZING PHOTOS! I think most of the ‘pros’ on here started (and some continue to use) film cameras to learn their basics or shoot their photos. Back when a lot of us started, that’s all there was. Megapixels and all that other digital crap you read in camera manuals and read about in equipment reviews doesn’t mean much when it comes to taking a good photo. I started my ‘pro’ career in the digital world with a camera body that most people would laugh at these days, I couldn’t even sell it now if I tried, but it still gave me some damn good shots. I know a photographer who took a fantastic photo while at the beach one day on a cheap 3 megapixel clunker DSLR and he’s grossed over $11 million on that one photo alone, because it was a GREAT photograph taken literally at the split second perfect time and because he knew what to do to get the shot. A good photographer is 90% talent and experience and MAYBE 10% equipment. Arguably, the only piece(s) of equipment that are really worth investing huge bucks in over the long term are lenses, and even then you aren’t guaranteed a good photo if you don’t know how to use them. Equipment can only get you so far, especially if you turn your $$ camera to an auto setting and have at it.
That brings me to my next point, experience. If you want a career in photography, you have to know exactly what you’re doing. You generally will have to have a vision in mind of what you want and you have to know how to get there using the tools you have, which optimistically, shouldn’t include the “oh well, I’ll fix it in Photoshop later” mentality. You should be comfortable enough with your experiences that you don’t need to take the time to chimp, you don’t need to make a client sit there with their smile growing more and more fake by the moment while you figure out how to change your ISO and aperture. You should have enough hands on experience and time invested to know how you and your camera are both going to act when shooting in pouring rain, dusk, pitch black, +40 degrees and bright sun, and of course the Calgary winter trademark of -30 degrees and blowing snow. Trust me, the way both the photographer and the equipment act together changes in all of these conditions. My advice? Spend a lot of time reading, getting ideas and then times that time spent by 5 and that’s how much time you should spend out practicing. Friends and family members often make very willing participants and volunteers for people shots, weather changes all the time in Calgary, lots of opportunities there. I still use free volunteers when I get a new shoot idea I want to try and it’s awesome. Find some photos you like that were taken by other photographers and try to emulate them. It’s one of the best practicing tools out there; because it exposes you to a lot of different styles and creative paths and helps you find and develop your own style and process. It helps you learn composition, which is often people’s hardest obstacle in photography. It also helps build a good portfolio, which is everything when you’re looking to be hired by someone to take photos that could potentially mean the world to them. It is incredibly rare to find someone who has held a camera every day for 6 months or even a year (I actually think it’s a hell of a lot more time than that, but I know some would disagree with me) that is ready to become a pro and start charging people big bucks for photography. You absolutely must be willing to put in the time and practice for a while in order to make your dream come true.
I know this will sound like I’m contradicting point #1, but I’m not intending to. When buying your equipment, don’t buy the bare bones because it’s cheap and it’s what you can afford. The quality of your photos will suffer (remember a good quality photo does not equal an amazing photo) if you grab a canon rebel DSLR with a shitty kit lens and start on your way to pro land. As I said earlier, your lenses will be your biggest and best investment. Bodies can be upgraded at any time and when speaking in pro dollars, for not a lot of money as well. You don’t need a huge arsenal of every lens on the market, but a few really excellent quality lenses paired with a good body will do wonders to improve the QUALITY of your images.
Okay, so you kick ass with your camera, you have a decent set of gear (make sure you have two sets or are willing to rent an extra set for events incase yours craps out), your style is set and you feel really confident in your skills. The next part is choosing what you want to shoot and then go looking for people who would be willing to take you on as an assistant or second shooter. Another kind of experience is in the field and it is important. Practicing with your friend or sister or whatever is COMPLETELY different then being in the middle of a fast paced job with the stress of getting it right no matter what with nothing but your ass on the line. Some photographers thrive off of that feeling, others crumble under it. You won’t know until you try it, so make sure you have a lot of tries under your belt. A warning to all who think they will skip out on everything and just apprentice a pro: most pros will not take on more than one a year. Many already have one they like to work with, so getting into that position could be a challenge. And you will need a pretty good portfolio just to be considered. I myself have been asked 5 times in the last 3 months for an assistant position, and I know some of the other guys on here get requests a lot as well. I won’t even consider someone if they have nothing to show me, it just makes me feel like they don’t care enough to have tried some on their own. Our asses are on the line taking on a second. There’s protocol on how to act, how to shoot, when to shoot, what to say, the preparation needed, punctuality, the ability to commit to a long day and stay through the whole thing, it’s a lot of attention to detail and if our second screws up, it’s our reputation that’s damaged. It’s our pocketbook that potentially suffers. I can count probably triple the number of bad second photographers I’ve had compared to the number of good ones. I’ve actually just trained one person as my full time second, because I know she’s reliable and won’t leave me high and dry when I’m depending on her.
Marketing is probably the last thing needed on the road to being a pro, but your best bet is to start out with word of mouth, working for friends and family first, then branch out from there. I actually have never done any advertising, and it’s worked for me. For others, advertising is the key. It’s all about finding what works for you. One thing that is SO important to mention though, is that like any other type of career in art, PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT A STEADY INCOME! Depending on what you shoot, there are popular seasons (weddings for example), waves of business (Christmas, summer, valentine’s, etc.), but there can be a lot of dead time with no income coming in. And there is only so much you can do in a week. Some photographers are doing really well, they keep steady enough throughout the year that it’s not a big issue, and some charge enough during their busy season that they don’t work at all during their slow season and still get by okay, but the vast majority do struggle for a good chunk of the year. It’s a lot of stress, a lot of work and a lot of worry, even if you’re only a weekend warrior. You still have bills to pay (equipment, insurance, etc.) If you do have another job, you HAVE to be flexible. If you have a client who wants a weekday shoot done, you have to be able to take the time off work to do it, at least if you’re serious about growing your business, or people will remember that you were the one who said no because you have another job and they won’t think of you for next time.
I hope this has helped answer some questions. I know I’ve forgotten something, and I’m sure my fellow photogs will help me fill in some of the blanks. But becoming a professional photographer doesn’t happen overnight. In about 99.9% of the cases of the best photogs out there, they never start out thinking, “Some day this is going to make me a lot of money” because when you get like that, you might as well stop doing it. People need to remember that when it comes down to it, photography is art first, passion second, and a career a distant third for the lucky few who work hard enough and make it that far. It takes a LOT of work to start, learn, become passionate about and become good enough to make any money, let alone a living from it.
Good luck guys, hope that helped!
