I recently attended a Fireside Chat at my friend, Kat's, studio about how to get jobs in photography. It was born of a quite heated online discussion about taking jobs that pay far too little to be profitable under any business model. There were a lot of new photographers who were frustrated at the lack of opportunities to shoot to build a portfolio, and frustrated as well at getting lost in the crowd when people asked for second shooters. There were also a lot of established photographers who were frustrated at the volume of laughably low paying jobs being offered up. Most of them were also offering some really helpful advice on how they built their businesses and how they continue to build them in an industry that is constantly changing.
Here are some of the most important lessons I have learned from my three year journey to full time photography:
1. Technical skills - I'm not going to go into all of the skills you need to be a pro, because that's far more than a single blog post worth of writing. You should have a body of work that demonstrates your ability to create, on your own, consistently well lit, creative, well-composed, and well-focused images in a variety of circumstances. When people are paying your for your product, you can't rely on lucky shots or shots someone set up for you at a workshop.
Also, I wish it went without saying, but the work you display in your portfolio should be your own original work!! Stock photos and work like what you aspire to create someday don't have a place in your portfolio!!!! Best case, this is dishonest. Worst case, it's illegal.
What to do if your skills need work: Take classes; organize shoots with friends and family; immerse yourself in trial and error shooting experiments; go to workshops (just make sure that they're good quality workshops taught be qualified photographers); read photography books; ask for critiques, and listen to the feedback you get.
2. Network - Network with other photographers who have built businesses you admire. Join Facebook photography groups. You have NO IDEA how much I learned by lurking and reading a professional photography forum on FB for a few years before I ever typed a word on there. I made mental notes of what people were ranting about, what people praised, what advice people asked for and what advice people gave.
Attend EVERY networking event you can!! This is a great way to meet people who do what you want to do, find a mentor and get jobs! Most photographers won't hire you as an assistant or a second shooter based on your website alone. Most photographers want to have met you in person, so they have a feel for your personality, your attitude, and how you present yourself. It's a big responsibility to represent someone else's business, and the more they know about you from in-person meetings, the more comfortable they will be entrusting you to represent them.
Once you are established with other photographers, and ready to really strike out for clients of your own, network with established businesses that have the clients in your target market. Build friendships and business alliances with them.
3. NO EXCUSES!! - You would be surprised at the number of very well paid established professionals who are out there giving away their advice and knowledge just for the asking!! Seriously! I have met more generous and helpful photographers than I can count, and I owe a lot of my progress to the advice they have freely given me.
The only thing I see more than the amazingly generous advice of successful photographers are excuses. Yep. For every piece of advice I have read in response to a question on a photography forum there is a reason why "That won't work for me because. . ." "I already tried that, and it didn't work, because. . ." "I can't do that, because. . ." You name it; there is a reason that it won't work, and I can tell you that if you are committed to the idea of something not working, then it won't.
Excuses why you can't take the advice you asked for will get you nowhere.
4. Start from the bottom - I know how exciting it is to have your shiny new DSLR with its glistening lens and all of it's buttons and dials, but having a camera, even a really nice one, doesn't make you a photographer. It makes you a camera owner; which is GREAT! Owning a camera is a good first step!
Once you have the technical skills to produce consistent work, and you have met some more experienced pros, offer yourself as an assistant. Most pro photographers hire assistants. Most of the time, you need to leave your camera at home for these jobs. They involve carrying bags, setting up and/or holding lights, grabbing water bottles for the photographer, looking out for distracting elements in group shots (bunched up clothing, bulky items in pockets, people with drinks/purses/cameras in hand, etc.), and being generally helpful to the photographer. I find that it's good to know the timeline of the shoot, be constantly aware of the time, arrive early, and always double check that the photographer isn't leaving gear behind when switching locations. Your job is all about making the primary photographer look good, and making their job run more smoothly.
Most of the photographers that I know, don't hire a second shooter unless that person has a portfolio as strong as theirs, and trusts them to consistently deliver work on par with their own. Do your time schlepping bags and gear and helping light shots, and you will build a relationship and trust with the photographers you assist. Ask them for critiques of your work (not on the job, obviously!!). The more consistently awesome work they see you produce, the more they will think of you as a potential second.
Side note: You would not believe how much great information you pick up while you are holding lights/bags/reflectors! You get an inside look at another photographer's workflow, posing, styling, client interaction, handling of mishaps and unexpected glitches. All of these things are extremely valuable when you finally find yourself in the driver's seat of a shoot with your trusty assistant beside you!
5. Never let them see you desperate - This is HUGE!!! As you build your network, both online and in person, be very very aware of what you say and how you say it. Every human being on the planet goes through times when they feel like a failure, when they feel desperate to get hired, when they're afraid and frustrated and down on themselves. Those are the times when you call up your closest confidant or your mom or your sibling. This is NOT, I repeat NOT the time to update your social media statuses about how much you suck, or how you're so frustrated with your business. It's not the time to post in your networking group about how you REALLY REALLY need SOMEONE, ANYONE, to hire you to carry their bag or hold their light.
Why is that not a good idea? People value what appears to be valuable. You don't see Coach and Prada begging people to please please pleeeeeease buy their handbags, right? When you put all of your negative energy out there for the world to see, you make yourself look less valuable. When you publicly wonder what is wrong with you that you aren't getting jobs, the people around you start to wonder what is wrong with you too, and then they don't want to hire you.
In every interaction with your professional network, present yourself as positive, valuable, and in-demand. Responding to a post about an assistant position? Don't beg for the job. Keep it simple and positive. When I was in school, I would say, "I'm not taking on primary shooting jobs right now, due to being in school, but I would be happy to assist you on that day! Here are my skills. . ." Being positive about the way you present yourself makes people feel lucky to have scored YOU as an assistant.
You only get one chance to make a first impression.
6. Hustle like your life depends on it - I heard this at a presentation at WPPI back in March, and it really hit home. There are always negative events that will pop up and challenge us in our personal and professional lives, and we won't know when they are going to happen or the exact nature of them, but we do know that we can expect the unexpected to happen.
As people who want to control our own destinies by being independent entrepreneurs, that means putting in the work now to build a bomb proof business when that unexpected event happens. Have an idea? Try it! Afraid you don't know if it will work? Try it! None of us knows what will work, but trying and "failing" just gives us information about what doesn't work. We are in the driver's seat! If it doesn't work, we try our next idea, but we do not ever sit around feeling sorry for ourselves or scared of what might happen!
7. Know your business - I will be totally honest about this. . . When I first got asked to photograph something in exchange for money, I was caught off guard. I was an endurance sports coach who owned a consumer level DSLR camera and two kit lenses. I had taken a high school photography class, and I had always enjoyed taking photos. I had no idea what to charge, no idea what to do with the request really! I was desperate to take the job, because I needed the cash, and hello?! I LOVE taking photos!
Oh. Wow. It was a lot more work than I expected it to be, and it felt a little dirty to pimp my talent for some cash. That led to other little jobs here and there for friends, heading up a team of photographers to handle race photos for a triathlon and opening up the photography division of my coaching company, and I really sold myself short the whole time, because I didn't know the photography business. I didn't know what I needed to make for each shoot to be profitable. Almost everything I made ended up going to taxes and the people I had hired to help me get the jobs done, and I was left scratching my head. I was working without a contract, because while I had a coaching contract, it didn't occur to me that I needed contracts for shoots! I made every mistake I could make.
Get all of those ducks in a row before you agree to shoot professionally. Otherwise it's just a big headache that could backfire on you legally and financially! There are great resources for getting started, including sample contracts, at PPA (Professional Photographers of America), and there are a lot of other photographers out there who are happy to mentor you!
8. Pricing - I could write a whole post on pricing, because it's one of the things that I struggled with the most. Breathe!! This is one of those places where your network and your mentor(s) can help you more than you can imagine! There are also a lot of guides out there for sale that can help you get started pricing the type of photography that you want to do. Look at what you are buying, and ask around in your network for recommendations from more experienced photographers, but don't be afraid to lay down a little money for something that can more than pay for itself!
No matter what process you use to calculate your pricing, there are key pieces of information you are going to need before you start.
- Personal income requirement - How much do you need to take home to live the lifestyle you want?
- Type of photography - What are you focusing on shooting? Pricing varies so much for different segments of photography! Even within the "portrait" category there are a lot of factors that affect how you price yourself. A newborn portrait session takes a lot more time than a headshot, and the way those images are used will differ widely too! It's important to take these factors into account!
- Cost of doing business - How much do you need to bring in to pay for taxes, licenses, insurance (liability & equipment), studio/office space, sample products, printing, postage, editing, software, equipment repairs and upgrades, marketing, advertising, website hosting, domain registration, branding, accounting, legal consults, contracts, etc.? AND How much time will you spend working on shoots, editing, marketing, emails, phone calls, consults, pre-shoot preparation, location scouting, blogging, social media, etc.?
- Ideal Client - What is your target market? Who are they? What do they like? How much do they make? What are their interests? What do they want from you? What are their needs> Their values?
- Volume - How many weddings do you want to book in a year? How many portrait sessions? How much work can you handle without losing your mind? You may not book your target number of sessions in the first or even second or third year, but having the number is important to get you priced for success! Having that number in mind also gives you a goal to work towards and to measure your progress against. Also, think about whether you want to be a high priced business with fewer jobs or a lower priced business with more jobs.
Once you have that information in hand, you can crunch your numbers! Don't forget though that crunching the numbers is something you are going to be doing often as your business progresses! Pricing is something that you will revisit many many times. Some photographers I know revisit their pricing annually, and others do it as many as 4 times each year! You will get a feel for what works for you!
9. Workflow - One of the most eye opening pieces of advice I got from established photographers was this: write down every single step that you take to do each type of job from start to finish. Every. Single. Step. This helps you see where you can streamline your processes (email templates) and where you can outsource things (hiring a bookkeeper) that eat up tons of time for little return! It's a lifesaver!
10. Personal Projects - You want to do this, because you have a passion for the art of photography, right? Keep that passion alive by shooting something you want to shoot! Whether that's creating a styled shoot or taking your camera into the woods to shoot a waterfall or some birds, just go out and have fun with your camera on a regular basis!
11. Keep learning - Stagnation in your work will burn you out quickly! Find new ways to challenge yourself! See an image that inspires you? See if you can figure out how to make something similar? Go out for a personal project day with one lens and see what you can make! Always shoot portraits using natural light? Try some off camera flash. Whatever you normally do, shake things up by trying it a different way! Look for classes and workshops in an area of photography that you don't usually delve into! I spent last weekend at a Nature Photography Weekend and learned a bunch of new things, some of which I can even apply to what I do in my wedding and portrait work! This weekend, I'll be participating in a Night Photography Workshop from Andrew Fritz! I'm looking forward to shooting in the dark, and learning more about something I haven't played with in quite awhile!
Obviously, this isn't a comprehensive guide for how to build and sustain a successful photography business, but it's a compilation of things I learned over the last several years. I hope it gives you a starting place for doing more of what you love!
