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03/28/2011 12:57:56 PM · #1 |
Hi everyone!
Here's my story, if you have the patience to read it :)
I am planning to change my life; I have been working as an in-house corporate lawyer for big multinational companies for some years now, and I have had enough. I used to work 50/60 hours a week, dropped all my interests, quitted sport, lost friends and earned a nice burn-out syndrome.
I am lucky enough to have savings and family support that can allow me to not work for a couple of years. I would like to spend this time writing a book, and if everything goes well I'll become a writer, otherwise I'll look for another white collar job.
A friend of mine insists that I should try the photography business. I've done many shots for her and her family and she recently said that my pictures are better than those that they had from a professional photographer for a big fee (to make a photo book for the grandparents).
Although I cannot say I'm not flattered, I've seen the online gallery and even if I think that only a couple of pictures are really outstanding, the other two hundreds are average. Which means a lot better than mines, as when I shot for her 200 photos, 100 were unusable, 50 were below average, 40 were average and 10 were nice.
I have been searching the forums for "starting the business" threads, and I am sure that I am not ready for it (if anyone is interested, this was the most interesting thread I found), basically as I am not good enough and don't have any backup gear.
Nonetheless, the idea is appealing, and I was thinking that I could make photographic services (or whatever it is called when you make pictures at an event, game, etc.) for free in the next two years and then, if I'll not become a writer, start a photo business instead of looking for a white collar job (hoping I learn enough in the meantime).
I have quite a lot of business contacts on linkedin, and was thinking to offer on my profile 100 free photographic services, uploading periodically how many are left. Of course I'll sign contracts with the "customers" and be sure that they give me the permission to use thier photos to promote my future business.
Some of my friends say that 100 is too much, and that I am good enough to ask for payment now. I think I am not, and I like the idea to involve previous business contacts in my change of life project. Moreover, if I am good and they are satisfied, the word of mouth of 100 services will bring me 1000 more requests.
What do you think? |
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03/28/2011 01:37:45 PM · #2 |
I have found that people value your time at the rate they pay for it. If you give your time away, and everyone knows what you value it at, your time will be wasted because it is a free and infinite resource.
Oddly if everyone knows that your time is valuable, and you are donating that time to a particular cause, then your time is treated as a valued gift. So I would be careful about working for free as such. Freelance, yes. Free, no. Not that you will necessarily realize any more money in all likelihood, but the quality of your experience as a photographer will be better. Consider offering to work for a reasonable fee and giving the images to the organizer, or keeping the image rights and offering prints for sale (through an on line printer). Almost always they will go for the latter offer, but knowing that you have a professional fee structure will increase the likelihood of better access, clearer viewlines and a degree of respect.
As far as only getting 10 good shots out of 200, don't worry, the greats (who's standards might be a bit higher than yours or mine) often said that a good image in a day of shooting is a good day's work. |
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03/28/2011 02:26:39 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
As far as only getting 10 good shots out of 200, don't worry, the greats (who's standards might be a bit higher than yours or mine) often said that a good image in a day of shooting is a good day's work. |
I think Ansel Adams said that getting 12 good images was a good year ... |
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03/29/2011 09:00:27 AM · #4 |
Well, I actually think I had 10 "nice" photos, which I think is below "good" (I may be mistaken as I am not a native English speaker), and out of the thousands photos I took in my life maybe just one or two are really "good".
My problem with making people pay for my photos is that I don't think they are good enough yet, and that I feel I need much more practice as less than 1% of the pictures I took in my life were taken with a certain degree of awareness of light, composition, etc.
Owning a camera does not make you a professional photographer; asking for money in change of a mediocre work will probably quickly make me a bad reputation, don't you think?
All the professional photographers did not earn money since the very first shoot of their life!
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts, probably asking for a fee for prints leaves it up to the customer the evaluation on whether my work is worth paying for, and I may feel more confortable with that, until I feel that my work is worth paying for. |
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03/29/2011 09:25:17 AM · #5 |
If I was in your position ( able to work for free for 2yrs) and really serious about it, I would offer to assist an experienced professional in the genre of photography you want to pursue. Follow that person around for months and really get to know how the business really works and what to expect.
Taking pics as a profession is more than just snapping your camera. You must be aware of legal issues, dealing with your clientele, marketing, etc...
Te advantage of following an established photog is that you learn about the business with no risk to you. You also will establish yourself with that persons contacts. They will come to know who you are and recognize you once you step out on your own.
Your confidence is muchnthe same as any new photog. You don't think you are good enough to charge for your service...yet. That is a major stumbling block to overcome and people will sense that and take advantage of it. Recipe for failure or enough discouragement that you might quit.
Find a photog that you want to work with and offer your willingness to learn and assistance, and you will be on the right path of following your dream.
Just my 2cents |
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03/29/2011 09:33:50 AM · #6 |
if you feel unprepared to put yourself out there are a professional photographer, don't do it. there is nothing wrong with working your way up to the point that you feel you are ready, both in terms of doing the photography, but also in terms of running a business.
a business is much like a three-legged stool, with a leg each for production, sales & marketing, and administration. if all three legs are not even and strong, the stool will not support the business and will likely topple over. this is what happens to most small start-up businesses. the owner loves the production (or at least the idea of the production), but neglects to make sure the other legs of the business are just as sturdy. take the time to learn about the sales & marketing and administration parts of business.
put together a plan and a timeline for implementing your plan. if you want to shoot portraits, study the portraits you like and then learn how to create them yourself. find out what equipment it takes and learn how to use the equipment. there is nothing wrong with not charging to shoot, but then accepting payment for prints. i would advise against using traditional marketing, though, as you would be putting yourself out there as competition to the working professionals. on the other hand, if you start with friends and family and work off referrals, you should be able to get enough practice in to feel comfortable with launching a business and charging for shooting.
another alternative would be to see if you could apprentice yourself to an established pro, or maybe find an internship of some kind. it might even be worth exploring educational opportunities, especially those that would include some basic business courses as part of the curriculum.
good luck! |
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03/29/2011 09:54:30 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Skip:
if you feel unprepared to put yourself out there are a professional photographer, don't do it. there is nothing wrong with working your way up to the point that you feel you are ready, both in terms of doing the photography, but also in terms of running a business. |
++
Besides that, there is no better way to kill a hobby than to make it into a job. If you aren't ready, or don't want to, then don't do something because a friend says you should. According to my wife, I'm the best photographer she's ever seen. It's a biased opinion. As a corollary, I was big into computers long before photography. I played with them because I enjoyed tinkering with them. After 10 years in IT, I don't do anything with computers that I don't have to. The job sucked any enjoyment out of it for me.
Do photography for fun. If you enjoy it, have fun with it, but there is no need to rush it.
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