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DPChallenge Forums >> Business of Photography >> How did you get started?
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 05/17/2011 11:15:16 PM · #1
Hey guys, I've been recently laid off from my job of 8 years. And I've always dabbled with the idea of photography as an income, but don't really know where to start. I have a decent camera and some decent lenses.. with photoshop etc. thought I might give it a try. I'm not confident enough to do weddings, and prolly not even portraits yet, I was thinking of jumping into the little league/t-ball scene, where I have 3 nephews playing on 3 different teams.

So how did you guys get started? Did you go to school for it? Was it your plan all along to be a photographer? Are you self taught and just jumped in cause you thought it might be fun? If so what did you start with? Portraits, Sports, Animals portraits, stock, porn(lol)?
 05/17/2011 11:22:14 PM · #2
Print some business cards with your name and phone number on them as "Photographer".
Get a website, anywhere, and start uploading some family portraits, spots etc., professional looking.
Hand out your cards, and mention your website.
Take some free photos to promote your business.
Don't be afraid of weddings, find another photographer and offer them to work as second shooter with low price until you get comfortable and do it yourself.
Don't spend lots of money for your advertisement, your work and word of mouth should do fine, and go out there, take lots of photos. Also, don't ask ton's of money from the start, offer promotions to your friends, families.
give or take 6 months, you'll be like one of us LOL

Leo
 05/17/2011 11:32:36 PM · #3
Originally posted by FocusPoint:

Get a website, anywhere, and start uploading some family portraits, spots etc., professional looking.

Leo


I was kinda eyeballing smugmug. I don't know code.. so making my own website is out of the question. And most of the billing and printing appears to be built in to their site. Seems very convenient, and easy to use. Anybody ever used them?
 05/17/2011 11:46:48 PM · #4
Originally posted by Intelli:
Originally posted by FocusPoint:

Get a website, anywhere, and start uploading some family portraits, spots etc., professional looking.

Leo


I was kinda eyeballing smugmug. I don't know code.. so making my own website is out of the question. And most of the billing and printing appears to be built in to their site. Seems very convenient, and easy to use. Anybody ever used them?


Your website would be for your portfolio for start not to sell. Any website would be fine, even flickr. Have your prints done in Costco (I do, and they come up great), you can save tons of money.

Since you asked "start" of this business, those are the ideas that you can start right now without spending tons... it would also tell you if you can go further or not.

I believe there are tons of DPCers use smug, not me though... I have my own :)
 05/18/2011 12:15:17 AM · #5
Don't quit your search for a day job yet and with your lack of confidence in your skills don't even think of weddings yet. Little League shots are a great place to start though. You won' be ruining a bride's special day and you can offer something that parents can take or leave until you spend enough time here at DPC to learn what you need to know.

And you will learn from the community here what you need to know to make a decent living from photography but it will take some time, maybe more than you think. So, for now, I suggest you hit the diamonds hard and get lucky, or look for another job and spend some spare time entering challenges and poring through the tutorials and past threads to learn as much as you can from all of the users and members who have been there before you.

I don't really mean to be harsh...just realistic. I',m pretty smart, but it took me awhile to figure out that pretty pictures aren't going to make a living for me yet (they will one day). Today, they are a bonus to the service type of photography that I provide. But, the service type of photography that I do now (portraits, pet portraits, dance studios, food photography, product photography, sports shots for magazines, etc.) take a lot of knowledge and experience to do well enough for people to pay for. Years ago I found DPChallenge and hoped that I could quickly learn a few pointers that would enable me to consistently produce pretty shots like the one that people liked so much that I was inspired to think that I could make a living at this. Finally, six years later, it seems that I have a formula that is going to provide a very nice income for me and it has nothing to do with pretty pictures or rolling the dice on that special day for the bride. By the way, I've shot three weddings for friends and it's the only type of photography that I want nothing to do with.

So, for now, if you have doubts about your ability to provide an income for you and your family, I suggest that you find another job and spend quite a lot of your spare time here at DPC, entering challenges, reading up on tutorials, reading comments/crititques about the best and the worst entries in as many challenges as you have time for, and maybe shoot the baseball games for practice in the hopes of selling some shots.

Call me if you want some more suggestions but not between 2:00 pm and 10:00 pm for the next seven days...I'm booked solid with dance studio portrait appointments.
 05/18/2011 12:27:01 AM · #6
Originally posted by FocusPoint:
Have your prints done in Costco (I do, and they come up great), you can save tons of money.

I do most of my printing there too -- cheap and convenient. You can upload and order over the internet, and go pick them up in 1-2 hours.

I use them to print business cards -- put three on a regular 4x6 print and they cost about five cents each, and you only have to print a few at a time. You can also easily have several designs this way at way less cost than traditional printing. The customer not only gets your contact info but an actual sample of your work.


I've also started making up "display cards" which go along with each of the sample prints I've been framing lately,
either business-card size (3-1/2 x 2) or just 4 x 2
05/18/2011 12:35:31 AM · #7
Cool idea for business cards.. I don't have a costco near me.. but It seems you can have them shipped.
 05/18/2011 12:42:57 AM · #8
I agree about Costco for affordable prints. I use them a lot for prints for myself, but I have my website hosted by Exposure Manager who are like my 'right hand man' when it comes to printing and shipping in my name. They've done about thirty orders for me since I have done any legwork for printing and shipping myself.

As far as business cards, I will be picking up my new business cards tomorrow. They cost 23.5 cents each but they will make one hell of an impression. When I hand out a business card I want it to make a statement even before anybody reads the text and I want it to be something that they won't want to throw away when it gets worn in the same pocket as their spare change. 23.5 cents compared to 5 cents means nothing when you land that photo shoot worth $2500 or the relationship with a client that is worth so much more. When you don't have a store front for someone to walk into, image means everything.
 05/18/2011 01:12:05 AM · #9
Originally posted by Intelli:
Cool idea for business cards.. I don't have a costco near me.. but It seems you can have them shipped.

Small orders of 4x6 printss ship free, so it's perfect for business cards if you already have a membership. Another thing I've been making is bookmarks (e.g. 2x6 -- 2-up on a 4x6) using my panoramic images. Punch a small hole in one corner and tie a piece of pretty string through it and, presto!
05/18/2011 05:45:36 AM · #10
Yakatme has given you some good tips. i'd be careful about doing too-too much on a shoestring because if you are selling image you have got to project image. if you look low-budget you will have a hard time finding high-budget work.

poke around through some of the articles and you might get some ideas.

here are a couple to get you started

career change? how to Go For It!

is this the right time to start a business?

I recently repeated myself in another thread and I'll mostly repeat myself here:
Originally posted by skip:
As for pricing, it depends on what you're end game is. Do you want to simply pick up some extra cash, do you want to seriously moonlight, or do you want to run a business? Most people get into this because of the results they get with their gear and the fact that other people are willing to spend some money on good pictures. The problem is that there is SO MUCH MORE to having a business than just taking the pictures. A lot of people start out and end up bailing, simply because they aren't prepared to handle the production and administrative parts of the business, let alone the sales and marketing.

Before you go too much further, take some time to explore the business side of what you're doing, especially in terms of where you might be going. Consider just how much time you want to put into it and how much you'll get out of it (in terms of enjoyment and revenue). A lot of times, these things can snowball into something a lot more complicated than the hobbyist had in mind (think taxes - especially sales taxes, business license, professional website, marketing material, accountant - you get the picture). As long as have a clear idea as to what you're willing to commit to and realistic expectations as to what you can get out of it, you can have some fun and make some money.

The reality is this: it's more about business than it is about photography.


Good Luck!

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