Starting step one today - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/03/2007 03:47:13 AM · #1

A friend and I have today decided to take our first step to becoming full time profesional photographers.

We've booked ourselves on a bunch of courses and and training and will soon thereafter get a web site up and running.

I'm expecting the proces to be quite long, perhaps we will only have our own site set up and advertising in a years time, depends on how fast we improve and get up to standard.

But, all in all, I am very excited as this is a dream of mine. Wish me luck please.

Any advise will be appreciated. I've read a bunch of forum posts here and on other sites about starting up, but there is no such thing as too much advise from those in the know.

Jan.

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

01/03/2007 03:51:38 AM · #2

LOL - I thought this was a thread about quitting smoking. :) They used to have these filters called "Step One", etc.

Congrats on pursuing your dream! Lots of threads here related to the business side of photography - check out Skiprow's series of posts on that.

Best of luck!

eta: do a forum search for "business of photography" and check those threads.

Message edited by author 2007-01-03 03:53:44.

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

01/03/2007 04:10:20 AM · #3

Heh heh! Not smoking yet...
Thanks for the advise, I'll be sure to check it out.

Prof_Fate

01/06/2007 09:39:04 PM · #4

get a book or two over at amazon - one is running a profitable photography studio by lilley and the other is 'the e-myth revisited (entrpreneurial myth) -why small businesses don't work'

Yes you need to learn the photography end of things, but the business end is just, if not more, important.

nedens

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

01/08/2007 10:56:09 AM · #5

I second what Prof_Fate said. I am in the process of getting my own photo studio business up and running and there is TONS of business work that has to be done. I had a huge list that I knew I had to do but there are other things that have come up that I didn't even think of. Also there are definitely more expenses involved than what you probably think, more so if you are leasing a studio. Do not skimp on learning the business end unless you are paying someone else to do it for you. The reason most startup photographers fail is because they don't run their business like a business, they run it like a hobby. If you want to be profitable and succeed you have to learn the business end and be competent at it.

TechnoShroom

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

01/08/2007 10:58:14 AM · #6

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

LOL - I thought this was a thread about quitting smoking. :) They used to have these filters called "Step One", etc.

Step one is to cut a hole in the box.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

01/08/2007 11:04:42 AM · #7

From my perspective as a 60-year-old retiree, can only view with some amusement the statement by the OP that "step one" involves setting up a web site :-) Things were simpler in my day: you had a camera, you took pictures, you found somebody to buy them... And you walked 10 miles to school, uphill, in the snow, every day too :-)

This post is meant to be humorous

R.

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

01/12/2007 02:15:57 AM · #8

Humour noted and appreciated.

I suppose the world has changed a lot. I suppose fo me step one was the web site, could have been different for someone else I suppose.

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/12/2007 02:25:41 AM · #9

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

From my perspective as a 67 million-year-old retiree, can only view with some amusement the statement by the OP that "step one" involves setting up a web site :-) Things were simpler in my day: you had a tablet, you chiseled it, you found somebody to take it off your hands for a terodactyl burger... And you walked 10 miles to the nearby cave, uphill, past the swamps, every day too while avoiding the local T-Rex :-)

This post is meant to be humorous

R.

Fixed. I left the disclaimer in place though. :P

Message edited by author 2007-01-12 02:26:37.

Tygerr

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/12/2007 03:21:57 AM · #10

I haven't read it yet personally, but this book was highly recommended: Best Business Practices for Photographers.

You can read a review of it here: //strobist.blogspot.com/2006/10/full-review-best-business-practices.html

Good luck to you. Looking forward to seeing your web site when it's up.