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What does it take to start a photography business?

Photography business questions?

  • Okay, everyone. I think I have finally found my calling. I am very much enjoying taking photographs and may not be that great as of know; but, feel I have potential if I keep pursuing it and have better equipment (that's a big one). So, if I wanted to start my own business (always have) and wanted to use my photography skills, what would you suggest? An art shop, sell in a local hometown store, my own website or should I do like a portrait studio or weddings, and other ceremonies and stuff? What do you think would give me the most diversity (you know, so I can attract all ages and people of all kinds). I really love taking pictures of nature; although, on the other hand, I take some great pictures of children (there are alot around me..lol). Thanks for the input. Also, where would I go to see about grants? What types of programs for digital photography are there that are as good as photoshop, but cheaper. Thanks.

  • Answer:

    Photography as a business covers all of the areas that all photographers deal with. These of the general concerns getting your name out there, marketing, sales and all of the general concerns a business has. A level below that you have the concerns that relate to the specialty of the photographer. What I emphasize is photojournalism and there are specific markets that I sell into and specific ways of promoting that business which don't apply to other areas of photography. A good thing for a photographer to do who's not in an established specially position (just starting) is to diversify. In other words, sell your services as a photographer to those who need it using the equipment you have. That's a huge territory and it will give you a broad opportunity to gain experience and deepen your skills. Things that don't take a lot of equipment would include: 1. Photographing houses for sale for real estate agents. You can do this kind of photography using a high quality point-and-shoot. The value will lie in the skill you exercise. 2. Covering events. This is a big area of photography and easy to get into. There are companies who arrange events, civic organizations that have events and any number of things like this that people want photographs of. 3. Local sports photography. Little League teams, Pop Warner teams and local soccer teams are all examples. 4. Insurance photos. There's a whole market for taking pictures for insurance purposes. 5. Photography for personal injury lawyers. They need pictures of accident sites, cars after the collision showing damage, visual documentation of dangerous conditions and a range of other things. All of the above and many more are viable markets for photography, don't require a huge investment in equipment and are accessible to the person starting out. Be creative. Think of a possible need, figure out who may need it and sell them on the idea that you're the one to fulfill that need. You can work yourself into a specialty as you go along. That's just my two cents. Ooops! Almost forgot the software. A program called the Gimp is fully capable of handling 95% of the image processing needs you may have. In a production environment where you may be working with between 250 to over 1,000 images (yes that's one project size), it can't support the workflow, but it will do a good job for you now. Here's a big plus: it's FREE! For about $100.00 USD, there is Photoshop Elements 5.0. This is a better way to go since you can move over to Photoshop very easily and you will move over to Photoshop eventually. They share a lot of plugins, have pretty much the same look and feel, Elements has a lot of the capabilities of Photoshop and, of course, they have compatible file formats. Things like Picassa, handy as they may be, aren't really a consideration.

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i have used a program called Picasa2. You can download it for free here... http://www.picasa2.biz/ i think it is just as good as photoshop, i have both but find myself using picasa more i hope this helps

curlytop720

The easy way to go is weddings. I have been doing them for 16 years. It can be very stressful though. I prefer to photograph outdoor scenes mainly small creeks this is very relaxing but I have had trouble getting people to even look at my work when I try to show it to an art store. The weddings were supposed to be a way of paying for the equipment but it turned into a career.

Mark G

Portraits and weddings are really the way to go in terms of getting cash. They are not really the peak of exitement for a photographer but the pay for the equipment that you can use for shooting on your own time, and that really is what it is. There are really very few (~1000 if that) profesional full-time nature photographers. They all shoot comercial photos in a studio or do models, whatever. Assignment shooting is pretty good, it is much less of a whore job than portraits and it pays OK. The pinnical here would be like National Geographic but that is like a photographs wet dream. Anyway, I hope this help and good luck to you.

Eric B

You can have your own business and still do all types of different photography. I sepcialize in weddings and model portfolio because that's what I love and very talented. BUT I also love shooting other types and I do. your quality of work speaks for itself. I have a studio and wesbite. If you plan on doing events or weddings, try www.pictage.com They are great for hosting your pics for people to see them and buy at your prices. The print them and send them out in your name. It's really great. If you can't afford photoshop CS2 or CS3, then try Adobe Lightroom or Apple's Aperture if you have a Mac. www.geocities.com/mjmedrano or www.modelmayhem.com profile #78752

Michael M

If you know anyone who has a current Mac computer, you can use IWeb to create a website showing your recent photographs. Set up an .mac account [$99 per year] and publish your IWeb webpage(s). Acquire from Vistaprint.com a colorful business card by selecting from their many templates a suitable one that meets your needs. Make sure to list the URL of your website along with a telephone answering device. Do not place your home address or anything personal such as a cellphone on this businesscard. Then when you receive the finished business card, pass it around to various churches, temples and the like to solicit business. When you receive a major photography assignment, visit your local professional camera store and "rent" the necessary camera equipment to fulfill this assignment. When starting out, you don't want to tie your money up with a piece of camera equipment which because of ever changing technology "becomes obsolete." Remember, that 90% of professional photographer are not "buying" camera equipment continually which can easily become outdated; instead, they merely "rent or lease" the camera equipment for set period of time; thereby keeping their money for other expenses. Even though you may have your heart set on an SLR and film, you may have to give up that concept for the moment, since digital photography offers the most economic method of photo reproduction. Digital imagery is easy to edit on a computer and the print quality is often far superior to regular film-generated prints. You want to buy an "essential/basic" DSLR system which has an all-around affordable accessory lenses, then consider the award winning Pentax KD series beginning with the Pentax K100D 6.1 mp DSLR with "image stabilization" built into the camera body. "Image stabilization" is essential for allowing you to take telephoto pictures at weddings, parties, while on the go and you don't have to drag along a tripod to steady your camera. Unfortunately, Canon and Nikon have chosen to install their "vibration reduction" devices into very expensive auxiliary lenses. But getting back to the Pentax K100D which comes in a starter kit consisting of two Pentax lenses: a 18-55 mm. normal lens and a 50-200 mm. telephoto which sells for $650 at samys.com. Again, the Pentax K100D starter kit runs circles around the D40 Nikon! For digital print processing, find a private professional film processing lab who can handle all your client's print orders. And with a resale license, you will be qualified for considerable "professional" discounts on lab fees. A search on the Google and Yahoo for wholesale photo albums will connect you with various distributors who, again, you can sign on as a photography studio and get a dealer's pricing for any number of albums, guest books, etc. Instead of renting a studio, take people pictures at local parks and beaches and for indoor shots, go to the client's residence or office to set up a photo shooting environment which consists of a set of lights, reflective screens, background drapery, etc. Good luck!

VicSEO

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