So you're intersted in starting a photography business. You figure that since you like taking photos, it should be a no brainer to making a business out of it right? So where do you begin?
Well first make sure that you have the correct gear. You can virtually start with just a regular camera. That camera can be a film or digital camera. I myself started out with a film camera back in the day. My first camera was a 110 film camera.
Photo courtesy of Kodak
I thought I was a PROFESSIONAL with this camera! I took it everywhere whenever I had film! I was a 10 year old professional photographer. And since it was film, I had no idea how the pictures came out until they were developed. On these cameras it was literally point and shoot. No way to tell how in or out of focus an image was, or if you were making it blurry. But it was a great way to learn because it showed me how easy a photography career could be...for a beginner.
The next camera that I had was a Kodak Advantix camera! That was what basically sealed it for me as a photographer! It was a film camera that let you choose the picture sizes that you wanted for each pose. It was great!
Photo courtesy of Ebay
Now why is telling you the type of cameras I started out with important? Because no matter where you start, if you have a love for what you do, you will most likely succeed. Photography has been in my life for a very long time. It's literally how I have kept up with all the major events of my life and my kid's lives as well. So with keeping up with those memories you need to have the right tools at your disposale.
Nowadays digital cameras are in style and not going anywhere! You can preview your photos before you process them. You can even show your clients previews during a session. Photography has made many advancements and it's great. Just make sure that whatever camera you pick (digital or film) that it will fit your budget and that it will fit your needs until you become more established as a photographer.
In addition to your camera, you're going to need a computer. You need a computer in order to edit your photos and upload them for photo storage. You will also need storage space for your photos and a place to showcase the photos to your customers. SmugMug is my suggestion and recommendation for this because you will have both. With SmugMug you will be able to have secure photo storage as well as galleries to showcase the photos. Your photo clients will also be able to purchase the prints from your galleries. It's really a one stop shop with your photos.
Now keep in mind that you will have to stay organized! There are so many horror stories of photographers losing photos becuase they didn't have proper ways to store their photos and unfortunately, you can't always recover lost photos for clients. SmugMug helps you to elimiante lost photos with their storage spaces available to you.
Photo credit by My Imagination Photography by Stephanie Cooper
Now that you have the basics...you also will need editing software. I personally use Adobe's Creative Cloud. You will have access to all of the Adobe Creative Suite apps including Lightroom and Photoshop. Editing is going to be the most time consuming and having apps like these just make it a lot easier to get your editing process done.
So how do you get clients? You will need a website to help you advertise. Definetely use sites like SmugMug to help you out with that. There are other platforms of course, but this one is my recommendation because it's literally a one stop shop especially when you're a newbie.
Photo credit by My Imagination Photography by Stephanie Cooper
Now you that you know the basics...get your name out there! Social media, paid advertisements, word of mouth etc. Use friends and family for models to help build your photography portfolio. You may have to sacrifice a few free sessions, but the return on investment will be worth it in the long run. The best advice I can give you...be PATIENT! You may have long periods where you won't book a photo session. That's completely okay. You want to practice as much as possible in between paying sessions. The more you practice, the better.
Hope this basic information helps. If you liked this post...stay tuned! More to come!
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