So, You Want to Be a Professional Photographer
People from all different walks of life have desired to take their hobby to the next level and become a paid pro. The area of photography is no exception. One interesting thing is it would seem that the number of people who claim to be pros have dramatically increased since the digital revolution in photography. This is largely due to the fact that most people think that an expensive camera is all that is needed to take professional quality photos. You and I both know that this is simply laughable, you need more than good gear to be a pro.
On the flip side of the coin, there are many long-time hobbyists that have professional skills that never venture into the realm of shooting for cash. These people, for various reasons, keep their hobby as their hobby. They might not be interested in making money for their photos, they might think they are not good enough, or they don’t want the pressure associated with getting paid to produce images for others.
What about those who want to venture into the realm of photography as a profession? How do you know if you are ready, if your skills are good enough, if you images have the quality of a pro, and if you can make any money at it? After that, how do you go about creating a portfolio and getting business?
These are big questions, so we will deal with them accordingly.
Are you ready to go Pro?
In many areas of life, you can expect your friends and family to be able to nudge you in the right direction. Someone who is great cook may have friends tell him or her to go to culinary school. Unfortunately, when it comes to photography, the end product is not all there is to consider. Friends and family see your images and they love them, and they tell you that you should be a pro. For many, this advice is premature. A person might have a good eye and some natural ability, but that is only one aspect to creating high quality images. The technical side of photography is just as important, and in most cases more important.
Images you create need to have a certain artistic style or flair, but they also need to be properly exposed. One way to tell the difference between professional quality images and amateur quality photos is by looking at the images raw from the camera without any post-processing. A high quality image will need very little post-processing. If you find yourself relying upon your photo editor to produce a ‘good’ photo, then you probably need to practice a bit more before going pro.
Make Objective Comparisons
A great way to test yourself to see if you are ready to go pro is by trying to re-create professional photos. Find a couple of photos on the web that are high quality professional shots and then reproduce them as best you can. Take the original and compare it side-by-side to your photo. Ask others to look at the two, without telling them which one is yours, and see what they say. Be picky about your comparisons. One of the things that will make you a better photographer is being highly critical of your own work. There is rarely a picture that cannot be improved in one way or another if it were shot again. If you compare your work with that of long time pros, you will start seeing many differences and areas in which you need improvement.
Get a Second Opinion
There are photo-sharing sites all over the net that will allow you to show off your work to others. What you really need, is the advice and critique of others who share you passion of photography. A great online community for this is photoSig. It is an online photography community where you can post your work, free, and have other photographers rate and critique your work. You can look at the work of others and see the comments and critiques made on them in order to learn more about the craft.
Creating a Portfolio
There is a great deal of information out there on this very topic, so instead of re-creating the wheel, I will keep it simple and give you the basic concept behind a portfolio. You need to highlight your work, its depth and breadth. Showcase your best work in various formats and styles. The most important tip you can have is this: Only show people the type of work you want to do.
In other words, your main passion in photography is what you need to put in your portfolio. This doesn’t mean you won’t take other types of work for the pay or for the experience, but you won’t advertise them. If you do not want to be a wedding photographer, then you should not include wedding shots in your portfolio. Again, this does not mean that you will not take the occasional wedding gig, it just means that you will not advertise this type of venue in your portfolio. If people see it in your portfolio, then they are going to contact you to do this work.
Making Money
Profitability. That is the bottom line for pros. If you want to be a professional photographer, then you will need to be able to turn a profit. It can be difficult to make a living at photography alone. Chances are, the average person will not be able to support himself or herself on photography alone. This also means that when you work, you need to get the most you can from your time. Time is money and the faster you can produce high quality images, the better.
A lot of the time, full time professional photographers have studios from which to work. It is not a necessity, depending upon the type of photography in which you specialize, but it is something to consider. In addition, as a full time pro, you will need to have backup equipment, just in case something breaks down. If you are depending upon your equipment for your livelihood, then you need to have a backup.
All of this is a starting point to determine if you are ready to go pro. You don’t have to be a full time pro either. You can do professional photography on the side. Many ‘pro’ photographers take photography jobs simply to allow them to continue shooting, to continue with their hobby. Photography can be a very expensive hobby, and making some money from it can help offset expenses and even spousal disapproval on the amount of money you spend on your hobby.
Finally, you must realize that simply placing the word “photographer” after your name on facebook, or having a flickr site does not make one a professional photographer. Practice, patience, skill, and hard work are the only things that will help you make the leap from amateur to pro.
There are 3 comments on this post.
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feedi love photography , but i dont have ability to be profissional , would u help me ?
Hey,
Can you describe your problem in more detail? What do you mean with “professional ability”?
I think, nobody is born with professional abilities, this is acquired through hard work… I can help you to learn techniques to improve quality of your photos, but beyond that it’s all in your hands! So, subscribe to this blog and read my articles systematically. You should also take a look at my photography courses.
Happy shooting!
Hi can you please give me some good advices about taken photos I just bought my first camera and its d5000 Nikon
Thank you
and can i send you some of my photos that i already took ?