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How to Earn a Living Being a Professional Photographer

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elfroggio

elfroggio

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I just published an e-book in PDF format: “Dreaming of Turning Pro, How to Earn a Living Being a Professional Photographer” will tell everything you need to know to start. It's available at:
  • How to start?
  • How to get your first customer?
  • Which equipment to choose? (Actually the choice has already been done for you)
  • Where to promote your website? (And no, it's not Google)
  • How to contact the buyers?
  • What are the secrets (hint: lot of hard work and no real shortcut)
http://www.foto-biz.com/Biz/Turning-pro-the-experiment
  1. It's free, no catch, no ad, you don't even have to provide a valid email address.
  2. It will be free until 1-Jul-2011, then I will reevaluate (I reserve the right to make it a shorter period, including charging $$ for the e-book).
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Thanks
http://foto-biz.com
The Business of Being a Photographer -- Lightroom Q&A -- Canon 7D
 
lots of info there and most (from I've perused so far) is good.

However you need to hire an editor to go over it - bad word usage (it's not a 'tempered rain forest' but a 'temperate rain forest') and many many grammar errors like on page 49 "individually testing a many points during the manufacturing stage" should be tested at .
On page 259 you have "much" in the wrong place in every sentence.

Good work overall and I agree with about 99% of what you're saying. Just fix the grammatical bits and good luck!

btw, Capone didn't die in jail. He died at home in Florida.

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If I knew how to take a good picture I'd do it every time.
 
I would brighten it up a bit and try to temper any regrets over failings whether yours or otherwise with positive comments. People want the truth but they want to see a way to win. I wouldn't go into deep Canon vs Nikon stuff thats best left to this forum where people debate it over and over and over.You want to give people a reason to pick that up.make it something so unique and inspiring they want to throw it in their camera bag.Sometimes less is more.

P.S. take all these with a grain of salt not as thus saith the Lord...
 
There's interesting stuff in your PDF - it does need a little more polish - but it's good enough for me to decide to keep a copy. I hope never to attempt to make money from Photography. I decided long ago that I want to get good and that I want it to stay a hobby so I can enjoy it. And frankly I don't need the pay cut for the privellege of being a photographer as I've seen put it.

Regarding turning Pro, here is how I've actually seen it done:
  • Take kiddy pics in the park at ridiculously low unsustainable prices using bottom end equipment. 30 full shots on DVD for $20 as a "promotion". Cut down to 20 when you realise 30 shots in an hour isn't possible. Blame high demand.
  • Draft a contract since you'll need permission to post the pictures on Facebook. - Overbook yourself till you're run ragged.
  • If there are multiple children don't allocate extra time - just charge per child, but only deliver a total of 20 shots. When your customers it's time to moan all about how everyone wants something for nothing on Facebook.
  • Refuse to onsell anything or negotiate on what the customer wants as you're not interested and you're way too busy.
  • Overprocess the pictures till they look like a Ken Rockwell landscape. Lightroom presets are a great way to get started. Edit a picture. Create a pre-set that captures that captures your artistic style and will be the starting point for every picture. What you want is a look nothing like what others will capture out of camera. This will make you stand out as an artist. So that look should ruin skintones, clip highlights and shadows and add enough contrast to make children look like cartoons.
  • You have permission thanks to your contract. So post your kiddy shoots all over Facebook. Post every shot. Don't be selective. If you've taken it, it's a brilliant work of art that needs to be shown. If anyone doesn't like your picture of their child act hurt. They paid peanuts so they should expect a monkey!
  • Ask your customers for advice on pricing. For good measure publicly declare that you've never considered yourself a pro. (I mean just look at how you're behaving). If they tell you you should be charging 10 times as much and don't criticise the quality, they must be your best friend. Constructive criticism, no matter how encouraging, (even in a private message) should be shunned and you should take offense to it - how dare they question anything that you do!
  • Offer to do weddings, commitment ceremonies, anything your customers are dumb enough to hire you for.
  • Wait till your only camera breaks down during a shoot. Publicly refuse a friend's offer to lend you an equally capable camera because it's not the brand you like.
  • Cancel all your sessions for the next 3 weeks while the camera is in the shop (Be sure to announce this on Facebook and nowhere else)
  • Rush around like a headless chook finding a repair shop. Keep your customers informed. Everyone on Facebook needs a blow by blow of your life. Mix in some personal drama for good measure.
  • Announce on Facebook that you've decided to buy another camera and that you are so excited! Go out and buy the newest least proven model on the same day. All your sessions are now back on! Customers may now rejoice! It says so on Facebook.
  • Go back to shooting and posting on Facebook! Your business model works!!! Ignoring expenses (as you do), it should only take you 50 or so shoots to pay off your shiny new consumer camera and the repair of your old one!
Sadly the above is not a joke or exaggeration. I've actually seen exactly the above scenario happen recently!!! Imagine if the camera had broken down during a commitment ceremony!

--
Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
 
You know the difference between genius and stupidity? Stupidity knows no limits!

--
If I knew how to take a good picture I'd do it every time.
 
PenguinPhotoCo said:
You know the difference between genius and stupidity? Stupidity knows no limits!
Click to expand...
The sad thing is this photographer, while not about to be discovered as any kind of genius, isn't bad at taking a picture. But the attitude and business sense....What a waste!!!

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Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
 
I look forward to reading this in my spare time. But if the first two paragraphs are indicative of the rest, I recommend acquiring a professional copywriter/editor, before charging a fee for the final publication.

Thanks for the download, regardless!

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If you find my posts helpful or informative, please consider a donation to my ego fund.
 
Agree with needing an editor, don't agree with the good information though.

There is nothing in there which has not been written before and a lot better and more accurately.
 
Pretty good, but in this day and age EVERY pro photographer in my area has a 2nd, job or their spouse does. None of them can make it just in photography anymore. All the digital cameras and family members are taking the business. Lots of weddings are using family members who can shoot and give a cd for next if not for nothing.
Quality is taking a back seat more and more.
 
Im Kirk said:
Pretty good, but in this day and age EVERY pro photographer in my area has a 2nd, job or their spouse does. None of them can make it just in photography anymore. All the digital cameras and family members are taking the business. Lots of weddings are using family members who can shoot and give a cd for next if not for nothing.
Quality is taking a back seat more and more.
Click to expand...
In my experience, and certainly the reason I asked family to shoot our wedding, it is because pros will not give what the customer wants. In my case I wanted all shots in RAW, and unedited with the right to edit myself and nothing deleted. Didn't want prints either. Found that was going to be too hard to negotiate. Every pro wants to present their artistic vision, pretend they never shoot blurries, and gouge for prints. My wedding was my wedding, not some photographer's business opportunity. Thanks but no thanks.

--
Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
 
Yeah the jig is up and people are finding out you can do the same exact thing a wedding pro would do, at a lot less money,and with a little education ( self or school) you can duplicate the work they do. You can post process in photo shop and make your own album. The days of the pro walking around with two Hasselblads acting like he or she was gods gift to wedding photography is looooong over. Good bad or indifferent theres just a lot of teaching available and a person with any inclination towards learning can do very very well. Probably why business is slow for the so called pros and more people are doing this work.
Sammy Yousef said:
Im Kirk said:
Pretty good, but in this day and age EVERY pro photographer in my area has a 2nd, job or their spouse does. None of them can make it just in photography anymore. All the digital cameras and family members are taking the business. Lots of weddings are using family members who can shoot and give a cd for next if not for nothing.
Quality is taking a back seat more and more.
Click to expand...
In my experience, and certainly the reason I asked family to shoot our wedding, it is because pros will not give what the customer wants. In my case I wanted all shots in RAW, and unedited with the right to edit myself and nothing deleted. Didn't want prints either. Found that was going to be too hard to negotiate. Every pro wants to present their artistic vision, pretend they never shoot blurries, and gouge for prints. My wedding was my wedding, not some photographer's business opportunity. Thanks but no thanks.

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Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
Click to expand...
 
It also really doesn't help that literally 9 out of 10 encounters I've had with paid photographers they have not behaved like the professionals they profess to be.

There are good photographers out there, but for every one of those there's 9 arrogant noodlebrains with a camera. This often gets me down. I really want to learn and expand but it's a hard thing to do when there are so few people to look up to.

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Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
 
Man, for someone who wants nothing to do with being a pro photographer, you sure know a lot about the bottom end of the industry.
Its all true too, I got a good laugh out of it.
 
My wedding was my wedding, not some photographer's business opportunity. Thanks but no thanks.

Yes, but without it being a good business opportunity there is no incentive for someone good and experienced in it to do it. (same with anything you need to pay someone to do, sadly photography often is not something you need to pay someone for;-) So you are left with family & friends who may do an ok job, or the people you described in your earlier post.

You do know that very few people want Raw files though, so thats not going to break a lot of deals. Heck I would probably sell raw now if asked and the money was enough for greed to overcome laziness and or pride in my finished product.
(tongue in cheek there, please noone take offence to my "bad attitude")
Sammy Yousef said:
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Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
Click to expand...
 
I'm going to make this my last post on this thread. In fact I'm going to do my best to stop reading it. We're just going in circles here, and half of what is being argued is a misrepresentation of my point of view anyway. I've said what I had to say. Most of you won't consider it, and those of you who will already have. To those who have remained polite and on topic, thank you. Especially if you do not agree.

However I'm tired of defending things I didn't say. And I'm tired of having my photos and my point view put down with childish abuse. It's unreasonable to sit there and hurl that kind of thing and expect that I meekly accept it without firing back. And I think I've been very restrained. The closest I've come to abuse is an honest critique which though unkind was no less kind than what I've received. In any case it's not worth the time going in circles.

Last time I said this about a thread I made the mistake of looking anyway and ended up responding because there were about a dozen childish rants and people patting each other on the back for "defeating the troll" even though nothing I've said then or now was trolling in any sense of the word. This time I'm going to try very hard not to read more of this thread so if any of you do decide to behave that way just keep your business name out of it and remember it's not hard to Google a photographer.

To all those photographers who are satisfied in themselves that they're honest and doing good work for their clients, good luck no matter the particulars of how you choose to run your business. In the end it's you that you have to satisfy.

To the opening poster, thanks again for the book, and I hope you're not too upset that this thread went so far off topic discussing it.

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Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
 
No worries. The pro forum can get pretty heated at times and I have seen some of the worst vitriol here. Part of that is I am sure the economy is affecting everyone and protecting turf can be thirsty work.

Keep it up and don't worry about posting work for CC. You will get some flames but you will also find some constructive comments.

--
Ian Eisenberg
President/Owner
Digit Training
Offering classes in animation, game design, vfx, photography, videography, web
design and all things digital.
 
I'm trying hard to bite my tongue on this one.

Do you go to a baker and ask for uncooked dough?

What happens when you overcook the dough or add your own ingredients, and then tell unsatisfied taste buds where you got the dough from? Who's to blame?

No photographer (sane ones anyway) would hand over RAW files. Their work is their name and their name is their work. RAW files are chock full of potential and not always representative of the final product. How you recover highlights is not how I might recover highlights etc and I wouldn't want my name on your RAW edits unless I paid you and they met my standards or vision. Wedding photographers are hired on their vision and work flow prowess... from capture to final output. If you needed somebody to be a goon and just press the shutter now, now and now with the pop up flash while in RAW capture mode, then asking your family was the right choice. But don't criticize working photographers on their collective business model of not handing over RAW files.
Sammy Yousef said:
In my experience, and certainly the reason I asked family to shoot our wedding, > it is because pros will not give what the customer wants. In my case I wanted all > shots in RAW, and unedited with the right to edit myself and nothing deleted. > Didn't want prints either. Found that was going to be too hard to negotiate. > Every pro wants to present their artistic vision, pretend they never shoot blurries,
Click to expand...
I admit to shooting blurries. With the hair triggers that DSLRs have, it's easy for misfires. Why would you want blurry pictures anyway? Just takes up hard drive space.
Sammy Yousef said:
and gouge for prints. My wedding was my wedding, not some photographer's > business opportunity.
Click to expand...
I know how you feel. I'll BBQ my own damn burgers. My burgers are my burgers and not some short order cook's business opportunity or pimply teenager's half assed summer job.

Sounds rediculous doesn't it?
Sammy Yousef said:
Thanks but no thanks.

--
Sammy.

My forum postings reflect my own opinions and not those of my employer. I'm not employed in the photo business.
Click to expand...
Apparently. You have no respect for someone trying to earn a living in the photography business.

--
"You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
 
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