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By Roy Barker
When you’re a keen photographer and you have the desire to spend your working life doing something you enjoy such as photography, it would be a shame if you didn’t pursue it further wouldn’t it? You really don’t have to join an institution or pay thousands of dollars to get started either. You simply need the passion to learn and persist. Most great photographers who rely on their trade to survive don’t even know they have these traits because they love what they do and they simply can’t stop.
It’s true that there is wealth to be made in photography and I’m not going to down play that or make a pitch to the opposite because in every case, it’s been up to the individual. Meaning - it depends on what mode of photography they choose, how much time they put into the business, do they have a commercial bent, are they more artistic than usual etc. All these points come into play when success in a photography business or studio is questioned.
I don’t want to create any false hopes by that last paragraph because success will require some hard work, tolerance and patience. These next thirty tips should help you along the way. There is more detail available on this subject matter at the link at the bottom of this page.
Where can I obtain information on building a photography business?
1. Always do some extensive research before starting out a career with your own photography business so that you understand the pros and cons involved. Some ideas include subscribing to a good magazine related to the photographic industry such as Professional Photographer, Camera Arts and Photo District News. Besides that, the internet is the biggest source of information and can provide you with a plethora of career opportunities or even more information on starting a photography business.
At which level do you want to start your photography business?
2. This is the trickiest question that a person interested in starting a business encounters. It is very important to decide what kind of photography business you want so that the relevant requirements and (sometimes) finance can be muscled up.
When is the best time to start a fully-fledged photography business?
3. After deciding on what you need and any extra necessary equipment that is needed to set up the basic infrastructure, you will need to consider carefully your main tool – the camera, be it digital or film. You must also consider carefully a reliable, high-quality PC and good relevant software to manipulate your photographs with special effects. If the business is being undertaken on a massive scale then maybe a developing lab needs to be planned and established.
What kind of venues will yield real income to your business?
4. A newly established business in photography requires an assured location or a beat (working locally), as in journalism. For instance, wedding photography, sports related photography or developmental photography. Once established, business can also be diversified into many more fields.
Building a photography portfolio.
5. It is always important to compile a good portfolio as far as photography is concerned. A portfolio must contain a collection of pertinent photographic work that you believe to be impressive. Make sure that photographs are unusual in character and are from diverse fields. Your portfolio must be able to impress the client in the very first meeting.
6. Don’t keep all the photographs that you have in your possession. Only keep your best work in the folder so that you don’t embarrass yourself or find yourself having to explain photographs that aren’t relevant.
7. Showcase spontaneous photos that you believe are of good quality. You’d be surprised how many people respond favorably to peoples expressions when they are good shots.
Basic apparatus required
8. A canvas background of at minimum 7-9 foot and the background colors should be either navy or white as minimum requirements to start with; a well-branded studio lights system such as that of Norman & Speedtron; certified picture manipulation software such as Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop, etc.
Is there a need for establishing a makeup studio as part of your photo studio?
9. Makeup and photography often go hand in hand. Wherever makeup is involved it is often referred to as trick photography because makeup is capable of completely transforming an individual’s personality, and sometimes relevance to a product in the case of advertising photography.
What kind of photo-editing software available in the market?
10. Photo-editing software through which special effects and complete changes to a photo are possible and can also often save the need for a re shoot.
11. Some of the photo-editing software that are popular includes Photoshop CS; Photoshop Light room, iPhoto, i View Multimedia, MediaPro, ACDSee, Corel and Picasa.
NEXT: Part 2
Roy Barker is the publisher of Income from Photography which is dedicated to coaching you on how to start your own photography business, placing a very strong emphasis on your profitability issues and guidelines.
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