BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Photography Careers and Making Money

Becoming a professional photographer?

Thanks!

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November 12, 2007

First, there's nothing wrong with self-taught of course although if you;re job searching for someone else to hire you, a degree is somewhat important along with a strong, very strong portfolio.

Second, when you go from a hobby to try and turn pro, the hobby takes on entirely new characteristics as "work". If you freelance and are self-employed, roughly 80-85 per cent of your time is spent looking for assignments, meeting potential prospects, bidding, knocking out your competition for a variety of reasons, handling business related details, protecting your work, negotiating usage, maintaining equipment, and/or working with your rep if you're good enough to have one and THAT relationship is like a marriage.

If you decide to do magazine type work, and you're able to pick up an assignment from an editor or assistant editor, realize that unlike back in the 70's when I started, there are far less editors available to help mentor you along and far more photographers vying for their time. When you start building professional relationships they'll likely be more superficial than the ones we began earlier in our careers unless you're fortunate to get some really solid, long lasting, pro relationships with various publishers as I was. Those relationships, to a large extent, are based on mutual trust, respect and admiration and professionally at least, those elements should be your goals...always.

Aside from developing your abilities and talents in one photographic area and/or another, you should read alot. Two books I recommend to my students when I'm fortunate enough to teach are:
"Witness in Our Time. Working Lives of Documentary Photographers" by Ken Light published by Smithsonian Press.

The other is a book by David Hurn and Bill Jay called "On being a photographer". A practical guide. Published by LensWork. That'll give you some fundamentals to contemplate.

If you chose photojournalism, as your gallery seems to indicate you have a bent for, you should know too that while it's quite rewarding to be able to tell a particular story using photographs, it's sometimes difficult
to stand behind the lens and bear witness to some of the world's most tragic events. That in turn, can be nearly overwhelming at times. So, if you chose this type of work, be prepared physically and mentally.
I can safely say however, (and I've said this previously here) that I wouldn't trade what I do and have done for anything in the world. I'm fortunate to have met and worked with virtually everyone I have and that I've photographed.

That's about the best I can tell you at this point.

And meanwhile, good luck to you. ;>)
Mark

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November 12, 2007

Carrie, here is a viewpoint from someone who has been a 'pro' for a time and decided not to desecrate their love. Me.

I was a portrait/wedding photographer for about eight years. A lot of my photographic energies were spent in keeping the books, running the schedule, keeping the books, maintaining equipment, archiving negs, keeping the books, and, uh, well, already mentioned that. I met some very awesome people, made some great images and did some things and had great times I might not have had otherwise.

But it was starting to affect my personal photography. It was suffering horribly. And I was not going to support my family on photography. It was eating away too much personal time and when I got married three years ago it became nearly impossible. If I wished I could have kept it up and my wife said so, but I decided that I would rather shoot for me and me alone.

To become a pro, one has to have a drive to succeed, an ambition to survive, an ability to seperate professional photography from personal photography and be able to keep up both at a healthy rate. It takes more than know where to point the camera.

That being said, being a pro is not for everybody. But you might find that you were born to wear those shoes and that you may preform stellarly. I wish you all of the luck that I can in finding your path and having the courage to follow it.

Good luck.

Chris

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November 13, 2007

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November 14, 2007

http://www.betterphoto.com/forms/QnAdetail.php?threadID=17534

Wishing you the very best in your ventures,
Debby Tabb

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November 14, 2007

I don't have the studio equipment so until I acquire it I don't think I would be able to start there. I have done 3 family weddings, which was fun but a LOT of work and stress! It's something that with time and confidence I probably could work out a system that would make doing it more enjoyable. I've done my cousin's senior pictures (outside)... but I'm not all that comfortable with posing (that goes for doing weddings also). I love candid shots and as of now I enjoy taking pictures of my kids the most (but what mom doesn't).

I think I'll look into taking some online courses to better my skills and maybe with time and confidence I'll have a better idea what it is I should do... stay a hobbyist or pursue the profession of photography.

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November 14, 2007

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November 14, 2007

working with in your passion is very rewarding, but yes there will be days it is still work.
It sounds like you have the time to resurch this a bit more.
So I wish you the best in your day to day quest for path and until then, just keep having a good time,
Debby

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November 14, 2007

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November 14, 2007