What do you like most about running your professional life?
Brenda Tharp:
The joy of photographing in the field - being on the road experiencing other cultures, other places - even if it's just the Sierra mountains in my home state. I like exploring, seeing new things, photographing them to share with others. I feel connected to the world when I'm out in it, making pictures.
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What do you like the least about your professional life?
Brenda Tharp:
I'd have to say office work. Even with someone helping out, there's still a lot of prepping, organizing and planning that I have to do for promotion, stock submissions, and more book projects. Now that I'm photographing digitally, the amount of work in converting Raw files and prepping them is amazingly time consuming.
And, one other thing about being a location photographer: The time it takes me away from home. It's very difficult to have a social life at home if you are away alot. So I try to balance my adventures with time at home, too, to garden, make jewelry, hike and play with the dog and my partner.
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What advice do you have for someone who simply wants to improve their photography skills?
Brenda Tharp:
Take classes - in skill building for photography techniques, and in developing your creative vision. Study with people whose work you resonate with; they will inspire you the most. And just practice your photography regularly, every day if you can, while building your skills.
The goal is to have the technical be second nature, to let the creative intuitive vision drive your compositions.
Here at BetterPhoto, we often get questions from people who want to become "Professional Photographers". What advice do you have for someone who says they want to pursue a career in photography? Is there a key to making a name for yourself?
Brenda Tharp:
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I wish there was one key, one secret, I could share to making a name
for yourself! Stay focused on the area of photography you want to
succeed in, and keep promoting that. Don't try to do too many things,
or the promotion message gets diffused.
Also, consider the realities
of business. If you are an artist, with no business skills, you
either want to hire someone with those skills or take courses in
basic business management or in the business of photography. Many
great photographers have struggled because of the lack of business
skills.
It also helps to start with some capital, as it can take time
to realize your dream financially, even if you are getting things
published here and there. It's an amazing amount of work to promote
yourself, manage your images, and get time to photograph. Most pros
state they work at photographing about 20% of the time, the rest is
all about the business!
Above all, believe in yourself, and get feedback from professionals
whose work you admire, to see if you are ready to make the leap with
your portfolio of pictures. It's a rewarding career from a standpoint
of rich life experiences, if not a financially lucrative career, but
it can be both with hard work and a focused vision.
Brenda, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on getting started with photography with us!
Denise Miotke
BetterPhoto.com
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