Running a photography business may seem the ideal job if you enjoy photographing people and events, but starting your own business is never simple. However, as long as you have creative taste and business sense, starting a photography business is very doable. Here are a few things you need to know to get started.
Step
Part 1 of 4: Education and Training
Step 1. Learn all the basics
To become a professional photographer, you must know photography far more than the average person who owns a camera. Learn the technical aspects of photography, including topics like shutter speed and exposure.
Familiarize yourself with all the basic technical terms and understand how they work. This includes aperture, shutter speed and ISO
Step 2. Find your specialization
Most photographers have some kind of specialization. For example, you might specialize in family, animal, or wedding photography. Each specialization has its own uniqueness and complexity, so you should choose one and study more in detail.
If you don't have a specific specialization or interest yet, learn a little about the various options available to determine which one best suits your skills and interests
Step 3. Take courses and workshops
You can technically start a photography business even if you're completely self-taught, but photography courses and workshops can actually improve your photos and give you an edge over other budding photography businesses.
- Before you sign up for a course, do some research on the instructor. Make sure the teaching staff are professionals in the photography industry who intend to teach information relevant to your company's needs. See if any of the previous course participants have had success.
- If you are currently working full time or part time, look for weekend workshops and online courses.
Step 4. Ask a mentor for help
If possible, find a photography mentor who can talk to you on a regular basis. This mentor should be a professional whose work you admire.
- A mentor doesn't have to be someone you meet personally, although it can be very helpful. However, choose someone you can meet in some form of communication at least once a month, even if the communication is over the internet. You can try to find photographers who don't hesitate to share their knowledge, for example Akhmad Dody Firmansyah (the Himago Pro blog or Himago Professional Service.
- It is actually advisable to seek out a mentor outside the area as most photographers may not be thrilled at the prospect of training someone who will become a direct competitor in the near future.
Step 5. Intern with a professional
This is another optional step, but if you can find an internship with a professional photographer, you can gain real business experience that you can then use for your own photography business.
- An internship should ideally be related to the type of photography you plan to specialize in, but if the internship isn't directly related, you can still gain experience.
- You may need to offer services on a casual and short-term basis before you can convince anyone to accept you as an intern for the long term. This is especially important if you don't have any experience or formal education.
Step 6. Master the work
This may seem like an obvious requirement, but it's still important to mention. Your skills with the camera should be much better than the average person's skills. It takes many hours of practice before you can start your own business.
It takes about 10,000 hours of practice to "master" photography. The more time you put into it early on, the faster you'll develop that skill
Step 7. Know your camera better than you know yourself
You should choose a camera before starting a business and learn all the best ways to use it. All makes and models have their quirks, so the more familiar you get with the camera, the better you'll be able to handle those quirks.
- At a minimum, you should know how to use the manual settings on the camera, how to adjust the lighting settings, and how to direct the style so that everyone is comfortably within reach of the camera.
- In addition to having to know the camera like knowing your own palm, you also need to know the light modifier, lenses, and software for editing photos.
Part 2 of 4: Preparing for Business
Step 1. Invest in the right tools and equipment
You must have more than adequate cameras if you want to start a professional photography business. What's more, you should also have spare supplies for essential equipment.
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The basic tools and equipment you will need include:
- Professional camera
- Various lenses, flashes and batteries
- Software for editing photos
- Access to professional labs
- Packaging supplies
- Price list
- Accounting software
- Client information form
- CD and CD holder
- External data storage
- At the bare minimum, you'll need a camera, lens, flash, battery, and a spare memory card. Make sure all of your spare equipment is brought to the scene, in case one goes off during the photo shoot.
Step 2. Work on your strengths and hire others for your weaknesses
For a small photography business, you'll likely be doing all of the shooting, photo editing, and most of the marketing. But for legal and financial matters, you may have to hire a professional in that field to keep things running smoothly.
Make room in the budget for consultations with lawyers and legal experts, as well as accountants from other financial experts. Consultations with legal counsel will likely end when your business is up and running, but you should meet with an accountant once or twice a year to sort out your business tax matters
Step 3. Determine how much you charge
It is not uncommon for budding photographers to charge less than they were charged as they gained more experience. This can keep you ahead of the competition, but you also have to make sure that you're not charging so low that it no longer looks professional.
- The exact amount of money charged depends on your skill level, as well as the prices of direct competitors.
- When calculating costs, you should consider the time spent preparing for the photo session, transportation time to and from the location, time to shoot, editing photos, creating online galleries for viewing photos, pick-up and drop-off schedules, packing orders, and burning spare discs.
- In addition to time considerations, take into account the money you spend driving to locations, burning discs, and packaging photos.
Step 4. Clear all legal matters
As with all businesses, there are some legal aspects that you should pay attention to. At a minimum, you must obtain a tax identification number and trade name. You'll also need to get insurance, a business license, and a sales license.
- After obtaining a tax identification number, you can pay personal income tax, income tax, sales tax, and usage tax.
- Fortunately, no specific inspections or career permits are required for a photography business, but you will still need a basic business license or a business residence permit as well as a sales permit.
- You need insurance for liability, fault and negligence, and equipment.
- As a self-employed businessman, you also have to pay for your own health insurance.
- Also choose a business structure. When you set up a photography business, you need to decide whether you should register as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability company. For a small photography business, you usually need to register as either a sole proprietorship (meaning you are the only person in charge) or a partnership (meaning you are one of the two people in charge).
Step 5. Open a separate bank account
This is optional, but if you plan to grow your photography business as large as possible, opening a bank account for your business can help you track your income and expenses more easily than just using a personal bank account.
Part 3 of 4: Finding Clients
Step 1. Take advantage of social networks and online advertising
Today's society is in the digital age, so if you want to attract attention, you have to be an active part of the digital world. At a minimum you must have a website or blog, as well as various social media accounts.
- Sign up on every social network you can think of, but focus on the main ones like Facebook and Twitter. Linkedin is great for professional purposes, and Instagram is a great medium for sharing your sample photos.
- Update your blog and other social media accounts regularly.
- Make sure you support and interact with other artists whose work you value.
Step 2. Network with other photographers
The advantages of building relationships with other photographers outweigh the disadvantages. These people may be your rivals, but they can inspire you, and send clients to you if they are short on time or don't have specialized knowledge like your specialty.
Instead of looking for a few individuals in the industry, look for an online community of photographers. If you only have one or two contacts, the connection will drop once your contacts are too busy to connect
Step 3. Build a portfolio
Before people hire you to shoot an event or subject, they want to prove that you are a good photographer. The portfolio will provide the evidence the prospective client needs.
The portfolio should contain mostly photos that represent the work you wish to specialize in. For example, if you want to specialize in family and personal photos, your portfolio shouldn't contain page after page of food photography
Step 4. Take advantage of print ads too
In addition to online advertising, you should also consider traditional forms of print advertising. At a minimum, you should design and print business cards to give to potential clients you meet.
In addition to business cards, you can also advertise in newspapers or flyers
Step 5. Rely on word of mouth
As with most small businesses, one of the best ways to promote your business is to ask people you know to help spread the word.
Be prepared to do some free photo sessions, just to build a reputation and experience for good work. Word of mouth can have a bigger impact when someone you don't have anything to do with compliments your work on a potential client
Part 4 of 4: Photographing
Step 1. Seek constructive criticism
There will always be room for improvement. Rely on other professionals to provide helpful critique of your work so you can identify areas that need to be trained with more focus.
Don't rely on family and friends to give you an accurate critique of your work. Someone you have a personal relationship with may automatically compliment your skills, but someone with only a professional relationship will look more objectively
Step 2. Appear according to your impression as a professional photographer
When you show up to take someone's picture, you have to look presentable and professional. This is especially important if you are attending a large event, such as a wedding.
Step 3. Work on a personal project
Don't think that the only photos you are allowed to take after starting this business are business related. Photographing other things outside of business can help you refresh your skills and keep your interest in photography alive.
- Personal projects are a great time to try out new lighting styles, lenses, locations, and techniques.
- Personal projects are also a great opportunity to build a portfolio.
Step 4. Make a backup of all the photos you take
In addition to the primary storage medium, you should back up all the photos you take for business on one or two other devices.
Backup devices worth considering include external storage media and blank DVDs. You can also save photos in online storage
Step 5. Trust your artistic taste
When all is said and done, you must shoot according to your own artistic taste in order to stand out from the rest. If you just try the same with other professional photographers, there will be little or no life in your work.
Tips
Have a full time or part time job when you start this business. By taking on another job, you can support yourself and your business financially and to get rid of the major anxieties that cause many photographers to quit early in their careers
Warning
- Photography is a luxury. During times of economic stress, people tend not to indulge in such luxuries. When the overall economy is in trouble, you have to be prepared for difficulties in the photography business.
- Photography is a very saturated market. There are many photographers available, so you need to be prepared to find a lot of competition.
