Hello there my dear Steemers :)
If you are into photography as a hobby but wanted to earn money as a family / portrait / wedding photographer, this post is here to help you.
This is my experience, my point of view as a female photographer. I've worked so hard to this point of my life. Photography saved me from social anxiety and gave me self-confidence. Dream big, trust your instincts follow your heart! <3
QUICK INFO
I am 28, an experienced photographer with a demonstrated history of working in the wedding photography industry. This year I am marking 4th birthday of my own photography business.
If you need more inside tips, don't hesitate to contact me. I am here to share my knowledge.
Sometimes... I can't believe how many people I've photographed, how many lifes I've changed and how many memories I've created.
SO, WHERE TO START?
1. First things first - EQUIPMENT!
Quality over quantity. You don't need 10 lenses. You need one good camera body and 1-2 prime lenses for shooting a portrait or family (in the beginning). For example, my first DSLR was Canon 40d + Canon 50 mm f/1.8 (cheap, second hand). This lens taught me how to shoot portraits and weddings (as assistant photographer).
Portrait / Family photography
If you are new to portrait photography, first thing you have to do is to take photos of your friends and family. You have to learn how to talk and how kindly suggest poses to your models. The best and cheapest option for this type of photography is using Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens.
The most important thing while photographing people is patience and tolerance. They expect you to be in a good mood, positive and talkative even if you're in a bad mood and don't feel like doing anything or worse (for girls), to be on your first day of period.
Wedding photography
Weddings are hard work and often very complicated. You have to be everywhere at once. Ask professional local photographer if you can work for them (for free) so you can see how they act in front of clients. If they allow you to shoot weddings with them, you are lucky! This is how I got into wedding business. I fell in love with it! Day by day and they started to pay me as a second shooter!
When shooting a wedding I am mostly using Canon 5d Mark III + Sigma 35mm f/1.4 and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and for the wedding party, Canon 24mm f/1.4 + Canon flashes.
IMPORTANT!
If you are working alone but want to shoot weddings, you must be aware you're going to need two DSLR bodies, two flashes, few camera batteries, fast memory cards and external back up drives. If something happens to your equipment during the wedding or to your files it's your fault and it is the stress and money you can't afford. Be careful!
2. PORTFOLIO
Your future client need to see what type of photographer are you, how do you work and what is your approach. This means work, work, work. Check out other photographer's work, admire them, don't criticize. Find photography that moves you, LEARN from it.
The easiest way to start building your portfolio is to offer free photo sessions (which got me in the spotlight in my hometown). People talk to people who talk to other people and that's how you get new models or FIRST CLIENTS! Word of mouth is very important and still to this day books my dates.
If you want to focus more on wedding photography, check out Pinterest and search for Styled weddings. Contact your local wedding vendors and try organise one. If that is not working, offer a free photo session to one couple of newly weds in your city.
If you want to focus more on portraits ask local models (new faces) if they want to help build your portfolio in exchange for photographs.
Don't be a dick, pay for a coffee if there is a chance ;)
Be creative, express yourself trough your own photo projects.
(photographs from my second solo exhibition)
3. VISUAL IDENTITY
We, humans, are visual types. Your future clients associate you and your visual identity with feelings. You need to know what is that feeling you want them to feel. For example, I wanted my clients to feel emotions like: being safe, loved, softness, intimacy, creativity.
This is one example of my logo (headliner on my website) which is also printed and engraved on my packages, business cards, thank you notes etc. Logo was designed by Lana Dreams, Croatian graphic designer.
4. WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA
When you have everything ready, it's time to put your photography work online, for a world to see :) Official website is must have. It looks professional even if you are just at the start. And I am not talking about those free Wix sites. You need to decide what is your business name and go with it.
yourname.com
Also, you NEED to have Facebook page and Instagram. Tag people, places, share your photographs on your private account, connect with everyone. Make sure your sites are simple and informative. Easy to use with type of photography you would love to do more in the future. Post your photographs often but don't be a spammer.
5. FREE MARKETING
In my experience, if you don't have any budget at all, offer your services to the local artists in exchange for their service or exposure. Photographing for a local newspaper is also a good start. People will notice you and they will talk about you.
When and if someone uses your photograph on their own social media, make sure they credit you. Be nice and leave them a comment.
Don't forget to share your business cards to everyone your know and fingers crossed! :)
If you want to read and know more about it, let me know.
Love,
S.
Loving your shots from the first to the last. I must say I see a lot of creativity and beauty. Have always been interested in photography but now am taking it more serious.
Thanks for the tips. First step am getting a good cam
Thanks for the tips
Thank you so much! :)
I never thought about professional photography, mainly because I'm an amateur and I don't yet have any skill worth mentioning. This article was very interesting, though, and I thank you for it.
I would be interested in knowing what you do and what your thoughts are about post-production, or what you do once you've taken a picture. That's where, as much as I can see, most professionals disagree, some really like to play with their software, some others are more old-school and don't really like to change anything. If I had to guess, your use of fixed focals only makes me think you're more of an old school kind of photographer :)
Thank you very much for reading.
As for post production - I am all into it!
When I am taking a photograph I am already thinking about the editing, is it going to be in colour or in black and white (in my case) depends on the intensity of the contrast and shadows.
For post processing - (I am shooting in RAW always) I am using Adobe Lightroom and some presets. You can check out LXC or VSCO presets so you can check out what type of post processing I am into.
I am not old school kind because I don't know how to properly use old film cameras. In situations like on the wedding days I would probably suck haha :D
Your photos are amazing, they look so good. I always hated wedding photos because they are so outdated but you really seem to know what you are doing!
If I ever get married, now I know who to call :)
Rado bih saznao kako koristiti postavke za određene tipove fotografija. Gdje je dobro mjesto za to naučiti? Mogu li se neke upute naći kako početi. Hvala.
Pozdrav! :)
Zapravo je najjednostavnije koristiti "Av" postavke na aparatu.
Kod tih postavki mijenjate samo ISO te otvor blende dok vam se brzina okidača mijenja sama, automatski.
Što se tiče tipova fotografije najbolje je ne mijenjati ništa nego fotografirati u sirovom RAW formatu ukoliko bi se htjeli malo više pozabaviti sa obradom fotografije u Adobe Lightroomu ili Photoshopu.
Postoje brojna videa na youtubeu za početnike ili možda pogledajte da li postoji neki lokalni foto klub koji bi vas mogao bolje uputiti u postavke i kako što raditi. :)
Hvala. Tako sam se i do sad malo "igrao". Naime tek planiram kupiti DSLR (znao sam o brata posuditi, isto amater). Što mislite o Nikonu 5300 sa dodatnim objekivom za portrete, obitelj? Ili imate kakav prijedlog? Rado bih i koji video snimio povremeno.
Čini se super, a još bolje jer izgleda da ima WIFI što je u današnje vrijeme must have :D
Ja sam na Canonu pa se razumim u samo u par modela koji me zanimaju il sam radila s njima :'D To ti je najbolje pitati na formumima ko je uživljen u tehnički dio :)
Super napisano. Baš me tako nešto zanimalo, a većina krije tajne zanata. Hvala.
Very good picture and your story
photos and stories are very interesting, may be increased knowledge for readers