How to improve and get paid?

[anne_kerr]

<p>I started getting into photography a few months ago and I'm pleased with how I've progressed. I'm even thinking of trying to practice more at family events, taking classes and things like that so I can get better and maybe one day charge for my services.</p>

<p>I understand that a lot of people prematurely decide to act as a photographer, charge for their services, and then, because they're not experienced enough, they make a mess of things and make some poor client very unhappy. i don't want to do that. I do, however, want to improve and learn. I want to take courses, maybe set up free photo sessions. Read a lot. Is there anything else I can do?</p>

<p>My main question is, however, when can you know you're ready? Do I have potential? Right now, when I go on vacation, for example, maybe 10-20% of the photos look awesome (to me, at least). The rest are just "regular."</p>

<p>Does every photographer get 100% of their photos to look awesome, or will I know I'm not an "amateur" anymore when I'm satisfied with 50%?</p>

<p>I appreciate the suggestions/comments. I'll try to post more recent photos to give an idea of what my skill level is like right now.</p>

 

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Anne,<br />One of the differences between an amateur and a professional is that a professional never shows anyone his bad pictures. :) Everybody still has some bad shots no matter how long they've been shooting. <br />I think one key question in deciding whether you are ready to start charging is whether you can deliver on what you have promised. Whether it's a wedding, portrait, news or commercial assignment, you have to be able to do what you say you can do and do it at a level of quality commensurate with what you are charging. when you pick up the camera you have to know what the results will be, not hope.<br />It's very good to hear that you are asking yourself these questions.<br />Far too many posts on here are from people who say "I'm going to be a professional photographer. What kind of camera should I buy?"</p>

[Member69643]

<p>I think your percentage of good ones is fine, depending upon what you're shooting. Sometimes the great picture <strong><em>just isn't there</em></strong>. All kinds of things are out of the photographer's control so it's important to take a lot of pictures. That has little to do with skill and everything to do with probability. The general rule for group shots, for example, is to shoot at least one image for each person in the group. That helps improve your odds that nobody is blinking.</p>

<p>Nobody is ever perfectly ready for something new, and nobody controls the unpredictable. There will always be risk. When you feel the time is right you'll try it.</p>

[starshooter]

<p>You need to do some "self-assignments." These are photo shoots you undertake for you, not for a client. Things that push you as a photographer, to see if you can cut the mustard. Fifty years ago I was an underpaid guy working in a photo lab developing film and making prints all day and dreaming of going out there with my Rolleiflex and challenging the big kids on the block (big time news and magazine photographers.) I sweet talked my way into being able to go to a big movie star's mansion and photographing her at home. The photos were from okay to pretty good. I never sold any becasue I had zero experience at selling my work but it gave me the confidence I could swin with the big fish. So I did. I've had my photos in Time and Life and Newsweek, the New York Times and hundreds of other publications around the world. Some are in history books. Thank you, Jayne Mansfield.</p>

[ferling]

<p>You've got spirit and a desire to shoot. For the most part you are shooting for yourself. When you involve a client and money, your now shooting to get what he or she wants. It's dead simple, but a reality none-the-less for newbies crossing over.</p>

<p>Point 2. Know your customers like they will know you. Let's say you shoot weddings, and you do a three or free ones, and from those you cull 25 good shots to place into a book. Then let's say you meet your first paying client, and they want to see example of an entire wedding? Not just the selects, but something more tangible to their expectations of what they might receive in total? You might be taken aback by this, but clients are also tech savvy enough to Google the subject and read about things like this. They will ask these questions and they will be informed. It won't hurt you to be your own best customer and read up and learn from a potential clients point of view.</p>

<p>Point 3. Be efficient. You might have a nice portrait shot, but how many attempts did it take for you to hit the good one? There's nothing like having a live ratio known, by the client, on the spot. Practice, practice.</p>

<p>Point 4. Be quick. Someone likes your online folio of select concert shots and they bring you in to shoot an event. Suddenly an important person is on the stage and your asked to capture that, and you only have a minute before they walk off. Can you do it? Right there in front of anywhere from 100-18,000 people? Do you know the initial settings needed to get a ballpark shot, check, adjust and fire again, and again to have three to choose from? Hint: when you're new, hold the camera at waist level, take a shot to sample exposure of the room, check and adjust as you walk up. Eventually experience will kick in and you'll know what settings will put you in the ballpark as you encounter the scene.</p>

<p>Point 5. Know your worth. A client balks at you print prices, $50 for an 8x10 of your landscape? I can get that for a buck on cheapskateprinting.com, etc. Technically, while that may be true, you're not selling a "print", you're selling an image that you worked on and need to profit by. Another example. If I paid an electrician for just fiddling with some wires, he'd get $5. However, he charges me $100 an hour for KNOWING which wires to fiddle with. Also, I don't question his fee when he shows up in my driveway with a work truck and $20k in tools, and then he makes work look easy because he obviously knows what he is doing.</p>

<p>Point 6. Word of mouth. Finally, while on the subject with the electrician. I called him based on the references of others I know and trust. No different than how I chose my dentist, my mechanic, etc. etc. "Anyone know a good photographer?" The only way to get there is to keep doing what your doing and put yourself out there. Eventually you'll get a phone call, an email or FB post from a someone you don't know, whom was given your name by someone you do.</p>

<p>Keep shooting.</p>

<p> </p>

[anne_kerr]

<p>Thank you. Your replies have given me more motivation and insight. I know I said I wanted to see if I could profit from this, but mainly, I'm glad that I like photography so that getting paid doesn't necessarily mean I'm "working." </p>

<p>When I was in college, I was offered an art scholarship because I can draw well, but I never took it because I thought it'd be more profitable to do something else and I made a career error. I've always had a natural inclination towards art though, and I think photography pulled me in because it captures things -- feelings, beauty, a moment in time. I want to be able to leave something behind for my grandchildren so they can go back in time and have a glimpse of what I saw that Tuesday 60 years ago. </p>

[monika_epsefass]

<p>Point 7., if I may add: if you have the opportunity, have someone (on professional level) evaluate a portfolio of 10-20 pictures. I had the chance at a huge photography conference, and must say it brought me back on my feet.... (but taught me a lot about my mistakes and how to avoid them).</p>

[ferling]

<blockquote>

<p>"have someone (on professional level) evaluate a portfolio of 10-20 pictures."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Good call, Monika. When you're just starting out, your critiques come from family and close friends. Your relationship with them will effect their input, and many of them might not wish to hurt your feelings if they don't like your work, and so your critiques will not be entirely truthful.</p>

<p>While on the subject, be mindful that what determines a professional photographer is a paycheck. That is, I've seen folks whose work is sub-par, but technically accurate, focused and meets the criteria for the client. When shooting tabletop items for catalog, there's not really not much room in terms of creativity. Many shoots are governed by templates and run through like cattle. Not every product is a cover shot. Not every model shoot is double-page spread, sometimes it just has to be focused, framed and lit correctly for a customer to identify the object and hit the buy it now button. With the exception of a few product shots, none of that stuff finds it's way into my portfolio -its boring, but it pays the bills, and buys the toys.</p>

<p>There's lots of different work for cheap pay that you can do with a minimum of gear and technique. Local school sports, little leagues, and being a studio drone for a portrait chain, etc. etc. These will teach you about dealing with people and a little about lighting and just working it. Much of these are done in the evening hours or on the weekend so you can keep your day job. They also get you out in front of potential clients that might lead to other kinds of work. Hint. Hint.</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>I've seen folks whose work is sub-par, but technically accurate, focused and meets the criteria for the client.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

It goes beyond that. It's about showing up on time, making sure the photos will get taken, delivering on time, in addition to meeting the photographic criteria. I'm amazed at how many people think they can be professional photographers while delivering photos a week after a timely event. One way I have gotten fight assignments, aside from taking great photos, is that I show up early at the event, talk to the officials and make sure I have my seat, and deliver finished photos by 3AM directly after the fights.<br>

<br>

I recently somewhat blew a music magazine assignment when it took me about thirty minutes to find parking and it was about a mile away from the venue. The venue had no photographers' pit and I ended up shooting from the edge of the stage. I did get shots, but not at the quality I expected. Things like that will make a much bigger difference than you expect. Since I shoot regularly for them, it wasn't a problem, but the next time I shot at the venue, I was in before the doors opened.<br>

<br>

This somewhat negates Point 4 above. I never show up to a new venue or event with only a minute to set up. I typically show up an hour before anything starts, evaluate the lighting, ask what obstacles might be an issue, and make sure people know what I'm doing. As a result, it's easy to be prepared for the first shot.</p>

[ferling]

<p>Jeff, I agree. It's a business and you have to conduct yourself in such a matter. I also conduct same or next day delivery, (it also makes sense to edit with the shoot still fresh in my mind).</p>

<p>My point for #4 was not to be taken at face value by showing a minute before a job (H to the no), but by being ready to tackle something at a minutes notice with regards to skill and knowing your gear. When your at event that involves the entire hotel, you can be go from inside to outside all day. Especially in corporate jobs with all kinds of training functions going on, and I need to capture a representation of them all. I could be outside shooting a group of attendees undergoing some team building exercises by the pool in the mid-day sun. Then, at moments noticed be called in to capture a surprise guest speaker (not on schedule) at a presentation inside a very dim ballroom. It happens.</p>

<p>I've been to shoots where the jobs were dived up amongst three or more shooters. When minutes into the shoot, another photographer would come over, and the puzzled look on his face told me what's up. He would ask me what settings I was using! Others would bring me their camera's and ask me to critique their first few shots, and the customer was right there! "Pete. Take a look at this, I'm not sure. Does this look right?" I'm sure you have similar stories.</p>