From Amateur To Professional Photographer: Making The Leap

Making the leap from amateur to professional status as a photographer is a big decision.

For example, this isn’t something you should do if the only motivating element is that you “have a passion for photography”.

Likewise, if going pro is the result of people nagging you to do it “because you take such great photos”, then some deeper consideration might be in order.

Jumping from amateur to professional photographer means adopting a complete change in mindset and having a totally different approach to what you do.

This can be summarized very simply:

You are no longer just a photographer! You are a marketer, salesperson and owner of a photography business…

If this is the first time you’ve come across this idea, it may take you by surprise and might make you feel a little uncomfortable.

That’s quite natural, and fully expected — as long as you do accept the premise and all the responsibility that comes along with it!

Because, and this is the absolute truth, you cannot hope to run a successful photography studio if you don’t put the business first.

Seriously, if you strongly disagree with the above statement then you should exit the photography business as quickly and as gracefully as possible, and go find another job.

Being A Pro Photographer Is Fun — But It’s Not A Game

Now that you’re fully committed to the challenge of starting your own photography business, and you understand at least some of the enormity of the task ahead of you, welcome aboard!

Despite all the seriousness of the previous paragraphs, it’s true that being a professional photographer is fun, rewarding, and deeply satisfying.

Unfortunately, many self-professed professional photographers treat it as though it’s the easiest game in the world.

But you and I both know that they’re on the path to ultimate business meltdown.

Many will only realize it at the last minute, when it’s too late to do anything at all to save their studio.

Here are some valuable things to do if you want to make the leap from amateur to professional…

Start With An Inventory

Before you get started you should probably take a complete inventory of everything you physically have that can be used for your business.

For example:

You may already have a fair amount of this stuff to begin with, but it’s important not to get bogged down with what you think you might need at this point.

Just make a list of what you have to serve as a starting point.

You’ll probably see a few gaps in the list that you need to fill.

For example, acquiring backup cameras (100% essential for any assignment), and some studio gear.

However — and this is important — this is not the time to go crazy and start shopping for the latest and greatest stuff that money can buy!

Despite what you might like to think, or what others might say, you don’t need to own the latest $8,000 camera body from Nikon or Canon, nor must you have the most expensive lenses you can find!

In fact, most “prosumer” camera gear is fine when you’re starting out, just use your common sense where appropriate!

There’s plenty of time to invest money in better camera equipment later on when you have paying clients, but that’s not important for now.

Naturally, you’ll think up ways to argue this point, and justify the “need” for that flagship camera body, but trust me on this—it’s really not necessary at this stage.

Consider that the camera you own right now was once the state of the art when first announced, and photographers everywhere fell over themselves to get their hands on one, for the exact same reasons you might imagine you need the latest Nikon or Canon DSLR now.

By all means purchase items you know you absolutely must have for the sake of the business, but keep it real and save your financial resources for the road ahead, because there’s something far more important that you’ll need to invest in first…

Invest In Yourself — Not Just Equipment

That’s right — you must invest in yourself before anything else.

I really don’t know why, but this is the most difficult thing in the world to get many photographers to do, although it’s something that really separates the wannabes from the dedicated professionals who are in this for the long haul.

Some are unable to mentally justify spending money on their own education as an investment…

Others have a twisted belief that business education should be freely available online (try going to college for free and let me know how that works out for you)…

Still more just don’t understand that education is an investment, seeing it more as an expense instead…

Whatever the reason, you must eliminate these incorrect thoughts right this minute!

The very first thing you should do, having made the decision to be a professional photographer, is to sit down and have a real heart-to-heart talk with yourself to figure out where your strengths and weaknesses lie as far as the business is concerned.

Forget about advanced lighting or camera skills or Photoshop know-how for the moment.

Those things are not essential to running a successful business, and I hope you have at least some basic competence in those areas anyway if you’re going to charge money for your photography services!

I’m talking about understanding where you are in your personal business development.

This can be difficult, I know, because there will almost certainly be “blind spots” and things that you just don’t know you don’t know.

Here are just a few examples to get you started and to give some serious thought about:

As you can see, there’s a lot to consider, and this is by no means an exhaustive list!

Some of these areas may require you to invest in training to get you to the point where you’re  adept at them, and I would say this is one of the best investments you can hope to make in your photography business.

Think of it like this…

If you took a full-time job with another company, do you imagine they would think twice about investing in essential training for you?

Of course not!

They would no doubt view it as both a wise and necessary investment in you, and would expect that investment to be returned to them many times over in the course of you carrying out the duties for which you’ve been trained.

One key message for this installment would be this:

As the CEO of your new business venture, you must approach your knowledge and skills in exactly the same way as any other serious business owner would…

Food For Thought From George Addair

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear…

Every day, thousands of professional photographers around the world end up giving up on their dreams of growing a successful photography business for one very simple reason:

Fear.

These aren’t your basic “scared of heights” or “frightened by large hairy spiders” kinds of fears.

No. These fears have to do with things like getting creative in marketing, talking to customers, presenting prices, selling, or simply standing out from the crowd.

Here’s the thing, though.

If you can’t find a way to overcome those fears, they will overtake you and kill your business.

The good news is, in my own personal experience, I’ve found that such fears turn out to be little more than smoke when you look at them in the rearview mirror.

There’s no need to take them all on at once.

One at a time will do just fine 🙂