Hi all... I hate to ask the question I'm sure you pro's get asked way too often, but I suppose on behalf of all of us beginners and amateurs, I just want to ask for some very simple advice on getting into this in a professional sense. I don't expect a paint by numbers approach or a hand out, simply what your suggestions would be for someone who is closer to the broke side of things. I'm sure that's a bit of a vague and open ended question, so maybe it'd be better to ask how some of ya'll got into it? I will say I really like that this site allows people to just share their work with other photographers, without any real concern for bashing, just helpful critique, and to be able to kind of come a long side some of the best in the biz and learn from them. That's truly a good thing to me as a photographer, and I appreciate ya'll for making the site. I'm talking too much, so to sum it up, how would you suggest a poor up and comer try to get out there with their photography, and how did some of you pro's start out?
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Hi Jeremy, when I became a full time pro photographer, things were a LOT different than they are now with the business. That was about 15 years ago, when most pros actually made their living selling/licensing their photos. Now, most pros (at least nature and travel photographers) make their living leading photo tours & workshops and/or selling educational ebooks, videos, etc. So, on the one hand it creates a lot of opportunities to make a living, as these things are all in high demand, but on the other hand, it can be a bit difficult to break into. One thing that I did when I first turned pro was to give presentations with every photo club and organization near where I lived, which helped me connect with a large base of followers/customers. But, I was living in the Washington, D.C. area at the time, which has dozens of photo clubs, so I was lucky to be in an area with such a large photography base. Hope this helps!
Thank you for the quick response! Yeah that does help, it's always helpful to hear how others do things. I actually live near the D.C. area myself, so I suppose that's something I can look into, never really thought of that. I'm not really a people person so the idea of tours and workshops doesn't make me scream 'yay!', but I suppose down the line if I feel qualified I would do that. Anyway, thanks so much, and again thank ya'll for providing this site.
If I may suggest, following your own interest with total immersion will help you gain the experience and knowledge to get good in your own way and if your persistent in your creative vision, then you will succeed in producing worthy art. Whether you can make money is another story. As Ian said making a living selling presentation art, particularly landscape images is very difficult in this day and age. As consumer cameras (phones) improve and the digital imagery pervades our culture getting someone to buy an image is unlikely or for a price that is equitable. In my opinion a good photo becomes a great photo when the maker can learn to print the thing! Learning how to print is an art in its self and is a true test of one’s work, the proof is in the print. Partnering with a lab is helpful but learning to print makes photography full circle.
The photography business has changed and will continue to change as tech enables many to do what only a few could or wanted to do before what is now commonplace. Anymore I think twice before reveling a unique place, because the world is overrun with people and the degradation that follows humanity ends up destroying what we love.
If you love image making, people will notice your efforts but in the mean time don’t quit you day job. Though I’m not real active photographically these days, my day job still dominates, but the images I’ve made continue to inspire and captivate me because it reminds me of the many times I’ve immersed myself in photography, so much so I didn’t need a camera to see the world through a view finder…
Thanks so much, Zeph, for the pointers. Yeah selling prints seems to be rather difficult, I've sold 1 in like the last 8 months... Which is fine because I haven't yet really pushed myself to go 'full time' with this. I was wondering though, what are everyones thoughts on photo products, whether ebooks (not just educational but either with writings or just books of photos of places), calendars, and things of that nature? I am figuring that a lot of it is also self promotion and publicity.