A Few Truths About Photography Business

Photo by: turkguy
Along with this increase of digital media, we also are see a dramatic increase in the amount of cameras that are being bought. With all this new equipment many people are discovering their creative sides with camera’s. It starts with a camera phone, point and shoot or shooting with a friends camera. After a few epic shots, you find that you have some talent. You start to dream of grandeur. Everything becomes a photograph and you begin to hear the “siren of a nicer camera”. It calls out to you to buy it. You save your money, get a loan or some credit and it happens. You buy the camera. Then that is when “the dream” sets in.  Most of the time (9 out of 10) tend to all have one common dream. It’s a grand dream and to an extent, the ultimate sense of accomplishment. That dream is to make money or get rich by taking photographs. Everyone wants to be the $20,000 wedding photographer or the traveling landscape photographer.

This is where some of you either start to hate me or love me. Make your choice after you read this.

I know people (me included) that has started their photography business expecting grand results. Many times, however, it just doesn’t happen. Well, it doesn’t happen like you expect or want. My desire is not to squash that dream. Instead, I want to save you some trouble and give you tips on what actually to expect from your photography business and how it relates to your dream.

It takes some time.
One of the greatest tips I have is not to rely on your photography as a main source of income. Especially when you are just starting out. If you are just cutting your teeth then chances are most of the people in your city have never heard of you. Because of this lack of recognition, you will have difficulty finding enough client’s. It takes time to build your professional portfolio and reputation. I have an article that will help you to do this.

Financial viability
In order to make minimum wage in photography you would have to make around $1200 a month. This is a huge problem. Not only because finding clients in the current market who are willing to pay a decent price is really hard but also paying for the thousands of dollars in gear will cut into your financial stability. Consider the costs. You will be responsible for the gear, overhead, business fees, taxes, time, employees (if you have them), production and all the other costs that come with the profession.

It’s a business
I used to think that professional photographers just got to run around shooting things and had no responsibilities. Boy was I wrong. I would say that owning a photography business is about 60% business and 40% photography. When making the jump to having it be a profession, you take on all of the tasks of a business owner. You are now in charge of gaining new clients, costs, profit margins, maintaining clients, workflow, customer service, employees or assistants, web and city presence, branding and all the fun things that are involved in running a business. If you are fortunate enough to hire out from the get go then some of these pressures are relieved.

No work no work
Its pretty simple. If you are having a lull in business or don’t maintain your business then you won’t gain business. I remember business was booming and I went out of town for a few weeks. When I got back it took about a month to get things back the the way they were. If you don’t work on your business and craft, you won’t get business. Having a business requires great attention to detail but having a successful business is a great feeling.

Anyway, there are a few tips. Hope you enjoyed them. Let me know what you think or give us your tips by commenting

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• This photo was taken with a $45 point-and-shoot.