Bridge to going Pro

fret_wimp2

I know this has been asked under many guises in the past and i have done a search but not found anything as specific as what im asking here.

Ive been an ameteur photographer the past 5 or so years, making a living in IT.
Ive been considering making the push to go pro for the past 18 months or so, mainly as i just enjoy taking pictures, and i dont enjoy IT, so want to give a shot at earning a living doing something i like.

Ive gotten a few images published, but that was all via either flickr or via people seeing an image on facebook.

I am having serious issue figuring out the bridge from my current line of work into pro photography.

I appreciate its not easy, and taking pictures for fun is not the same as earning a living from it, but life is too short to be doing something you hate, and Id be a fool to not at least explore the idea.

My idea of how it could work is as follows:

1. keep working in IT to pay the bills, get experience as an photographic assistant when possible. See how a pro makes their trade profitable.

2. Take some paid gigs solo such as a wedding or portrait work ( ive been regularly asked to do both).

3. Get an exhibition set up to showcase some of my work.

4. Assuming (big assumption) i have learned enough to drum up new business and have testimonies from some happy clients, make the jump and go for it.


Im still stuck at point 1 though, as although ive been part of a photogrphy club in the past, it was pretty much all amateurs, so although enjoyable, there wasnt a lot of pro experience to draw on.

So, my ask is:

1. Can anyone advise how i might advertise myself as available as an assistant?

2. If my current ideas are completely ridiculous, could someone who has made this move advise their path?


I appreciate any advise anyone here can provide. Thanks!

gloobag

I made pretty much the same jump you're describing about two years ago (although I was made redundant).

However hard you think it's going to be, multiply it by about 1000%. Enjoying photography, having some images published and being asked by friends of friends to shoot a few portraits does not a business make. And I'm not trying to be harsh to you specifically, that's just the truth. I've lived it myself.

What kind of photography do you actually want to specialize in? Weddings, Portraits, Fashion, Commericial? You need to know this now, as this will determine your target market.

By the way, have you done any market research? Do you know who your competitiors are, and how good they are? Are they better you? What's your cost of doing business. Are you insured? Do you have backups for all of your essential equipment. Is your equipemnt actually up to scratch? Do you have a website? Do you know anything about SEO (you work in IT, so you should). Are you any good at the whole social media thing? How are your people skills? Can you grin and bare it when a client is being a prick? Do you have the balls to say no to a client when they ask for something you don't want to shoot? Do you have any contacts in the industry? Do you have a cohesive portfolio that flows naturally from one image to the next while viewing. Do you know how to do a tax return? Any accounting knowledge? How much do you need to make a month to survive? Are you willing to have your faith in yourself tested regularly? Are you ready to feel like gving it all up, but still soldier on somehow even when there's no money coming in? Are you ready to see people who are younger and less talented than you succeed when you're not? Are you prepared to be undercut on price by some perv with a Canon 1000D and kit lens? Do you know that you will spend only a very small percentage of your time actually using a camera, and the rest sitting at a desk doing boring stuff (just like most IT jobs )?

I know these are all just random questions lumped together, but you need to know the answers to every one of these and probably about 1000 more before you even consider trying your hand at being a working photographer.

I didn't know the answers when I started out and it cost me plenty of time and money and caused a lot of headaches and doubts before the fog cleared and I copped myself on.

This is not a glamourous job, despite what blogs like Fstoppers.com might make you think. It's extremely hard work, both physically and mentally. There are times when I would kill to have my boring IT job back. But, when things go right this can be a very rewarding profession, and not just in terms of money. The value of the high points (at least for me) vastly outweigh the lows. The only thing is, you might have to sweat buckets of blood to achieve them.

By the way, if you want to assist someone, just ask them. Make sure they're worth assisting first though. Also, be prepared to be turned down. Sometimes assistants are more of a hassle than a help. There are very few people I'd actually trust to assist me on a paid gig to be honest.

Corkbah

fantastic response by gloobag

just to add...... if you are planning to make the jump ensure you have enough money to bankroll you for 12-18months, you also need to learn what are your rights and responsibilities as a photographer - if someone hires you - who has copyright ? does the client know what they are allowed to do with the image or does it matter to you as long as you get paid.

The sector of photography you want to get into would be a huge determining factor in the advice you can get, most professional photographers will tell you we dont need another person trying to compete (particularly wedding photography), most are struggling because clients dont care about the quality and only care about someone being able to take an image and the price (most idiots with a camera can actually do a high percentage of the work available - how many times has a person on here seen a pic from a PR agency or professional photographer and said "I could do that".

We can all do the photographs (well most of us can), but then ...why do companies etc choose to pay professional photographers high fees for some simple images - for usage on facebook etc.

secman

Sounds like "grass greener on the otherside" but its not !
I know of a few unemployed guys at the moment doing photography as a full time hobby to keep their sanity, and that's shooting what they like, when they like but even then it got in on them, almost fell out of love with it, became a chore rather than fun and enjoyment.

Big decision and investment by the sounds of it.

Best of luck with your decision.

fret_wimp2

Thanks a mil guys gloobag and corkbah in particular, those posts are exactly what i was looking for and are super informative.

-Ive never been self employed, so never done tax returns or anything like that.
-I dont have a well thought out and organized portfolio created although i do have the material.
-I have probably half the equipment that i need, in that i have a good camera and set of lens's but this will need to be x2.
-I work in IT but web in general is not my area of expertise so although im familiar with SEO, id need to learn a bit about it, but thats not a problem.
-Im very aware of how much i currently need just to keep the wolf from the door month to month, but id need to factor in expenses of being a photographer also, which i currently hav'nt done.
-I dont want to limit myself to any particular field, i dont think you can afford to in photography now days.
-Regarding the questions on am i ready to deal with asshole customers, want to chuck it in when it gets too much but keep going, I dont think i can know that until im in the thick of it.

You guys have articulated very well how difficult it is and i appreciate that a lot.
I know it could very easily also become a job i hate, but i KNOW right now that I hate my role right now and that staying in it without change will be detrimental to my mental health.

So I have to weight up is the cost, effort and see if the potential for failure worth it, or decide to stay in an industry and job thats making and keeping me very unhappy, sell my soul as it were (apologies for being so dramatic!).

It could be that Photography isnt the occupation for me, but i know right now it is not IT and its at least worth investigating doing something i currently really enjoy

Im going to spend a few weeks doing a lot more research to see if its a risk worth taking.

Thanks guys.

Corkbah

you still havent said what area of photography you were interested in getting into...lol

gloobag

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

-I dont want to limit myself to any particular field, i dont think you can afford to in photography now days.

You couldn't be more wrong in my opinion. I can't think of any 'jack of all trades' photographers that are actually succesful.

Stick to one thing and learn to do it well. Find your target market and then carve out a little niche to distinguish yourself from the competition.

Once you're established you can think about branching out a bit, but doing so early on will just dilute your portfolio and confuse clients as to what it is you actually do.

Think about it. How many times have you seen a great wedding photographer that's equally as distinguished for their sports photography. It just doesn't happen (at least not very often) becuase it doesn't work.

If you really want to focus on working in more than one discipline, then create seperate websites, with seperate portfolios and market them accordingly. This would be a lot of work though.