I've been striving to start a photography business for months. When I visited Wisconsin in June, my confidence was at an all time high. I had family and friends calling me up left and right for my "services".
There was one bad experience and it shook me a bit. My photos were sub-par and I could tell my clients were disappointed in the product they had paid for. I'm still carrying around feelings of guilt and failure from that session.
Then I returned home and read this awful article filled with truths about becoming a pro-photographer.
(These are HIGHLY paraphrased!)
"You don't work your own hours, your evenings and weekends book up and you never see your family."
"Being complimented on your photos doesn't mean your ready to be a photographer, it simply means people compare your work to their snapshots. Clients, (those who PAY you for the service) compare your work to what they see on television and in magazines."
"These same clients don't care how creative the shot is if hair is falling into their face or their smile isn't big enough. They don't understand negative space or why you want to take photos of their feet. It won't mean anything to them if they don't like the way they appear in the photo."
"Considering yourself a 'nautral light photographer' is a fancy way of saying you're too cheap to buy lighting gear, or haven't figured out how to use off camera flash."
"You never attract new clients with a facebook page that only your friends and family have liked. People notice when your portfolio is filled with photos of the same 5 people."
"Do not take pictures for profit without a signed contract first. One lawsuit and your business is sunk."
"If you love photography, that doesn't mean you'll love being a pro photographer. Everything changes when you are shooting for someone else. Suddenly you aren't creating for yourself, you're trying to please the mother of the bride. Not to mention the business side of things - selling photos, paperwork, making a profit. Pressure."
YIKES, right?! How could I NOT feel discouraged and embarrassed after reading that? Although these statements are abrasive, they're true. I l-o-v-e photography, and I love giving people photos that light them up. I DON'T want to fall into a trap where people base my work on how their hair looks. I DON'T want to lose joy over the pressure of a business. I DON'T want magazine cover expectations. I just want to be appreciated, I just want to love this as I have.
Anyone with a halfway decent camera is trying to make money off their photos, and I don't want to be a part of it. This is too important to me. Maybe my mistake was trying to turn something personal into a business. Maybe it should stay in the form it was given to me - as a gift.
There was one bad experience and it shook me a bit. My photos were sub-par and I could tell my clients were disappointed in the product they had paid for. I'm still carrying around feelings of guilt and failure from that session.
Then I returned home and read this awful article filled with truths about becoming a pro-photographer.
(These are HIGHLY paraphrased!)
"You don't work your own hours, your evenings and weekends book up and you never see your family."
"Being complimented on your photos doesn't mean your ready to be a photographer, it simply means people compare your work to their snapshots. Clients, (those who PAY you for the service) compare your work to what they see on television and in magazines."
"These same clients don't care how creative the shot is if hair is falling into their face or their smile isn't big enough. They don't understand negative space or why you want to take photos of their feet. It won't mean anything to them if they don't like the way they appear in the photo."
"Considering yourself a 'nautral light photographer' is a fancy way of saying you're too cheap to buy lighting gear, or haven't figured out how to use off camera flash."
"You never attract new clients with a facebook page that only your friends and family have liked. People notice when your portfolio is filled with photos of the same 5 people."
"Do not take pictures for profit without a signed contract first. One lawsuit and your business is sunk."
"If you love photography, that doesn't mean you'll love being a pro photographer. Everything changes when you are shooting for someone else. Suddenly you aren't creating for yourself, you're trying to please the mother of the bride. Not to mention the business side of things - selling photos, paperwork, making a profit. Pressure."
YIKES, right?! How could I NOT feel discouraged and embarrassed after reading that? Although these statements are abrasive, they're true. I l-o-v-e photography, and I love giving people photos that light them up. I DON'T want to fall into a trap where people base my work on how their hair looks. I DON'T want to lose joy over the pressure of a business. I DON'T want magazine cover expectations. I just want to be appreciated, I just want to love this as I have.
Anyone with a halfway decent camera is trying to make money off their photos, and I don't want to be a part of it. This is too important to me. Maybe my mistake was trying to turn something personal into a business. Maybe it should stay in the form it was given to me - as a gift.
12 Comments:
An Idea may be to offer your services as a gift too. One way I get to have fun taking lots of pictures, since my children complain when the camera comes out, is I give pictures as gifts.
I recently had a friend from high school have her first baby. My gift was newborn pictures. People tend to be less critical when you offer your gift as a gift.
Just something to think about.
It doesn't have to be like all of those comments, I promise! You just have to be able to put your foot down. For instance, I am taking a personal hiatus from my business from July - December of next year to focus on my wedding. :) That is the true glory of having your own business, you do get to set your own hours!!
If it's something you truly want to pursue, don't let a bunch of negative Nancy's discourage you!!
Whitney Ellen has some wise words!! I've never tried to start a business, so I don't really have much advice. I DO know that if it's what God wants you to do, he WILL provide the way and the means to do it!!
Also, yeah, I'm one of those people that compares your photos to my snapshots...sometimes. I'm also comparing your photos to MY professional wedding pictures, and yours are JUST as good (from my untrained eye). I'm sure there will be rough experiences, but don't let one or two (or even a few) get you down. You are still learning, after all, and you always will be!
If it's something you love and have a passion for, then by all means, pursue it.
I've sort of concluded I enjoy enjoy photography as a hobby, but not a job. I've been interning with a wedding photographer and ...it's just not fun. And also, I do consider myself a "natural light photographer". I do know how to use all sorts of flashes, but I still really like real, outdoor light the best.
I think your pictures are amazing!
Right there with you! I am definitely in the skill building phase and not the portfolio building phase, by any means! I've also read statements very similar and agree that it can be quite discouraging! I'm trying not to think about the business part at this point. I've decided that it's not worth it at this point, when I'm not even close to being able to 'set up shop'. If at some point in the future that happens, great. If not, I might as well continue to love taking pictures, learning all that I can and finding the joy in being able to do so!
I think you do a wonderful job at photography, and you need to do what makes you happy. If trying to start a business makes you happy, go for it. If taking pictures just for yourself and family makes you happy, great. But God gave a a wonderful gift.. a gift of capturing people/events/creation in a form of a picture. And I for one, LOVE your work! Praying for you friend, as you continue forward, in whatever direction you feel God leading you
I think you are a fantastic photographer. Maybe you switch to taking photos as a gift for loved ones and leave it at that. Whatever you decide, it is a gift. And one YOU should appreciate; despite the naysayers!
I totally get what you're saying-- Understand completely. However, don't let one article get you down! You do great work!
There is no single perfect job. You can find a field you love and if your lucky, but really more determined, make it your line of work. There are the ups and downs of every single thing you do. You can "believe" these things you have read and use them as an excuse not to pursue your dream.
Or you can read them and understand, if you really want to combine your passions and work, it will include sacrifices, passion, emotion, sweat and tears but at the end of the day you will be working in the field you love. Just like having a baby and/or family, there are hard hard times, many sacrifices you will make, tears and frustration but at the end of the day the absolute pure love is all you feel and remember. Believe in your self and work at it. Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it.
Let's compare this Photography thing to marriage. If someone sat you down and told you it was all a bed of roses, you'd laugh at them. It isn't, it's not supposed to be, that totally misses the mark. This person has written the article to make sure that those out there with rose colored glasses take them off for long enough to know that there are difficult aspects to being a professional photographer. Many of these things CAN be true. But the lovely part is that you can do your very best to order things to become a business that IS NOT like these. I am a huge believer that your choices really do affect your everyday life and living. I would be happy to meet for coffee sometime to talk about the realities of owning a photo business. It is challenging to face them all at once. But I don't think anyone is asking you to. Also, you can be whatever kind of pro photographer you want to be. My $.02.
I've read articles like that before, too. In my opinion, they are written by people who went to photography schools and are bitter that now nice equipment is more readily available to those of us who don't hold an expensive degree in photography. Bottom line: you can't buy talent. If you have it, use it...you make the rules!
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