Position:Home>Visual Arts> Photographers Please Help!?

TLHam

If you believe in yourself!.!.!.go for it irrelevant of the cost in the end!. I started with no degree, nada, zilch!.!. Am self-employed and own my own business as well!. I was lucky !? Maybe !.!.

First, take that camera and start earning a little bit of Cash with it and before you know, you will have saved up for something new to add to your gear!. Keep at it and try to work for magazines ( like my own) and it is their, that you will start building a clientele for yourself!.

No customer!.!.!.no gain!.!!! Simple rule of thumb!. Make as many contacts as you can in all field because, in the long run, they will be the one giving you the push for your business!.

I forgot to tell you that I had good administration and accounting skills to manage my business!. So a little adnministration seminar is something you definitely need under your belt!.
The first rule in any business is to know how to purchase!. Any successful business is judged by the purchases since this is what is sold!.
In your or our line, customers bring us a living and the better the service, the better the loyalty of that customer!.

!.!.!.!.edit I forgot to mention, that with $50,000, it gives a good push with a little cushion in the bank for rent, expenses etc!.!.!.

I invested over $2 million in my shop!.!. One press alone is close to a mil!.!. But, it paid itself off !.!.!.Always serve with a smile!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Do you have the money necessary to start a photography business!? You may want to contact SCORE and have them help you write a business plan and a spread sheet on fixed and variable costs!.

Then you will need at least a years operation capital in the bank !.!.!. this is after buying all your equipment; (around $50,000) cameras, lenses, flash units, studio flash units, office rental, cost of building a studio in the office space, two computers (one notebook for location work) and the associated software you will need for both controlling your image workflow and business related!.

I will say this again !.!.!.

http://www!.kenrockwell!.com/tech/notcamer!.!.!.

This has much more to do with just the camera (which you already purchased)!. It has to do with learning the skills necessary to be a competent photographer plus years of experience working for a successful photographer or as a junior staffer!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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You might get answers more to your liking if you more fully explain your intentions in your question!.

What you will need depends on what sort of photography you intend to do!. Studios, as Ace pointed out, are expensive to create and maintain at the professional level!. Will you shoot portraits or products!? Studio or environmental!? Weddings or landscapes!?

I would suggest classes, with or without getting a degree!. Business classes are important as well!. An apprenticeship with a photographer doing the type of work you are interested in would be great!.

You will need more than one camera, no matter what kind of photography you intend to do!. Lenses!. Flashes!. Cables!. Filters!. You may need another computer, image working software, professional printer, lights, strobes, backdrops, props, darkroom and equipment, etc etc etc!. Without knowing more, there is really no way to suggest specific items!.

There are lots of newbie photographers with good cameras and "VERY good pictures" who want to make money selling their photos!. So you will be in competition with them, as well as the established professionals!. Good luck with your venture!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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First and foremost i would suggest takeing some kind of class just to explain basics of photography!. You don't want to spend a ton of money on things you don't nee!. they'll be able to help you with that!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Have you thought of assisting!? It'll give you valuable insight into all the other parts of photography that don't relate to actually pushing the shutter release (business, pre/post production, customer service, marketing, etc) and you'll get paid (don't expect to get rich though!)!.

Have a look at these two books:

http://books!.google!.ca/books!?hl=en&id=V3!.!.!.

http://books!.google!.ca/books!?id=p7gTbbO2!.!.!.

They'll give you a lot of information on assisting, and how to get into it!.

As for gear - buy slowly but buy as good a product as you can each time you do buy something!. Since you've got a camera already, I'd try and get a couple of strobes (not speedlights), a couple of light stands, and go from there!. Lighting is probably the most important thing to get a grounding in, and using studio lights is a good way to learn as you have a lot of control!. It also makes your mistakes very obvious, which is also a good thing!. also, most assisting work is with studio photographers, and they want you to have a basic grasp of lighting and grip gear!.

Ignore the guy who tells you that you need $50,000 and a studio - you can always get creative!. Unfortunately there are a lot of opinionated Ken Rockwell clones out there who seem to spend more time writing on forums than they do shooting!.

Most of all, enjoy the process - and shoot as much as you can!. Try things even if you're not 100% sure that they're going to work - you'll either end up with some good images or some very important lessons learned!.

Hope this helps!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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