Is photography a hobby or a career for you? If it’s a hobby, I’m guessing it’s a pretty expensive one? What if your Photography could pay for its-self?
Who [The hell] Am I?
Many of you may know me from here, I started in November and have become totally and utterly hooked on the platform. In ‘Real Life’ I’m a full time wedding photographer. Over the last 8 years I’ve shot 300 weddings with my wife for our business ‘Sansom Photography’. We’ve been listed as one of the worlds leading Wedding Photography businesses and have been paid to shoot weddings all over the world. We’ve won and judged some of the worlds biggest awards and turned what was once a hobby into a full time business, paying a good salary for nearly a decade.
I want to show you how you can do the same. [Not necessarily in weddings]
This post means a lot to me and I’ve put a lot into it, so please consider resteeming if you enjoy it 😊
Now I admit, the whole ‘expensive hobby’ thing is a bit of an assumption. You may love photography but be quite content with your smartphone or an old compact. In which case I wholeheartedly commend you! I suppose I’ve always been one of those people who jumps into things with both feet. There’s a lot to be said for using what you have, and pushing that to the limit, but there’s also a case to be made for using the best kit you can reasonably afford. I suppose this post is aimed more at the latter, but lets face it, if you’re a keen enthusiast, hobbyist or ‘wannabe’ professional the idea of making money from what you enjoy doing has to be appealing right?
Do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life
Can I just kick this whole article off by saying that the whole ‘you won’t work a day in your life’ thing is absolute BS, professed – more often than not – by those who despise their jobs and dream of a blissful life practising their hobby as a profession. Or it’s said by people who are doing what they love, as a justification of their life’s work. Seriously though, it doesn’t matter what you do, there’s always going to be crappy parts to just about any profession, any photography is no different.
Now I’m not saying that to scare you, or to put you off; quite the opposite, I’m saying it to prepare you for those bad days. Those accounting days, those ‘client from hell’ days, those ‘I just want to take photos without any pressure!’ days! I will say that Photography has given me a job and lifestyle unlike any other, and I simply can’t imagine doing much else for a career!
Pick a job, any job. Musician? Actor? Professional Athletes? They have it easy right? Maybe from an outsiders point of view they do. But with every job there are negatives, aspects of the profession that just aren’t what attracted us to it. Whether that’s hours of press interviews to advertise a new film or the day to day complaints that you and I might share.
If you want earn money as a photographer I’m here to wholeheartedly encourage that. But I’m also here to tell you it’s not all easy, there will be days (Possibly weeks, months, or years!) when you second guess your decision to pursue professional photography. It’s still the best career in the world to me!
[Photo by my wife @Vtravels and copyright Sansom Photography]
Spend Money to Make Money
It’s hard to get out there and make money as a photographer without a certain amount of kit. You don’t need a lot, and in the coming days I’ll be talking about exactly what you do need. But suffice to say some investment is needed, just like in most careers. Don’t be afraid to jump right in and *BACK YOURSELF.
If you need a little support on this one, here’s my two cents – You don’t need to spend LOADS. Just a few bits and you can get started, earning your investment back in no time. In the absolute worst case scenario you can always sell your equipment on if it really doesn’t work out, making your loss minimal. So whether it’s asking a mum and dad for a loan, or saving up your spare money from work, just find that start-up fund and get yourself the equipment you need to work as a professional! (That certainly doesn’t mean Professional level cameras either!)
You’re already doing step 1
You’re on Steemit! You’re part of a unique movement where we are ALL earning money from our hobbies and passions. If you really don’t have any way of jump starting your progress with a small equipment purchase then don’t worry! Produce good content on here and the Steem Dollars quickly add up. If you’re in the early stages like me you may not see a huge return, but you don’t need to! Remember, you only need fairly inexpensive equipment to get yourself started!
I’m certainly no expert, and am totally used to seeing $0 next to my posts, so I don’t want to profess to know more than I do. But what I have seen on Steemit is that, despite the occasional crappy post that rakes in 100’s, most of the content that does well on Steemit is well thought through and genuine content. If you believe in your content, then the community will too!
Try some of the photo contests, they are a great way to build a following. I'd suggest ones by @Photocontests and 
Don’t be afraid to be cheap [And honest]
Not everybody has the budget to spend a lot on photography. In fact there’s a whole section of the market who would love to pay a photographer, but don’t have the budget for the going rate. They aren’t expecting to pay peanuts for a world class photographer. Hell, sometimes they just want it to be cheaper than going out and buying a DSLR themselves!
The best example I can give is my own start in photography as a profession. I decided to shoot weddings. Only problem was I had never actually shot a wedding before. Or even attended one for that matter. So I started out charging roughly 20% of what my cheapest competitors were charging. I was totally honest and up front with clients – this bit is really important. I didn’t tell them I had more experience than I did. I set their expectations but shared my excitement for their wedding. My portfolio showed I could take a half decent photo and honestly, that was all they really wanted. For that price they probably just saved a friend, or uncle Bob from having to be the photographer for the day!
It could be weddings, portraits, commercial work. It doesn’t matter what field you are entering into, don’t be afraid to be the cheapest person out there. At least until you pay back your initial investment and find your bearings!
How to find work. 1 – Your website
This can often seem like the most daunting for new photographers. How the hell do you get yourself out there? I’ve talked before about ‘hustle’, and that’s what it’s all about. If you want to do this – for real – then hustle is essential. You might spend hours pursuing leads that end to a booking, if you have hustle you’ll get started right away at securing the next booking. Of course some of you may just want a supplemental income, in which case you have every right to celebrate that booking by taking a break. Just be aware that there will always be newcomers out there hustling every hour of the day!
Build yourself a website. This one’s pretty obvious, yet so many photographers don’t just get out there and build a website. There are plenty of low cost options out there, Wordpress being the most popular, but any site builder will do! Remember, it DOESN’T HAVE TO LOOK GREAT. That might sound counter intuitive as a visually based website, but just having something – even a site you don’t particularly love – is better than having nothing but a plan for a world class website. Over time your site will improve, you’ll learn how to make it look great or you’ll earn the money to pay someone to do that for you. In these early stages your selling point definitely isn’t going to be your website, or even your images. It’s your price point. So make that the easiest page to access, and your low cost clear. Don’t worry about putting off people with bigger budgets – you don’t want them right now anyway!
How to find work. 2 – Adwords
Google adwords is the main reason our business became a success. I’d love to do a bigger post on just this subject but for now I’ll share the main takeaway points you need. In the first month after I built my basic, poorly designed website I booked over 20 weddings. Within 7 months I’d shot over 70 weddings. Adwords and other pay-per-click services DO work. IF you’re cheap. Not too many high end clients ever look at Adwords, but clients who just don’t have the budget for an experienced photographer – even a cheap one – will always be hooked by a to the point ad. Something along the lines of ‘Wedding Photography from just £200’ worked a treat for me.
I’ll admit, Adwords can get pricey, but don’t make the mistake everyone else seems to of saying ‘I want to spend £30 per month’. WHY do you want to spend £30? If I told you that £30 would book one wedding, would you be happy with that? If each wedding was paying a £50 deposit, you’d be gaining £20 per booking even before taking the final balance. In which case wouldn’t you rather spend £3000 and book 100 weddings than spend £30 and book 1? Again, this isn’t limited to weddings, it’s the exact same thing for Portraits and Commercial Photography, only the return is often quicker than weddings. It’s totally possible to book and shoot a Portriat/Commercial job in the same week
So, with that in mind, why would you budget £30 over a month? If you have £30 spend it all as soon as possible. The thing about pay-per-click is that your £30 will always buy roughly the same amount of clicks. Why have a click per day when you could have 30 per day? If one of those 30 is going to book, why not get them to book on the first day instead of risking finding that one customer right at the end of your 30 days? Take their deposit and re-invest. This alone is how I got my business started and paying the bills!
How to find work. 3 - Get out there
More hustle. Get the hell out there! It doesn’t really matter what you’re shooting, what’s wrong with making money from shooting ANYTHING? In our early days I would have shot just about anything [Legal!] if there was money involved. In our first year we mostly shot weddings, but I also took photos for a Keyhole Surgery company, a few small cafes and even a complete ‘how to’ guide for a Taxidermist.
As I was watching the Taxidermist skinning his third squirrel and wondering if I would ever void my brain of the smell of dead squirrel (The answer is no by the way!) I knew this wasn’t ‘living the dream’ by conventional standards. It was my dream though, because Photography, and Photography alone was paying my bills. I didn’t have a boss and I got to call myself a ‘professional’. I couldn’t have been happier!
So – Get Out There! Go to your local town and ask around small businesses, ‘Do you need any photography at the moment?’. Once they know you aren’t going by the standard day rates it’s amazing how many small businesses want some new photos. As always, be honest and don’t make out that you’ve just finished your latest shoot for Vogue! Always give these clients more than they are paying for, whether that’s the time you put in or the number of images you deliver. I guarantee that in just a few days of going door to door you’ll have a few clients who – given your low prices and over delivering – will be clients for as long as they can afford you!
Stick at it!
Photography certainly isn’t an easy career. But it really is a wonderful one! I would love to think that this might inspire just one or two of your to seriously give it a go! As I’ve sat down to write this, on a cold Boxing Day in Yorkshire, I’ve realised that one post clearly isn’t going to be enough. I’ve just gone over 2000 words and I know that’s a fair bit to get through! Please do keep an eye on my feed as I will be posting many more articles with the aim of educating and inspiring!