Advice for an amateur on the business of photography

[HawaiianHaole]

I am very new to the hobby/profession and have begun mostly taking shots of daughter for relatives to view and buy from snapfish. I am looking for some insight into where the line is drawn from hobby to images for profit.

I have been upgrading my equipment, and hopefully my skills to go with it. I would love doing this as a part time gig down the line, I simply love it. But do you charge grandma/grandpa for images of their granddaughter? I can't imagine that you do. But when you catch some great shots of a friend's kid, maybe you do. I would love to hear your "transition" stories, and any advice.

I may not looking to make money from any photos any time soon, but would still like to preserve ownership of those images I do take, no matter how unprofessional they are.

[cory1848]

Well, I am sure many more will post that have much more experience than I do, but I think the answer to your question can be related to any business form. I come from a graphic design background and now I am building up my work in photography to hopefully push fulltime with that. I am taking the same approach I did with my design work. Get a portfolio together and a website that looks professional. Key word being "looks" professional. Put up your best pieces of work and come up with a business plan to market yourself. From what I am learning in photography, a lot of it is work of mouth.

I wouldnt charge for grandparents but I would need to cover costs. Some others on here would have a different outlook on that. Use those pieces for your portfolio. No one has to know they are your relatives. Show those photos to your relatives friends and they will talk about them. If they are good enough you may get some calls from that.

I am shooting as much as I possible can. I have done some free work to build portfolio and now I have a few weddings lined up. One as a 2nd shooter and one solo for a friend. Once I have the results from that, I can and will start to market myself in that realm. Hopefully it all goes up from there.

As far as preserving ownership of photos, once you click the shutters that happens...Filling out EXIF data only strengthens that.

[eigga]

Considering it cost $7 to send 10 4x6's I dont charge "grandma". When or if to charge family is not something you need to let others decide.

Friends is another story. My first job was my sons soccer team. What I did that I think helped with the transition is I posted the full pricing I intended to use but started by giving the team a 50% discount. So when the purchased they saw my pricing but got a discount since I was still learning. I always post my full pricing regardless if its a favor or not so people understand what that is. Then I give discounts if I feel that is appropriate. When or if you go full price it is not a "shock" to them.

[HawaiianHaole]

Thanks for those posts, very useful. I for one, couldn't charge family, and would have a hard time for friends as well. I am not sure I understand you portfolios or even exposure manager for pics. If I got a nice pic of a friends kid, I would just post it to snapfish for them to buy whatever they wanted.

What really makes sense, and where I could make sense of the "transition" is the example of the kids soccer team. You get some nice shots, and others would love to have them, and you can make a small amount, yet deliver a memorable service.

[Mike30D]

If you're gonna have a hard time charging friends then don't do any work for them.

If you do charge your friends, they should have enough respect for your work to pay you full price and not expect a discount. If they're always looking for a discount then they're really not a friend in the first place.

As for family, that's something that you need to decide. You at least need to cover costs unless it's a gift.

[LBaldwin]

Most of us don't charge family. Although they have been some of my worst critics <vbg>
The transition from amatuer to pro takes place when you start selling your work. It, unfortunately has little to do with the quality of the image itself.

But if you intend on doing any sales at all, please go through the steps of actually starting the business. There are a crapload of wannebe shooters out there, who shoot and want to get paid cash under the table. And they take business away from professionals who when the extra mile and actually started their businesses. There are some great advantages to owning a business, many more than cheating the IRS and state out of whatever meager amount you may have to give them.

But before you do any of that start by assisting a working pro. See what they go through, what costs are involved and how they work both the business side and the creative side. BTW one area you may not have thought much about - liability. Regardless if you start the business or not. If someone like a child gets hurt during your shoot you are quite likely to be the one that gets papers from the court. It will cost you a bundle.. Just some food for thought.

[Tixeon]

Family - No. Friends - Yes. Friends that don't ask for a discount get 50% off. If they ask for a discount, they pay full price.

[cdifoto]

If I gave discounts or free photos/sessions to all my friends, I'd never charge full price. I consider everyone a friend - by the time we're finished, they usually feel the same way.

Family pays cost, for the most part, unless special set up is required.

[HawaiianHaole]

Originally Posted by LBaldwin

Most of us don't charge family. Although they have been some of my worst critics <vbg>
The transition from amatuer to pro takes place when you start selling your work. It, unfortunately has little to do with the quality of the image itself.

But if you intend on doing any sales at all, please go through the steps of actually starting the business. There are a crapload of wannebe shooters out there, who shoot and want to get paid cash under the table. And they take business away from professionals who when the extra mile and actually started their businesses. There are some great advantages to owning a business, many more than cheating the IRS and state out of whatever meager amount you may have to give them.

But before you do any of that start by assisting a working pro. See what they go through, what costs are involved and how they work both the business side and the creative side. BTW one area you may not have thought much about - liability. Regardless if you start the business or not. If someone like a child gets hurt during your shoot you are quite likely to be the one that gets papers from the court. It will cost you a bundle.. Just some food for thought.

My questions arose merely from being new to the forum and the hobby and going through some of the threads here. I have never even taken the time to put copyright or my name on any images posted to any websites.

I really like the idea of assisting a pro somewhere down the line. I feel that could be a fantastic learning experience.