Where did you start?

I thought it might be interesting to hear how everyone started their journey as a photographer. Whether you shoot part time, full time, contract work..ect. What was your first job? How did you land it?

Would love to hear your "first shoot" stories

I was a writer at the college paper. My friends were on the photodesk.

Photodesk got all the FujiFilm they could shoot plus free developing (had to do it yourself) and free scanning (again had to do it yourself.)

Got a job outside journalism and bought a DSLR. Got hired by a former editor to shoot HS football.

Got a few marketing gigs for non-profits overseas. Got a big contract with a university. Someone that saw my work overseas hired me for her daughter's wedding and shot my first wedding for $2k.

Done editorial/marketing/we​dding photography ever since.

Thanks for the input Thomas! Are you working as a photog full time?

neimad19 wrote in post #16354182
Thanks for the input Thomas! Are you working as a photog full time?

Yes. Since mid-2006. Supplemented with other random work until early 08.

"Your pathway to today"

What has the evolution of your photography cycle been like?

Advertising - how to Start

Some Ideas for Creating Work and Getting Clients for Your New Photography Business

How did you become a pro (or semi-pro)?

Dwight on networking: https://photography-on-the.net …p?p=6808853&pos​tcount=121

How to get in motorsport photography?

Photography career

i used to draw a lot as a kid. my dad gave me his old kodak instamatic 104 but i didn't use it much because, you know, i wanted pictures of mushroom clouds and epic navy/space battles and dinosaurs and those are hard to take pictures of.

in high school i got photoshop and got into digital art and i had a band. the band needed pictures so our friend took them for us and i edited them and made album covers and stuff like that.

in college i got into cars and i wanted pictures of my cars the way i saw in magazines so i got a powershot A60. luckily i already had a strong art and photo editing background so i knew right away i needed a better camera and lighting. i took pictures of my car and my friends' cars at the track and we had a website. i also went and shot landscapes and cityscapes a lot.

i got a rebel xt around the time my car broke so whenever i went to the track with my friends i was on photo duty full time. eventually i got good enough at it to need to upgrade. i eventually sold my race car because i realized i'd rather make money with photography than throw it away racing. i got a 30D and a 70-200 and kept going to the track with my friends. then it was a 7D and 300 2.8 and i got hired by a guy i met though a friend to do a whole season of racing videos. 5D2 came next.

that's what really opened the door for me. i got to travel all over the country and become one the "guys who are always there" and that's the fast track to getting more paying jobs. now i have a bunch of long term racing customers 1DX and 400 2.8 are in my bag now, ready to go anywhere in the world.

Thanks Frank for the links. This subject has been covered many a time but I'll play again. I've been in this industry for more than 20 years starting firmly in the film era. Like many it started as a hobby and and then my girlfriend bought me a medium format camera that I had been drooling over for months. She would later become my wife. At this point I was still shooting for myself spending a small fortune in processing. I became friendly with a local studio owner who also had a few retail gear stores and he eventually said I was spending so much time there that I should just work for him which I did on a part time basis. It was a great learning experience and he took the time to teach me everything in the business knowing full well that at some point we would be competitors. I spent a few years with him and was doing jobs on my own under his name. It felt great to gain his acceptance.

I went out on my own but only on a freelance basis. One could easily make good money then as there wasn't the mass flooding of the market as there is now. As children came I slowed down the number of jobs I took to spend more time with them plus my regular job was becoming more demanding after being promoted a few times over the years. Then my wife passed suddenly 11 years ago and I took the digital plunge in a big way starting with the Canon 10D. It wasn't long before I had a good client base again and 7 years ago I decided to go full time. While it hasn't been without its challenges I don't regret it one bit. I've had to make some changes along the way with respect to my target audience or market and thankfully they have worked quite well.

I have met some tremendous people in the industry some which originated right here on POTN. I am quite content with my choices in life as I never approached this as a get rich quick scheme. Methodical and working off a business plan paid off.