banana wrote in post #2344219
First off, from your experience in the field, what seperates a good photographer from a bad photographer?
It depends on what aspect you are looking at. If its just the business aspect, its the ability to sell yourself and run your business. I know many successful photographers that do not produce very good photographs, but they are good businessmen and keep convincing clients their work is good enough.
If you are talking about the art side of things, there are many variables that will depend on what you shoot ect. that make for a good photographer.
banana wrote in post #2344219After years of experience, does photography turn more into a business than an art, or does it stay balanced?
Absolutely its a business and cant ever be anything but that. You can always try to keep the "art" in your shots, but it is now a business, not a hobby and its not done for "fun" any longer. There are MANY times I want nothing to do with a shoot I'm on, but I have to do it in order to get paid. That is when you need to overcome it and pull the "art" back into what you are doing, with force if need be, and do the job and make good photos. You need to make sure it stays balanced or your photos will suffer, but it does become a business and you need to treat it as such, and everything that people hate about their normal jobs WILL make its way into this one as well. There will be days where you dont want to go to work and there will be days where there is nothing better than being at work.
If you simply like having fun shooting, you might want to reconsider it as a business.
banana wrote in post #2344219What is your most useful skill (naturally or developed)?
I'd say the most useful skill would be business skills. You can be the best photographer in the world, but if you cant run your business, you will never make it. You need to know how to run it and in the end a photo business is more like 75% business and 25% photography. My best suggestion to those still in school and thinking of doing photography full time is to take business classes and you will already be ahead of the game.
banana wrote in post #2344219How has your family been affected by your career? (e.g. travel wise, etc.)
What family? I think that explains it all for me. Not having a family when I went into this, the travel and time away from home does not make it easy to start one. However, if you do something that doesnt require the travel, its not bad. If you travel a lot though, like any profession that requires it, it makes it hard. During the summer I'm usually home 10-12 days a month.
The other aspect is income. Most photogs with families that have a fairly decent standard of living have spouses that also work. The average income for a photog is not huge, its one of those professions that people do cause they love it and they can survive. Only the very best or very lucky make huge income.
Also, if you are running your own business you need to take into account health insurance and other benefits you would normally get when working for a large business. If you have a spouse with a normal job, that can help a ton as you can use their insurance, but if you are going to do it on your own, you have to take those things into account when you figure on income.
banana wrote in post #2344219For any fine art photography you do, what kind of knowlege of your subjects helps in capturing their essential elements?
Its not only for fine are, but anything you shoot. If you are doing a shoot for a company CEO, knowing what the company does, what the person is like, what kind of background he has, even what he likes to do in his spare time, can all help in coming up with a great portrait for him.
If you are doing a commercial shoot for a product, knowing about the product, about the company, about where they came from, history of the product, what the goal of the ad is going to be, are all things that you need to know in order to come up with a good shot.
If working with an art director, being able to communicate with them and know what they have in their head for the shot are essential in giving them what they want.
I dont think there is anything specific to say you need to know, you need to know as much as you can about what/who you are shooting in order to come up with the best shots for the client.
banana wrote in post #2344219If you could do it all over again, would you?
Absolutely. I love it, even on the worst days its better than sitting behind a desk.
Good luck.
