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GET A BUSINESS LICENSE FIRST THING
So, you are playing with the idea or have already decided to start a photography business? That is super cool & I’m here for it! That was the path I chose for myself. So let me give you some insight before you make it official.
DO get a business license. I feel like this is pretty elementary to say this but PLEASE don’t think you don’t need one. Having a legitimate business license is so much more appealing to potential clients. I went with an LLC. Plus, I am not sure what it is like where you live but here our small area is over saturated with photographers. What does that have to do with a business license you ask? Well. Competition and also ignorance – yup… it had to be said.
Story time: I made a photographer friend when I was freshly starting. She was very nice, and we got to talking and she asked me if I had a business license. I told her “Of course I do”. She said “Good! There are a lot of photographers around here that do not like people claiming to be a photographer & taking clients & payments for sessions in an already over saturated area. These senior photographers will look you up and check with the state to see if you are a registered and legal business. If you are not, they report you and ultimately get you in trouble with the state including the tax department”. End of story.
If you are going to be in competition with already known photographers in your area, then do the right thing and meet them at that bar of real professionalism they have already established. Plus, it makes you a legitimate business owner that is conducting business the legal way and that is way classier than the alternative.
WHAT KIND OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Are you going to do it all? You can! Or you can niche down and just do one or two types. I will do family portraits/family sessions, engagement, maternity, children, seniors, stylized shoots and holiday minis. Did you notice what I left out that I won’t do? Answer: Newborns, Real Estate, Studio and Weddings. My business so I get to pick and choose what I want to do and not want to do and so do you!
My recommendations to you are make sure you are ready and understand the type of equipment/gear you will need for each to be able to offer the type of sessions you are wanting to advertise. There is seriously a lot. Here is some: Specific lenses, props, multiple cameras, multiple batteries, a studio, studio lighting, ofc (off camera flash), triggers, strobes, soft boxes, light stands, backdrops, backdrop stand, newborn safety props/pillows, reflectors, diffusers, fill lights, travel bags, multiple high speed memory cards with large GB capacity, a removable hard drive, a website/booking page, editing software and last but not least a darn good computer of some kind to edit, store and deliver galleries to your clients on.
Now, I bet I named off some things you didn’t think of or left you scratching your head with some of the things I mentioned. If not and you understand all the reasons for each one I listed off- Look at you! Proud of you for doing some extensive research!
Keep in mind too since more than likely you will be competing with other photographers offering the same services as you… try to offer or market in a way that sets you apart from the competition. I will use myself as an example. I heavily and as in depth as I could educated myself in photoshop. The world of photoshop is almost borderless with the things you can do. I am educated in creating and editing composites so every now and then I will offer something completely different than others in my area are offering and that makes me stand out and people remember my business for that. After I had posted several fun Christmas composites, I had a couple reach out to me an hour away for me to take their family Christmas photo, but it was including their like 5 or 6 dogs and 2 cats. I had to take individual pictures and piece them all together to look like a seamless 1 click photo because you know they all weren’t going to be still and perfectly looking at the camera. That’s why they reached out to me, no one else in our area offered such a service or knew how to do it to make the ending result photo like it was completely natural.
The only thing I really really REALLY want to say before moving on from this section is this… IF you do decide you want to do newborn photography, PLEASE take a safety course first before flying into it head on. There are also many experienced photographers that will offer classes to other photographers that want to learn and teach you in a group or one on one instruction. When I get asked from clients of who I recommend for newborn photography I always offer my recommendations but always add at the end that if they choose to go with someone I did not recommend that they will make sure the photographer has the training and experience before booking a newborn session.
COMPUTERS & EDITING
You need a great computer. I don’t mean the brand. I mean the computer that can handle it all at incredible speeds, so you are getting more done rather than waiting for things to load. An incredible graphics card is a HUGE topic to educate yourself on too. You want your pictures for your clients to be the best, so you really need to be editing with the best graphics possible. The required processor for your editing programs needs to be looked at. So, if you have not done so a quick google search should get you your answer or simply going to the program’s website and reading the requirements for optimal operation. Do you know yet what program/software you will be editing on, and have you been practicing getting yourself familiar?
Most photographers typically use Adobe Lightroom to upload a session onto. I do this and cull them there but then I open in Adobe Photoshop and proceed my editing process there and they have a built-in program called ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) that I will also use. However most if not 50/50 only edit in Adobe Lightroom and that is completely fine. It depends on how much you want to learn and the look you are wanting to achieve. I pay monthly for my Adobe programs. I do this because I will always have the updates at my fingertips with no additional charge and they typically update their programs quite often. They have other options too depending on what works best for you and also additional neat programs many of which I hope to be able to explore one day.
Click the picture below to be directed to Adobe and all their plans. I pay for the Annual Plan that is billed monthly strictly for Lightroom & Photoshop and they are offering a free trial with it now.
I first got a Alienware Laptop from Dell. In my research I found what was highly recommended, was a gaming computer. So, I just got the one in my budget and it did okay for 7 years but holy cow I wish I had done further research and asked questions and read somewhere everything I just told you above. Poor ol’ laptop struggled with my Adobe Photoshop some and I’m not gonna lie, it made me a smidge irritated from time to time. Especially while editing and trying to upload galleries as I was actively working was basically a no-go. I have since upgraded to the mack daddy, top of the line Alienware gaming desktop and it was the best thing I ever did for my business. Yeah, I sure had to finance this baby lol but I am telling you she was worth every penny.
Pro-tip and must have. The removeable hard drive. This keeps my actual computer clean of space when I have finished editing and delivering sessions. Not very expensive and absolutely most definitely worth it. So, you ask if I save all my sessions? Why not just upload their gallery to your website and delete off your computer? Well, I could. I may have a problem deleting memories, I guess. Honestly, I can’t bring myself to do it. I have read where photographers will keep every photo they document in case one of their clients loses a loved one or something detrimental happened and they reach out asking for a memorial photo to be made or get asked to place a loved one in a photo that is no longer with them or if I can completely remove a wicked step sister or ding bat boyfriend. So really, it’s up to you. I personally won’t save entire sessions on the cloud or my website because they charge you more for more storage on their servers. I don’t know anyone that does that anyhow except for the edited and delivered galleries to the clients but not uploading and storing on their server every single photo from that session. I definitely don’t want to pay more a month for a 3rd party to store my sessions. I think the removeable hard drive is a perfect solution for this and I don’t mind doing it. Here is the one I bought and love or you can click the picture below. https://amzn.to/3JQpv6K
COST OF DOING BUSINESS aka CODB
Pretty self-explanatory but very important. This is how you will determine your money output to run your business. For example: websites, booking sites, any equipment payments, studio rentals, cost of ads, cost of internet and editing subscriptions. Typically, you find out how much you spend a month in order to fully run your business and then you can determine how many X sales you need to make X dollars to make running your business worth it, with also not breaking even. Of course, all business owners are trying to make a profit. So don’t forget how much your art is worth and that includes your time. Time of session duration, your travel time, and your editing time. All of that counts. Putting income back into your business matters as well. Have a side fund for the business that will allow you to replace, fix or put a payment down for whatever the reason may be. Remember technology can mess up or get old after some time passes and an upgrade or replacement might need to be necessary. Also, we are human and mistakes do happen, like dropping your camera or your lens. Give your business a little emergency fund, the professional gear is way too expensive not to.
PHOTOGRAPHER’S IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Posting on social media is the free and best way to reach potential customers and share your work for all to see your art and talent. Some of you may not need to hear this but I know there are people who do. So please take this into consideration. We know how social media works. The more things it sees you share or click on or any interest whatsoever including your own SEO… the algorithm will then return to you more similar visuals and interests that is close to exactly what you are sharing. So other photographer’s work. Or you may have joined some photography groups and see other’s works that screams “GOALS!” to you. Imposter syndrome is real. Do not start feeling bad about the art you have worked so hard on. Be proud of what you do and create. If you are not where you want to be in your editing or composition… guess what that is normal! The best part is, the more you practice, ask questions, investigate and research… you will do it, and you will improve. Photography education is real and its very diverse. It is okay to have other artists and photographers be your creative inspiration! That is normal!
ART IS SUBJECTIVE
The last thing I will share with you is people can be mean. The internet is full of them. Kind of sad really lol but it is true. There will always be at least one that does not like your work. That is okay too! Art is subjective. Art is art and it is very subjective. There is art I myself am not fond of and then there is art I absolutely love. Point is, ignore the mean people even if they have to rudely tell you they don’t like your art. You got this!