I get a lot of emails from photographers who are eager to start their own businesses and are wondering where to begin. There's no standard procedure that I can give you but I can share my own story and also some tips that I give aspiring photographers.
I took photography classes in high school and college but never thought of art as something I could do for a living--it was a fun hobby. In college I double-majored in philosophy and Christian ministries and minored in math. I had a ton of interests and had trouble deciding what to do for a living. After college I took at job at my church as an admin. asst. and worked my way into the position of Director of Communication where I was designing all of the publications for the church and working on some website design. Through this experience I came to recognize that the creative part of me was HUGE and I needed to do something with it long-term in order to really enjoy my career. I began praying about a change.
At this time I heard that my friend, David Jay, had recently started up his photography business in Santa Barbara. A light went off and I realized that it was possible to make a living in photography. I contacted David and he was super-helpful and encouraging. I bought his D60 and shot two weddings with him that summer (2003). I was able to take a Flash class and build my own website (something I wouldn't necessarily recommend to others, but it worked well for me), got my business cards made, shot a lot of portraits of my friend's cute kids and started booking weddings. I attended a few seminars--Dennis Reggie and Mike Colon--and learned as much about business as I could (I hadn't taken a business class in my life). And step by step things came together. I continued working at the church for a year and a half but then was able to go full time in photography. Today I'm LOVING what I do and am so thankful to God for opening doors for me and showing me something that was beyond what I could dream up myself.
For those of you who are wanting to get into wedding photography, here are a few things I would recommend:
1. Contact local photographers who you admire. Take them to lunch and pick their brains. Offer to assist them or second shoot for free. Do whatever you can to learn from them and form a relationship.
2. Put all of the money you can into building your business. There's a ton of expenses but I would recommend focusing on lenses and your website.
3. Start a blog! It's free and great marketing!
4. Invest in some workshops and seminars. Go to WPPI. You need to focus not only on becoming a great photographer but on business. Also--you can do this by reading. Click here for a great book list.
Like I said, there's no one specific path that all wedding photographers take to get into the business but these are a few things I think will help anyone who is starting out regardless of what form your unique path takes.
Good luck!
I took photography classes in high school and college but never thought of art as something I could do for a living--it was a fun hobby. In college I double-majored in philosophy and Christian ministries and minored in math. I had a ton of interests and had trouble deciding what to do for a living. After college I took at job at my church as an admin. asst. and worked my way into the position of Director of Communication where I was designing all of the publications for the church and working on some website design. Through this experience I came to recognize that the creative part of me was HUGE and I needed to do something with it long-term in order to really enjoy my career. I began praying about a change.
At this time I heard that my friend, David Jay, had recently started up his photography business in Santa Barbara. A light went off and I realized that it was possible to make a living in photography. I contacted David and he was super-helpful and encouraging. I bought his D60 and shot two weddings with him that summer (2003). I was able to take a Flash class and build my own website (something I wouldn't necessarily recommend to others, but it worked well for me), got my business cards made, shot a lot of portraits of my friend's cute kids and started booking weddings. I attended a few seminars--Dennis Reggie and Mike Colon--and learned as much about business as I could (I hadn't taken a business class in my life). And step by step things came together. I continued working at the church for a year and a half but then was able to go full time in photography. Today I'm LOVING what I do and am so thankful to God for opening doors for me and showing me something that was beyond what I could dream up myself.
For those of you who are wanting to get into wedding photography, here are a few things I would recommend:
1. Contact local photographers who you admire. Take them to lunch and pick their brains. Offer to assist them or second shoot for free. Do whatever you can to learn from them and form a relationship.
2. Put all of the money you can into building your business. There's a ton of expenses but I would recommend focusing on lenses and your website.
3. Start a blog! It's free and great marketing!
4. Invest in some workshops and seminars. Go to WPPI. You need to focus not only on becoming a great photographer but on business. Also--you can do this by reading. Click here for a great book list.
Like I said, there's no one specific path that all wedding photographers take to get into the business but these are a few things I think will help anyone who is starting out regardless of what form your unique path takes.
Good luck!
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