Starting out in photography – Fail to Plan | Plan to Fail

[To learn more about the 'Starting out in photography' posts, please read this post]

Lesson Number 1 – ‘Fail to Plan | Plan to Fail’

When I was pulling a regular pay cheque working in a project management role for IBM Australia in Sydney, Australia, this was one of the favourite quotes that would get tossed around by colleagues in the project management field. Despite knowing this and practicing it with my daily job, I didn’t really plan my move into photography that well. Sure, I found a good school in Christchurch, New Zealand and I knew I wanted to finish top of the class and I had plenty of cash to see me through the year. What I didn’t really know or understand was the photography market and what demand would exist for the skill set I would come out of school with.

My dream was to work for magazines, being paid to travel to exotic destinations to take photos that would be published as full bleed, double page spreads. Clients would be kicking down my door for my work and life would be good.

Oh, how naive we can be!

So lesson number 1 ishave a plan and some idea of what you will be getting yourself into. To help with this, ponder these questions:

1. What type of photography do you love to shoot?

A lot of paid photography work is working to a brief for a client. Shooting to a brief is a world away from just taking some photos on the weekend or on your next holiday trip somewhere. Your job and your reputation will hinge on producing imagery that your client has asked for. As a result, it is important to try and match the type of photography you like to shoot with a client that needs that type of imagery. Which leads to the next point.

2. Is there a REAL demand by photo buyers for the type of imagery that you love to shoot in the marketplace?

Saying you want to be a ‘Surf Photographer’ is fine and dandy, but not surprisingly, so do plenty of other people – who wouldn’t want to get paid to go to the beach and take photos of the world’s best surfers?

As a result, there is a serious glut of surf photographers in the world trying to scrape out a living. And if you know your economics, when there is an over-supply of non-unique imagery, there is usually a reduced demand for that imagery. For you that means reduced editorial (magazine) rates, which means less money in the bank, which means less food on the table.

[Side note - Surf Photographer Tim McKenna has a great article on - How to Become a Surf Photographer]

On the other hand, if you recently took a few photos at a friends wedding and you loved taking photos more than actually being at your friends wedding ceremony, then maybe you should become a wedding photographer.

The great thing about weddings is that people are getting married all the time (read: constant demand) and if people like your style of shooting (read: unique imagery) and your price points are within the range of the couple’s budget, then you are well on your way to providing a service and product for a true demand in the market place.

[Side note - Ex-news photographer Craig Mitchelldyer recently wrote this piece - So, you want to be a wedding photographer?]

If you have no idea what the demand is for the type of imagery you want to produce, then I recommend you find working photographers shooting the type of work you want to get into and you contact them. Try and find out if there really is a market there for you.

Finding out how much of a demand exists for magazine photography and advertising client photography will be harder, as the people you want to speak – Photo Editors; Art Directors – are so busy with their daily jobs. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t be able to get in touch with someone, it just means it’ll be a little bit harder.

3. Will you work for someone or run your own photographic business?

If you decide that working for someone else as a photographer is the way to go, then you will enjoy much more time behind the lens doing what you love. All you need to do is to find someone that requires a photographer with your skill set and way of seeing the world.

If you decide to go the freelance route, then you, and you alone, will be totally responsible for setting up your business; developing a business plan; developing a marketing plan; putting together estimates; managing your accounts; finding new work…the list is almost endless. Oh yeah, somewhere in there you will take some photos for someone!

If you are going to work for yourself, then you will need to ensure you have some fundamental business skills. If you don’t have them now, then make sure you pick them up at the photography school you attend. Alternatively, if you are a photographer already and you need some, look into night classes for adults at your local college.

If you are honest with yourself and do the leg work discussed above, then you will have a much clearer idea of whether or not a demand exists for the type of work you want to produce. Furthermore, you will have a better understanding of how you might fit into the photographic market place.

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