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Going pro

fotografz

Well-known member
Thanks Fred. Good advice. I acquired my current maladies by living life to it's fullest ... the heart issue was inherited, and is now well under control ... the knee injury was a result of a 3rd career teaching Isshinryu karate to DEA task-force agents, and the slipped disk is due to that old knee injury. I still work-out and keep fit. Coffee is the one vice I allow myself but not to excess ... once the knee is repaired, I should be back on my Mountain bike, walking urban streets with my camera, and pushing the envelope again.

Regarding a career in photography.

Yes you need business skills ... but I'm going to make a case for what Dick seems to want to try.

If you can determine a need, have an innovative way to solve some problem, the skill and necessary equipment to fill that need, a case can be made to make a go of it. You need business skills only if you have business.

Bare with me as I provide an example. Before I retired from advertising, among others, I was in charge of the creative for a major Unilever food Brand. To produce one TV commercial required first creating and producing 3 or 4 different commercials for testing. This was true for every brand I ever created TV spots for .... be it Lincoln Motor cars or some P&G Cold medicine.

The division manager at Unilever insisted we video the test spots rather than use drawn animatics (sort of a cartoon). The cost of each video production averaged around $40,000 to $50,000 each, so it was not unusual to spend $200,000 for test spots that would never be aired. They also were very hard to correct once shot, if the package label changed, it had to be changed in 30 frames for every second it was on screen using a very expensive and time consuming process called Rotoscoping.

I came up with a way to shoot the same thing using stills ... as live action using a locked down 35mm dslr and powerful, fast recycling studio strobes, then using motion editing techniques to make it seamlessly flow properly. Doing it this way cut the production budget in half ... and any changes were easily accomplished in Photoshop on the spot.

As a result, I did all the test spots for the brand for a decade ... which paid for my entire studio and all of my gear ... and produced quite a profit margin for my upstart studio. I also did print ads and collateral work for everything from industrial clients, sporting goods companies, financial institutions, high-end jewelry ...which I won based on problem solving ideas I could execute.

I had the good fortune to work with the best commercial photographers in the world, one trait I noted that all had was the ability to leverage their talent against a marketing communication need of a client.

I have often thought to teach professional photographers how to identify marketing needs and how to mesh with a client's brand personality and bring it forward using their talent and skill.

-Marc
 

David Schneider

New member
Dick,
I find your Concept to be faulty.

You are overlooking the glut of professionals already in the market. Former newspaper photographers are now doing wedding. Wedding photographers are doing portraits. Portrait photographers are commercial work. Add to that all the newbies with respectable gear and little experience who are in the marketplace at below or barely above breakeven financial levels, usually for a year or two before they disappear only to be replaced by more of the same. Everyone is pissing in everyone else's pool. The market you seem to believe exists is actually over saturated.
 

Scott Tansey

New member
I remember going to a photographic workshop with John Sexton. He made a living from photography, but he claimed he was an amateur photographer. He only shot images that he felt like shooting.

Amateur photographers can take just as good images as a professional photographer with one major exception. The pro can take the great image on command. From their posts, I can see that Guy and Marc are professional photographers, because Guy must satisfy his clients and Marc has some of the toughest clients (brides and grooms). I would hate to explain to a bride why my images of her wedding did not come out well.

I take landscapes and cityscapes. What I have discovered is that some prominent landscape photographers had a great head start. They came from wealthy families. I also realize that many landscape photographers are making a living from giving workshops rather than selling images.

I agree to make a living from photography takes artistic ability, business acumen and of course some luck.
 

pophoto

New member
Remember we can only input from the slice of experience personal to us. We all started somewhere. Anyone who has succeeded will tell you they have failed many times before and have had a wealth of people tell them that he/she will fail in their endeavors. Take what you will from that!

Be it reckless or safe. It's up to you to make the best decision for yourself!
Be well and goodluck!
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Dick,
I find your Concept to be faulty.

You are overlooking the glut of professionals already in the market. Former newspaper photographers are now doing wedding. Wedding photographers are doing portraits. Portrait photographers are commercial work. Add to that all the newbies with respectable gear and little experience who are in the marketplace at below or barely above breakeven financial levels, usually for a year or two before they disappear only to be replaced by more of the same. Everyone is pissing in everyone else's pool. The market you seem to believe exists is actually over saturated.
To much doom and gloom: :thumbdown:

David, the ideas you are expressing are predicated on existing markets for photography. I know the glut issue well. What basically happened is that existing markets were developed at a time when the skill required was usually beyond the average casual enthusiasts abilities. Digital has changed that, and not just for wedding and portrait work. Commercial work has felt the impact also. in addition to the bad economic climate that has affected many shooters like Guy, who's clients have cut budgets (Guy has mentioned this in relation to some of his recent gear adaptions), the needs of clients that still spend are also shifting, which requires rethinking and adaption.

Example: for a number of years, I shot much of the photography for Johnson Outdoors. In addition to the ads and key Point-of-Purchase posters for Old Town Canoes and Ocean Kayak, I did all the new model photography each year for catalog and web use ... until some shutterbug at Johnson suggested he do it with his Canon 5D digital. Since they did not have to ship the big products by doing that, Johnson gave him a chance ... and made me help him set up for it ... which I did to keep the more creative ads and poster work.

Basically, this guy saw a need as an opportunity and went for it.

In the same manner, I grabbed a chunk of GM work that I still do. I shoot fabrics and wheels for dealer materials each year because they don't have to relinquish advanced prototypes for more than a couple of days, and do not have to ship to the out-of-state agency doing the print and web materials. It cost almost as much to ship a wheel as to photograph it ... and it is safer than shipping. Local studios have either gone out of business because they failed to adapt, or existing ones have too much over-head to effectively deal with the pricing coupled with the quick turn-around required. I leveraged location, lower over-head, existing gear, and more advanced lighting knowledge to grab all this work ... which I've done for years now.

Trying to enter existing well established categories of photography is tough, it is the first place those who are failing at one thing turn to in an effort to shore up their business; i.e., Journalists start shooting weddings, wedding shooters start doing more portraits, and so on.

That is fine IF you can identify a previously untapped area or new need with-in an existing category of paying work.

Example: I'm phasing out of wedding work, not just because it has become so competitive and cut-throat (I could deal with that if I wished), but much more because I am getting to old for this shyt. Weddings are not only pressure ridden, they are physically grueling. I still do some $4,000 and $5,000 weddings so I can hire help, and take out-of-town destination weddings for fun, but that's going to be it from now on.

So I identified a sub-section of portrait work that has gone somewhat untapped ... formal portraits with good lighting and great locations of fitness subjects ... not fashion, not seniors, not family, not boudoir, not kids or newborns, or pets, or any existing over-saturated category ... body builders, body sculptors (the latest thing), runners, cyclists, skaters, personal trainers, or just plain fitness buffs ... not in action, the results of their action while at their peak ... a vanity product.

My next subject is a woman body sculptor who competes. I decided to shoot her as Diana the Huntress in a skimpy Roman dress shooting a bow in the forest, mimicking classic Greek and Roman poses. We have hair and make-up on set and the whole deal ... I will make waaaaaaaay more profit from this 2 hour concept shoot than an entire 8 hour high-end wedding shoot. People pay for vanity stuff.

Innovate, leverage, create, renew.

-Marc
 

dick

New member
Thanks, you have made several good points.

I don't think the market is hugely interested in movements per se.

Very few who aren't professional photographers even know what that is.
I don't think being super technical is a sound base for a business plan.
Picture buyers want the job done - they might not know what movements are, and would not care if you used movements... and they might expect the photographer to want to arrange the subjects in a line perpendicular to the lens axis to get it all in focus, and be pleased if the photographer can (use movements or DOF merge to) give more flexibility.

To a competent commercial photographer, this is not "super technical", but routine.

"Super technical" might be techniques like using 3D perspective CAD to create an image that looks as if it was taken through a row of houses! (Virtual viewpoint photography) ...this is the type of work that the average local pro might not want to try ...perhaps I should run a workshop?
You must produce pictures that will make people go wow.
If you are taking a picture of a fatigue fracture in a turbine blade, or a scar for an insurance claim? ...get real.
It is not necessary to be an artist to be a working and earning photographer, but the pictures need to be appealing and not merely accurate.
In engineering, usually if it looks good it works good. In photography if you make a mess of the colour or perspective you might be able to get away with calling it "style".

Nearly all photographers need to be artists, and be able to produce appealing pictures.
In your place I would consider refresher courses in composition and Photoshop. That plus the technical stuff might be enough for a business.
When I get round to posting some pictures, I think you will soon be aware that I need no training in composition (anyone who thinks they do should spend some time studying "old master" paintings). Composition pre-dates photography.

...But I might well be posting technical rather than "pretty" pictures, or picture to illustrate a technique.

I started using Photoshop on scanned 120 film about a decade ago, but one of the main reasons I bought a point-and-shoot several years ago was to get up to speed with Photoshop... I have spent time watching Adobe TV to learn about the new features.

Most courses are an expensive waste of time... and it is difficult to find a course that teaches you what you need to know, without spending time covering the basics that you do know, teaching you what you do not need to know, or trying to teach you advanced techniques that you cannot understand or use without prior knowledge of more basic techniques.
I don't think you will be able charge full price from the get go.
Starting up you do need to build a portfolio and that is a gradual process.
Generally working for free is a no no, but without a portfolio it is practically impossible to get work, and the quality of the work you will get depends on the quality of your portfolio.

It is true that charging low invites bad attitude from clients. If you do a job that serves your portfolio needs directly, then you can do it for free. Otherwise you should always charge a decent price.
I think that initially the methodology would be to undertake assignments with no "up front" charge, so you get your portfolio if they want the pictures or not, and, if they do like your pictures, they pay a mutually beneficial price for them. ...as others have mentioned, to be a good pro you normally need to be able to consistently deliver good pictures. This can be difficult in the British weather (why is the film industry in California) but digital post-processing can help with colour temperature and clarity.

If you make a living by taking speculative landscapes when the conditions are right "consistency" is not required, but you need to be able to make the most of the conditions when they are right... and planing which shots you want to take from which viewpoints at what time of day in what conditions helps.

In the late 1960s I took a picture of Fraserborough Harbour... I wanted to take in

at the weekend when the commercial fishing boats were in the harbour,

when the tide was high so that you could see the boats over the quaysides

in the middle of the afternoon when the sun was in the right place

When the sun was shining

I got the picture, but I only had a very cheap Zenith camera at the time

(I was one of the few photographers who used mired colour temperature correction filters pre-digital.)
Based on my experience as a past engineer now making my living as a technical photographer.
I am a "has been" engineer, and intend to benefit from my engineering experience in engineering photography ...and in the use, adaption, design and documentation for phonographic equipment.
 

dick

New member
Dick,
I find your Concept to be faulty.

You are overlooking the glut of professionals already in the market. Former newspaper photographers are now doing wedding. Wedding photographers are doing portraits. Portrait photographers are commercial work. Add to that all the newbies with respectable gear and little experience who are in the marketplace at below or barely above breakeven financial levels, usually for a year or two before they disappear only to be replaced by more of the same. Everyone is pissing in everyone else's pool. The market you seem to believe exists is actually over saturated.
My concept is to look for work that glut of pros cannot tackle, and avoid spending much effort pursuing the type of work that everybody else can do or wants to do.

¿Can you tell me how many competent commercial photographers there are in the UK Midlands, and how full their order books are?

¿Have you read my posts and worked out which markets I want to be in?

¿Do you realise that I have a comprehensive and versatile skill set, and there are few photographic assignments I could not tackle, heart condition permitting?

¿Or are you saying that all markets for all types of photograph are over-saturated all over the world.. even though my neighbour cannot find competent photographers for his line of work?
 

dick

New member
IF you can identify a previously untapped area or new need with-in an existing category of paying work.

So I identified a sub-section of portrait work that has gone somewhat untapped ... formal portraits with good lighting and great locations of fitness subjects ... not fashion, not seniors, not family, not boudoir, not kids or newborns, or pets, or any existing over-saturated category ... body builders, body sculptors (the latest thing), runners, cyclists, skaters, personal trainers, or just plain fitness buffs ... not in action, the results of their action while at their peak ... a vanity product.

Innovate, leverage, create, renew.

-Marc

I have studio lighting but no permanent studio, so (formal) portraiture in the home is a potential market.

¿Any market for the type of portraits they did in the 17th century?

I am in ballet, dance and gymnastics... as my wife has a school. This would be a very difficult area for most photographers to get into, and if I can use my wife's school to expand my portfolio and her contacts to get work...

Birmingham is about 30 miles away, and London and Bristol are within a couple of hours drive, and it would be nice to specialise and get some work in the cities, but there are customers (commercial and retail) locally.
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
To much doom and gloom: :thumbdown:

David, the ideas you are expressing are predicated on existing markets for photography. I know the glut issue well. What basically happened is that existing markets were developed at a time when the skill required was usually beyond the average casual enthusiasts abilities. Digital has changed that, and not just for wedding and portrait work. Commercial work has felt the impact also. in addition to the bad economic climate that has affected many shooters like Guy, who's clients have cut budgets (Guy has mentioned this in relation to some of his recent gear adaptions), the needs of clients that still spend are also shifting, which requires rethinking and adaption.

Example: for a number of years, I shot much of the photography for Johnson Outdoors. In addition to the ads and key Point-of-Purchase posters for Old Town Canoes and Ocean Kayak, I did all the new model photography each year for catalog and web use ... until some shutterbug at Johnson suggested he do it with his Canon 5D digital. Since they did not have to ship the big products by doing that, Johnson gave him a chance ... and made me help him set up for it ... which I did to keep the more creative ads and poster work.

Basically, this guy saw a need as an opportunity and went for it.

In the same manner, I grabbed a chunk of GM work that I still do. I shoot fabrics and wheels for dealer materials each year because they don't have to relinquish advanced prototypes for more than a couple of days, and do not have to ship to the out-of-state agency doing the print and web materials. It cost almost as much to ship a wheel as to photograph it ... and it is safer than shipping. Local studios have either gone out of business because they failed to adapt, or existing ones have too much over-head to effectively deal with the pricing coupled with the quick turn-around required. I leveraged location, lower over-head, existing gear, and more advanced lighting knowledge to grab all this work ... which I've done for years now.

Trying to enter existing well established categories of photography is tough, it is the first place those who are failing at one thing turn to in an effort to shore up their business; i.e., Journalists start shooting weddings, wedding shooters start doing more portraits, and so on.

That is fine IF you can identify a previously untapped area or new need with-in an existing category of paying work.

Example: I'm phasing out of wedding work, not just because it has become so competitive and cut-throat (I could deal with that if I wished), but much more because I am getting to old for this shyt. Weddings are not only pressure ridden, they are physically grueling. I still do some $4,000 and $5,000 weddings so I can hire help, and take out-of-town destination weddings for fun, but that's going to be it from now on.

So I identified a sub-section of portrait work that has gone somewhat untapped ... formal portraits with good lighting and great locations of fitness subjects ... not fashion, not seniors, not family, not boudoir, not kids or newborns, or pets, or any existing over-saturated category ... body builders, body sculptors (the latest thing), runners, cyclists, skaters, personal trainers, or just plain fitness buffs ... not in action, the results of their action while at their peak ... a vanity product.

My next subject is a woman body sculptor who competes. I decided to shoot her as Diana the Huntress in a skimpy Roman dress shooting a bow in the forest, mimicking classic Greek and Roman poses. We have hair and make-up on set and the whole deal ... I will make waaaaaaaay more profit from this 2 hour concept shoot than an entire 8 hour high-end wedding shoot. People pay for vanity stuff.

Innovate, leverage, create, renew.

-Marc
You inspire me Marc.
 
You will find there are quite a few pros out there already using view cameras, especially product guys. Just look at all the choices in that space! To compete you will have to be very accomplished at lighting, have a decent amount of studio space, be very familiar with the technical limitations of the camera, have some excellent post processing skills (tonemapping, focus stacking etc.) and be very clued in about colour accuracy/management. Assuming that's all taken care of, business is really about being able to tap into a strong commercial network and a little bit of luck.
 
Speaking as someone who's been a professional photographer and who also has an MBA, I'd l'd like to reiterate that there is a lot of solid advice here.

You mentioned a business plan. I think the process will help you. Going through the effort to put it together (along with the marketing plan that should be a component) isn't easy, but going through the work to clearly define your target market, their needs, their buying patterns, your competitors, the economic climate, changes in photographic trends, and all the rest is a productive exercise. The value is in putting it together, not the report itself.

With that said, I think I know what you'll end up with. I was a professional photographer when I started the MBA, but wasn't when I finished. ;)

The most successful photographer I ran into (other than Denis Reggie) was a wedding photographer in Atlanta who shot everything on a Nikon N90, 24-120mm zoom, flash on the camera, and program mode with center weighted metering and TTL. Nothing special with regard to photo skills or composition, but she had good group poses and great interpersonal skills. Folks loved her. She didn't understand the whole shutter speed/aperture thing, didn't think it was necessary, and was making a ton of money on high priced weddings and landing the expensive ones. Her clients seemed thrilled.

The most lucrative wedding photo business was "affordable weddings" in Atlanta (guess where I lived a bit over a decade ago?) who sold $500 weddings, and produced a 24 image photo album for that price. It wasn't an expensive album, and they employed aspiring photographers to shoot the wedding for $100, and handed them a 24 frame roll of film. From the scuttlebutt at the time they were clearing about $2 million a year and were looking to expand.

I think it's reasonable to say that for large sections of the photography market it's not the talented photographers that rise to the top; it's those with the best business skills and an understanding of their clients needs. The best work I see if rarely from the most financially stable photographers. There seems to be something about the "starving artist" stereotype.

Now, with that said it's certainly possible to mix "great photographer producing outstanding work" with "great business skills," and there certainly is a market segment with an appreciation for inspiring photography. But being a talented photographer isn't a prerequisite for being a successful photographer. Worse: if you think it is then you've got a mark against you.

My tuppence, anyway.
 

dick

New member
You will find there are quite a few pros out there already using view cameras, especially product guys. Just look at all the choices in that space! To compete you will have to be very accomplished at lighting, have a decent amount of studio space, be very familiar with the technical limitations of the camera, have some excellent post processing skills (tonemapping, focus stacking etc.) and be very clued in about colour accuracy/management. Assuming that's all taken care of, business is really about being able to tap into a strong commercial network and a little bit of luck.
Square footage is not very expensive here, so getting a studio space would not be difficult or expensive... and Big Shots (very large studios) at Tewkesbury is not far away.

Where I was before near Evesham the property next door had a large shed that was used in the Summer for vegetable packing, and I thought I might have been able to use it in the winter.

Colour management is something I might look for a course on.... like how do I calibrate and compensate so that the Sinar pictures are the same colour as the Hasselblad ones (and the subject).
 

David Schneider

New member
To much doom and gloom: :thumbdown:
Marc,

Not too much doom and gloom. In a hard market I'm having my best year ever right now. In an area of the country where there's barely any senior photography outside of the contract guys and national companies I'm third in NJ in non-contract volume and am way ahead of last year's numbers. (That why I'm in the studio on a Sunday doing three sessions today.)

I just don't see where this fellow is clearly identifying a market niche at all. Fine to paint with broad strokes, but I don't believe it's solid planning. He says pro's are using point and shoot cameras? Maybe in UK, but here it's pretty easy to walk into Best Buy, plunk down some money and walk out with a decent rig. I see dangerous underestimation of the competitive nature of the industry and has been mentioned, that doesn't begin to account for the need for excellent marketing, making contacts, client service, pricing of products, etc.

I can say from personal experience that previous experience with medium format film doesn't help a whole lot when you make the transition from dslr to mfd. I don't see that as a big advantage. His mileage may vary, but I don't think so.

And adding in concerns about a heart condition and health, this just doesn't seem to be an enterprise that I would encourage.
 

downstairs

New member
All this sound advice will may turn out useful to other budding pros too if they manage to wade through it all, so I might as well add my bit for them, though Dick, the OP, with his background, knows it all already.
A jack of all trades is a master of none. The client always picks the specialist, so be one, or at least pretend, whether it's tractors, bottles brides, or vegetables.
If you choose watches or pens you won't need much space. If you choose horses, you won't need a studio. The best foot in the door is a good-looking and specialised portfolio left in the hands of a junior art-director who wants to get ahead. In forty-five years I've never got a worthwhile job from the boss.
Professional photography has very little to do with cameras and stuff. It is all about organisation and setting up what goes in front of the camera. I've never seen anyone take less than four years to break even; so make do with simple gear. And never do a job for less than what your client pays his plumber.
 

dick

New member
I just don't see where this fellow is clearly identifying a market niche at all. Fine to paint with broad strokes, but I don't believe it's solid planning.
Plan.. but plan flexibility and versatility.

I think I need different portfolios for different potential markets.
He says pro's are using point and shoot cameras?
I think most pros here use ff 35mm cameras... but I call anything with a full auto option a "point-and-shoot", including my H4D-60.
I see dangerous underestimation of the competitive nature of the industry and has been mentioned, that doesn't begin to account for the need for excellent marketing, making contacts, client service, pricing of products, etc.
I have a low opinion of the technical and artistic abilities of the photographers here, but a high opinion of their ability to market what they produce... I think few people here have much idea what a quality large photograph looks like.
I can say from personal experience that previous experience with medium format film doesn't help a whole lot when you make the transition from dslr to mfd. I don't see that as a big advantage. His mileage may vary, but I don't think so.
Perhaps MF is more relevant experience for MFD?... I am on my sixth Hasselblad, and I had a Mamiya C330 before that... but I did not use my 54 Sinars very much.
And adding in concerns about a heart condition and health, this just doesn't seem to be an enterprise that I would encourage.
It is (always) only going to take "another grand or two" to get a complete system that would cost £60k to replace with new, and to get back the interest I would get on what I could get if I sold it all I should not have to work many days a month.

Unless I can find someone to work with me I will not be investing much more money.

My heart might be OK after the cardioversion next month, but the "normal rhythm" might last five days, five months or five years... which is a pain, and would make it foolish to invest much more money, or get committed even if I get my heart fixed.

I guess the only decision I have to make is weather to think of myself as an amateur, or part-time pro?
 

dick

New member
A jack of all trades is a master of none. The client always picks the specialist, so be one, or at least pretend, whether it's tractors, bottles brides, or vegetables.
If you choose watches or pens you won't need much space.
Watches would be a good option, but there are not many watch makers here, but there is a Jewellery quarter in Birmingham.
Professional photography has very little to do with cameras and stuff. It is all about organisation and setting up what goes in front of the camera. I've never seen anyone take less than four years to break even; so make do with simple gear. And never do a job for less than what your client pays his plumber.
Agreed, but I already have the gear, and I am retired, so I am not giving up a day job to do photography.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I think it's reasonable to say that for large sections of the photography market it's not the talented photographers that rise to the top; it's those with the best business skills and an understanding of their clients needs. The best work I see if rarely from the most financially stable photographers. There seems to be something about the "starving artist" stereotype.
This is so true. Unless you're an artist, it's all business and delivering the goods at an appropriate price. In real life (I don't count getdpi a part of real life, not even close :D ), there aren't many great artists around, but there are surprisingly many who understand how to make money from their cameras, regardless of photographic and artistic skills.
 

David Schneider

New member
Plan.. but plan flexibility and versatility.

I think I need different portfolios for different potential markets.


I have a low opinion of the technical and artistic abilities of the photographers here, but a high opinion of their ability to market what they produce... I think few people here have much idea what a quality large photograph looks like.

Perhaps MF is more relevant experience for MFD?... I am on my sixth Hasselblad, and I had a Mamiya C330 before that... but I did not use my 54 Sinars very much.

I guess the only decision I have to make is weather to think of myself as an amateur, or part-time pro?
Dick,

Listen to what you're saying and look at the words you're using. "I think..", "perhaps," "I guess," etc. You need to be on more solid ground. You need to have a much clearer plan.

Who is your potential client? What can you show them? Why would they partner with you as opposed to someone else or someone they've been with for a long time? How are you going to market to them? What is unique about you in their eyes? What is your budget to reach them before you blow your retirement savings? I'm not saying not to go for it. I'm saying you need to do a lot more research and planning otherwise you're just another amateur or part-timer mucking around and is gone in two years.

In film days I used C330, RB67, Bronic eTRS. I can't say it helped much in transitioning to mfd from dslr. With film you developed or sent out. Now you have files, color balance, bits, sensors, Photoshop, Lightroom, Topaz, Imageonic filters, nik, actions, droplets, templates, and a thousand other things. My experience is digital (and I went 100% digital in 1998 or 1999) with dslr is better experience for going mfd than film mf is to going mfd. Again, your mileage may vary.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Do what you can with what you have. If you take out a loan at the beginning you immediately have money going out the door with nothing coming in. That is called bankruptcy.

And I agree, you need to specialize. But you say you have no portfolio. Folks are going to look at that and say you are not a photographer. It is a catch 22, you need work to generate work and you can't get work unless you have done some. BTW, I have never gotten a job because I own a camera--I don't bring equipment lists to an interview. I am hired because the client knows I have the ability to do something and can show it.

Why do you want to go pro? Do you need the money? There may be better ways to make an income. If you don't need the money, then what do you want to do? There are ways to approach a field while volunteering your time and expertise. There are also other positions in photography other than what most would consider a photographer--an individual running a shooting gig.
 

stephengilbert

Active member
Dick: "I think few people here have much idea what a quality large photograph looks like."

David: "Who is your potential client?"

Me: "Presumably one or more of the few people who recognize quality, and are in the market for it."

Warren Buffett says that he won't invest in anything that he can't understand.
 
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