Photography As A Career

Clicking pictures may be your hobby. Why not earn some money out of it? What is better than taking up your hobby as your profession?

This lens has all the aspects about photography before you start a career in this adventurous field.

Do you love taking pictures? Are you the one always forcing all the kids to take some funny and whacky pictures? Are you considering earning some money using your creative side but unsure if it’s a good option? Hopefully this article might help you.

There is one Golden Rule highlighting the qualifications for a good photographer: 

Career in Photography = Business Knowledge + Technical Knowledge + Creative Eye

Business knowledge focuses more on the marketing aspect. Just taking pictures will not give you money. You need the knack of selling them, testing your marketing skills.

Technical Knowledge: You must be thorough with the ABCs of the camera and all the other technical jargons.

Creative Eye is important to stand out from the other photographers that are offering similar services.

Creativity is the most basis trait needed in a photographer since it directly affects the image taken.  The other two, are also very important but there are ways of managing without them- though very risky !

A background in computers also helps in gaining the technical expertise. Such skills are required to get just the right look of your pictures as per the client needs. This involves camera and lighting skills, digital imaging skills and knowledge of the technical intricacies of the equipment.

Get Started:

To get started, it's a good idea to get on-the-job training by working with an established photographer. This will help you gain business acumen, client handling skills and a good idea of the problems a photographer faces in the field and learn how to them. Photography workshops are great hands-on experience as well.

Showcasing your work in online albums, communities and forums is another great way to get started. 

Enhance your skills by getting direct feedback and tips from visitors to your album. You can complement this by doing some freelance work. It further builds up confidence to approach other photographers and organizations from where you can get full time work.

Fields in Photography:

There are many fields within photography. Some may be more creatively challenging.

~ Fashion & Advertising Photography
If glamour attracts you, then this is for you. It involves working with models and is quite a lucrative and creative field. The work could be used for advertising agencies, fashion houses and fashion magazines.

~ Nature & Wildlife Photography
If you're a nature freak and also have a passion to capture it, then go for it. You can work for travel and geographic magazines, calendars as you travel around capturing waterfalls, landscapes, wildlife and other interesting shades of nature.

~ Event Photography
Event photographers work for weddings and other events like sports meets, family functions etc. This still has strong demand for film photography, since most clients would like a copy of the negatives.

~ Still Photography/Product Photography
This involves the capturing of inanimate natural or man-made objects. Portrait photography is one example of this, where you can capture pictures of children, pets etc. You can run your own studio or work for someone. Capturing pictures for cookbooks is another good opportunity.

~ Travel Photography
If you love adventure and travelling then travel photography could be good option for you. Travel photographers can work for the hospitality industry, travel magazines and websites. It requires being able to capture the right shot at the right moment.

Pay Prospects:

Initially, it's bit hard to make a living in this field but if you're extremely creative and prepared to put in the hard work along with getting equipped with good business skills, it could become a rewarding profession for you.

Starting off as an assistant to a senior photographer, working as a freelancer and then working as a full time professional will eventually give you a good amount of income.

Certain fields like Fashion Photography and Wedding Photography are more lucrative monetary wise.

If you've a passion for photography, there's no reason why you can't make it your profession -- be wise and practical and go for it!