How To Start Earning With Photography/Videography

“Photography is the art, application and practice of creating images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation”. It is a way to experience nature, love, and memories. Photography can easily be tranformed from a passion into an income.

As a photographer, people often ask, "how much money do you actually make?", "do you really make money in this industry?", "how did you even get into it?".

If you are also curious about the photography industry and passionate about learning about videography as well as photography, this article is going to provide you with all my steps to penetrating the market.

1. Get equipment – This is your first step to turning photography into a career, but it doesn’t mean you have to go for the most expensive piece of equipment on the market to get started. You can start small, your Google Pixel, iPhone or Samsung will suffice, make for excellent practice and help you gather some experience until you feel ready to get a good camera.

You can actually get a good pre-owned camera like the (Canon EOS 600D, 650D, 700D) on a budget of £200 - £300; or with an bigger budget, a more advanced one like the Canon EOS R or a Sony A7 III between £1,000-1,500.

2. Experience – On the subject of experience, start with your surroundings. Your friends, nature and buildings around you can make awesome subjects for you. Take portraits of them, play around with the posses and ideas, and mimic the styles of some of your favourite photographers while you are at it.

If you are in close proximity to any good photographers you know, take advantage of that and shadow them – with their consent of course, don’t be weird. It is okay to start small, you might not begin shooting immediately with them – so learn what you can and start asking questions. There is a wealth of knowledge to acquire around light, location and equipment that you won’t get from the Youtube. That kind of practical experience is invaluable.

3. Take advantage of social media - Draw inspiration from photographers on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter amongst others and use the resources other photographers have contributed to out there.

Join WhatsApp group chats where such resources are being shared and go to photography events. Apply that information to get a leg up on modelling your own social media pages to showcase your work.

4. Pick a Niche – After gaining said experience, it is imperative that you select a niche – a select part or type of photography that is exclusive to you and plays to your strengths.

For example, if you are gifted with picking angles, lines and shapes you might be more suited to shooting properties, real estate etc. These and other strengths can be exploited to build yourself a niche where you can concentrate your efforts, strengthen your social media presence and gain a client base.

5. Pro Bono – By now, it is expected that you have some confidence in your ability and should be gaining some attention on social media and among people in your immediate area. So take advantage of that attention and work for free. Pick out some interesting subjects and potential clients – relative to your niche and start shooting for free.

This might not seem economically sound, but is a great way to set up a reputation and build rapport with future clients. Your good work is bound to get you some gigs, so put in the work and wait for the results.

6. Price List – Now, once you begin to acquire clients you will need a price list. Your free work has finally paid off, and it is time to make some dosh (money). There is no defined format to having a price list, but some order is appreciated.

So, you can charge a set amount for the work done i.e a combined hourly rate for shooting and editing, or bundles – which are fixed rates charged for handling a project from start to finish. For example, if you’re into events like graduations, you can charge a fixed amount for a 30-photo package comprising pictures of the customer in different locations, with family, group photos, or a photo book etc.

7. Clients – Finally, you have the skills, equipment and your price list ready, but your gigs are few and far in between. So what next?

Signing up to agencies and job sites like 'Add to Event' and 'JobSite' or 'Indeed' and 'Reed'.

These are my personally recommended steps to get into the photography industry. Regardless of your location, these tips, if followed correctly, will help you establish yourself as a photographer/videographer and help you earn a reliable income. Get started and let me know how it goes for you.

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