Seven steps to succeed as a professional photographer

With a professional photographer "It is not just a profession that you can get money if you take a picture with a camera," the path to independence success is long and steep and it is not easy at all. It is a professional photographer cooperativeCOOPHHowever, the following movie explains the seven steps necessary to become independent professional photographer.

The 7 key steps to becoming a professional photographer - YouTube


◆ 1: Find your specialty
You do not have to worry about whether to use smartphones as a photographic equipment from the beginning or use a high-end digital single-lens reflex camera.


First of all I need to think about what kind of photographer I want to be.


By experiencing various genres, you can find subjects that you really enjoy or are facing.


If you find the direction you think is this, then you need to acquire the expertise in that particular gender firmly. Finding work as a photographer's assistant and working is also a good way to get experienced quickly.


◆ 2: Obtain suitable tools
Once you have found your expertise, you will get the appropriate camera and peripherals. There is no need to purchase high-end high-end equipment from the beginning, but let's have all the tools necessary for shooting.


For example, to take portrait you need a lens of 85 mm, and if you want to take a specialized photograph of a travel photograph or landscape photograph, a zoom lens is ideal.


A lightweight and easy to carry tripod is a very convenient tool in any field.


Also, powerful storage that can archive work so far is also important. Failure to backup the photo data will have a significant impact on client time and money, as well as on your reputation.


◆ 3: Create a portfolio
The portfolio is very important for professional photographers. The client will look at the portfolio and decide whether to ask the photographer. In modern times SNS can share photos quickly and easily, but if you own a personal site, you will see it more professional.


When stocking a work portfolio at your site, it is necessary to keep it updated constantly and keep it up to date at all times, and for that purpose we contract with a provider that we sincerely respond, It is important to make it a manageable template.


Also, having your own website makes it easier for videos from exhibitions and others to distinguish between photos of commercial work such as shooting weddings and photos of projects that you would like to advance.


◆ 4: Find the right client
Just because you want to succeed as a professional photographer quickly, let's stop sending your portfolio randomly. First of all, please set up a business that can earn the most profit from your shoot.


For example, if you are good at portrait photos, you may want to contract with a company that needs to capture portrait photos that you post on the website. Rather than asking for money from the beginning, it is useful to shoot for free as a service only for the first time, to show its achievements and motivation.


◆ 5: Understand the business
In order to succeed as an independent professional photographer, you need to understand the business. You need to do all the work of grasping income and expenses, creating templates for estimates and invoices, and receiving purchase orders from clients.


In addition, you need to prepare a contract that can correspond to each project. It is also important that you get the reward firmly when you shoot and it is also important to get written permission on the place and model.


In addition, you will need to join the camera insurance for the time when an important business tool is stolen.



◆ 6: refine workflow
In order to optimize efficiency and output, you need to build your own workflow. If you do not understand the flow of work, such as where you put the SD card, the timing of charging the battery of the camera, etc., you will not be in time for the delivery date, your reputation will go down.


If you are familiar with how to use the photo processing tools, you will be able to drastically shorten the working time by making full use of batch editing.


Also, do not forget to back up your photo data to a hard drive that can be stored periodically and securely.


◆ 7: Promote your work
However, we should always strive to not only say "I want work" but also to distribute my photos at any time. For example, using SNS, it is easier for you to be interested by positively sending your work.


Selling activity is not done online only. Let's print out your work and distribute it to clients that you signed up before and those who may become clients in the future.


If you are a personal shooting project or a work series, let's also talk to the photo gallery.


An exhibition of photographs is a perfect event to enhance the formation of human networks and awareness.