Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
“It was constant hustle for me the first three years (in business) full time.”
I read this quote from a photographer-turned-business coach. It was advice in a Facebook group. I’m not certain the question that elicited this reply, but it doesn’t really matter. The statement stands alone.
Why artists need to market themselves? So that, you the artist, wouldn’t starve to death.
No, but seriously. Otherwise, you risk ending up like Vincent Van Gogh who (in the words of Steven Pressfield) “produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.”
A lot of artists have this notion that they’re the creative person, and marketing belongs to the business world. Some even think it’s evil or dirty to promote themselves, and they don’t want to have anything to do with this” filthy” world.
The truth is, it’s your job to market yourself. You are the artist, and you know how to spread the word about your work. After all, you created it. You can’t rest after creating your art; you need to start marketing it.
Dear Entitled,
I came across a screenshot of your “I have started a photography business” post in a “Classifieds” Facebook group:
I don’t think there’s a photographer anywhere in the world who hasn’t been asked to work for a miserable sum, or even for free, ‘for the exposure’. According to recent research, there’s a reason why photographers and other artists are often exploited. The answer lies in your passion for photography. In other words: if you love your job, you are more likely to get lowballed.
If you’re good at photography, people have probably already started asking you “Why don’t you start a photography business?” You yourself may also be thinking the same. However, there’s more to business of photography than just taking good photos. In this video from SLR Lounge, photographer Pye Jirsa gives you five reasons to not start a photography business. Or in other words, five reasons why running a business simply may not be right for you, no matter how great photos you take.
The biggest and most common mistake I see in photographers in all genres is that they aren’t honest with themselves. They love the idea of being a photographer , the romantic side of it all, sounds cool, right? They hate the work part, the hustle, the grind, the guts of what it takes to run any successful small business.
They just want to do the fun part of taking pictures, spending their afternoons hanging out in coffee shops and shooting only things they are interested in and talking smack. You have the right to do this but you aren’t going to make a sustainable living doing things this way. There should be a name for those photographers, let me think, more on that later.
GoPro has had its ups and downs, but apparently, this holiday season turned out to be profitable for the company. And it’s the first time since 2017. Apparently, GoPro’s newest Hero 7 lineup has helped the company turn its first quarterly profit in nearly two years.
According to a recent rumor, some or all of Kodak Alaris film business might be sold as soon as March current year. Reportedly, the company has out its film, paper and photo chemical assets up for sale in an attempt to cover around $2.7 billion worth of debt.
So, you have decided to turn your photographic skill into a business. It’s a big step, but it may not be easy to start and earn your first money as a professional photographer. In this video, Jeff Rojas shares some valuable tips to help you get started. He gives you three ways to market yourself and make your first $1,000 as a photographer.
You may have followed a recent copyright dispute between concert photographer J. Salmeron and Thunderball Clothing. What started as one of the disputes we see pretty often has quickly ended up in the clothing company shutting down. Marta Gabriel, the owner of Thunderball Clothing, has announced that she will be shutting down the company due to a huge amount of hate comments she has received after the incident.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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