What Do You Need To Start A Photography Studio – Is it worth the work? What are the pros and cons? How much money can you earn? What equipment do you need? Should you specialize in a certain type of photography? How can you get customers?
But if you enjoy photography and are willing to put in the effort, it is possible to earn a good income from your passion. As Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
What Do You Need To Start A Photography Studio
So before you turn your passion into your livelihood, take some time to think about the pros and cons of starting a photography business.
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The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
If you decide to start a photography business, you have the opportunity to spend a lot of your time doing what you love: taking pictures.
Photographers are hired to capture and preserve special moments forever. Whether it’s nature, family portraits, weddings, etc., photographers can find a lot of meaning in their work.
Whether you’re meeting people at weddings, in your portrait studio, or shooting wildlife on location, photography can be a great way to meet lots of new and interesting people. Most cities even have active meetup.com groups that meet regularly to socialize.
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Running a photography business can give you and your family a lot of flexibility. Unlike the traditional nine to five, you are in complete control of your schedule. This makes it easier to prioritize childcare, vacations, and time with the ones you love.
Do you like to travel and discover new places? Many photographers make travel a regular part of their work. Easily book clients at locations you want to visit.
Depending on how much equipment you already have, it can be expensive to buy everything you need to start a photography business.
Some clients can be difficult or exhausting. Also, some events can be stressful and bring out the worst in people. For example, if you decide to shoot weddings, you may encounter the occasional bridezilla.
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Many photo shoots take place outside of normal working hours during evenings and weekends. This can make it a challenge to spend time with friends and family who work or go to school during the week.
As with any small business, revenue is not always consistent and it can take time to build a regular workflow. When you start out, you will likely experience peaks and troughs in your income.
As mentioned above, hobbies and businesses differ in many ways. Turning your hobby into a business can take away the fun and spontaneity, and photography can end up feeling like a dull, boring chore.
The most successful photographers specialize in a certain type of photography. Why? Basically, specialists are more in demand than generalists.
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Think about it: If you were getting married, would you rather hire a general photographer or someone who specializes in weddings?
So before starting your photography business, take some time to decide what kind of photography business you want to run.
Realtors, property managers, homeowners, hotels, and even Airbnb hosts all need beautiful photos to market their properties.
Travel photographers deliver beautiful images to countries, cities, magazines, blogs, hotels and tourist attractions. These photos may be used for entertainment or promotional purposes.
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Restaurants, food brands and advertising agencies often use specialist food photographers to showcase their products or menu items.
Designers, magazines and fashion shows need fashion photographers to capture and promote the latest styles and creations.
Before starting a photography business, it helps to have a rough idea of how much it will cost to set up, especially since professional photography equipment doesn’t come cheap.
Well, Jamie Swanson, a wedding photographer in Wisconsin, USA, calculated the total costs of starting two different types of photography businesses. Here’s what she discovered:
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She summed it up by saying, “For less than $10,000 you can start a portrait business and for less than $15,000 you can start a wedding photography business.”
If you’ve been an amateur photographer for a while, you may already have most of the equipment you need.
However, you should consider whether the quality of your equipment is high enough to produce work that you can reliably bill for.
The most important device you need is, of course, a professional camera. Before buying a camera, make sure you do enough research on the best make and model for your type of photography.
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As a professional photographer, it is always good practice to have a high-quality backup camera. That way you can keep shooting if you’re in the middle of a shot and something goes wrong with your camera.
Every photographer needs a set of professional lenses to capture their subjects. Again, be sure to research the types of lenses that best suit your shooting style.
Tripods are essential equipment for all photographers. Not only do they help keep your camera steady, but they also allow you to take multiple shots of a subject without changing the frame.
Professional cameras and lenses don’t come cheap, so protect them from damage with a dedicated camera bag. These bags also make it easy to organize and access your gear while shooting.
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Great photos require great lighting. While natural light is often best, you’ll need lighting equipment or reflectors to get great shots when there’s not enough sunlight.
Depending on the type of photos you want to take, you may want to purchase some props. For example, if you’re an event photographer, you can pack some party accessories like big glasses and silly hats.
As a professional photographer, your livelihood depends on your ability to provide quality customer service. In other words, being late—or not at all—because your car breaks down is very bad for business. Make sure you have reliable transportation for you and your belongings.
Depending on the type of photos you want to take, you may need to purchase or rent studio space. You can also create a small studio in your home.
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If you use a desktop computer with a large screen to edit photos, you may also want to invest in a laptop for editing on the go.
High-quality digital photos can take up a lot of space on your computer’s hard drive, which can slow down your computer. Instead, invest in an external hard drive to store your photo files.
If you plan to offer printing to your customers, consider investing in a photo printer. You can also find a local printing service to use when you need to print photos for clients.
Although you’ll need a professional camera for the footage, you can use your smartphone to capture behind-the-scenes content for social media. You can use this content to promote your photography business.
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You may also want to download some photo editing apps to polish your smartphone photos before sharing them online. Check out Snapseed, Lightroom CC, Scratch Photos, and Photoshop Express (pictured below).
Now that you’ve got your equipment sorted, let’s look at some of the tools you’ll need to market your photography business.
You need a professional website that showcases your services and showcases your past work. (More on this later.)
It can help to be active on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. You can use these channels to promote your work and connect with potential clients.
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Business cards are a proven form of personal marketing. Always have a few with you and share them with new contacts at events and shoots. Check out services like Vistaprint, Office Depot, and Staples to make it yours.
As a business, you need an efficient way to collect payments from customers. Ideally, this system will allow you to make payments online, over the phone and in person.
Shopify is a fully commercial solution that you can use to build your website, manage your business and receive payments.
You may need to register your business with your local or state government. Be sure to check the requirements for photography businesses in your area.
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Accidents happen. You may want to purchase business insurance or equipment insurance to protect you if something goes wrong.
If you become self-employed, you will need to track your finances and file taxes. You might consider using an accounting program to help, such as Freshbooks, Quickbooks, or Xero.
Whenever you get a new client or project, it is a good practice to get the other party to sign a contract. This helps protect you if something goes wrong and makes it clear to both parties what is expected of the arrangement. You can purchase contract templates or hire a local attorney to draft contracts for you.
You may also want to join the Professional Photographers of America. This is an organization that provides resources, advice and education to professional photographers.
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If you’re wondering how to start a photography business, you’re probably also wondering “how much do photographers charge?”
While there is no set answer to this question, we can examine some averages to get a general idea.
According to business platform Fash, professional photographers often charge between $100
