this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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Photography
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A place to politely discuss the tools, technique and culture of photography.
This is not a good place to simply share cool photos/videos or promote your own work and projects, but rather a place to discuss photography as an art and post things that would be of interest to other photographers.
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Do you have a link to your work?
I think your enthusiasm is great, but maybe a little naive? Pretty much everybody is hustling looking for that same success.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind as a newbie is it's less about how good your photos are and more about making connections with the right people. I'd focus on that first. There's a lot of very very talented people who struggle for work, and lots of successful photographers who's work is mediocre.
confidence and talent, always more of one than the other
i did photos once years ago for a friend of my mum, was an actor portfolio, asked to see me work on photos, i spent a lot of time gave him loads of shots with retouch for free as it was mums friend
literally weeks later he had an account on flickr (was good then) after seeing mine, he copy pasted all my contacts/followers into his account, bought the same camera as me and was advertising himself as a photographer for work for actor portfolios
i said i had noticed he had done that, said how he needs to find his own style and influences that reflected who he was
he posted a few shots where he had photoshopped highlights in eyes that didnt match the actual lighting, blur tool to make background look seperated i asked him what he was charging he said 50 quid an hr plus expenses. saying he wanted to give people pretty much what i gave him
when i applied this to what i had done for him and quoted the price which included few days of shooting+editing time +prints, not even including expenses ha ha asked what % of his out of work acting friends could afford that then?
wasnt mums friend for long after that, he posted a set of shots he did of a woman in a park in middle of sunny afternoon with subject squinting into the sun, then nothing.
i wondered how much she was charged for the photos!
Deffo is about networking. Go to local photography events, join local photography clubs, join local online photography groups (most have a Facebook page), etc. Become "known" in your community as a photographer. When I was first starting my first clients were all people I knew from previous workplaces, or old school friends, or my local area.
Definetely naieve.
Unless he's some sort of savant.
But he's 19, and his head swimming with dreams of making it as a pro-photog.
Odds of become a recognized photog (not a Tuber claiming to be a pro photog) are about the same as a college football player making it to the NFL.
Pro isn’t synonymous with famous. They can definitely start a photography business with the right guidance and make a living.