5 Steps To Becoming a Photographer | Tonic – Inspiring News Stories & Social Good

Story originally published July 2010 on ArtBistro.

Are you thinking of becoming a photographer? You’re in good company. Joining the likes of Annie Leibovitz, Gilles Bensimon and Richard Avedon, you’re about to enter into a profession bursting with creative opportunity and artistic expression and one that can vastly differ depending upon the division of the industry you choose. As a photographer, you’ll produce and preserve images that paint a picture, tell a story, or record an event. Accordingly, as a photographer you must have a “good eye,” a keen imagination, and drive, as many photographers work for themselves or freelance for a living.

So how can you break into this highly lucrative artistic field? We’ve assembled a list of necessary steps to get you started.

Step One: Ask questions like, “What is a professional photographer?” and “What do they do?”

As a professional photographer,you’ll have numerous career options. Photographers specialize in areas such as portrait, commercial and industrial, scientific, news, or fine arts photography.

Portrait photographers take pictures of individuals or groups of people and usually work in their own studios. Some specialize in weddings, religious ceremonies, or school photographs and they may work on location. Portrait photographers who own and operate their own business have many responsibilities in addition to taking pictures. They must arrange for advertising, schedule appointments, set and adjust equipment, purchase supplies, keep records, bill customers, pay bills, and – if they have employees-hire, train, and direct their workers. Many also process their own images, design albums, and mount and frame the finished photographs.

Commercial and industrial photographers take pictures of various subjects, such as buildings, models, merchandise, artifacts, and landscapes. These photographs are used in a variety of media, including books, reports, advertisements, and catalogs. Industrial photographers often take pictures of equipment, machinery, products, workers, and company officials. The pictures are used for various purposes — for example, analysis of engineering projects, publicity, or records of equipment development or deployment. This photography frequently is done on location as well.

Fashion Photographers get paid to take pictures of beautiful models for the glossy pages of such publications as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle magazine. They typically travel often, as many shoots require them to be on location and must be comfortable working closely with fashion designers. Included within the field of fashion photography, are the following career paths:

Periodicals
Ad agencies
Department stores
Fashion houses
Modeling agencies
Retailers
Catalogues
Galleries
Stock photography agency

Scientific photographers take images of a variety of subjects to record scientific or medical data or phenomena, using knowledge of scientific procedures. They typically possess additional knowledge in areas such as engineering, medicine, biology, or chemistry.

News photographers, also called photojournalists, photograph newsworthy people and places and sporting, political, and community events for newspapers, journals, magazines, or television.

Fine arts photographers sell their photographs as fine artwork. In addition to technical proficiency, fine arts photographers need artistic talent and creativity.

Choosing your desired field is a significant step in becoming a professional photographer. Take time during your phase as a student to determine which vocation feels right for you and be aware that because jobs within the industry differ greatly, as do factors like salary, education and hours.

It’s also important to note that self-employed, or freelance photographers usually specialize in one of the above fields. In addition to carrying out assignments under direct contract with clients, they may license the use of their photographs through stock-photo agencies or market their work directly to the public.

Stock-photo agencies sell magazines and other customers the right to use photographs and pay the photographer a commission. These agencies require an application from the photographer and a sizable portfolio of pictures. Once accepted, photographers are usually required to submit a large number of new photographs each year. As a result, self-employed photographers must also have a thorough understanding of copyright laws in order to protect their work.

Step Two: Get Educated

Just as it is important to be informed of the possible fields within photography, so is acquiring the technical expertise to make it in your desired position. When considering whether or not a formal education is right for you, take note that no matter how talented you are, work as a professional photographer is competitive and an education can make you more a more appealing candidate.

This being said, some fields require more education than others. For instance, photojournalists or industrial or scientific photographers generally need a college degree, while freelance and portrait photographers need technical proficiency gained through a degree, a training program, or simple experience.

All photographers should enroll in basic courses that cover equipment, processes, techniques, and training in photographic design and composition. Moreover, those who learn good business and marketing skills will have a competitive advantage in the field.

But being a good photographer doesn’t just mean being educated in techniques and processes – it also means having the right personality and character traits. Good professional photographers are patient, accurate, and detail-oriented and should be able to work well with others, as they frequently deal with clients and graphic designers, as well as advertising and publishing specialists.

Step Three: Create a Portfolio

Simply put, building a selection of your best photos and clips is one of the most important tasks you can perform as a working photographer. Clients and prospective employers will need to see your work before you’re hired. Therefore, in order to get ahead of the competition and showcase your best work, creating a portfolio is a must.

Ideally you should have both a hard copy (paper) version of your portfolio, as well as an online version. Some photographers even have multiple portfolios categorized by event, theme, or company. This is something to keep in mind as you showcase your work.

Hard Copy Version

First, you must have a hard copy version of your photography portfolio. This should include copies of your photography, shoots, storyboards, and clips and/or drawings (if you work that way). Your hard copy portfolio will come in handy when you attend interviews and will give your interviewer the chance to glance at your work. Because you’ll only be able to show this portfolio in person, you should also have a website version in order to attract freelance work and prospective employers who are seeking a professional photographer.

What your online portfolio should include:

A Bio: Include a little bit about yourself, your history, what you studied in school, your favorite sandwich (if you think it will set you apart from the rest), and links to your blog or social communities, FaceBook Fan Pages, or Twitter accounts. Basically, this part of your portfolio should give potential employers a good feel for who you are and what you can bring (personality-wise) to their company, event or shoot.

Examples of your work: This section or sections (if you’ve studied or worked in multiple artistic mediums, create separate tabs) showcase your skills, talents, and flair as a photographer. This is where you bring your history (or bio) to life. Employed by iStock? Attended the Academy of Art? Those are great accomplishments to highlight on your resume, but without samples companies and employers won’t know what you’re really capable of. They’ll want to see concrete examples. Be proud and show off your work!

Resume: This page should include your up-to-date resume, as well as a printer-friendly PDFversion.

Contact: This page should include your email, a PO Box address, and links to your blogs or social networking pages, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter — and ArtBistro!

Step Four: Connect and Learn Skills

Most photographers spend only a small portion of their work schedule actually taking photographs. Their most common activities are editing images on a computer if they use a digital camera and looking for new business if they are self-employed. Therefore it’s important as a photographer to develop computer and networking skills. The two best ways to do this? Marketing your portfolio and website via social networks and keeping on top of new software.

Many photographers have websites that highlight an online portfolio and enable them to attract work from magazines or advertising agencies. For freelance photographers, maintaining their website is essential. Photographers who operate their own business or freelance need business skills as well as talent. These individuals must know how to prepare a business plan, submit bids, write contracts, keep financial records, market their work, hire models, get permission to shoot on locations that normally are not open to the public, obtain releases to use photographs of people, license and price photographs, and secure copyright protection for their work. To protect their rights and their work, self-employed photographers require basic knowledge of licensing and copyright laws as well as knowledge of contracts and negotiation procedures.

Step Five: Get to Work!

The sooner you get to work as a photographer, the sooner you can invest in your equipment and portfolio. The good news is an uptick in the number of Internet versions of magazines, journals has made newspapers commercial photographers and digital images are more in demand. Also, the Internet and improved data management programs have made it easier for freelancers to market directly to their customers, increasing opportunities for self-employment and decreasing reliance on stock photo agencies.

But don’t be fooled — job opening for photographers (especially salaried jobs) are not abundant. The number of individuals interested in positions as commercial and news photographers is usually much greater than the number of openings. And remember that more companies contract with freelancers than hire their own photographers. Those who succeed in landing a salaried job or attracting enough work to earn a living will do it with related work experience, job-related training, or some unique skill or talent — such as a background in computers or electronics or knowledge of a second language. So study up, keep your portfolio fresh, and market yourself in a unique way and you’ll be hired in no time!

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