Ways to Get Started in Photography

As an increasingly successful photographer running my own home studio, I can speak from personal experience. Of course, one of the best ways to get started in photography, in general, is to learn more about the art, and, more importantly, to learn more about how your camera works. Using an automatic, point and shoot camera does not make you a photographer. On the other hand, a true photographer can make a beautiful shot using nearly any type or brand of camera, though most photographers will prefer a certain brand.

But if you want to get started in portrait photography, which is my area of interest, the best thing that you can do for yourself is to take on a part-time position as a photographer in a commercial portrait studio. These commercial studios are nearly everywhere, from Wal-Mart, to Target, to JCPenney, and most every other large department store. During the holiday season, from around August or September to late January or early February, these studios are painfully lenient on who they will hire as a photographer. This also explains why, if you choose one of these sort of studios during busy seasons, you will sometimes end up with not only below standard service, but also with portraits that are a complete waste of your money. You will, nevertheless, end up buying these substandard portraits because you spent so much time getting the family ready for the occasion that you do not want to make a similar trip to another studio.

Back to the original topic, however, to get started in the portrait photography business you will benefit greatly by using one of the oldest tricks in the book; learn from your competitors. Secure yourself a position with one of these commercial studios, as they will eventually become your competition once you have established yourself a little later in your career. As an employee, you will be privy to their methods of photography and to the selling aspect of their photography business. This may sound a little underhanded, but imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, is it not?

You will learn how a portrait studio is set up- things such as what types of lights you need, how many, and where to place them. Correct lighting is pivotal in portrait photography. You will learn how to use a high-end slr camera, which is also crucial to becoming a successful photographer. Perhaps most important of all, you will learn how to pose and interact with your subjects, and how to make them feel at ease in order for you to bring out their true personality in your portraits. As an unfortunate side-effect of working in a commercial portrait studio, you will also learn, as I did, that in this type of operation you will be forced to choose between the quality of your portraits and how quickly you can rush people in and out while snapping ten or twelve mediocre portraits, so that you can get the next family into the studio and repeat the cycle. A real photographer, in my opinion, should do him/herself the justice of choosing quality over quantity.

This simple practice will result in not only satisfied, but sometimes ecstatic customers, who will return to you time and time again, as well as recommend your work to everyone in their social circle. In very little time you will have established yourself as caring, quality oriented, and worth every penny that you will be charging for your sittings and portrait packages. You can try any selling strategy in the world, including the one adopted by the portrait studio you choose to work in, but no selling strategy in the world will make a bad shot look any better. Study their photography techniques above everything else, and you can always learn the business side of photography from any one of the tons of business books in circulation.