Making it pay

6 thoughts on “Making it pay”

• Thank you for making this video interview with Michael available. The quality is very good and it is most interesting to watch and listen at the ‘distance’ end of the learning process.
  Perhaps our text books could be supplemented with some lectures in this format by various authors and of course OCA tutors.
  Michael Freeman is an outstanding author – thank you again.
  Richard

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• Interesting comments, but not a mention of understanding the technology and where it is going and how that is going to affect business as a photographer?
  Two things I’ve observed about a significant proportion of ‘pro’ photographers since becoming one (i.e. it’s what pays the bills)
  1 They don’t understand the technology they are using and how that affects their work
  2 From a business point of view, most couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag
  As someone who also teaches, I’m always interested to see the reactions in a group of students when I say that -really- good photographic skills are a useful addition to making money as a photographer, but by no means essential – it’s foremost about running a business.
  Some look horrified (the “it’s all about my vision” crowd), in others you can almost see the cogs going round as they consider the money side of things, whilst others (this is a room of students I’m addressing) continue to look blank 🙂

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• Good points Keith, thanks for commenting. The appropriate use of technology – including when to rent, when to buy and when to simply ignore is to be the subject of another video coming soon, as is a piece on using technology to develop markets for your work.
  I think Michael is as one with you when he says it is foremost about running a business. As an Arts School head I don’t agree with the idea that making money needs to be the objective, but if it is a student’s objective, I do agree they are lost without those business skills.

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• I agree with Michael and with Keith (hello Keith).
  Professional photography is about running a business first and photography second.
  A couple of points in Michaels comments resonated with me. Firstly the state of flux and traditional photographers attitudes to it. Every industry is always in a state of flux, technology changes and it really is adapt or die. Its how I got into the business in the early days of the digital camera. I saw an opening and took it. I have evolved and re-invented (which sounds a lot more grandiose than it is) every 18 months to two years, I had to. That ties in Keiths points. To survive the change has to be proactive, not reactive. Reactive is too late.
  People think they just buy a camera and start shooting weddings or rent a studio space and sell portraits or email photos to magazines and get published. Yes, its a possibility and yes its great for pin money but its not a business and its not sustainable. When you sell prints to friends you eventually fill all your friends walls and then what do you do?
  Most small businesses fail in the first 2 years, its exactly because of Keiths and to some extent Michaels points. Theres no business plan, no business vision, no personal development, no managing change. These are all business attributes and yes they can be learned but as I was told in my first day of work ‘experience is the thing you get 30 seconds after you needed it’. Thats a great quote and along with the ‘every day is a school day’ probably the two most valuable lessons Ive learned.
  Michaels comments about specialism also ring very true, I gave up doing motorsport (I had a share in a magazine) because I was getting known as ‘the motorsport photographer’. Like other avenues of photography, it was purely there to fill the down days (mostly weekends) there was no PR or commercial photography. I was talking to a new client the other day and they asked if I did anything other than dance photography.
  Its all about perception and sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes its a bad thing, particularly when you have to pay the bills.
  The most basic things pass people by when considering ‘giving up the day job’. Its not just a case of their gross salary but its also a case of buying an officer/studio/vehicle, no sick leave or annual leave, getting people to pay you and many number of things. Buying the camera and setting up a website are the easy parts.
  Its also very subjective indeed, what works for me wont work for others, there are just too many variables.

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• Thanks for the comments – having been an academic for a number of years (but not related to photography) and having run several businesses before deciding to become a pro photographer, helps give me a slightly different perspective on the whole ‘business of photography’
  It’s curious that of different groups I’ve given lectures to, about colour management, some of the most wilfully ignorant responses came from some of the supposedly pro photographers at a talk for one of the ‘professional bodies’ 🙂 🙂

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• I have just stumbled across this website and read with interest Kieth’s comments. I must say that I have to agree with the outline of his comments. If you want to make it as a professional in the competetive market of photography then you will need to know how to market yourself. Being a great photographer is only half the battle. You have to grow your business by reputation and by vigorous marketing campaigns to stand out from the crowd.
  Although most students think that it is a glamorous industry, which it can be, it is also a very competitive one, so business skills are a must if you want to succeed and grow.

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