Being competent with composition, camera settings, lighting, and post-processing and having a strong creative voice are all requirements for becoming a successful professional photographer, but they are far from the only things you will need. Making money from your images is a totally different animal, but this helpful video tutorial will give you some important advice that will give you a better chance of finding success in the professional world.
Coming to you from Justin Mott, this great video tutorial offers some useful advice for earning money as a photographer. By far, the most common thing that derails even the most talented photographers in the professional world is underestimating just how much business acumen it takes to be professional. Making money in photography is often less about your work with a camera (though that is obviously its foundation) and more about your ability to efficiently and effectively run a business in which photography is your product. Understanding and working from this perspective will help you to better manage your expectations and increase your chances of success. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Mott.
If you would like to learn more about the business of photography, check out "Making Real Money: The Business of Commercial Photography With Monte Isom!"
The biggest thing I can add is to just keep evolving and paying attention to what people are wanting to spend money on. Lately for me it's a lot of video work but also new fields like 3D renderings for NFTs and Meta spaces. I honestly don't know how to build a lot of that stuff but I have learned how to shoot it for the software and programmers that do render it out. Headshots and of course family photos and wedding photography are always big ones that people need everyday. Also I'm getting more requests for product photography and marketing for people's websites and brands.
Well said Patrick and thanks for sharing my episode.
Thank you guys for posting my episode and thank you everyone for watching,