Art in the Professions
Freelance Photographer: a self-employed photographer hired to work for different companies or clients on particular assignments
So you've got your camera, have gathered some experience and feel like you're ready to start using your photography skills as a source of income. You enjoy portraiture and are now considering freelance portrait photography as an option. This topic will be presented over projecteducate's Art in the Professions Week in two parts: the first part looks at the things you should take into account before you start and the second part examines how to start and grow your business.
Before you Start
There are a number of factors that you need to consider before you start freelancing on a wider scale. These include being properly prepared in terms of experience and equipment, and knowing your goals. You also need to be motivated. If you don't have the drive, then you can't expect to succeed.
Be Prepared
Seems simple enough, but many photographers underestimate just how ready they need to be before taking the next step. Are you skilled enough to ask people to pay for your work? What is the market like? How much time do you have available to invest in freelancing? Do you have the right equipment? What are your goals? These are some of the questions that you need to be asking yourself before you really begin.
Define Goals
As it is with starting up any business, it is important to have a clear idea of your goals. You need to answer questions such as:
- Why are you freelancing?
- Do you want to make a career out of your photography or is it just going to be a secondary income?
- Is there a specific area that you'd like to specialise in or will you keep a diverse portfolio? Weddings? Events? Family Portraits?
- Where do you want to be a few years from now?
Photography Market
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Joining the market as a freelance photographer means that you will be competing with other photographers for the same jobs. If you'd like to seriously take on freelance work, then you need to know what other photographers are doing. What are the trends? How can I stand out? What is the price range for certain jobs? If you want to stick to a certain geographic region, explore it to find out where you fit in.
(Note: Even though you are competing, this should, however, not deter you from networking with other photographers. Sometimes there are jobs that require more than one photographer or your photographer friend might be booked up and suggest you as a replacement, among other possible scenarios. Also, networking can help you to grow and even make some life-long friends.
)Photography Skills
Understanding your skills as a photographer is essential to finding an effective way to market your business. Use your strengths to your advantage, but also be aware of your weaknesses. You should challenge yourself, but be careful not to take jobs that you won't be able to handle. This section has some suggestions about skills you should have or aim towards when deciding to go freelance.
Technical
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An advanced understanding of shooting in manual mode is important. Automatic can be useful in some situations where you have to act quickly and don't have time to adjust the exposure, but in most situations, manual mode will significantly improve the chances of you getting desired results.
Being familiar with raw format will also be very helpful. If you still only save your photos as .jpeg files, then you risk not being able to recover lost image data found in blown out whites or under-exposed darks. Imagine you were hired as a wedding photographer but for some reason, an important shot was ruined by being over-exposed. You won't be able to recover the bride's nose in the jpeg file, but the raw can help to save it – and save your own skin!
Lastly, you should expand on your knowledge of photography equipment, lighting, post-processing techniques and other technical areas. Doing so will improve the quality of your work, make you more prepared and can make you more attractive on the market.
Artistic
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Understand the rule of thirds. Explore ways to break it. Write down ideas; explore your own concepts. Don't be discouraged if you don't come up with many creative ideas. Sometimes all you need is to change your perspective to make an image change from "nice" to "spectacular". Exploring your creative side will help you grow as a photographer and prepare yourself for future jobs. You'll have more ideas and will be able to impress your clients.
Available Time
Time by LucyJOrchard
You need to be aware of how time-consuming photography jobs can be. Don't just take the shooting time into account. There is your preparation time, travelling time, and editing/post-processing time. You should not underestimate these! If you will do freelancing as a secondary source of income, it needs to be compatible with your current work schedule. You need to be sure that you have enough time on your hands to take on photography jobs.
Be Driven
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This is so, so important when you're planning on starting up your freelance business. You need to be prepared to get the jobs that you want, to work hard on improving your work and meeting your client's expectations. It is not going to be easy. The work is not going to do itself! Find inspiration from other photographers and their success stories. Do your research. Attend workshops. Do all that you can and you will greatly improve your chances of achieving your goals.
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Next Up:
Setting up and growing your business. Here, I'll give you some tips on how to start up your business including finances, registration and having an online presence. Thereafter, you'll get some advice on how to help your freelance photography business grow. Thanks for reading!
