Do Not Make the Decision to "Go Pro" Based on...

So you think you are ready to go pro, do you? Well, if you have made that determination based on the misconceptions listed below, you may want to give that another thought. Take a look and see how many of these apply to you. Be honest, because we're tracking your reaction on a special web camera that you cannot see, and we will know the truth! J

1. "NO MORE BOSS!"

Hah! You'll have LOTS of bosses: your spouse, the bank, and every single customer you create a photograph for. 

2. "I CAN WORK MY OWN HOURS!"

Absolutely--as long as your "own hours" means 12 hours a day, 6 and even 7 days a week. Remember, not many weddings take place Monday thru Thursday...that means you're workin' the weekend. And if you are holding a full time job AND working as a photographer, you work all day, go home, and work all night. But hey, you work when you want, right? 

3. "MY WORK BUDDIES SAY MY PICTURES ROCK--I MUST BE READY TO GO PRO!"

Your family and friends like your images because they look GREAT when compared to their snapshots, because their snapshots SUCK! Plus, they like you, so they naturally want to like your images and encourage you. Here's the bad news: your customers are not going to compare your photographs to their crappy snapshots. They are going to compare them to the images they see in their favorite magazines--after all, you ARE a professional photographer, right? They are paying you money, right? Then they want those images! A simple guide: if someone offers to pay you for your photography, you can think about going pro. 

4. "IF I CAN CHARGE $150 AN HOUR, I WILL MAKE $1200 PER DAY--WOO HOO!"

While it is true many commercial photography pros charge $150 an hour, they don't make $150 an hour. Overhead eats into their profit. What's overhead? Things like, proofs, prints, CD's mailing, advertising, depreciation (every time you trip the shutter on your camera, it takes one more click towards wearing out), capital expenditures, repairs, maintenance, utilities, auto expense, insurance, etc. You may also have travel time and waiting time. Can you charge $150 an hour for that? Probably not.


On top of that, you are not very likely to be able to photograph 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and earn that amount. There is a LOT of downtime, especially when you first get started. This is why SO many new photography businesses are shuttered in the first year of operation. You must learn how to price your work where you can earn a profit but not be so high that you have priced yourself out of the market. And then you have to effectively MARKET yourself so you can cut your downtime to a minimum.

5. "I DON'T NEED FLASH EQUIPMENT--REAL PHOTOGRAPHERS USE AVAILABLE LIGHT!"

That's what I thought, too--when I was young and ignorant. I had a guy tell me, "You need to use just available light like Annie Liebovitz--then you're a pro!" It was a short time later I saw a photograph of what Annie takes on a job. THERE WAS ENOUGH LIGHTING EQUIPMENT TO PACK A VAN! Plus her two or three assistants. She is so damn good at using flash she makes it look like available light--no that's when you KNOW you are good! When someone tells me, "Oh, I only use available light!" I know one of two things are true: they are too cheap to buy lighting equipment or too lazy to learn how to use it. 


My son went to Central Michigan University and the photo instructor marveled at his photographs (taken with flash). The instructor told him, "I do not even own a flash unit!" Geesh, and this guy is teaching the class? Other students went to my son for advice! Yes, there are great natural light photographers out there, but they are few and far between. Most consumer type photography will require you to use flash--learn how to use it well, and you will be in demand.

6. "I'LL HAVE ALL THE CLIENTS I NEED BECAUSE I AM SO CREATIVE!"

It doesn't matter if your photographs are hip, hot, creative, fashionable, or all the rage. If the client doesn't LOVE her daughter's hair, clothes, or smile, they are not going to love the photograph--regardless of how great you think it is! The late Dean Collins had a saying: Beauty is in the eye of the CHECKBOOK HOLDER. Here's a hard fact: clients care a whole heck of a lot more about what THEY look like than they care what the PHOTOGRAPH looks like. 

7. "I DON'T NEED A CONTRACT--MY WORD IS MY BOND!"

Sure it is. How about your client? One lawsuit, and you can be washed up. Get it in writing and make sure the writing spells out what you are to produce and what the customer is supposed to pay. Make sure the language of the contract protects you. Learn this: no contract, no work, no exceptions.

8. "OKAY--I CAN WRITE MY OWN CONTRACT!"

Yes you can. Just be willing to live with the consequences. Join a trade association (PPA, WPPI, ASMP, etc) or your state or regional professional photographer's organizations--they often have standard forms. Even then, you want to consult an attorney to make sure all of the clauses work in your state. If you write your own, have an attorney review it and make corrections. Failure to do so can be hazardous to your financial health! 

9. "NOBODY WILL NOTICE IF MY WEB GALLERY CONSISTS OF 15 PICTURES OF THE SAME SUBJECT, OR MY WEDDING SAMPLES ARE ASSORTED IMAGES FROM 10 DIFFERENT WEDDINGS!"

Ohhh, yeah...they will. And they are not going to choose you over the next guy who has a great variety of poses AND subjects in his gallery. Trust me, they will notice. When I was doing weddings, I had several albums of wedding photography. Each album was of a different wedding--from beginning to end. I would tell people, "I understand you do not see this at the other places, but they have printed the very best images from each wedding. I show you what your entire wedding will look like from start to finish, in Storybook fashion."

10. "THE GREAT PICTURES ON MY WEBSITE WILL BRING ME ALL THE BUSINESS I NEED!"

Oh, if it were only true.  You may have the best images in the world, but you will have made the same mistake as 80 out of 100 photographers make: all images no text--and no text = no content. No content = crummy placement. You will end up on page 49 of 50 pages on a Google Search for "Georgia Photographer." Google cannot tell that you are a photographer just because you have images on your site. YOU NEED CONTENT! If you are not trained in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) you will either need to hire someone who is to build your site, or pay someone to teach you how to do it. 

11. "I CAN GET ALL THE CLIENTS I NEED BY DOING A GIVE AWAY ON TWITTER, A DISCOUNT ON MY BLOG, OR A COUPON ON GROUPON!" 

Sure you can!  And I can make a million dollars a day by starting a unicorn ranch! Social media marketing has it's place, but freebies normally bring you people who do not want to buy--they just want the free picture. They'll copy it for more--sorry, it happens. You have to learn how to market and advertise. 

12. "I REALLY DON'T NEED TO ESTABLISH ANY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER BUSINESSES!"

No, you don't. Let the other guys build them and you can wonder why they have business...and you don't. You want to build a good relationship with other photographers. Meet with them for coffee or lunch and see what equipment they use so you can offer to loan them a body or lens if they need one in a pinch (and maybe do the same for you one day!). Also, because if they are booked on a particular day, you want them to send you the referral. In my town we had a group that kept track of everyone's booked dates. If a customer called, they would say, "Gee, I'm sorry, but I'm booked for that date. But Steve Bohne has had a cancellation and he's open right now--call him right away!" Then they would call and give me the details. The customer was very impressed that I had all the information when they called. 


Don't forget about your vendors! I would routinely send a picture of the cake, the flowers, the dress, etc. to the shop that it came from that they could put in an inexpensive comb bound album that I had provided. The agreement was ONLY MY IMAGES went in the album. They would also display sample albums of my photography that I provided. I would rotate these as often as possible. Most would brag me up when a bride visited their shop. Some had relationships with other people; that was okay--I couldn't do ALL the weddings, could I?

13. "MY IMAGES LOOK GREAT EVEN IF THE PEOPLE AREN'T VERY GOOD LOOKING!"

Here's a question for you: if you had children, were any of them ugly? "Of course not, you say, "My kids are beautiful!" But you and I can agree that there ARE ugly children, right? Here's the unvarnished truth: customers want to look good in their pictures. They don't want justice, they want MERCY! If they see beautiful models, they figure they'll look good, too. You don't need to hire pros, you can work with local people and offer them a few prints or maybe a CD of their images. In addition, many people are just blown away that you want to use them as a model--they brag to all their friends that they are on display at Bohne Portrait Galleries, and they stop in to look. Gee, imagine that! It makes a big difference. 

14. "PEOPLE LOVE TO READ WHAT I AM DOING ON MY BLOG." 

No. They don't. If I have to read one more post that says, "Worked with the Smith family, here are 10 of the best shots, they were soooo fun to work with!" I am going to PUKE! Established pros make this same mistake--it's a waste of time and bandwidth. Instead, how about, "What NOT to wear in your Senior Portrait," or "Ten Tips for a Terrific Family Portrait!" Good for the customer, good for prospective customers, and good for SEO (content)!

15. "I LOVE DOING PHOTOGRAPHY, SO I WOULD LOVE BEING A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER." 

Ahh, they are so cute when they don't know the hard truth, aren't they? Photography is lots of fun when you do what you want to do when you want to do it. Then, customers come along and foul it all up. Here's how it works: you are not making images for you, you are making them for the customer. Then you have paperwork, taxes, sales, details, minutia, blah, blah, blah. If you can work with a local pro--even for free--it would be worth it to see if you really do love it THAT much.

16. "PHOTOGRAPHY IS GROWING IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS!"

Perhaps, but you have to contend with supply and demand. There are far more photographers than there is demand, and that's why the industry is growing. Trust me, there are people who cannot SPELL "photographer" who go out, buy a camera, and then they are one! And they ALL think about making big bucks with that camera (even though they don't know AUTO from PROGRAM from MANUAL). You have to have a UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP). Without it, you're just another picture taker. What's a USP? It's what sets you apart. Domino's Pizza USP was: "Fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less." Notice they didn't say the best pizza or the cheapest pizza! If you can’t clearly answer what makes you better than any other photographer in town, then you have to work on establishing a recognizable brand. Amazon has several books and Kindle eBooks on USP so you can develop your own USP.


Be sure to come back each week--I publish a new post here every SUNDAY (unless I'm away or on vacation). Some upcoming posts will discuss legal issues, insurance, promotion, pricing, the cost involved in getting a photography business started and what is needed in the way of equipment. I will take questions from readers and if they have broad appeal, I will make those questions a topic here. Maybe you have a topic you would like to write about--if so, let's talk! Do you have a photography site? Maybe we can trade links. You can always contact me. Tell your friends, your neighbors, or any other photography enthusiast you know to tune in. If you have a comment, be sure to let me know about that, too! I'll see you next time!