A few weeks ago, I was in town and I heard a lady say to her friend “That photo you posted of Sebastian was soooooo beautiful. While you’re on maternity leave, you should totally start doing photography as a business…”. Before I write anything else, I just want to say that this is exactly the kind of thing that my friends would tell me a few years back. And it’s lovely when your friends encourage you to pursue your passion and turn it into a business. But in my experience, starting any kind of business isn’t something that you should decide to do on a whim!
I think that photography is one of those industries where it’s easy to consider making money from it because the start up costs are percieved to be low, and it’s not regulated. I’ve never heard anyone tell their friend “I really enjoyed that meal you cooked, you should buy a restaurant” or “your child has neat handwriting, you should find a job as a teacher”. Anyway, I’m glad I overheard that conversation because it inspired me to write this blog and give any future photographers an insight into what it’s really like to start a photography business. Because the worst thing is when you start something and feel like you want to give up halfway through because you didn’t realise what was involved in the first place.
Now compared to a lot of my local photographers who have been in business for 10 years or more, I am relatively new to this game. And I am not pretending that I know everything there is to know. In fact, I know that I have got so much still left to learn and that there are others out there who are so much more together than I am. But what I didn’t want to do was leave writing this blog for so long that I’d forgotten how hard it really is at the start. And I don’t really think that running your own business gets any easier with time, I just think that the challenges change and what you have to focus your energy on shifts a bit. If you want to be a professional photographer, being able to take good photos is a given, but what’s it actually like to set up, own and run a photography business? Everyone’s experience will be different, but this is what I’ve learnt so far:
With all that said, I really do enjoy my new career and the days where I feel like giving up are few and far between. Anyone who says they never have those days must be a) lying or b) lying. Hopefully though, this blog has been useful to anyone who is considering setting up a photography business and I promise it’s not meant to put you off! Are you new on this journey? What advice would you give to those just starting out? Are you way further down the line than I am and have any pearls of wisdom? I always love hearing your comments, so feel free to add them below.
About the Author
About the Author
Clare Harding is a Cardiff-based photographer specializing in maternity, newborn, child and family photography. You can see Clare’s work on her website and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This article was also published here and shared with permission.
