Some general questions about my plans/goals with my career

[Blackrose89]

I'm in school for photography. And I should have completed the program by this summer.

To start I am willing to take any job available to be to me like a real estate photographer, a staff photographer like in a hospital etc. Especially because I know it takes time and money to build a proper studio, with the right equipment and a lot of these jobs provide equipment for you, and they do train. At least they do in my area. I'm not looking to make a bunch of money to start. My husband makes enough to support me so anything to start will be fine.

That's great for the mean time, but I'm also considering what kind of portfolio I want to make. I'm really interested in pet portraits for a few reasons. For one it interests me more then most fields and I have a lot of fun with it. I really have no interest in wedding photography. It seems like it might be a cheaper option to start with seeing as the most recommended light for pet photography is natural light, so I could use natural to start until I build up for the right equipment.

I'm not looking to start charging for pet photography anytime soon, but I'd like to get an idea of what clients will be looking for, what kind of portfolio I should start putting together.

Here are some of my portraits so far. Pet portaits - a set on Flickr

Again, not saying I'm ready now, but I wanted to get an idea of what goals I should set for myself, what kind of portfolio, and just general advice. Thank you!

Btw a lot of this info is included in my program just trying to get some ideas from people living through it

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by Blackrose89

I'm in school for photography. And I should have completed the program by this summer.

To start I am willing to take any job available to be to me like a real estate photographer, a staff photographer like in a hospital etc. Especially because I know it takes time and money to build a proper studio, with the right equipment and a lot of these jobs provide equipment for you, and they do train. At least they do in my area. I'm not looking to make a bunch of money to start. My husband makes enough to support me so anything to start will be fine.

That's great for the mean time, but I'm also considering what kind of portfolio I want to make. I'm really interested in pet portraits for a few reasons. For one it interests me more then most fields and I have a lot of fun with it. I really have no interest in wedding photography. It seems like it might be a cheaper option to start with seeing as the most recommended light for pet photography is natural light, so I could use natural to start until I build up for the right equipment.

I'm not looking to start charging for pet photography anytime soon, but I'd like to get an idea of what clients will be looking for, what kind of portfolio I should start putting together.

Here are some of my portraits so far. Pet portaits - a set on Flickr

Again, not saying I'm ready now, but I wanted to get an idea of what goals I should set for myself, what kind of portfolio, and just general advice. Thank you!

Btw a lot of this info is included in my program just trying to get some ideas from people living through it

Staff photographers in hospitals are few and far between. So, I really don't know what to tell you. Selling photos to real estate agents, with the housing market as it is and as cheap as the agents are, your guess is good as mine.

I do know that school portraits companies, hire from time to time, but it's way too much for what they pay. But, as you said, you have to start somewhere.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by Blackrose89

I'm in school for photography. And I should have completed the program by this summer.

To start I am willing to take any job available to be to me like a real estate photographer, a staff photographer like in a hospital etc. Especially because I know it takes time and money to build a proper studio, with the right equipment and a lot of these jobs provide equipment for you, and they do train. At least they do in my area. I'm not looking to make a bunch of money to start. My husband makes enough to support me so anything to start will be fine.

That's great for the mean time, but I'm also considering what kind of portfolio I want to make. I'm really interested in pet portraits for a few reasons. For one it interests me more then most fields and I have a lot of fun with it. I really have no interest in wedding photography. It seems like it might be a cheaper option to start with seeing as the most recommended light for pet photography is natural light, so I could use natural to start until I build up for the right equipment.

I'm not looking to start charging for pet photography anytime soon, but I'd like to get an idea of what clients will be looking for, what kind of portfolio I should start putting together.

Here are some of my portraits so far. Pet portaits - a set on Flickr

Again, not saying I'm ready now, but I wanted to get an idea of what goals I should set for myself, what kind of portfolio, and just general advice. Thank you!

Btw a lot of this info is included in my program just trying to get some ideas from people living through it

Well, you're in luck.

One of the regular members here, Jim Poor is a pretty kick ass dog photographer. I'm sure he'll swing by at some point...

[RyanSandsPhotography]

Start reading about marketing in regards to photography. In fact while your at it, start reading about marketing in general. Then start reading a ton about how to run a successful business. Don't even bother picking up a camera while your doing these things. Just read, read, read...and then when your done with that...guess what read more. Educate yourself first about marketing and running a business. Then and only then will you be able to wrap your head around starting your own photography business. Without these tools you are doomed to fail. I'm not trying to be harsh, just as honest and as helpful as I can be

Now on another note the reality is there is little to no money to be made in a many avenues of photography. Only if you carve out an extremely specific niche will you be able to do what you love and make decent money with it. 95% of photographers do not get this and are stuck making pennies for what they do. They put in super long hours and are better off working at McDonalds to make better money. Take it as a joke, but its not.

If you want examples I'll be glad to give them to you...

Fashion/Glamour Photography - It's kind of like saying "hey I'm going to be in the NBA someday"...I got news for you...you're definitely not getting in the NBA. That isn't to say there aren't photographers that are making decent money with this...but again...super tight niche and extreme marketing. The target market of this group is either fashion magazines, glamour magazines or websites looking for what you do. There are a sea of other photographers looking for those clients...so your success is few and far between. The other market for this photography is models and women who want boudoir/lingerie photography. Models have very little money to spend and even if they did have money, they would rather buy a new pair of jeans at the mall then give you a dime for your photographic services. Again, there is a sea of photographers giving away their work for free in this genre to try and "build a portfolio". They are all helpless and lost...and like I said 95% of them will never make any money whatsoever.

Real Estate/Architecture Photography - This one is another hard market. The real estate business is in the toilet and agents are not very happy to spend any money to get photographs of their homes/apartments. There is just no money to throw at it. And with their point and shoot cameras they can take decent enough photographs to not need your service. Now like I said...there are plenty of real estate photographers who I'm sure make decent money. But they have found their niche, marketed the hell out of their service and succeeded that way. And when I say "market" I don't mean..."hey should I buy google ads or facebook ads and market that way?" Because my dear that is not marketing. Architecture photography is very similar to real estate photography....its a very tight little niche. If you have ideas of wanting to take beautiful photographs of architecture and sell the framed prints to clients good luck with that. You have to find clients who are also interested in architecture so much that they want to display it in their homes. Very few clients have that kind of passion for architecture.

Sports Photography - This one is a little bid broader of a niche. There are quite a few ways to market this service both online and offline. If you have a passion for shooting youth sports try and market to the people who will buy your work, the parents who have money. Or the high school or grade school who has the money to hire you for their games...and then also market your photos/prints to the parents who have enough money to buy your service. The difference in this market is that the clients actually have money to spend on these kind of photographs. And the product you are selling them is their own son/daughter playing a sport. You can make some ok money if you market this like crazy.

Macro Photography - This one is another tight little niche and basically zero money to be made. Again its all about finding your target market. Think about how many people other then photographers might be interested in macro photography. My guess is not many. Now again thats not to say there aren't photographers making good money with this. I'm sure one might come out of the wood works to try and prove me wrong. But lets face it, for the rest of us this is a dead end street.

Stock Photography - This market is so over saturated with content it's not even funny. Just look up how many stock photography websites there are on the web selling content and you will see what your up against. Next to impossible to stand out in this crowd. haha

Astral Photography - Same goes for this genre. Tight little niche with not a lot of clients.

Pet/Portrait Photography - I actually think this market is still a viable option for photographers to get into. Still plenty of clients left who want photographs of their dogs/cats/pets and their children/families. But again, your battling against a sea of other photographers so you have to stand out. Find your branding and marketing and be different then the rest. Only then will you succeed.

Wedding Photography - If your looking at wedding photography from a pure money stand point your going to get yourself into a world of hurt. Weddings are nothing to joke around with and some have compared this genre to war photography...one of the hardest types of photography in the business. An ever changing labyrinth of lighting nightmares. This genre is only for the truly serious. Thousands of dollars of extremely expensive gear, business insurance, liability insurance, contracts, backup gear, extremely reliable transportation...and the list goes on. On top of that you can get sued at the drop of a hat.
But there is money to be made in this genre...but only with an extreme amount of hard work, dedication and serious business know how.

I know I haven't touched on every form of photography out there but I think you get my point. Identifying your target client in whatever genre of photography you decide to go into is key. Then analyzing said client and discovering if that client has enough money to afford your service. Then providing enough value in what you do that the value outweighs the cost of your service. On to of that figuring out how to communicate that value to the client in a way they can relate to and understand. Once all those pieces of the puzzle fall into place you have a good start. Hope this helps!!!

[Jim Poor]

Howdy!

First off, with few exceptions, those who recommend natural light as the "best" light for ANY subject usually have no clue about using flash.

There are VERY few pure natural light pet photographers that are really good + successful. The ones that are good are usually GREAT.

I haven't looked at your FLICKR, so I have no idea about the quality of your work.

There are a zillion "pet photographers" out there, and a lot of them are shoot & burners who basically give everything away. There's no sense in competing with them. Figure out your price point that will allow you to make a living, add a bit, and then make sure your work will support that price level. Starting out too low is the kiss of death, or nearly so as it is very difficult to recover from.