what does it take to be a photographer?

Answering your question, Yasmin, is what photo schools should be doing. How to be a photographer and being able to make a living being a photographer are two different things and unfortunately most photo schools fail at the second part.

Photography is a business, a very competitive and unforgiving one. It takes knowledge of how to market yourself (identifying prospective clients and self-promotion), negotiating skills, how to operate as a professional, risk assessment and management, financial knowledge, etc. It has always been difficult to achieve success and maintain it in the photography business. Given the number of skilled photographers I've known who were once viable but have since gone out of business, I'd say the odds are stacked against being financially successful in today's market.

A well known New York advertising photographer and photo workshop teacher commented to me about 40 years ago on the lighting and all the other difficult technical aspects of photography. He said, "if it was easy, everyone would be doing it." Now that digital photography is here, everyone IS doing it. The value of a photograph is a fraction of what it was then.

Not to be too negative, as there are photographers making a living doing advertising, high end magazine work, and even weddings profitably. Those photographers really know business and know how to stand out from the pack. If you have what it takes, don't let me discourage you. By all means go for prize.

Hello Yasmin,

First, I am very excited to hear that you have an interest in becoming a photographer. I will admit, as others stated, the photography industry is saturated and highly competitive but if you have a love for photography then I believe you should go for it.

As a professional photographer myself, I never took a course or received a degree in photography. Everything I know came from two classes in high school and years of teaching myself. Its hard to tell you exactly what it takes to be a photographer as everyone's ability to learn is different. Determination, discipline and creativity are all essentials to be a photographer. As the industry is competitive, you will need to be determined to make it. Find a niche that speaks out to you and become an expert in it. You will need to be disciplined to teach yourself if you don't go to school specifically for photography. Being creative is very important as photography is a creative industry and you will need to think of new aspects and ways to set yourself apart.

Also, becoming successful in photography is based on what you want to do. I am a Maternity, Birth and Newborn photographer in my local town and I am booked to where I want to be in the coming months. Maybe to someone else, they believe I should have more bookings or get paid more but my income that I generate from photography is what I'm happy with.

Some of the biggest advice I can give is:

-Price yourself to generate the income you need and want (do not work for free)

-Find new ways to set yourself apart

-Find a niche and specialize in it (you can't specialize in every area)

-Be ready to learn, teach yourself and continue to grow your skills, no matter how long you've been a photographer.

I'll end with this. Think about the other side of being a photographer. You'll need great communication skills, editing skills (Lightroom, Photoshop, etc), business skills, etc. Although photography didn't come as hard to me, the business side was difficult. I created my own business and I needed the business skills to be successful so I did go to school for that and received a degree. It depends on where you want to go with it but I believe no matter how saturated an industry can be, if you have a true love for something specific then go for it.

I hope this helps!

I absolutely agree with the fact that being a photographer and actually making a living at it are two totally different spectrums. There is so much that goes into professional photography that it is unreal. I would suggest you find a niche if this is something that you want to pursue professionally. There are so many mainstream photographers out there that the competition would be fierce. I would say find a niche that suits your personality or things that you like and go from there. For me, I like babies, elderly, wedding, and pinup cars, and landscapes with old buildings on them. That is my niche or things that i like or know that I do my best at capturing. I would say to begin with, use this as a side project until you get better and better at it. It is not just the photography that you have to know. It is also the editing process and all the time that it entails.