Denise
What is like being a photographer in today society? What can a person, wanting to pursue photography, expect?
I want to know about being a photographer. I want to understand how much work a photographer have to do to be good at it in order to further their craft/passion in photography. #photography
2 answers
Subbaiah C N
Subbaiah’s Answer
A person who wants to pursue photography as a profession has to be good at few basic points like own a good camera with about 2 to 3 different lens, tripod, lights, a studio if needed, photo editing skills and knowledge about different photo editing software.
Many might think that its just about clicking random images and editing it give a final cut, but that's not exactly how it is. There are different types of photography. Portrait, wedding, street, fashion, sports, crime and also wild-life. Each of the kind has its own requirements. You need to be patient and good at convincing skills. You have to meet the clients, handle the models and be smiling at the people. As it is a freelance work, your people skills will help you get a lot of work..
David Shopper
David’s Answer
Well, I love it. But there are so many types of photography to choose from - art photography for galleries and books, magazine photography which could be fashion or still life or food or travel etc, commercial photography (which I do) for companies to use for promotional stuff, wedding photography, and much more. It's better to specialize so you get known for a certain type of work.
Most people think that being a photographer means walking the streets with a camera around your neck going from shoot to shoot and trying to get people to look glamorous. It's not like that at all. My days are mostly taken with communicating with clients, organizing files and the studio and bills, doing self-promotion (working on my website and keeping in touch with potential clients), sending out detailed estimates, doing post-production work or backing up data, meeting with potential clients or collaborators, etc. In other words, it's doing everything BUT taking pictures.
Don't get the wrong idea, taking pictures is very important, but this is a business like every other business and it takes a lot of work behind the scenes. There are lots of talented photographers who are starving and lots of mediocre photographers making a good living. Why? Because the successful ones are good businesspeople and work hard in a field where there are far more photographers than good jobs.
So the answer is: you have to do a lot of work. But hopefully it's work you love.
Good luck!