REASON #1:
I have worked in a photo store for over 20 years and have met some wonderful people who were pretty good photographers. They have also wanted to learn how to make money in photography.
The first thing that most photographers think of is WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY:
But, after finding the struggles of working with people, worrying about making the client happy, worrying if you are a good enough photographer, they give up after a year or so of trying that.
So, maybe the next thing to try is being a more freelance photographer and take these wonderful pictures of landscapes and scenery for a living:
Then, after taking a series of, what seemed like pretty good landscape photos, you started comparing your photos to the ones you see in a magazine, and they just don’t compare. Or you also find that it is hard to find a place to sell your photos. So, you give up on that one. But, wait !
Let’s try being a Wildlife photographer! They must make a lot of money, and I can do that!
Is anybody getting where I am headed with this? You are right. This is actually a very typical story of a lot of photographers who bought their camera, hoping to make some money with their photography. Why can’t they make money taking pictures with their camera?
There are 2 reasons people don’t make money with their cameras:
- They don’t have the patience they need to do it.
“GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME”
2- People fail to keep learning as they go, or learn from their mistakes.
As I was mentioning about the failing photographer above, one of the reasons the photographer failed, is that they weren’t taking the time to keep improving themselves. This is an industry that involves self-teaching every day. When I want to get good at something, I subscribe to magazines, read books, read articles, find websites, do what I can to learn everything I can, myself.
I had a retail store that sold electronics goods for about 8 to 10 years. I had my staff learn that way as well, and often we would have the company rep come in to teach us their product line. Sometimes we were more well trained than the company rep. We got so that we did not have the sales rep come in anymore because we were more well trained ourselves than the sales reps. We knew how to succeed in that store, and we did. It was a smooth running, smooth successful store.
3- Finding another photographer who is succeeding, and see if they will mentor you.
This is one of the tougher businesses to get in to. There are already enough photographers to take care of the usual photography things in your town. How can you break away from that? See if you can get acquainted with one of the successful photographers in town. Now you will need to reassure your new friend that you won’t take away their business. And be honest about that. Then when you are not with your new friend, practice, practice. But DO NOT impose on their business.
BONUS INFORMATION: IN THE NEXT FEW BLOGS, I WILL REPOST NEW WAYS OF MAKING MONEY ON PHOTOGRAPHY. I THINK YOU WILL LEARN A LOT FROM THIS AND HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A PHOTOGRAPHER. EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY, ARE THE DAYS BLOGS COME OUT HERE.
In January there will be new blogs to learn, that will shoot the photographer into a new improved world.
Conclusion:
SO, IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED IN PHOTOGRAPHY: DON’T GIVE UP, AND STAY FOCUSED ON LEARNING AS YOU FAIL.
