037 - Are you good enough to become a professional photographer?

Sarah never thought she was ready to go pro with her photography, and it seemed so obvious to me that she would be an amazing success.

We worked together in a communications department, and Sarah provided photography and video support for us. She was amazing and people from all over the city would specifically request her for their projects. And despite her success, she never felt confident enough to go out on her own.

I get it. Sometimes it is hard to see these things when you are so close to them.

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When I taught photography, many amazingly talented photographers would timidly ask me how they would know when they were ready to go pro.

Of course, the answer is largely subjective, but there are some general guidelines you can keep in mind. Here are three questions that might provide you clues.

1) Can you create good quality photos on demand and in any location?

This is the base level that will separate an amateur from someone who is ready to be a pro. Your clients will always seem to want you to shoot in busy, cramped areas with horrible light. And you can’t use those conditions as an excuse to be mediocre. You have to turn in quality work consistently.

I just had a client who warned me that the Bar Mitzvah he was hiring me to shoot was in a location with poor lighting conditions. He then said, “but as a professional, I’m sure you can handle that.”

Abso-flipping-lutely! This is what every client expects. 

I once saw Joe McNally do a photo demonstration in a convention hall’s horrible lighting. He then joked, “I’ve shot magazine covers in much worse light than this!”

That means yes, in every photo the subject is clear and obvious.

Yes, the subject is in focus.

Yes, the lighting enhances the subject or creates the mood.

Yes, the composition leads the viewer to the subject.

Yes, the image tells a story or captures an emotion.

And yes, all of these things are the bare minimum. 

Speaking of minimums, do you have the minimum required professional photography gear to produce consistently good images? For me that means: 

• Two decent DSLRs, hopefully at least one full-frame model.

• A few fast lenses — depending on the type of photography, you will need at least one telephoto lens, at least f/2.8 or faster, macro and fast prime lenses. I’ll get into specifics in another post.

• A decent computer and editing software.

2) Can you create in a consistent technique or master a niche that is reflected in your portfolio? 

Do you have a genre that you are passionate about? To stand out and begin to build an audience of potential clients, you will need to develop a niche. In an era when almost everyone has a camera in their pockets, specialization is absolutely necessary to stand out.

Wondering how you find the right niche for you? Start with the topics you know best and enjoy most. Shoot what you love is more than a slogan. It helps when you know your subject as an authority.

Having a niche simplifies your portfolio creation and makes it easy to target your audience for marketing and advertising.

Is that niche or specialization reflected in your portfolio? Someone should be able to go to your portfolio and have a reasonable expectation of the kinds of photos you will create.

3) Do you know how to reach the audience who would buy your kind of photography?

Now that you have a niche, can you find an audience? If you have a specific enough niche, it should make it easy enough to identify where to find your tribe.

I would become active in helping and sharing in any community where that audience gathers. You will want to share your knowledge and talents generously so that you become seen as an authority in your niche.

This is where you will likely begin your marketing outreach.

Three simple questions help you begin to determine if you are ready to go pro. Answer affirmative to all three, and you have a relatively good chance of being a successful pro.

But of course, this just means you should start. The real work will begin when you launch a sustainable business. Good luck!