About 2 years ago a friend asked me to "do a shoot", her family was visiting and she wanted photos of all of them. NO! I'm not a photographer! She's a very convincing friend and eventually I agreed, I loved, she loved the photos, I loved everything. I'm going to be a photographer!
Now just so you know, I studied art for a long time, I'm bossy, I know how to use my dslr, so I wasn't starting totally from scratch, but I had a LOT to learn.
It's been an adventure, I've made tons of mistakes, cried a lot, screamed a lot, laughed a lot, made some great friends, and lost some.
I've lost important photos, not had enough memory cards, not had enough batteries, and vowed to give up this career.
I naively though "I'm good on a computer, how hard can photoshop be?", my supportive husband brought me cs5 and for 2 weeks I ignored it, then installed it and cried, and cried I didn't even know what a layer was. I left it alone and did a mini course at my local community college, I now knew what a layer was, and I was off, courses, YouTube, Lynda.com, friends, I worked and worked and worked.
The biggest thing I have learnt is don't compare your work to others, yes admire there work, get inspiration, but don't compare. It just gets you down.
There have been so many times, when I'm still up editing at 3am, when I have no money left in my business account, when what I thought looked amazing wasn't what my client wanted that I have wanted to give up, often thinking "I could make more money working as a cashier somewhere.", when I have tried so hard, I'm so tired, stressed, worried that I wonder why I do this? I loved photography when it was just for fun, when the results didn't matter, but then I get a email saying, "I would like to schedule a appointment with you, 2 of my friends had their photos done with you and they raved about you, I have seen the photos and all I can say is , WOW!" Or I get a review on facebook/yelp/my webpage and it keeps me going.
Almost weekly I get someone saying I wish I had your job, I want to be a photographer, YES, do it, but be prepared it take Hard, hard work, you can do it!It's not just a case of knowing how to take a good photo (I originally thought that!) You have to know how to edit those photos, watch the latest fashion trends, find great locations, have good props, be part of the local community (This really helps for locations), using social media ( I have Facebook, twitter, tunblr, flicker, LinkedIn, blogger, a website.....), managing your time, dealing with clients and resolving problems, and still trying to keep it fresh!
I love people to be happy, I love the art in photography, I love having so much more to learn, I love my job.
