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How do I start a photography business?

I am interested in photography and would really like to work for myself in this area. Can anyone point me in the right direction to start a photography business?

Public Comments

1. Get a portfolio of your best photos, and lose your morality so you can happily extort obscene sums of money from people.
2. Commercial? weddings? Fine art? Studio work or landscapes? What kind of photography do you intend to do? Until you make these decisions ... and have enough experience to know what you're good at, and where you might produce an income from what you know, don't even think about launching a business. Give us more info and maybe someone can help.
3. If you need to ask this question I don't rate your chances of success very highly
4. Im having the same questions right now. People are quite rude responding eh? I think its a good question. Ive found that you need a lot of money for advertising, and a definite look to your photography. For me, i'm doing mostly senior portraits, so I've catered my imaging to that and im sending out ads to the highschool through ambassadors. (however, highly iffy. ive found ambassadors dont always pass out the info, so beware of losing money that way.) also, it would be good to myspace, for networking, and maybe use deviantart for feedback and networking, as well as making your own webpage. I suggest freewebs.com because of the easy layouts. If you dont know how to make a page, they walk you through it ina very simplistic manner. After that, I dont know where you live, but in ohio we have ishopstark.com and im going to put some coupons in there, you can advertise that way or maybe post in community centers and llibraries. I also suggest starting cheap so that people come to you first- the economy is in hardship, afterall.
5. I dont think we appreciate crude answers like those above? Anyway its a good question. I have recently started to work for myself doing various photography work (and I might add - I'm no professional with 30+ yrs experience). I did some web research & found some great resources to help. Have a look at www.the-specialist-pages.com/photo_businesses.html I found this comparison for online opportunities & learning resources & signed up with more than 1 in the end!! Thats how I do such varied work now.
6. Check out the link below http://www.ppa.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3 You can learn everything you need from PPA and their regional schools. You can attend workshops that have the best working professional photographers in the world who will teach anything from lighting, posing, all aspects of business, etc. They also have insurance benefits for health, equipment, and liability. The cost of membership is minimal and the workshop classes usually cost between 800-1200 dollars for a week of instruction of your choice. Check it out, I did 30 years ago, and have been running my studio ever since. Good Luck.
7. I am a pro photographer, someone told me this a few years back and it can be applied to any business, and also explains why business fail. Forget advertising in the local papers, equipment, money, hours rates, what others charge and what you think your worth or how you're better than someone else or not as good as someone else or how prestigous a client is or any of those thoughts. Its called the law of exchange. Business is about exchange (money for goods and or services). A good business is one which provides a valuable exchange, think of a time you bought a meal and thought that was expensive, it didnt represent valuable exchange, or think of a time when you paid top dollar because something was the best and was worth it. or again think when a business failed because they didnt sell enough or their overheads or wastage was too much, it all comes down to exchange or lack of it. 'A product is a thing or service which is both available to and has valuable exchange to someone'. Here is the key tho getting either the right product/s infront of the right person at the right price to make it successful, or enough products in front of enough people to make it successful. Rolls Royce work on the first rule, McDonalds work on the second. You can either find out what the art director of a company wants and try and provide that or, If you can sell a picture of little Jonny to his mum so it represents valuable exchange to her, you can also sell a picture of little Peter to his mum. Do this enough times and you have a business. Without customers all you have is a hobby and even if you have fantastic pictures which the art director or vogue magazine would love if you keep thos pictures in a cupboard and no one knows about them then you have no customers and no business. So rather than think advertising think 'how can I get these pictures in front of the people who will buy them' That may require advertising or a bit of research but always think does it represent valuable exchange to you, A bridal magazine almost guarantees brides will see your work it may be expensive but if it gets the work then its a lot less expensive than a lineage ad in the local rag which doesnt show any results So if you want to start a photographic business think how can i get that to people who will buy and how can i produce a product someone will buy. When something works do it and dont do anything different untill you find something that works better. When you make enough then buy the equipment or invest to produce better products. Either way you will only continue to have a business if your products represent valuable exchange.
8. Get into the "inner circle" with this man before you ever think of making any move toward a photo business. I promise you will not regret it. http://www.cjlewis.com/ steve
9. If you know anyone who has a current Mac computer, you can use IWeb to create a website showing your recent photographs. Set up an .mac account [$99 per year] and publish your IWeb webpage(s). Acquire from Vistaprint.com a colorful business card by selecting from their many templates a suitable one that meets your needs. Make sure to list the URL of your website along with a telephone answering device. Do not place your home address or anything personal such as a cellphone on this businesscard. Then when you receive the finished business card, pass it around to various churches, temples and the like to solicit business. When you receive a major photography assignment, visit your local professional camera store and "rent" the necessary camera equipment to fulfill this assignment. When starting out, you don't want to tie your money up with a piece of camera equipment which because of ever changing technology "becomes obsolete." Remember, that 90% of professional photographer are not "buying" camera equipment continually which can easily become outdated; instead, they merely "rent or lease" the camera equipment for set period of time; thereby keeping their money for other expenses. Even though you may have your heart set on an SLR and film, you may have to give up that concept for the moment, since digital photography offers the most economic method of photo reproduction. Digital imagery is easy to edit on a computer and the print quality is often far superior to regular film-generated prints. You want to buy an "essential/basic" DSLR system which has an all-around affordable accessory lenses, then consider the award winning Pentax KD series beginning with the Pentax K100D 6.1 mp DSLR with "image stabilization" built into the camera body. "Image stabilization" is essential for allowing you to take telephoto pictures at weddings, parties, while on the go and you don't have to drag along a tripod to steady your camera. Unfortunately, Canon and Nikon have chosen to install their "vibration reduction" devices into very expensive auxiliary lenses. But getting back to the Pentax K100D which comes in a starter kit consisting of two Pentax lenses: a 18-55 mm. normal lens and a 50-200 mm. telephoto which sells for $650 at samys.com. Again, the Pentax K100D starter kit runs circles around the D40 Nikon! For digital print processing, find a private professional film processing lab who can handle all your client's print orders. And with a resale license, you will be qualified for considerable "professional" discounts on lab fees. A search on the Google and Yahoo for wholesale photo albums will connect you with various distributors who, again, you can sign on as a photography studio and get a dealer's pricing for any number of albums, guest books, etc. Instead of renting a studio, take people pictures at local parks and beaches and for indoor shots, go to the client's residence or office to set up a photo shooting environment which consists of a set of lights, reflective screens, background drapery, etc. Good luck!
10. Very simple...have the passion, find one product/servies...research the market demand..plan strategies and implement the same..:)
11. Interest is of interest. Passionate is another far thing from just interest alone. Sorry.