For one of our dating anniversaries I gave Alan an entry level DSLR Cannon camera. I honestly can’t remember what led me to do this but I am sure he wanted it :) Alan started with taking landscape pictures, fell in love with long exposure photos (look them up if you have never seen one), and enjoyed snapping some good pictures of our pups. Alan being the technology lover he is, he slowly began researching other gear and stair stepping up equipment as he got more and more into photography.
Alan trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and we began going to tournaments to photograph our friends competing and doing family shoots of close friends and family. As we did more, Alan started to teach me how to take photos in manual mode and I slowly got more and more into photography as well. Many tournaments and family photoshoots later someone asked to book us for a photoshoot. Our response was along the lines of, ”You want to give us money? Like real money?” After the shock wore off we decided to set up an LLC and give this photography business a real shot.
We started with mainly sports photography and family shoots. One day we were at our friends wedding and their photographer left very early. We grabbed a camera out of the car and snapped some photos of their reception. We fell in love with documenting the joy and excitement of the day-especially the candid shots! A short time later we dove into photographing weddings and even more family, newborn, senior portraits and more.
How did we get into photography? Slow and organically. We added equipment as we needed to and leveraged rental equipment as we could (seriously LensRentals.com is a game changer). We branched out into new areas of photography like newborn and senior portraits to grow our skills.
What do I recommend for growing your photography business? Volunteering for a photoshoot is perfectly fine if it benefits the growth of your skills and ultimately your business! Build your confidence and your portfolio as best you can. If someone becomes a fan and wants to hire you, don’t let fear stop you from taking that step. It can be hard to begin believing in yourself and think you can compare to all the other amazing photographers out there. I am here to tell you that you are great and you’ve got this!
Let us know if you have other encouraging advice for someone just starting out their photography business!