So I spent most of my spring break thinking about creating a photography business. Saturday I spent two hours taking over 200 pictures for the first set of Portraits that I have every done. Most of these turned out great but I did see some areas that I need to work on.
I enjoy taking pictures, it is relaxing and you can preserve a moment in history. There are so many awesome things that you can do in photography too such as painting with light, editing the picture and alot more however I think that Photography is becoming like the music industry. In music you do not see very many of the new artist that do not clean up their voice with technology so that when they sing live they do not sound like they do on the album. Well in my opinion we are doing that with photography too. We are editing the way that people look to much. It is my goal, if I do start this business to keep the pictures natural with as little editing as possible. This first set of senior pictures that I have taken have showed me how easy it is with some people to not have to edit pictures.
The thing that is slowing me down though is the fact that you have to do so much work and legal studies to even know where to being. First you have to register your name with the Missouri Secretary of State's office, then you have to file for tax ID and some other things. This is a huge gamble when you don't know how much of a call you are going to have. I mean lets face it, Lamar is in SW Missouri, not that far from KC, Springfield, and Joplin. Even in Lamar I know of at least 4 professional full time photographers and that is not counting the people who travel to KC and Springfield to get it taken. I just don't know if I should take that gamble.
I would like to hear what you all have to say. Listen to a voice of reason outside of those that I know are just trying to help me but be nice about it. Thanks in advance for your help!
The cool thing about starting up a photography business is that it contains very minimal overhead. So what if you have to deal with a couple of licensing issues? The cost is based on what you spend. If you're not taking pictures, then you're not spending money. If you have interested clients, then by all means, charge them the professional photographer rate. They would have paid for it through someone else anyways. As you produce quality photos, you will get more clients. Photography businesses rely on the referral business of their clients. Word of mouth is an extremely powerful thing. The main thing that I want to say is that a photography business has minimal overhead, minimal risk, and you can begin from virtually anywhere. If this is something you feel confident about, then go for it. I don't think you will have much to lose.
ReplyDeleteThis is a business that I personally would LOVE to get into. I just haven't had the time. I do see where you are coming from when you talk about "the gamble", but if you are passionate about the photography field then you should definitely get into it. I need to quit one of my current jobs and find something more relaxing like photography, but I just can't afford it all right now. I do agree with Jared though, you probably won't have very much to lose.
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