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Starting a photography business is no joke. I gained most of my business knowledge through trial and error…after error…after error. Talk about learning the hard way!

 

But there were ups along with the downs. I’m happy to say that a lot of my instincts were good, and today I’m going to share with you 9 things I did right in the early days of starting a photography business on my own.

 

1. I started as a side hustle.

 

You don’t need to quit your day job to start your business. As a matter of fact, I don’t recommend it. Start by taking projects on the side so you can figure out what you like and don’t like. It will give you time to discover what you are good at {and what you are not so good at}. Don’t rush it. Enjoy the discovery without the stress of being able to bring in enough money. Discover your style.Practice and enjoy the ride.

 

 

2. I invested in education.

 

Part of becoming an authority in your field is admitting that you don’t already know everything. I threw myself into online courses from day one. Editing courses, photography courses, business courses… anything I could get my hands on. Between CreativeLive and Skillshare, I was able to build a solid knowledge base that not only made me better at my job, but also increased my confidence level.

 

To learn about more online resources I recommend, see my blog post about my favorite online food photography classes.

 

3. I didn’t spend a lot of money on gear right off the bat.

 

You don’t need the top of the line equipment when you’re starting a photography business. I started with a Canon Rebel T4i that I picked up secondhand for a few hundred dollars. I used it for several years before I decided it was time to upgrade.

 

Another way to save some money is to DIY as much as you can; for the longest time, I used cheap lighting from home improvement stores to shoot product photography, food photography props found in thrift stores or my own kitchen. You probably already own most of what you need for the first few projects! And today, I have invested in a lot of professional equipment, but I still use foam core as reflectors (you can add aluminum for extra oomph), and a giant diffuser my husband made from 4 pieces of wood and an old bedsheet.

 

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Starting a photography business can be expensive but there are some ways to save some money by DIYing some of the equipment. Today I am sharing how I made a large DIY diffuser, with 4 pieces of wood and an old bed sheet, and the 3 ways I use it in my studio. For more tips and tricks for your photography business, head to my blog https://www.french.ly/blog #foodphotography #foodstylingandphotography #foodphotographer #smallbusiness #diyphotography #photographytips #bts #behindthescenes #behindthescenesphotography #productphotographer #diyphotographer

A post shared by Fanette Rickert (@frenchlyphotography) on Nov 7, 2019 at 7:00pm PST

 

4. I learned to shoot in manual mode and edit properly.

 

This is super important! You can’t let the camera decide your parameters for you. Manual mode not only lets you call the shots in a less-than-awesome lighting situation, it helps you understand how your camera “thinks”. Once you can balance exposure with manual settings, you can evaluate scenes and setups more quickly and accurately.

 

Editing is almost as important as shooting. A good edit can make or break an image, so after you press the shutter button the work is only half-done. You should be able to balance light and color in your image and do at least some basic retouching for starters. I personally use Lightroom for the bulk of my editing (although I occasionally hop over to Photoshop for more detailed changes) with excellent results thanks to the Lightroom Magic course from Two Loves Studio.

 

You can get a feel for the different options in Lightroom, work your way through my blog series:

• Lightroom for Beginners: A Food Photographer’s Guide to the Basics
• How to Use the Lightroom Basic Panel
• Advanced Lightroom Editing for Food Photography

 

5. I got a contract and a way to create invoices within the first few projects.

 

Make your business legal and protect yourself from the very beginning. It only gets harder the longer you wait. You can buy template contracts created especially for photographers, and you should always make an invoice and take some form of payment up front. It’s easiest to keep track of all these things with a CRM that helps you organize all your client information (I personally use and love Dubsado).

 

6. I didn’t let failure stop me.

 

Most business fail because business owners are scared to push past failure and discomfort. I know this list is supposed to be about what I did right but there were plenty of things I did wrong, too. And man, it was no fun at all to face failure and rejection! But without those failures along the way, I wouldn’t have learned some of the things that ultimately led to my success. So bring on the failure, as long as you learn from it!

 

You might need to live very lean for a while but if you push through and do your best to be smart with your business, you’ve already gone further than most new business owners.

 

7. I worked with a coach/mentor before I could afford it.

 

And still do, by the way. Being able to talk to someone who has been through it and is familiar with your industry is priceless.

 

A lot of photographers offer coaching programs. You can also find business coaches pretty easily. It’s all about finding the area you, personally, need the most help in and learning from someone with expertise in that area. If you’re on a super-strict budget, group coaching is more affordable and there can be a community aspect to it that’s actually quite encouraging and helpful.

 

8. I worked on personal projects.

 

I still do this, as well! In fact, I try to carve out an afternoon each week to dedicate to portfolio-building and experimentation. It’s good for several things:

 

• Developing a productive workflow
• Getting top-notch images for your portfolio
• Learning what type of work you find most enjoyable
• Getting a feel for how long certain tasks will take you to complete
• Making sure you keep your creativity flowing, and, last but not least, have fun shooting what you love!

 

9. I DIY-ed what I could until I was ready to outsource.

 

Every aspect of starting a photography business isn’t going to come naturally to you, but you can DIY a lot of it in the beginning. The basics of marketing yourself on social media, branding, and website building don’t have to be difficult and there is a lot of free resources out there. You can start with this blog post I wrote about Personal Branding for Photographers.

 

For graphic design elements, I recommend Canva. You can start with a template and go from there. There are also many different website services like Wix and Squarespace that make it simple for you to build a basic site until you can afford a professional one.

 

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How about you? What are the things you did (or are doing) right? Share them in the comments below and be sure to stay in touch and let me know how it’s going for you! I’d love to hear from you on my Instagram.

 

For more business and photography tips and freebies that I don’t share anywhere else, be sure to sign up for my email list. I hope to see you there!