Photography And Videography: Is It For You?

by | Sep 4, 2018

Photography and videography as a hobby are vastly different from turning it into a business. As a hobbyist, you only need to focus on the aspects that you enjoy. But as a businessman, you also need to spend a lot of time on the less glamorous side of things—marketing, creating a portfolio, bookkeeping, editing, and dealing with clients.

Just like every job or business, there are pains and joys in having a photography and videography business. Not sure you’re ready for a business? Here are the four signs you are:

You’ve mastered the technical aspects

Are you going to pay for a photography and videography service with very amateur skills? That’s what your prospective clients are going to look for when they see your work. They would want someone who knows how to work the camera, how to navigate a bad lighting situation, how to read a histogram, how to edit the photos and videos using Adobe, etc.

If you want to master these skills, you need to enroll in a class or work as an assistant to a professional photographer.

You have your own style

Photography and videography are an art form. To market your photos and videos, they have to be unique and out of the box. You’ve got to create your own style if you want to make it in this industry.

Are your photos whimsical? Do you like focusing on contrasting colors? Do you shoot with a photojournalist’s eye? This would help you pinpoint your specialty and will help clients know what they are getting before hiring you.

You understand how a business works

When you set out to start a professional photography and videography business, you won’t have the money to hire people at first. You would have to take care of every aspect of running the business—from booking clients to filing your taxes.

No one is going to take of those for you. If you want to make sure your business will prosper, take a couple of business classes or pick up a book and start reading about marketing.

You have a solid portfolio

The first thing that prospective clients will ask is to see your portfolio. They would need to see how you compose your photos and videos. At first, use friends and family members as “actors” in your shoot.

Do this for free, of course. Once you have completed your portfolio, you will be prouder of what you can achieve.