well the closer metropolitan cities would be Stuttgart and Frankfurt........ would take me like 1 -1 1/2 hour to get there. and no, I guess I´m not really aware of the local leading photographers. I know a few by name, but I´m not sure which are the most successfull ones. and I dont see how retail stores replace a photographer.

1) In the U.S., there are retail stores that offer extremely cheap photography (so cheap they actually lose money) to take family pictures and attract clientele so that they may purchase other things within the store. If there are such stores in Germany, then these will become your competition.

2) I'm unaware of the exact legalities in Germany, but I'd assume your first move would have to be to design a person-to-person contract and model release (best if included within contract) so that you can keep yourself covered from any legalities.

3) Next is to build your portfolio and get business cards. Modeling agencies look for very experienced photographers to give them paying gigs. You had mentioned that you contacted and scheduled a few models to shoot, correct? Did you have to pay for this? It may be best to simply ask people you know (that are decent looking of course) to pose as your models, since I doubt you'll be working with experienced models immediately. Having regular people as your subject will allow you to maintain a demographic that will pay for your superior services. Not everyone looks like a model

4) If you have to do stuff for free, don't do more than 5 subjects. 5 people is more than enough to build a portfolio, unless you feel like you need more practice.

5) After making your portfolio, be sure to have both a printed version (in some sort of digital album, + enlargements) and an online version. Don't just use 1,000 images. 20 images on your printed portfolio and ~40 on your online portfolio is enough. Keep updating it after every shoot and always post only the best work you have, even if those shots are few.

6) Since those larger cities are fairly close, these will become your extended market. Your primary sphere of influence should always be within 20-30 KM of your residence/studio. You'll have to either find clients or be found by clients easily in the larger cities. After you've become moderately well known and successful in your primary, extend this influence 1 city at a time. Still, keep the availability in the second city.

7) Write a list of your top 10 competitors in each area. Research them and always make sure that your product is superior and slightly less expensive.


Are you aware of ways to easily get paying clients?

This post was edited by onepagememory on Nov 12 2010 10:29am

that sounds good yeah. had about that in mind. about the ways of getting paying clients, no I´m not totally aware of those, since I´ve never really done it.

Ok, you only want to do portraits right? Are you interested in doing weddings / social events?

The key to making money in photography is finding your worth relative to your competition. it's always best to slightly undercharge. That's why you have to spy on your competition, find the level of your product as compared to theirs, and charge accordingly.

The best way to do portraits at first is to leech off everyone you know. There is nothing wrong with making only 100 euro and giving away the digital images (since making a cd/dvd or using their flash drive is inexpensive). Those are 100 euro you didn't have before. What use are the digital images (or the rest of the photos) if people won't buy them? Of course, your goal is to sell as many prints as possible or to sell the digital images for as much as possible. Never shun any sort of money, just make sure it always remains profitable. Experience / portfolio buildup is great as long as you're getting paid something.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, work in awesome ways. At first I didn't believe in them. Let's say you take some professional photos of someone you know that is graduating from a sort of school. You give them compressed versions of the photos (~600kb) for them to upload. A friend of theirs likes those photos and asks the person you took pictures of who took those pictures. You will be recommended. Also, lets say you make a business facebook page (free, just use an alternate email), where you comment on how you took the pictures and tag these photos to the people you photographed. When a friend looks at these 'tagged' people, they will get curious and look at your page, further expanding your influence. Not everyone will book, but if you get 1 client per upload session and description, you will have paid yourself for your time.

Next up is local events. Befriend administrators in schools (so that they'll let you advertise for free in their school) or advertise in your own school by making some sort of 'looking for a model for a free photo shoot' promotion. Give him/her (preferably her) a free enlargement. Notice that at worst, you'll only be wasting time and shutter actuations, but its likely that that 'free model' will want to purchase more photos, will want to show off photos, etc.


My specialty is weddings / social events, however.

Brides are always 'on a budget' and they're out to find the best deal. They may look around and find a really good deal with a photographer, but if you offer something better, even AFTER they've booked with another photographer and paid a down payment, they may go with you instead. Always offer a 'discount of however much you paid as a down payment' if its reasonable and if they can provide proof of it if you do decide to steal clients this way. Remember, would you rather be shooting (and getting experience / portfolio building) for 1/2 of what you think you're worth, or would you rather JSP all day instead?

I'll be posting more later.

thanks for dealing with my situation in the first place. I really appreciate it.

I think you´re right. and what you´re describing is pretty much what I started trying to do a few weeks ago. I was looking for models and by now I have 3-4 potential models ( and even a makeup artist ) that are willing to shoot with me on a tfp ( time for print ) basis. This way I dont earn money but I can collect experience and build up my portfolio. Because I think I need a portfolio with at least around 20 really good shots before I try to advertise myself for photo jobs, just in order to proof my quality. I wouldn´t have a problem shooting weddings or social events for money. definately not. But my goal is to get into the fashion and advertising market. I´d like to shoot for magazines and / or promotions or any other kind of advertisement. But this is a long way to go I guess. I dont think I would get alot of joy out of shooting products or something. I also try to be a photo artist aswell and one day sell art prints of my work tho.

Remember, you're competing against the whole world for this. Gotta start somewhere.

Shooting weddings = easy money. It's 1 day of back-breaking work, then ~3-4 of sitting down editing. 300 euro/wedding is a very decent starting pay. It's 300 euro you didn't have before, remember? Unless you wanna JSP instead of earning thoseIf you're serious about weddings / social events, I will help you with a business model similar to mine. Luckily, I've been successful. And you never know, you may end up loving it like i did. PM me about this.

Always use forums such as photo.net, fredmiranda (if you wanna pay a little to get feedback- it's worth the investment), photography-on-the.net, among others for feedback. Sometimes you may take a shot that you think is very good, but when someone criticizes it you only tend to improve. d2JSP offers the same.
'
Finally, learn light. I don't care if you don't have a 5d MK II, the latest L lenses, and the coolest photo eek ... i mean geek bag. You must invest in quality lighting before you do anything. I don't have an idea of what kind of gear you have though.

I buy gear twice a year - in Jan, and in August. Jan = announcements of new gear, so prices drop massively. August = new gear is released.

Can you 1) link me to some of your work with people (nn scrubs, bushes, bugs, tress, pets, or pretty places - those hardly make money :D) and 2) link me to the kind of work you want to produce?


2 User(s) are reading this topic (0 Guests and 0 Anonymous): CitizenScuba, onepagememory

Say something hubby

This post was edited by onepagememory on Nov 12 2010 11:25am

uhhmmm yeah I think I´m pretty decent at knowledge about lighting and physics.

my current equipment:

Canon EOS 1000D + Grip + batteries

Canon 18-55mm crap kit
Canon 75-300mm crap kit tele
Canon 50mm 1.8
Tokina 11-16mm 2.8

Canon Speedlite 430ex II

I only have some really old stuff tbh, besides this is pretty new:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/sets/72157625087826603/

It was more of a first attempt to use my new one light setup ( flash + umbrella ). think it turned out pretty ok.

older stuff:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5052257676/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5052255524/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5051634265/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5052254468/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5051632837/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5052252842/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5052252622/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54551195@N07/5051606523/

what I want to do.......

well pretty much fashion / beauty portraiture. maybe some artistic nude aswell once I mastered light.

you could also just check out my DA favs:

http://rookie-art.deviantart.com/favourites/#_featured

This post was edited by RecoveryChannel on Nov 12 2010 12:16pm

You're very creative! I'm impressed. You seem to be heavy on the post processing though. Have you printed some of these photos in different kinds of paper to see the results?
Your lighting setup seems decent.

For your DA favorites, I'd suggest the 5d MK II for sure. The 5d I seems too old of a cam for serious use in the future. Consider the better investment; you'll end up using the 5d II for longer than the I. People will pay PLENTY to get portrait shots like this. All you gotta do is master the lighting and the post processing, which shouldn't be difficult.

Btw what's your budget for getting new equipment?

Edit: I'm getting a ring flash light from alienbees on Jan. I love the way eyes look.

This post was edited by onepagememory on Nov 12 2010 12:24pm

hmmmm I cant really say I have a planned budget. I thought I´d spend like 1000 bucks for a new body and then like 500 for a new lens. I mean..... at the end of the day I´m still a student, and I dont have a lot of money to spend tbh. I already spend most of my income on my photography equipment.

What new lens were you looking into?