5 Tips for Starting a Photography Side Hustle

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As a photography enthusiast, you may have wondered how to make money with photography. If you’re good at photography and enjoy it, there are ways to earn a photography income without quitting your primary job.

In business and free enterprise, we call anything allowing us to make money outside of our primary employment a side hustle. That would be a photography side hustle for someone who loves to take pictures.

What is involved in starting up and running a successful photography side hustle? Here are five main tips and many extra ideas for creating and sustaining your own photography side hustle and making money with photography.

Photography Side Hustle - Am I Good Enough?

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When considering starting a photography side hustle, one of the first things to figure out is if we are a good enough photographer to actually be able to constantly sell ourselves as a photographer or sell our photography as physical goods.

This self-examination can initially be misleading in two very different ways. In one way, we may be holding back because we don’t think we’re good enough. In another way, we could be thinking we are good at anything we can think of photographically. Either way can mess with our starting a photography side hustle. How so?

Let’s take that first hurdle. Not trusting our own abilities and worth will hold us back from ever trying out anything new and adventurous. As a professional photographer, you do have to be good at this craft. Clients know quality when they see it.

What gets many photographers down on themselves is thinking that the quality and style of those national ads they see in Vogue, Car & Driver, or Better Homes and Gardens are unattainable by us regular folk. The truth is, as a photo enthusiast, your images are probably very good. In many cases, all it takes to bridge the gap between what you’re doing now and what you want to be is knowing the craft of photography very well, honing your creative eye, and practicing.

All successful photographers continue throughout their careers to make room for improvement. If people in person or online enjoy your photography, there is a good reason. A top reason is that you are likely a good photographer!

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On the other hand… Sometimes we think that since we know photography backward and forwards, we can do anything with a camera, and people will be happy to give us money. Unfortunately, that is not always going to be the case.

The skills and artful application of those skills for one genre do not automatically apply to all types of photography. If we aren’t consistently capturing photos of people that flatter them and make them feel good, we may need to work on those skills before charging for a wedding or booking a portrait session.

We could be great at capturing a landscape image, but can we successfully and regularly handle the dynamic range challenges of commercial or residential real estate photography? Each professional photography genre has unique needs and challenges, from product imaging to covering sports and wildlife.

When beginning a photography side hustle to gain a reasonably reliable photography income, it is sometimes the course of wisdom to specialize in a niche or two. This helps in that we create a brand for ourselves as a photographer, and it keeps us from watering down our professional reputation by not being at the top of our game in something else. At least, not yet.

Somewhere in the middle ground of these two extremes of our view of our talent, skill, and ability is the actual truth of the matter. If we do need to improve something, it can be done. And we actually are the amazing Renaissance do-everything photographer prodigy we think we are, then we should be teaching somewhere!

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Gearing Up for Your Photography Side Hustle

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Going along with point number one discussed above, many photographers might not think they have or can afford the proper equipment for a photography side hustle. This thought can also be misleading.

To attain the consistently high-quality photography necessary to sustain a photography side hustle, a photographer does need to have good equipment. Fun fact: you may already own much of the equipment that could be used for making a photography income.

A high-quality camera in one of the major digital formats of MFT, APS-C, or Full Frame is an excellent place to start. You will want more than a decent sensor. You also want some features and functions that are often used when meeting professional photography's challenges.

Features that come in handy are controlling exposure, bracketing, interchangeable lenses, and capturing in RAW format. Many entry-level cameras have some or all of these features, but cameras made for intermediate or advanced photographers usually have a better version of some of these controls. Plus, the advanced and prosumer-level cameras are sturdier overall and can withstand more use as we take more pictures than we would just for fun.

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While the kit lenses that come with many package deals of cameras are generally extremely sharp, we often want a little more from our lenses when engaging in a photography side hustle. A little faster aperture, a little closer focusing, a little wider angle or more telephoto, a little more robust, and so on.

Similar ideas cover our choices regarding flash or other photographic lights, a good sturdy tripod, and accessories such as remote triggers and lens filters. Finally, our computer and any current photography programs might be able to keep up with our new endeavors, or a slight upgrade could be in order.

The bottom line concerning what photography gear to use for our side hustle is that we may already have that covered. Or, a modest upgrade could cover most bases for what we can rely on to make money with photography as a side hustle.

Finding Photography Side Hustle Clients

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You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like your photos! Now, you need to find people willing to pay you for your photography side hustle. How do we do that?

Our first method of finding clients will continue for as long as we have a photography side hustle, word of mouth. All it takes is one happy client to get this ball rolling. It helps to have something to give to or show people when they approach you after hearing about you.

A business website, social media presence, and that old-fashioned but still completely relevant mainstay, business cards, are a great place to start. Whatever you decide on, or all of them for that matter, it’s a good idea to keep them simple and provide a way for potential clients to engage with you. Be sure to respond to emails and comments and answer those phone calls or texts.

Networking with other businesses is another time-proven for generating new customers. Networking is streaming up with other types of businesses related to your photography side hustle and offering some incentives for potential clients and networked businesses.

Have a look at this informative video covering networking for photographers by Grace Wells, which lays it out with simple truths:

We have some excellent articles on PhotographyTalk covering networking, but to put things simply, seek out businesses that could benefit your business interests and you theirs. A wedding photography side hustle could team up with a florist, a wedding planner, a dressmaker, an event DJ, and so on. Adjust this idea to whatever you do for your photography business.

Some other ways to find customers for your photography is to print off some physical items such as printed enlargements, photo books, or gift items and sell these either from home, online, or at an art show. Depending on the entry fee, selling at an arts or crafts fair can be surprisingly profitable and a lot of fun.

Order Fulfillment for Your Photography Side Hustle

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Once you’ve started your photography side hustle, you need to be able to deliver your product somehow. There are two main methods for image delivery, digital file transfer, and physical printing.

Delivering images digitally can be done via a file transfer service such as Box.com, sent via email, or using a thumb drive that you allow them to physically access. Some clients, such as a real estate photography service, may have a proprietary uploading procedure.

An excellent order fulfillment method with physical items is using a high-quality printing service to print photo books, calendars, greeting cards, and wall art. Photo Book Press has all these items, which can be printed and delivered.

Their Lay-Flat and Signature Sewn books are perfect for wedding clients and portrait subjects. Look at their Acrylic Prints, available in multiple formats and sizes, for wall art. Photo Calendars and Photo Greeting Cards are excellent add-on items clients enjoy.

Any of these items from Photo Book Press could work as the primary money maker in our photography side hustle or be used as additional profit generators. Photo Book Press also has a specific program for professional photographers that can save money (adding profit) and caters to the needs of pros.

Photography Side Hustle - You Really Need to Hustle!

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A photography side hustle is aptly named. A photographer needs to hustle and put in the work to succeed and be profitable in the long run. Plus, you want to stay in this business for a long time if you’re an avid photo enthusiast.

You never know; this photography side hustle may become your primary employment, and that previous job could be your new side hustle. Enjoy!

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