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Article: description: Not sure how to start a photography business? In this guide, learn the steps you need to take to plan your business, the gear you need, how much money it takes to start a photography business, and more.
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So, you like taking pictures. You’ve picked up some prosumer level gear, picked up a bunch of beginner tips for how to start a photography business to improve your skills, spent a little bit too much time in Photoshop, and maybe even gotten paid to take your cousin’s headshots. You’ve reached the crossroads that many people come to when pursuing a craft, the line in the sand that you have to cross in order to become a “professional.”

Some people say that if you do something you love you’ll never work a day in your life.  

This isn’t true.  

The correct version of that tell-tale phrase is: If you do something you love, you’ll be able to tolerate the less fun, yet very necessary tasks that go along with it.

photo by jacoblund via iStock

Whatever you choose to do in life, it isn’t all fun and games, and photography is no exception. Becoming a professional photographer can be an incredibly fulfilling endeavor. You get to spend your life providing people with visual insight into who they really are and what they really want.

But, as with anything worth doing, learning how to start a photography business is also difficult. It comes with a unique set of challenges that require a rigorous attitude that not everybody is equipped with.

Still not deterred? Still with me? Good.  

Starting a photography business requires foresight and tenacity. Sure, there is plenty of picture taking, but there is also a fair amount of planning and administrative work that goes into starting and maintaining a successful business. Here are a few steps that you’ll need to take to start a photography business.

How to Start a Photography Business: First, Put Down Your Camera

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Step one of starting a photography business might seem counterintuitive but hear me out.

Put your camera down, take five steps back, and take a deep breath. It’s time to make some decisions, and that requires putting on your thinking cap and staying free from distraction.

It’s easy to get distracted if you’re in the middle of editing a batch of shots from your latest photo excursion or trying to plan out future shoots. There will be plenty of time for that once you get where you’re going. However, you first need to figure out where that is!

How to Start a Photography Business: Plan It Out

photo by scyther5 via iStock

If you want to make a living as a photographer, you’re going to need a business plan. Think of a photography business plan like a roadmap with being a professional photographer as the destination.

It’s easy to get lost in the nuance of photography and find yourself falling behind. Sure, it’s pretty easy to assume that driving from New York to California is as simple as driving west, but fail to plan, and you might arrive on the west coast days, even weeks late.

With a photography business plan, you’ll be able to collect all your thoughts and ideas into a coherent, organized document that will help you develop a clear pathway for getting your business started and maintaining it for both the short and long term.

Here are a few things to consider when developing your photography business plan.

Photography Business Plan: Who Are You?

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What kind of photographer do you want to be? The answer to that question is not as simple as it seems and to succeed you’re going to need to be honest with yourself.

Sure, you can rise to most occasions, but you most likely won’t be a successful wedding photographer if you aren’t good with making adjustments on-the-fly or can’t deal with high levels of stress. If you aren’t willing to make a larger-than-typical investment for photography gear or have slow hand-eye coordination, then you probably want to avoid sports photography.

When it comes to how to start a photography business, take a moment to outline your goals and your limitations and, again, be honest. A little bit of honesty here will save you a ridiculous amount of time and money later, if and when, you find out that you’ve equipped yourself for the wrong niche.

The goals that you set here will serve as pit stops on the way to being the kind of photographer that you want to be and will help you provide context for the rest of your business plan.

Do You Need a License to be a Photographer?

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Do you need a license to be a photographer? The answer is maybe.

By and large, most municipalities do not require photographers to have a professional license to work. However, this is not the case in every single town and city. 

To find out if you need a license to be a photographer, call your state’s professional licensing board to inquire about what professions are required to have a license. Do the same in the city where you live (a call to city hall or the chamber of commerce should do the trick).

Bear in mind that this question revolves around a professional license. Even if you aren’t required to have a professional license, you are more than likely required to have a business license or permit and a tax license.

Again, the policies and procedures regarding how to obtain these licenses will vary from one city to the next. A call to city hall will get you the information you need to get a business license and a sales tax license.

photo by Charday Penn via iStock

As an aside, local governments require these licenses for a couple of reasons. 

First, it’s designed as a way to raise money for the city. This isn’t to say that it’s expensive for you to get one - it’s usually quite a small fee. But it at least puts a little bit of money into the city’s coffers. 

Second, a business license enables the city to be sure that businesses are operating as they should and where they should. For example, the city might require your photography studio to occupy space that’s zoned commercial, not space that’s zoned residential.

photo by damircudic via iStock 

Obviously, starting a photography business means dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s. There is a fair amount of paperwork and potential stress to go along with it. The first step in this process that will pave the way for subsequent decisions is deciding on a business structure.

Do you want to be a sole proprietor or an LLC? Both come with their own set of pros and cons, and you’ll have to do a fair amount of research before you decide which one is right for you.

Once you’ve determined how you want to structure your business, you will want to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) as well as a business bank account to separate your personal and business finances, which will help keep your books in order when it tax season comes. Make sure that every penny you earn and spend goes into and comes out of this business account! Do not get in the habit of mixing the two accounts as it’ll save you from headaches down the road. 

Now, let’s talk money for starting a photography business.

How Much Money Does It Take to Start a Photography Business?

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Here is where things get fun. The next part of your business plan is about your finances. What services do you want to provide for your customers and how much will you charge for each? Keep in mind that, while it can be beneficial to be a one-stop-shop for anything and everything, any service you offer will require more time and start up costs.

Also, be sure that the cost structure actually allows you to turn a profit once you’ve taken into account all of your potential overhead and start-up costs. Balance is important here; you want to make sure that your pricing structure is realistic.

photo by MartinPrescott via iStock

Put together a rough outline and then move on - you’ll have plenty of time to adjust your estimate once you’ve done some due diligence.

Now comes the step that might seem a bit daunting at first, but don’t fret it, this entire process is in place to make sure that you can get through it. Time to assess your start-up costs. Based on your goals and the pricing structure that you’ve put together, make a list of any and all expenses that you need to get yourself going.

To make this list as concise as possible, you’ll need to know what is required for starting a photography business.

photo by Witthaya Prasongsin via iStock

The biggest startup cost, depending on your situation, is probably going to be gear.

Do an audit of what you have and what you’ll need. It’s very easy to get carried away here, so be realistic. I cannot stress this enough.

Sure, it would be great to have a lens for every single occasion and an army of gadgets, but these costs can and will add up very quickly. Photography has never and will never be a cheap enterprise, so pick and choose your battles.

Conversely, make sure that you’re equipped well enough to tackle most situations that you think you’ll find yourself in, with a small amount of leeway for the occasional rental if necessary. There is no master list here; the fun thing about us photographers is that we’re all different. I’ve known plenty of photographers who can do more with their old Pentax k1000 than most can pull off with a Nikon D850.

photo by ielanum via iStock

All that being said, according to Business News Daily, a good answer to the question, “How much money does it take to start a photography business?” is around $10,000.

Below, I’ve created some estimates for gear and other related startup costs based on the Business News Daily model:

  • Two camera bodies (anywhere from $500 to $3,500 each)
  • Multiple lenses (anywhere from $150 to $1,500 each)
  • Flashes or strobes ($75+ each)
  • Memory cards ($10+ each)
  • Multiple external hard drives ($60+ each)
  • Computer ($1,000+)
  • Website, hosting, email, etc. ($100/month)
  • Post-processing programs (i.e.Photoshop and Lightroom; $120/year)
  • Business license, sales tax license (varies)
  • Insurance ($250+/year)
  • Professional fees (i.e., accountant, attorney; varies)

Again, these are just very broad estimates of what it might cost to start your photography business. 

Obviously, if you already have a couple of camera bodies and lenses, you’re ahead of the game and will need to output far less money than if you have no photography gear to speak of.

Planning a Photography Business: Prepare For the Worst and Hope for the Best

photo by Srongkrod via iStock

Ready for the part that most never plan for? Planning a photography business means deciding which parts of this inventory you simply cannot do without. Now plan on buying two of each.

Honestly, things go wrong…often. I hate to be as cliche as invoking Murphy’s Law, but be prepared for the possibility that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.  

I once saved for a year and sold my car to buy a truck to drive around for a personal project. The plan was to live in the truck (ever read Steinbeck?) for four months while exploring America photographically. Several weeks into a four-month trip, I dropped my camera and broke it in a way that would take upwards of two weeks to fix. With no backup and no budget allotted to purchase a replacement, I found my trip severely handicapped.  

Fun fact: The transmission on my truck blew up two weeks later.  

photo by PeopleImages via iStock

The moral of this story is simple: planning a photography business means planning for the worst and hope for the best. Having backup gear can and will save you in the long run, and you’ll thank yourself for taking my advice. Also, make sure that your backup gear can perform as well (or close to it) as your primary gear. You don’t want the quality of your work to suffer while your inventory is handicapped.

Keep in mind that that this rule doesn’t only apply to your camera gear. Generally speaking, computers are probably the least reliable part of most photographers’ arsenal and photo editing isn’t exactly kind to most setups. Make sure you budget for computer upgrades/maintenance and for all of the editing software you plan on using.

What Do You Need to Start a Photography Business?

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Now that you’ve got an idea of the gear you might need and budgeted for it, let’s take a look at what else it's going to take to get you started. 

I highly suggest budgeting for regular legal/accounting consultations, especially in the beginning. I can’t stress enough how much of a headache these things can be if they are not handled properly. Make your own decisions here, but please take this seriously. Simply put, you probably just aren’t qualified to make some of these decisions on your own, so you should act accordingly.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: Transportation, Rent, and Utilities

photo by MarioGuti via iStock

Now, budget for the cost of actually taking pictures. If you’re an assignment photographer you’ll need to budget for transportation: gas and maintenance costs will start to rise if you’re using your car and if you aren’t, public transportation isn’t necessarily cheap if you use it every day.

If you’re a studio photographer, you’ll need to budget for rent and all the costs associated with property rental (heat, gas, internet, etc.). You might not have exact numbers for this, but do a little homework and try and ballpark it to the best of your ability.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: Photography Insurance

photo by PeopleImages via iStock

Photography insurance is often overlooked in this stage of the game, but it’s something that is important to consider. Depending on the size of your business and the value of your assets, you’ll want to choose the correct policies and packages to maximize coverage while limiting cost where possible.  

Pretty much everybody is going to need general liability insurance to protect themselves and their business. Bad things happen, and you won’t always be able to plan for them. Error & Omissions insurance is also a good idea as, again, bad things happen and sometimes you lose or damage photographs.

Keep in mind that professional photography is almost entirely digital in today’s world and computers are unreliable. Clients are not going to care if your computer is on the fritz or if your hard drive crashed. If they paid you for something you cannot deliver, you are responsible for the consequences. 

photo by Pattanaphong Khuankaew via iStock

If you’re using a car, you’re going to need automobile insurance, and if you’re renting a space, you’ll need property and/or renter’s insurance. There are a few types of insurance which are not as essential as the ones I just mentioned, but that doesn’t make them any less important.

Depending on how much gear you have, you might want to insure it. As I keep mentioning, things happen, and gear can be lost, stolen, or broken. Do some research and decide if this is worth it to you and, if not, decide when it will be and make sure to plan accordingly.

Disability and life insurance are a good idea to have for a multitude of reasons, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if you’ll need it. Peace of mind is very valuable, and both of these can provide you that to you. But, they do come with costs that you may not see as essential in the beginning stages of your business.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: Branding and Marketing

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Branding costs can vary depending on your skill set, but chances are you’ll have to spend money along the way. I don’t suggest skimping on this as you want to maximize your impression on prospective clients as much as possible.

Branding is an often-overlooked aspect of starting a business but, as a creative, you don’t have that luxury. You want to make sure that everything involved with your customer experience tells a carefully curated story that paints you as an expert in your field.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: Photography Business Name

 

The first thing to think about when defining your brand is what you’ll name your new photography business. This may seem like a simple task, but that doesn’t make it any less important.

Your business name is what you’ll be pedaling, and thus not only does it have to be relevant but also beneficial to the story you’re trying to tell. In the video above by TED Archive, Jonathan Bell explains.

This is probably the one area of photography where being creative might not necessarily be in your best interest. That’s not to say that there isn’t room for creativity, but you want the name you decide on to be easy to remember and self-explanatory. It’s going to take a lot of work to convince a soon-to-be-married couple to let you shoot their wedding if your name is Bubba Gump Photography With A Side Of Shrimp (though if you pull double duty as a Cajun style caterer, you may be onto something).

There are other things to keep in mind like trademarks, availability on social media, and SEO value (more on this a little later). You want to make sure that you own anything associated with your business name and you want to make sure that it’s easy to find. Many people opt to simply use their name for these reasons, but that doesn’t mean you have to. It might sound silly, but think about how your business name sounds when you say it out loud and also how it looks written down.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: A Business Logo

Human beings are visceral creatures, and they respond to visual cues almost instantly. This is what makes your logo so important. If you have some graphic design chops, then you may be able to pull this off yourself. If not, you’ll have to hire someone to help you not only figure out how your logo should look but also make it happen.

Being a good photographer does not make you a good graphic designer, sorry!

Do yourself a favor and make sure your logo is good because it will be going on almost every physical or digital object that your customers interact with. There is plenty of psychology involved with branding, and you want to make sure you’re on the right side of any and all subconscious decision-making.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: A Business Card

photo by PeopleImages via iStock

photography business card can be the deciding factor in many decisions potential clients make. Remember that you’re trying to get people to hire not just you but also hire your creativity. Make sure that all of your business cards, invoices, and all other printed materials work together cohesively.

I have a friend that saves all of her test strips when she prints in the darkroom and turns them into business cards using a typewriter. It might seem weird to you, but it is actually very fitting of her work as she is a wet plate collodion photographer. You don’t need to go that far, but make sure that what you put out into the world provides value to your business.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: A Photography Website

photo by structuresxx via iStock

Your website may be the single most important part of your toolkit. This is where you’re going to steer every potential client and where you’ll be housing the portfolio that you’re going through all of this work to cultivate.

As a Creative Director, I spend a fair amount of time sourcing all kinds of content creators for a myriad of tasks. When I receive proposals or resumes in response to job listings, I seldom default to reading a cover letter or said resume. I scan for the closest link to get a sense of who I’m dealing with and, if I’m satisfied with what I find, I then move towards the standard motions of deciding whether somebody can handle the task at hand.

This isn’t to say that everybody works like this, but I can’t believe that I'm particularly idiosyncratic when it comes to vetting creatives. There are very few notches on your belt or bullet points on your resume that can prove you’re a great photographer. At the very best, a good cover letter and resume will paint you as qualified.

photo by GaudiLab via iStock

In the great game of rising above the sea of people that own cameras, your photographs are going to do the heavy lifting and you owe it to them to display them well.

There are several ways to go about setting up a professional website, and each comes with its own set of benefits and limitations.

The more inexpensive option is going with a free-to-use platform like Flickr or Tumblr. These sites offer simple ways to present your photographs but at what cost?

The problem with many free-to-use platforms is that you typically have little control over the functionality and aesthetic of your site, making it difficult to package your work and incorporate branded elements into your portfolio.

Next in line are template-based platforms like Format, SmugMug, Wix, Zenfolio or Squarespace. These sites provide you with most of the tools necessary to create a professional-looking website for relatively low cost. Sure, you might find yourself somewhat limited when it comes to full aesthetic control, but what these platforms lack in customization they more than make up for in price, ease of use, and functionality.

The veritable one-stop shops for website creation, most of these platforms even have e-commerce options for photographers to sell their work online. This option makes it extremely simple to facilitate your online relationship with your customers whether you’re selling stock images, prints, or providing your clients with portal access for proofing.

All of these features are fun to have, but what good would they be if you didn’t know how to use them? The single most beneficial aspect of these platforms, in my opinion, is that they allow you to maintain your website by your lonesome. By providing their customers with a simple and intuitive user interface, they have managed to take most of the scary technical stuff out of web design leaving your mind free to worry about the things that matter.

For a few tips on building a website yourself, consult the video below by Jared Polin:

 

The final and most expensive option is to hire a web developer to help you create an extra fancy custom website from scratch. From a branding standpoint, this can be very beneficial in creating the perfect experience for your clients as well as the perfect home for your imagery.

From a common sense perspective, this option isn’t for everybody (not even kind of). Depending on what you’re looking for, this can be a very expensive and lengthy project. On top of that, web design is extremely technical, and the more complicated your website ends up being, the harder it will be to maintain by yourself.

If you think that this might be the option for you, then you’ll need to account for the added cost, time, and stress that you’ll incur while trying to make adjustments or diagnose any issues you may find yourself having. If that all sounds fine to you, then make sure you do your homework when choosing the right developer to bring on board as chances are you’ll be dealing with them quite a bit as your business starts to grow.

What You Need to Start a Photography Business: A Good Domain Name

photo by Pablo_K via iStock

Regardless of which option you choose, there is one thing that you absolutely cannot go without…a good domain name. I can’t tell you how many great portfolios in the world have been tainted by using a free domain.

A good domain name is one of the cheapest investments you’ll make and will do a lot more work than you’ll ever give it credit for. Ideally, your domain name is the same as your business name - do yourself a favor and get one.

Get Yourself out There: Marketing Your Photography Business

photo by diego_cervo via iStock

Being the best photographer in the world isn’t going to net you a dime if nobody finds out. You aren’t running a bakery here….It’s very rare that photo clients are in constant need of your services, which means you’ll have to do a fair amount of prospecting for new ones. To get your photography in front of potential clients, you’re going to have to develop some marketing chops. Luckily for you, marketing is currently easier than it has ever been.  

How to Market Your Photography Business: Photography and Social Media

photo by CASEZY via iStock

Social media is the simplest and most accessible marketing tool at your disposal. Taking the time to set up and build your social following will allow you to gain exposure with your target audience and grow your business.

Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Instagram can be great places to start. You should study each platform to determine which is best for your business as each of these networks has their own nuances and will require a unique strategy for building an engaged audience. That’s why I recommend focusing your attention on one or two social networks when starting out so that you can focus on putting in your best effort and attention.

While each social media network requires its own unique strategy for maximizing its potential to help grow your photography business, there are a few general rules that apply to all the networks:

  • Be personable, but keep in mind that these profiles are for your business and not for your quips and rants. Consistency is key, which means posting content that reflects how you want to portray your business.
  • Not only is having a consistent voice necessary but posting consistency is also important as it can improve your photography business’ credibility, engagement rates, and overall customer relationships.
  • Typically, you should only share your best photographs. Additionally, you may want to make sure that the photographs you share are branded with your logo to help fight against improper duplication and wrongful distribution.
  • While the visual aspect of what you’re sharing is important, you should also put some thought into the captions you use when sharing your photographs. Not only does this help to separate you from other photographers, but it’s another chance to engage with your audience.
  • Use your social media accounts as a way to showcase your work and also to help educate your audience. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, share articles or post tidbits to help brides and grooms. This will help establish you as a trusted resource which increases the likelihood of you being hired when the prospect is ready to commit.
  • Don’t expect your following on social media to intuitively know what action you want them to take when you publish a post on social media. Include a call-to-action with your posts to entice your following to interact with your content in a desired manner.

Most social media platforms also offer simple and affordable ways to run targeted ads to use when prospecting for new clients, or for reminding existing clients just how good you are. Allot some budget for experimentation, as advertising isn’t always as simple as it seems. When in doubt, just do some homework.

How to Market Your Photography Business: Start a Blog

photo by golubovy via iStock

A good blog pulls double duty in the photographer's toolkit. Writing great, relevant, and authoritative content will provide you with an opportunity to show who you are, the value you can provide, and help with the credibility necessary to win over new clients as well as to keep the ones you already have.

Not only that, but a blog that’s consistently updated with outstanding content can help with your search engine rankings, giving you a consistent stream of potential clients visiting your website.

A few tips for making the most of your blog:

  • The first step to writing content that your audience can relate to is figuring out exactly who your target audience is. As an example, if you’re a wedding photographer, you may want to consider offering brides and grooms invaluable tips and tricks for making the most of their big day. You could do that by interviewing real couples or vendors (hair stylists, make-up artists, etc.) that you worked with previously, discuss popular wedding photography poses, etc. The point is to tailor your blog content to reach your ideal clients.
  • Spend time on coming up with the right headline/blog title for your posts as this is typically the deciding factor on whether someone reads the rest of your post or shares it with their followers.
  • Make your posts valuable. Though “fluff” pieces are okay from time to time, the purpose of your blog should really be to educate your readers and highlight your work.

How to Market Your Photography Business: Email Marketing

 

Email marketing is another relatively simple way to keep your clients engaged and make sure they keep you in mind for any and all things photographic.

Establish and maintain a mailing list and get yourself in the habit of putting out regular email blasts with new projects and/or promotions.

Be careful to exercise balance here because I’m pretty sure nothing happens faster in life than the “send to spam” click.

Learn more about email marketing tips in the video above by The Deep End.

How to Market Your Photography Business: Word of Mouth Goes a Long Way

photo by JPWALLET via iStock

Don’t forget about good ol’ fashioned word of mouth marketing. People will always trust a positive review from somebody that they trust over a seemingly faceless review on the internet, and that’s something you should account for.

Punctuality, good customer service, and being able to put your ego aside will go a long way in leaving your clients with a good impression that they can then impart onto their friends and family. I have gotten a steady stream of gigs from referrals through previous clients.

Don’t be afraid to invest some time in this, but make sure not to diminish your value in the process. Cutting people a good deal once in a while or volunteering your time and camera to do some work for a charity can leave a lasting impression that could turn people into lifetime customers.

How Can I Make Money With Photography?

 

It’s the million-dollar question: How can I make money with photography?

Let me be clear that making money as a photographer is not easy. It will require tons of time and patience to make this work! Peter McKinnon hits on these and many other points in the video above.

That said, there are many more ways to make money with photography than being hired to take someone’s photo. 

Here’s just a few ideas you can use to supplement your photography income:

  • Offer your photo editing services to other photographers. This is a great option for periods in which business is a little slow.
  • Make prints, photo books, postcards, greeting cards, and other printed materials out of your photos. Not only is this a great way to show off your work, but it can also bring in a good amount of money if you can partner with other local businesses to sell your stuff!
  • Alternatively, sell prints on places like Etsy to earn extra cash.
  • Enter photography competitions. If you can win, there might be significant prize money involved.
  • Contract with businesses to take headshots of employees, photograph events, and create photos for their marketing materials.
  • Give stock photography a try. Places like 123rf, iStockPhoto, and Adobe Stock are good places to start.
  • Work as a second shooter. Wedding photographers are always on the lookout for qualified helpers. This is an ideal option if you’re looking to get experience and need some mentorship from an experienced photographer.
  • Monetize your YouTube channel.
  • Teach photography seminars and workshops.

Again, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ways to make money as a photographer. It’s important not to stretch yourself too thin here - don’t try to do all of these things in addition to running your normal photography business.

Being a jack of all trades and master of none is not a good idea. Instead, master your skills and techniques and use them to make money in a few different ways.

How Much Should I Charge for Photography?

 photo by tomazl via iStock

This is another question that seems like it should have a simple answer, but doesn’t.

How much you charge for photography depends on a myriad of factors:

  • Your overhead - rent, utilities, insurance, employee wages, and so forth
  • Your level of experience - if you just started your business, you can’t charge as much as a seasoned pro
  • The type of photography you do - wedding photographers can charge more than macro photographers because wedding photography is in much higher demand
  • Your marketing budget - whether you do targeted Facebook ads, ads in the local paper, or something in between, you need to pass those expenses on to your customers
  • Personal expenses - your mortgage payment, food, auto insurance, things for your kids, etc.
  • Retirement - yep, you need to save for that, too!

Additionally, you have to consider how much you want to work. That is, if you want to work four days a week, your rates will need to be higher than they would be if you work six days a week. 

Also consider how much money you want to make. As I explain in my article on how much photographers make, the average annual salary for photographers is just over $60,000. If that’s the target you want to hit, you’ll obviously need to charge twice as much than you would if $30,000 is good enough for you.

 

There are plenty of other factors to consider when thinking about how much to charge for your photography.

Will you charge per hour or a flat fee? What about charging per image? This article offers an excellent overview of these different pricing options and why they might be right for you.

For more insights into how to price your photography, have a look at the video above by Rosh Sillars.

Starting a Photography Business: It’s All About Time

photo by recep-bg via iStock

Lastly, don’t forget to budget your time. Your time is very important, and you’ll be spending plenty of it on this business, but not always in the ways you would like. Don’t just think about the amount of time you spend actually shooting, because there’s more to it than that.

Think about the time you spend traveling to and from a shoot and then editing once you get home. Consider time spent on marketing tasks and general business maintenance as well as the simple back and forth between you and clients. It might not seem like a lot of time but it all adds up, I promise.

As time goes on and your business begins to grow, you might be able to hire assistants to help you with many of the less enjoyable tasks at hand. In the meantime, you’re going to have to buckle down and do most - if not all of it - yourself.

It’s Time to Start a Photography Business!

photo by scyther5 via iStock

Now that you’ve taken the time to explore the various facets of starting your photography business, it’s time to go back to where you started. You are now significantly more qualified to assess the quality and viability of your business plan, and thus, you’ll have to make some adjustments.

Take your time, and don’t be afraid to make some changes as you’re preparing to set things in stone. You’re a photographer, and that means seeing what is in front of you and deciding how to tackle it. If you take the time to do the legwork now, you’ll have plenty of time (and money) to make all of the great images you’d like to with limited distraction. Sure, things are going to come up, and none of this is foolproof, but you’ll find yourself in a much better position than if you decided just to wing it.

Now you know How To Start A Photography Business. It’s time to plan for your own photography business: Go take some pictures!

Get out there and show the world what your photos are worth.