Don’t Do This, Seriously!

A photographer friend shared this message that she received from a local newbie and requested help in formulating an answer:

I, of course, was no help at all, as I was astounded by the request and my first impulse was to snark her to death:

Seriously?

What in the world possessed you to write a total stranger and ask if you could come scope out all the cool, neat shit that it’s taken 6 years and thousands of dollars to collect?

Do you really think I have the kind of time required to entertain total strangers who are thinking about buying a camera?

And why in the hell are you not writing to ask for training?  Screw the training – let’s get the scoop on the cool props!

Actually, you might want to return to grade school because your punctuation, spelling and grammar are atrocious!

And last, but certainly not least.. we live in THE. SAME. FREAKING. TOWN!!!! What fairy-bearing-unicorn told you it was good manners to contact someone that you were intending on competing against and asking to learn how to find the props in order to DUPLICATE THEIR WORK ???

Truly, this kind of behavior really needs to be punishable in a court of law.

I told my photographer friend that I would be inclined to charge $50 per hour for her to come look at my props and $250 per hour to ask me where to get them. After further consideration, I’d also charge $2000 per hour to provide answers to those questions and $5000 per hour to provide the correct answers.

As it turns out, my friend didn’t heed my advice (probably a smart move) and provided the following answer (which I think was way too nice, but she is obviously a better woman than I!):

I want thank you for contacting me, but right now I am entering my busiest time of the year, and I don’t normally take on apprentices or train other photographers, especially given the small marketing area we are located in. I will, however, give you some suggestions and advice that you may find helpful.

Just about every photographer I know, and I know quite a few, went into business because photography is a passion or more accurately, an obsession. We eat it, drink it, breathe it, dream about it in our sleep. We sacrifice for it. There are many times when this business takes time away from our families and social lives, especially when you are first starting out. There’s always a constant of learning, marketing, designing, and the list goes on. What I’m basically saying is that it’s not a 9-5 job, but that you are constantly working at it, 110% of the time. Most of having a studio is all business and crunching numbers and what not and you have to be prepared for that. You also have to be financially viable enough and have insurance and all that to protect yourself if someone gets hurt or decides to sue you. It’s taken me over six years of learning, long hours, and struggling, plus going for a business degree to get where I’m at, and I’m still not where I want to be because at this point, as we still depend on my husband’s income to pay the bills.

There is no such thing as an “incomplete business”. If you’re charging people for a product or service, that’s pretty much a business. My suggestion to you is this: if you’re serious about going into business in photography, you need a plan of action (and eventually a business plan). Go to school, spend a few years studying business and taking classes in photography, and practice what you are learning. Practice by taking portraits for friends and family (that’s how I started) and become consistent in your work before you start charging. That’s only fair to your future paying customers that you are able to deliver a quality end product every time they come to you.

You would also need a start-up fund to get good, basic equipment, which will cost somewhere around $10,000 (and that’s just for the basics such as a lighting system, camera equipment, computers, printers, editing software, some starter backdrops, and background system. This doesn’t include all the extras you will probably want later on). You’ll need to get a good professional-level camera and get comfortable with it, learn what it can do and what you can do with it, as well as learn photo editing with Photoshop or another photo editing software. Go online and join some photography forums (I’m a member of several, but do a search and find a couple that are a good fit for you) for those just learning photography and join the PPA (Professional Photographers of America) as an aspiring photographer. Read books about photography…there’s one out that’s excellent. It’s Photography (10th edition) by Barbara London, John Upton, and Jim Stone. You can buy this (it retails for about $130) at places like Amazon or Barnes & Nobles, and I think it’s available at the library.

This is the best way I can think of to help you get started. If this is something you truly want to do, then you’ll have to sacrifice, do the hard work, learn a lot and pay your dues. It won’t happen overnight. Hope this gives you something to work with and think about!

So, if you are inclined to contact a photographer that you admire and ask for help – be REALLY polite and ask if you can purchase some mentoring time. Your offer to pay will probably be turned down, but the offer will indicate to the professional that you value their time.

And stay the hell away from fairy-bearing unicorns.