CHAPTER 1: Photography as a Business

You love to take great photos and you’d like to make money doing it. You have heard that if you follow your passion, not only will you be happy, but also successful.

Having a passionate dream is great, but there is a big difference between being a great photographer and running a successful photography business. Jumping into the photography business can be pretty easy, but actually earning a living as a photographer is another story.

As photographers, we deal with specific numbers like f/stops and shutter speeds; as successful business owners, we must deal also with numbers like gross profits, overhead expenses, insurance payments, and tax withholdings. Then there is the issue of finding clients and successfully marketing your business.

Let’s start at the beginning by looking at the different types of photography businesses out there and see what will work for you. Everyone is different—although you might jump for joy at the idea of spending every weekend photographing a different wedding, some would rather crawl around trying to get the perfect shot of a new puppy.

There is a lot to consider when turning your passion for photography into a business. You need to consider the changes to your lifestyle, who your clients are going to be, and what type of photography you plan to make a living on. By understanding the different paths in professional photography and where they may lead, you will be better equipped to make good business decisions.

Business or Hobby?

Some photographers decide early on that they want to be professional photographers and go to school to earn a photography degree. Many others start with a photography hobby and at some point transition to a part-time or full-time business. So what is the difference between a hobby and a business? That is an important question, not only in legal terms but in the mindset and motivation of the photographer.

The main difference between a hobby and a business is whether you are doing the activity for profit. At some point a business has to make a profit or it ceases to exist. If your goal is to go out and take photos and make some money only by chance, that is not a business, that’s a hobby.

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) actually determines the difference between a hobby and a business. They do it by using a wide list of criteria that include: looking at your past tax returns to see if you made a profit in at least three of the last five years, whether you depend on the income for your livelihood, and whether you carry on in a businesslike manor. This is more of a subjective look at how you conduct yourself, the records you keep, the time and money invested, and any other factors that could prove you are serious about the endeavor.

Whatever path you take to get to the point where you start a photography business, once you make that decision to be a business, you need to start acting as a business. Chapter 4 covers the business basics you’ll need to know to get started, including how to apply for licenses, and your potential legal and accounting needs.

Specialized vs. General Photography

What type of photographer are you and what type of photography business do you want to run? Are you going to be a jack-of-all-trades and cover a wide range of subjects or do you want to specialize in a specific niche? That doesn’t mean that if you decide to be a wedding photographer you can never go out and shoot an event or offer corporate headshots, but your main focus makes a difference when you start to market yourself. There are pros and cons to specializing compared to being a general photographer.

Let’s look at two photographers. Photographer A shoots only high-end weddings and events, while photographer B shoots weddings, portraits, maternity, and even products on occasion.

Photographer A is probably less busy shooting than photographer B, only photographing a handful of weddings a year, but A can charge more for each wedding and her website and branding will be aimed at a specific client. Photographer A will spend much more time with each client and more time building up vendor relationships. The downside is that the cash flow in the business might be sporadic and a downturn in the economy can seriously affect photographer A since she has relatively few clients. She likely has a busy season during which she works six or seven days a week plus several evenings, and a slow season when there is more flexibility and fewer hours required.

Photographer B is most likely much busier shooting different events and sessions all year. Chances are B shoots more jobs but charges less for each. Her branding and marketing needs to reach a much wider audience, and since it is more general the clients looking for a photographer who specializes might be turned off. It may also take longer to build up a steady clientele due to a wider focus or lack of a deadline-driven need for a photographer like with weddings. Photographer B also has more flexibility in setting her work hours and keeping weekend hours to a minimum. There is another big plus, and that is that she gets to photograph a variety of things, which means she never gets bored creatively. She can also generate different revenue streams, which can help with cash flow as well.

Which focus is the right one for you? Only you can answer that.

The Path to Your Photography Business

There is no one single right path or way to create a photography business.

Some people map out a traditional path to becoming a photographer that includes a college degree in art or photography. They leave school and get a job working at a newspaper or as a freelance photographer. They gain experience and start taking jobs on the side, and then go on to opening their own photography business. Other photographers pick up a camera as a hobby and discover a passion for making photographs that leads to a full-time business.

Then there are those who find themselves out of work and that photography hobby suddenly becomes a money-making opportunity. Or, you might be a mom who picked up a camera to record those special moments in your kids’ lives and now see it as a career opportunity.

There are many different ways to end up in the same place. Now that we are all here, let’s look at some of the photography careers available. Here is short list:

• Photojournalist. A photojournalist is a reporter who uses images instead of words. Photojournalists are different from other types of photographers in that their images are not manipulated before publishing. This is different from having a photojournalistic style, where your images look as if you took them when you were covering the event as a reporter, but you can edit the images for content and effect.

• Event photographer. These photographers cover everything from concerts to sporting events. They could be working for a wire service or newspaper, or they might be freelance. Many sports teams, companies, and venues have their own event photographers on staff.

• Portrait photographer. A portrait photographer takes photos of people, usually in a controlled environment. There are numerous specialty niches with portraits, such as maternity, boudoir, newborns, families, and high school seniors.

• Wedding photographer. A wedding photographer is probably the most recognized photography job.

• Second shooter. Sometimes the second shooter at a wedding or other event doesn’t get paid, but it’s a great way to gain experience and on-the-job training.

• Wire service. Photographers who work for the wire service cover everything from sports to movie premieres. They need to not only have access to the events, but also be able to work fast since the images have a short shelf life and competition is fierce.

• Stock photographer. Stock photographers create images that are used on stock image sites. The recent increase in the number of micro stock agencies means that the entry into this type of photography is low, but so is the pay. You would need to continuously come up with new images and the competition is fierce. The upside is that you can do a lot of this at your home and the schedule is up to you.

• Pet photographer. This photographer specializes in taking photos of animals. As pet ownership increases, the demand for pet photographers has been on the rise. You need a ton of patience and a love of animals to make this work for you.

• Fine art photographer. These photographers make images for art’s sake and usually don’t have a client that pays for the work until after it is completed and up for sale. These photographers create the photos that hang on gallery walls.

Full-Time vs. Part-Time

As I discuss later in this chapter, many times the downside of being a photographer is the work schedule. Portrait and wedding photographers might spend the regular Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 business hours working on marketing or editing images from the last session, but the main working hours for wedding and some portrait photographers are the weekend, when weddings take place and clients are available for portrait sessions. This can be a great thing because it allows you to continue to work a regular job while you transition part-time into photography.

There are a lot of great reasons to start out as a part-time photographer:

• Financial security. Starting slowly is safer financially. Working a regular job while you start up your photography business allows you to still earn a living (and perhaps keep your health insurance) and not rely on the new business right away. You can also reinvest money from your jobs right back into the business. The time needed to earn a profit can be anywhere from 6 to 24 months, so having another source of income during this time is a good idea.

• On-the-job training. There’s a dirty little secret in the industry: Many photographers start out without all the technical knowledge they should have. Even though they have a great eye for composition, some of those camera settings are still a little confusing. If you start out slow, you can focus on the jobs where you know you have the skills to get the images the client wants while also honing your technical skills.

• Narrowing your focus. You know that you want to run a photography business but you are not 100% sure what you want to specialize in. Starting off part-time lets you try different things without the pressure of fully supporting yourself.

• Ensuring a good fit. Not everyone is cut out to run his or her own photography business. It is better to find out if it isn’t for you before committing full-time and investing a ton of money. Sometimes a love of creating images can turn into hate if the business side becomes too stressful.

• Relationship and contact development. As you will see in the later chapters on sales and marketing, relationships with vendors, service providers, and others in the business are important and take time to develop. Starting slowly allows you to make these contacts without the pressure to turn them into money-generating sales right away.

• Learning the market. The more time you can spend learning about the market you are entering, the more prepared you will be to create a strong business foundation.

• Developing your people skills. Being a photographer requires a lot of people skills. You have to sell and network yourself with confidence, make people feel comfortable when you are photographing them, and meet with lots of potential clients while putting them at ease about working with you.

There are also advantages to jumping into the deep end and making a go as a full-time photographer:

• Focus on growing your business. Committing full-time allows you to focus all your energy on your photography business. More time to spend on your new business means more time to get it up and going. There are only 168 hours in a week and having 40 more of them available to your business can make a big difference.

• Excitement and pressure. Starting a new business is exciting. A little scary at the same time, but mainly exciting. This can keep you motivated and on top of the whole process.

• A clean schedule. Your schedule is wide open and when a prospective client wants to book you for a shoot, you won’t have to check with your real job.

• Love your boss. That’s right—you are your own boss. The only person you have to answer to is you. That also means that there are no more excuses.

• Focus. It’s tough to focus on two different jobs at the same time, and usually one of them ends up suffering. If you go full-time at the start, you can focus on your business and your business alone.

• Few barriers. There has never been a better time to go out on your own. The costs involved in photography are much lower than they used to be. In the past, it would cost a minimum of $10 per roll of film and then another $10 to develop those 36 exposures. Now you can use a single memory card over and over again for thousands of images with no extra costs.

• Faster learning curve. There’s nothing like jumping into the deep end; it’s sink or swim. You’ll learn faster and get your business off the ground quicker if you have no other option than to succeed.

There is one other compelling reason to go full-time—the economy. The economy is not in great shape and many people are finding themselves out of work and looking for alternate sources of income. If this is you, take a deep breath and know you are not alone. There is no better time to start your own business than during a recession. Recessions tend to be followed by periods of economic growth, so if you jump in now, you’ll be positioned to take advantage of the next growth cycle.

Lifestyle Issues

Taking the plunge and turning your passion for photography into a money-making business can be a daunting task. More than that, there are some lifestyle issues to consider. It is one thing to have a passion for photography, it is quite another to earn a living doing it. Understand what you are getting into so you can make informed decisions.

Salary

I used to say that when I quit my cushy government job to work full-time in my photography business, it was for twice the hours and half the pay. Except I wasn’t kidding! Look, let’s be clear up front: Chances are you are not going to get rich as a photographer, despite what you may have heard about those rock star wedding photographers earning $10,000 or more per wedding. This is a not a field to get into if you are looking to earn a big salary. If that’s a high priority to you, think long and hard, and I mean LONG and HARD, about getting into photography professionally.

Money is important. If you didn’t want to earn a living as a photographer, you wouldn’t be reading this book. Chances are most photographers earn less than you think. I’m not trying to scare you off; I want to ensure that you go into this field with your eyes open, and can plan accordingly.

One of the things that threw me when I got into the photography business was how hard photographers work in comparison to their salaries. I had heard wedding photographers claiming they earned $10,000 per wedding, and in doing some quick math in my head, I thought, “Wow … $10,000 x 52 weekends. Sounds great!” I was naive, and at the time I didn’t think to ask how many weddings they shot per year at that rate, or what their take-home pay actually was. My husband and I pretty much immediately decided that we would become high-end wedding photographers, and we were certain of our own talent and willingness and ability to work hard and rise to the top.

I regret not having a more solid understanding of common photographers’ salaries and not doing more research in the beginning on salaries and lifestyle conditions, which is why it is so important to me to offer you that opportunity.

Here is a sampling of real working photographers’ salaries from PhotoMint readers. These numbers represent both ends of the spectrum—those barely getting by and a few at the top end of the earning capacity of this industry.

• A talented fashion and wedding photographer from Manchester, England, grossed about $12,000 from part-time work. Her bookings for next year are double, so she hopes this means she is on her way to full-time.

• A full-time jack-of-all-trades photographer from Boise, Idaho, estimates he’ll gross nearly $30,000 in his first year, with 267 shoots.

• An established portrait photographer in Houston, Texas, reports grossing $160,000 in total sales, and pocketing about $80,000 after expenses and taxes. She states that it took a lot of time and money invested into her business over the years to reach the point she is at now, seven years later.

• A wedding photographer in Northern California with a couple of years under her belt shares: “My business financials are a mess, I have no idea what I’m doing … I have to admit, I’m barely surviving.”

• A Southern California photographer trying to make a go shooting for micro stock websites is still in the red after 18 months.

• A high-end destination wedding photographer who has been photographing weddings for more than five years grossed $150,000 and netted $60,000 last year and expects to do the same this year. His profits are higher than the average, mostly due to minimal overhead costs.

• A part-time event photographer based in Atlanta combines both studio work, which is making a profit, with live music and event photography, which is still operating at a loss. He hopes to increase the studio work to allow him to keep shooting the less profitable live events that he loves. As of now, the business is losing roughly $3,000 per year overall.

When considering what you can earn as a photographer, it’s important to understand the difference between gross and net earnings. Gross earnings are the grand total that your business brings in before your expenses are paid. Net earnings are what are left over after all costs are deducted. Costs include rent, insurance, equipment, advertising, and all other bills.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) recommends that photography businesses aim to keep 35% of their gross earnings as profit. That means that all those brand-new photographers claiming they “earned six figures in their first year and they’ll be happy to teach you their business secrets for only $1,200” probably kept only $35,000—if they were lucky. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not nearly as exciting and glamorous as they’d like you to believe.

When working out what a photographer earns, keep in mind your geographical location and cost of living. A photographer working in a more affluent area might earn more, but the costs of living and doing business there are likely higher.

Cash Flow

One of the advantages about working for someone else is that you get a steady paycheck. When you work for yourself, that reliable payment is gone. Poof. Since you are now responsible for your own income, you have to take into account what happens while you are waiting for clients to pay, and what happens if they are late or if the time between jobs is longer than expected. There is also a seasonal aspect to many types of photography jobs—there are more weddings in the summer, while demand for family portraits jumps around the holiday season.

The simple truth is that, at times, clients pay late or you simply don’t have enough jobs to cover your expenses. You need to take that into account, especially when starting up your business. You’ll find more on cash flow in Chapter 4.

When my husband Geoff and I started out, Geoff had recently sold a tech company that he’d started and had a good nest egg in the bank to fund the next business venture, which turned out to be Geoff White Photography. At the time, I was working full-time and had full benefits. Because we had money in the bank to finance our new business and a steady income, we were able to grow the business quickly. But without that financial safety, there’s no way we could have survived that year.

We officially launched our business at a bridal show in November, and from that we booked five weddings for the following year. Because we only got retainers from each of those five weddings and would not get full payment until the following summer, that meant that from the time we started, in November, until about six months later, we had collected only $7,500. The rest of the payments came in the late spring and summer, but the point is, we would not have been able to survive financially on $7,500 (before taxes) for six months.

Hours

There is something nice about a job that doesn’t follow you home. That is, you go to work in the morning, put in your eight hours or so, and go home. Once you leave your job, you don’t have to think about it until the next day.

When you run your own business, you can never stop thinking about it.

Trust me, I’ve tried.

Many people assume that one of the perks of running your own business is setting your own hours. (Cue visions of afternoons by the pool.) The reality is that you will work a lot more hours for yourself than you would working for someone else.

For example, as a successful wedding photographer you will probably work almost every weekend during the summer. Most wedding photographers also work at least several evenings each week attending networking events and meeting with potential clients. What that means in practical terms is that you won’t have a summer weekend to yourself. You can kiss your weekend BBQs and Saturday night concerts goodbye. This can be even more stressful if you have kids with team sports or recitals on the weekends.

It can also take a toll on your social life because it’s hard to stay connected when you miss most parties, baby showers, and get-togethers due to work. On the plus side, your wedding photographer friends will happily show up for a Monday afternoon BBQ!

Once your business is more established, it may be possible for you to have some flexibility with your working hours. I know several photographers who travel for a month or more during their slow seasons, and that can work if you plan for it and you are able to absorb a loss of profit from the jobs you won’t book while you are away.

Geoff and I recently decided to go to Burning Man, a huge art festival that we had been wanting to go back to for many years. The problem was, it takes place on Labor Day weekend, which is one of our biggest booking weekends all year. We usually book two, and sometimes three, large weddings over that holiday weekend. Each year, we would say we were going to block that weekend off for ourselves, but when brides called with fantastic weddings (and big photography budgets) it was too hard to turn down. For the past two years we have gone, knowing we were losing out on $15,000 to $20,000 in bookings. For us, our business was well established, and we knew it was time to put our personal lives first for a change.

And it’s not only wedding photographers who sacrifice social lives. Take event photographers who cover concerts, sporting events, or red carpet arrivals in Hollywood. They arrive hours before the events start, work frantically for the short time allotted for photography, and then race at breakneck speed to get the images sorted and edited so that they can go out on the wire services as fast as possible. There is a good chance that they are working every night of the week, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for socializing except with the other photographers.

Landscape and travel photographers get up long before the sun rises and usually travel out to the perfect spot to capture the scene using that great morning light. That means going to sleep early enough to be awake at 4 am and then getting some sleep in the middle of the day (not always an easy task) and back to shooting in those golden hours around sunset. Many times, it takes several days of waiting to get the shot you need. Those are some brutal hours to work day in and day out.

Working Conditions

At first glance it might not seem that being a photographer requires tough working conditions. We see photographers on the sidelines of sporting events, standing there with their big cameras and giant lenses. That doesn’t look so hard! When we see photographers working in a studio it doesn’t look tough. Just take a couple of photos of the models and hand the memory card off to an assistant.

Reality is a different story. The working conditions can have a negative impact on your health and physical wellbeing. Make no mistake, being a photographer is hard work and it can take a toll on your body.

Health

As photographers, our bodies take a fair amount of on-the-job abuse. The crouching, the long periods of standing, the hauling gear back and forth, and the hours spent in an office all take their toll. Here are some tips that can make a huge difference during those long hours that you will spend in front of the computer:

• Use an ergonomic keyboard.

• Ditch your mouse and invest in a graphic tablet instead.

• Invest in a comfortable, adjustable chair.

• Position the top of your monitor at the same height as your eyes to avoid eye strain.

• Use good lighting in your workspace.

• Be sure to get up and stretch every 20 minutes or so—or take this a step further and opt for a standing desk.

To go along with the previous tips on improving your working conditions when at your desk, here are some tips that can help when you’re shooting on location:

• The right camera bag. If shooting a large wedding all day, a bag with wheels for your main gear and a second bag of lighting gear and accessories is a great idea. For shooting weddings, I use a Think Tank Photo belt system, which allows me to keep my favorite lenses, memory cards, cell phone, and water bottle with me. If you are on location and have to hike a fair distance to the shooting location, maybe use a backpack with lumbar support. There is no one bag that will suit all your needs, but try to match the bag to the usage and avoid carrying too much.

• Roller cart. This great back-saving item doesn’t have to be fancy, only sturdy enough to handle your gear. I use a Porter Case because it doubles as a handcart, so you can pile on 150 pounds of gear.

• Water bottle. Having a water bottle handy makes all the difference during a long day of shooting.

• Help. If you have an assistant, have him help you with all of the carrying and lifting.

• Comfortable shoes. Nothing is more helpful than a great pair of shoes when you are on your feet at a wedding all day. If nothing else, get some gel inserts for your favorite shoes.

• Eat. Protein bars are an easy item to keep on hand for extra energy during a long day shooting.

• A hat. Skin cancer is no joke and many photographers don’t like to wear sunscreen on their faces since it can get on the gear. The alternative is to wear a hat.

Travel

If you love to travel, then certain types of photography might suit you perfectly. You can develop a niche-based business based on travel, such as being a destination wedding photographer or a freelance photojournalist. A number of wedding photographers choose to specialize in destination weddings so they can travel to exotic locales.

I have travelled to Spain, Turks and Caicos, and St. Lucia for weddings, and I loved the opportunity to see and photograph other parts of the world while getting paid and having all my expenses covered. However, while there I was working pretty much the whole time. It’s hard to spend the afternoon by the pool enjoying a beer when you’ve got an engagement session or a site walk-through at sunset. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns—there is a lot of stress involved in working in other countries, such as:

• Travelling with your gear

• Dealing with transportation complications and delays

• Arranging work permits

• Coping with jet lag

• Keeping your image files safe while traveling

Plus, on the business side, the time away means office work doesn’t get done on the travel days and you may lose some work since you are not there to book clients when they call.

Jobs such as hotel photographer rank high on the list of photographer dream jobs. Hotel photographers get hired by a chain and flown to each of the properties for several days to create images for marketing campaigns, brochures, and so forth. One of my secret fantasies is to be a Ritz Carlton photographer!

Driving

You can rack up some serious driving miles working as a photographer. Freelance photojournalists and event photographers might shoot multiple events in the same day, and that means getting from point A to point B (and sometimes point C)—usually by car. What this means is that you need a reliable car and you must calculate the costs up front. That includes the costs of gas, insurance, registration, and repairs.

To be able to get the tax benefits from all that driving, you need to keep records of all the miles covered and the costs involved. That can be a mountain of paperwork that many would rather put off until the end of the year. Pick up a small mileage book (found in most office supply stores) and keep it in the car to record your business mileage.

Now that you have had a chance to take a look at what’s it’s really like to earn a living as a photographer, you can decide if this is the right career path for you. What it comes down to is that you’ve got to love it, otherwise you’ll burn out quickly. But if you know deep down that this is what you want to do, and you can accept the financial drawbacks and the sometimes intense hours, then read on. We needed to get that out of the way before diving in to the details of how to build your business.

It’s not all about the money. What we do is deeply fulfilling on a personal level, and most corporate jobs with big salaries and full benefits can’t top that at the end of the day. There are incredible moments I have captured that people will remember for the rest of their lives. It is a privilege to make a living as an artist. Are you ready? Let’s get started! Now we will look at all the pieces you need to build your business from the ground up. It’s going to be a wild ride, and I hope you enjoy every minute of it.