So you want to be a Photographer….

Well I have got good news for you! If you own a camera and you love to take photos you already are.

I get so many wonderfully kind and supportive emails daily, sometimes with many questions regarding just how to be a photographer. How to get started. What kind of equipment to invest in. Even how I began my own journey. We all learn and grow at different paces. We all have different perspectives, different objectives, different goals and dreams. This my friends is what makes us unique. We all start somewhere and starting out in photography is most definitely like learning to walk. We put one foot in front of the other, we stumble many times but we get back up and we do it all over again.  I know its scary. But coming from someone that has been there, trust me. It is not as hard as you think.  Don’t get me wrong. Its HARD work.  But your over thinking things nine out of ten times.  It isn’t a popularity contest. You do not need to be the next big thing. You just need to be able to sustain your family and do what you love.  Everything else is icing on the cupcake!

There is a stigma in this industry that you have to process your images a certain way, take a certain kind of photograph, follow certain trends. I know coming into the field I felt very much like the new girl the very first day of high school. Better yet I felt like the new girl half way through the school starting out at a new high school on a new planet. There are a billion workshops to consider, processing tools and templates to consider, versions of Photoshop to pour yourself over, camera bodies and lenses to research and its all so overwhelming (and expensive). So what is a new photographer to do?

For one. STOP FREAKING OUT. Yep. Take the stress out of the equation.  Good air in, Bad air out. Just breathe!  I have heard so many say “Well, I am not a real photographer but…” or “I know I have a long way to go but…” or worse and let me tell you.  We all feel that way sometimes. Every last one of us.  Seasoned or new it is totally and perfectly normal.  I am not posting this in anyway to make anyone feel bad.  I want you to know that you are human.. normal even and the way you are feeling right now is totally typical of how we have all felt at one point or another. The best way to honestly grow in anyway is to stop beating yourself up.  Once you let your guard down and stop worrying about how everyone else feels about your work I truly promise you will be able to focus on all that is good and constructive and how you can grow! Trust me, you will begin to grow! I have your run of the mill starting out story and if it makes you feel better I will totally share. But before I truly get into the grit and guts of the matter this is my one biggest piece of advice to those starting out.

Learn your equipment. Take your camera everywhere you go. Put it on manual if you haven’t already and discipline yourself to learn how to use your camera to the fullest potential. Ingest and digest every tidbit of information you can find.  You do not need a fancy degree.  You do not need to spend thousands of dollars on equipment.  You just need to learn what you have.  Diligence pays off and the more you practice the easier it will get.  If you stumble, get right back up.  Business will be there, all that will come.  Having confidence in yourself and knowing the hows and whys behind the photographs you take will be way more rewarding then anything else you can imagine!  Be your biggest fan and drown out the negative!

Starting at the beginning I suppose is the best and only way to do this right.  I apologize in advance for any rambling. I tend to do that LOL! Feel free to skip any part that bores you! Aside from the part of the story you know about me. My inspiration and my reasoning for beginning out this is how I actually BEGAN pursing photography.  It was a long bendy road, one in which I am still traveling.  It was all worth it though.  Anyone that is a friend on flickr or has followed my fan page for sometime has most certainly seen the changes, the growth (hopefully anyway!)  I wasn’t a born natural.  It took time and dedication.  There are times i seriously feel the need to pinch myself. I digress though. Proceed at your own risk lol!

In 2002 I had my daughter Lillian.  I could in no way afford a digital camera so we sufficed with a point and shoot. Typical of most new parents actually I am sure.  My son Wesley came in 2004 and by that point my oldest had been diagnosed with JRA and we just didn’t have the money to do much of anything but I needed to be able to take some sort of photos of my kids and the cardboard and plastic film disposables weren’t doing it so I rocked out my camera phone for a while.  I am totally mad at myself for not sticking with the disposables. The photos I have of my kids first couple years are not only unprintable but horribly edited in a program called Ulead photo impact I stumbled upon.  Still then I thought I was a total ar-teest. Yes. You won’t be seeing those images LOL!  My family smiled and nodded.  Only I seemed to grasp just has masterful and beautiful these images were. Still my interest was peaked. In 2006 came my son Noah.  By this time we had in fact gone through many point and shoots. Most pretty cheap and they all broke shortly after we bought them.  Income tax time rolled around and I decided to buy a decent point in shoot. I believe it was a Canon s3is and oh boy was I proud of my photographs.  My family and friends began to marvel over my “gorgeous” photos (eye roll.)  I did it all.  The funky tilts, manic over processing and all on full auto of course.  But everyone I knew I insisted I had an eye so I pressed on.  I was on a mommy board at the time with a pretty awesome photographer friend who then smiled and nodded but I can only imagine what was going on in this woman’s head.  I proudly paraded those photos on baby center, in emails to my family and on myspace.  Of course I thought I was a photographic pariah, but umm yeah.  I was in for one mean reality check.  Fortunately my friend was kind enough to take me under her wing and give me a few pointers.  Also fortunate for me that same point and shoot brook little less then a year later so I bought my very first dslr. That is when my real journey began. And just a proof that I have been there here a few of my old favorites LOL!

After getting my dslr my friend was kind enough to let me pick her brain. She directed me to a forum known as Ilovephotography.com. My rock star complex from there was totally downhill. Talk about a reality check. If I can say one positive though I put my camera on manual and never looked back. I took it everywhere. I read everything I could get my hands on.  I seriously don’t remember much but after getting on Ilovephotography I knew I wasn’t going into business until I was ready and there was no set timeline but I knew it wouldn’t be soon.  I went through every stage imaginable. It was discouraging, scary and amazing.  If I can say anything it was definitely a journey but I put one foot in front of the other and with time I saw growth.  I didn’t compromise my vision, my perspective or my goals to conform and I can honestly say it was the best thing I ever did for myself.

You don’t need much honestly.  My first two years I seriously used a Canon Rebel and a 60mm macro and I loved it.  I only upgraded when I was ready to go into business.  Only when I knew what I was using inside and out. Otherwise I was worried that I was throwing my money to the wind.  I wanted to be sure that it was necessary. And even then I went with a canon 5d Classic opposed to a Canon 5d Mark II so I knew that the money I was spending wasn’t totally lost on my goals.  I began portfolio building in 2009 so there was almost a good three year window before I made the leap from hobbiest to professional. Now do I recommend you take that long? That is totally up to you! We all grow in different strides and in different ways and some people are most certainly ready much sooner then others!  I think sometimes there is this perception that those that have “made it” in this business were born with a camera in their hands. That their images were what they are right from the jump. I promise you that is almost always NEVER true.

I am going to share quite a few below and it may be a bit image heavy so feel free to skip that entire part of the post.  I just thought by being completely honest with you all about where I was to where I am now maybe it would inspire some on the verge of throwing in the towel that with time you would be shocked at how far you can come.  I hope this helps some.

Remember the only person that can possibly be responsible for your growth is you.  You don’t need fancy equipment or gear, that all comes with time.  You just need to know what you have to the fullest extent!!
Good luck and in the words of Dori from Finding Nemo. “Just keep swimming.”

Just as proof here are a few more images:

2009: Rebel

2009: Canon 5d Classic

And my First Photobuilding session:

And then in 2010 with a Canon Classic 5d:

And a few of my first sessions:

This past year has been good to me. You may be totally seeing some growth (hopefully)

Late 2010

And my favs of 2011:
Mostly with a Canon 5d Mark II

I hope this helps some 🙂