starting a small photography business

[AYIAPhoto]

The only good piece of advice that I can offer is that if you're looking to actually make money from this, and you are not yet established, try to carve out a niche market for yourself.

A niche market is a great way to get your feet wet while possibly still working at least a part time job. It will help you develop even better skills and if you are good the work will increase in volume and pay. I started as a favor for a friend who knew I liked to play with cameras. He asked me to shoot a party(the first event) held at his newly opened bar. Another bar owner asked him who shot the event(he had seen the photos on the bars website) and it rolled from there.
I still work a day job but have doubled my income(and compensate for when my regular job slows). Now I get into clubs for free, meet hot woman and get payed to take their pictures. It's not all fun and games though, there's a lot of time spent correcting/cropping/editing and generally just weeding through pictures.

 

[jnelson4x4taco]

Finding a niche market is a great idea, and aligning myself with an adventure company would be awesome. I dream job would be to tag along with big 4wd clubs on trails and ride my dirtbike up to the major obstacles and scenic points to take pics of each jeep/truck. Then at the end I could crank out a few CD's or direct them to a website with the pics. Although I would have to get real familiar with CO trails......thats not so bad, Ill go wheeling for 3 months and call it "market research"

These are all great ideas guys, I appreciate all of your input.

 

[ThomD]

So I offered to take pics and give a positive local review. And in return, Rick gave me a free $49 smog check the next time I came in, and he did.

.

Hmm. Is that a paid endorsement without full disclosure? The FTC will come to find you. Watch for the black helicopters.

 

[jnelson4x4taco]

Hmm. Is that a paid endorsement without full disclosure? The FTC will come to find you. Watch for the black helicopters.

Thats one of the other things im concerned about. I dont know the ins and outs of the legal system regarding contracts and such. I have a general model release that I have had people sign so that I can use their images on a website or my flickr page or whatever, but all the legalities worry me. Is there a good site that I can do some reading on that differentiates contracts or explains the contracts I should be worried/aware of?

 

[goodtimes]

Thats one of the other things im concerned about. I dont know the ins and outs of the legal system regarding contracts and such. I have a general model release that I have had people sign so that I can use their images on a website or my flickr page or whatever, but all the legalities worry me. Is there a good site that I can do some reading on that differentiates contracts or explains the contracts I should be worried/aware of?

The problem with the advice (legal, or otherwise) that you get over the internet, is that it's, well, the internet.

You might consider having a brief (one hour -- ??) consultation with a lawyer in your area. They would be in a better position to offer you *real* advice on such matters.

There comes a time when it is best to let the experts do their thing (that's why they exist). Personally, legal matters, taxes, accounting, etc. are all prime candidates for hiring experts. IMO, it is usually money well spent.

 

[Colorado David]

Buy a copy of Business and Legal Forms for Photographers by Tad Crawford. This is part of the materials available from ASMP. It is not a replacement for personal legal advice, but photography and copyright are special areas of business law and not every attorney will be prepared to advise you on them. The book is available from all the big booksellers.

 

[jnelson4x4taco]

Ive been researching and researching and have been going back and forth between godaddy.com and my state website to see what names have been taken. I have a pretty generic name and Jeff Nelson Photography was taken so I came up with this....

Snapture and www.snapturepix.com is available



What do you think? Creative or Lame?

 

[off-roader]

Ive been researching and researching and have been going back and forth between godaddy.com and my state website to see what names have been taken. I have a pretty generic name and Jeff Nelson Photography was taken so I came up with this....

Snapture and www.snapturepix.com is available

I like this because it fuses "snapshot" and "capture", both photography terms but its different and exemplifies my style because i really like those candid, "got you when you werent looking", type of photos. I feel like those "snapshots" really "capture" the moment......thats how I landed at Snapture.

What do you think? Creative or Lame?

Just my $.02....

I like it but the fact that you had to explain it (and I wasn't clear on how you came up with it or what exactly it meant) tells me it's too complex a name.

 

[jnelson4x4taco]

Good point, I removed the description from my post so i can get more subjective first impressions. Although its quoted now so I dont know how that works...oh well....

Also, I could add another word to it....Snapture Imaging?

thanks for the feedback

 

[Ryanmb21]

Lots of good advice here, not much that I can add. I think "Snapture" is lame, infact combining two words in general is lame IMO. I wouldn't pick a business name based on what web address is available. You could always do JNphotos.com or something like that (shorter web address the better)

Good Luck!

 

[LilKJ]

Here's the simple flowchart I followed for shooting off road goodness:

1. stalk the internet and find group gatherings in Moab or Ouray
2. happen to be on the trail when they are
3. BS with them and bike/hike the trail while shooting the group
4. finish the trail and BS some more... give them all business cards to the website
5. sell some photos
6. repeat as necessary

Works for hikers, bikers, ATV people, equestrian, 4x4, and whoever else you run into on the trail... also works well in skate parks, snowboard terrain parks, etc.

Plus you get to spend the day in cool places and meet awesome people...

 

[Michael Slade]

READ THIS ARTICLE.

It is a good start...

Some of the ideas are contrary to mine, but it's still a good take on how to make it in NYC.

 

[jnelson4x4taco]

READ THIS ARTICLE.

It is a good start...

Some of the ideas are contrary to mine, but it's still a good take on how to make it in NYC.

That is a good article, I saw that link on Digital Photography School forum the other day. The concept makes sense but I think a lot of amateur photographers think "some money is better than no money" and dont value their time. I could definitely see myself falling into that trap.

 

[Bella PSD]

Ive been researching and researching and have been going back and forth between godaddy.com and my state website to see what names have been taken. I have a pretty generic name and Jeff Nelson Photography was taken so I came up with this....

Snapture and www.snapturepix.com is available



What do you think? Creative or Lame?

You should be OK to use your own name for the business even if someone else is using the same name. Your state can not stop anyone from using their name for a business. You can have 10 Jeff Nelson Photography business names as long as the owners name is Jeff Nelson. That's about the only good thing about using your own name. And just to be clear, my name is not Bella in any way. And if someone with the name Bella wants to use the same name as me, I can do nothing. Also, there can be more than one, lets say Acme Photo, followed by the personal name. Like Acme Photo by bill, Acme Photo by Louie, Acme Photo Jill. In my case I had a company pop up in my own town called Bella Photography by Laura Beth. The Laura Beth was never used in adds or sign. Until She went out of business it really sucked as people would ask if I moved my studio, when did I start doing weddings and so on.

I now get weekly calls asking too see newborn baby pictures that some new company called "Bella Baby pictures" took.
I am not a big fan of using your own name for a photography business. I like that you are trying something different.

Louie

 

[Bogo]

I would have said that as well till I met this guy who was a master at using multiple flashes. He would have them pre-positioned as if he was lighting a Hollywood set. But joining a support group is essential. You'll never get anywhere being a lone wolf. It's hard without mentoring.

You don't get to be 'that guy' overnight. Stick with natural light. It's free and plentiful.

No, natural light is only good for scenics and building exteriors. It is very tricky to work with and never does exactly what you want. A nice bank of fluffy clouds behind the camera and sunny sky in front is near ultimate for exterior photography. Even then the studio I formerly worked for would sometimes use a ton of big flash units or reflector boards to provide fill light when doing a building exterior. Often you want to exert some control over the light. Learn how to use lighting and especially fill lighting properly. Shadowed eyes are the death of a portrait. A single flash with proper placement and diffuser on the camera can greatly improve the lighting of the face, even on a bright sunny day. Learn the use of multiple lighting sources and how to place them. Portraits will look much much better. The single point of the typical flash doesn't work because it is often to close to the lens, provides flat illumination and casts harsh shadows. Places like photo.net and dpreview.com are very valuable for learning about gear and technique.