I have a passion and talent and would like to make a living at it. I'm interested in advice from people who may have left their careers to pursue professional photogaphy. Any advice regarding start up, difficulties, obstacles, equiptment choices, marketting yourself, etc., would be greatly appreciated! Any other known resources would be helpful too!

Thx- KJL

-- Kara Jean Lachina (KaLachina@aol.com), May 27, 2004

Answers

Hi my name is Dina, I am transitioning from one career (nurse) to a photography career. It has been a slow crawl... since word of mouth is the largest marketing tool at this point. I started 3yrs ago, hobby gone pro, buying equip with every penny I made. I recently built a small studio in our backyard. I need to market myself better, but dont like the door to door thing. I specialize in child portraits, but like & do other too (couples, parties, a wedding) I would like to get a couple of daycare centers, dance academies, seniors to add to my clientele...this is where the marketing comes in to play & is my biggest goal this year.

You dont need alot of fancy equip to start, in home studio is possible to start out. I do alot of outside work (parks). Pets are big business these days. I have a portable backdrop system that allows me to travel to homes or businesses. I started with 35mm slr & have recently gone digital (Nikon D70) which is giving me beautiful prints. I use mpix.com for my digital lab. I have created a price list, packages, session fee, seasonl promos (all this done the first year or two) now I just work off referals. I advertise is tne newspapers which in not helpful, its is strictly word of mouth & my mouth :). My customers come from church friends, my children's school, my exercise class... I tell everyone I meet I am a photographer & hand them a card. My sole clientele has been my hospital where I work until recently when the word is spreading outside that circle, this is great b/c now a bit of networking will take place. I certainly encourage your venture. This is such a passion for me, even tho it will take several years to be truly profitable, it has been worth every slow step. Good luck! Dina www.memoriesbydina.dnswh.com

-- Dina Edwards (dinaedwards@hotmail.com), July 10, 2004.