Photography: How to Turn a Hobby into a Business

If you take pictures for a while, learning new things and improving your skills, there is a chance that during this time you have received a couple of orders or at least taken photos for someone. If so, you probably thought about starting your own business. Photography has been my hobby for a lifetime, but over the past 10 years my passion for it has returned with renewed vigor and for the fifth year now I have been professionally engaged in portrait shooting. If you read my other articles, you know that I have a full-time job that is not related to photography, so it can be difficult to combine them. In this article, I want to shed light on how to turn your hobby into a business that you love.

The first thing I want you to think about is WHY you want to start a business. To help people, spend more time with family, follow their creative aspirations ...? If you clearly understand the reasons why you plan to do photography on a business basis, this will help make the right decisions in a difficult situation. For example, if you plan business on photography in order to earn more money and have the opportunity to go on an annual vacation with your family, this will be your WHY. When you have a choice, take time to shoot or spend an evening with friends, knowing your WHY will simplify decision making. If you want to do this business in order to spend more time with your family on the weekend when everyone is at home, but at the same time planning to be a wedding photographer, a conflict may arise here. I hope you see how a clear understanding of WHY you are going to do this will help set priorities and make decisions for development. This is a key factor that determines whether photography will become a business that will be fun.

Starting a business is not easy and the last thing you would like to face is to turn your favorite hobby into a business that you hate. It is absolutely possible to maintain your love for this occupation even after you begin to engage in it on a professional basis, but in this regard, you need to be very deliberate.

How not to stop loving the art of photography

  • Spend part of the money earned

What? That's right, you will work harder, therefore, if you know what to spend part of the profit on, you will be able to maintain motivation and will reap the benefits of your labor with pleasure. Whether it is a vacation with your family or new equipment that you want to try out, spend part of what you earned to feel satisfaction from your occupation and not lose incentive.

  • Do not quit your main job

When a hobby turns out to be an activity that feeds you, everything becomes a little more intense. Being realistic about the intention to make photography is the main way to earn money. You may want to do business for your pleasure in your free time, rather than push yourself to live solely through photography.

  • Challenge yourself with personal projects

Take time to learn new things and do what you want. You can earn extra money by holding family photoshoots at the weekend, but if you want to photograph hockey matches, contact your local team and agree on a photoshoot. You can even become a “team photographer” if this job is still vacant. Whatever your hobby is, be sure to devote time to it. Find what energizes, makes you feel excited, and do it!

  • Collaborate with other creative people

Spend time with creative professionals. Joint projects can breathe strength and life into your business. If you are engaged in wedding photography, you can arrange a stylized photoshoot in conjunction with one of the wedding companies. If you like theatres, consider contacting your local theater troupe to recreate scenes from a musical, film, or production for a thematic photoshoot.

Tags: camera, , , ,

Comments are closed.