What can I do to jump start my freelance photography?
I've had a couple of jobs and I love it but it has came to a complete stop all of a sudden. Noone wants their picture taken? What can I do? http://www.flickr.com/photos/kandalope/
Photography - 9 Answers
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1 :
What are you doing to promote yourself? You might be well advised to develop a site other than flickr, because it doesn't present very professionally. The photos on your flickr are all nice but many of them look like 'snaps' that are more personal in nature, when for professional work you want to highlight the best of the best. What sort of freelance do you want to pursue?
2 :
Please don't take this too hard, if the images at that Flickr account are any indication of what your professional photographs look like then I am not surprised you have not received any more business. You probably should not consider going Pro at this time. Start producing outstanding imagery and then promote yourself. At this point, you have put the cart before the ox.
3 :
Taking a few snaps of your friend for her senior pictures, on a Nikon D40 in full auto mode, is not what I consider a "job"... As Mere already pointed out, they are not to even a moderate standard, let alone a standard high enough to consider marketing yourself and start charging customers who are not family members or friends. I'm not even going to go into detail here because I am so tired of repeating myself to teenagers who have just bought an entry level DSLR and think they can now 'go pro'.. Here is the short answer.. You are not ready by years, they are not good quality images, you need to understand exposure, composition, lighting, and own much better equipment. .
4 :
I left a comment on one of your images. I am in full agreement with Fish and Mere Mortal. A few random poorly done snaps of a friend is not a job. It's being a teenager and goofing off. I admire your effort but you really need to spend much more time developing your skills and shooting off of auto mode. You cannot take gigs or consider doing freelance photography when you shoot auto and have odd composition in many shots.
5 :
Can't really add to what Mere Mortal, Fishmeister & KK have said. Your photos are not 'pro' quality. Take some more time to learn to use your camera in manual and consider lighting & exposure more. Are these Flickr photos the ones you took on your 'jobs'? - if so I hope you didn't charge for them.
6 :
I'm younger than you and I shoot for an online music publication and an international agency. Being a freelancer is damn hard work, these publications / agencies don't come knocking, you have to go to THEM. Its as simple as, you have to work your ass off to get anywhere. I'd say educate yourself first on equipment / lighting / settings ect first and then go out and take photos and the more photos you take, the more you will improve Oh and I still have a Flickr lol, getting a nice website soon though....
7 :
TBH if you are trying to pursue a photography career than you should not be linking to the images you have. They scream beginner and if I was looking for a photographer I would not give you a second glance after seeing those. If you are trying to market yourself then Flickr is not the place to do it and posting snapshots of your family and friends will not help. Either do your own website or sign up to a decent "pro" site to host your work and put your best work on there - based on whatever type of photography you are pitching for. Without saying what sort of work you are trying to do then that is all the assistance you can get here.
8 :
To be honest I agree with everyone else. You need to practise and learn as much as you can. Then you need to learn about business/marketing/advertising. Then get a website Then start advertising.
9 :
OH... MY .... LORD.... Why should ANYONE pay YOU to take crappy snapshots that they can do just as badly themselves? (The people on this site never cease to amaze me). steve
10 :
I notice that your avatar is a picture of someone taking a picture with what looks like a camera phone. I hope this is not how you are doing photography. If it is, then that may be the reason why your dreams of being a photographer are going nowhere (that is not a good camera to use). If I am mistaken, and you are using a real camera, then disregard what I wrote above. Most people don't like having their picture taken. This includes family, friends, and strangers on the street. It is what it is. If you want to become a REAL freelance photographer then you need to take it more seriously and start learning about photography (read books, take classes, etc.). Taking snapshots does not make you a professional (or even an amateur) photographer. You need to become good at what you do (anyone can just snap pictures - if that was all that was required, then we would all be famous freelance photographers)
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