Comments on: So You Want to Enter the Photography Business?

By: rick

rick — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 20:49:43 +0000

fascinating read. wish it weren’t so. I see tons of newbies at our local public gardens area every time I visit. I guess this means more used camera gear to be put on craigslist. Sad that many financed their new business with a loan, or on their credit card. OUCH!

The avatar above is quite interesting. Do Canon cameras have an eyepiece on the side now?

By: zac

zac — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:35:10 +0000

What photography business? No, that isn’t a trick question, it is the view of pretty much all the established professionals, many of whome are now leaving the industry and selling their equipment to pursue other things. The post on this forum will give you a general example of some of the reasons why this is happening:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=216881

And here also.

http://infojustice.org/archives/4203#comment-511

Unfortunately, issues like these (which are to a greater extent driven by the onset of digital, the resulting massive oversaturation in the “supply” side of the market, and a glut of massively underpriced images) have become so endemic, that it is now becomming virtually impossible to make even a basic living from photography. Sad, but it is a fact, and a great many people would save themselves a lot of heartache and money if they sat back and considered that fact.

Entrepreneurs identify markets (ie areas of demand) for what they do, and then satisfy those markets, making sufficient profit to function a business in the process. As a matter of necessity, that will mean that some ventures that they evaluate will not be viable and should be left alone. Photography is now in that state. Most of the established people who have made a living from it in the past are reassessing their options and moving onto other things, to be replaced by inexperienced new startups that struggle for a few months and fail. The main issue is the rubbish pumped out by camera companies and photo magazines, that still present photography as an “industry” when in fact it has failed to be this now for a few years or so. The question you need to ask when reading any one of these articles is “if this person really is a professional, why are they making money by writing magazine articles, giving training courses, writing books etc”. I suspect the answer to that question would be interesting.

By: cem

cem — Sun, 15 May 2011 14:04:18 +0000

Just came across this article, more than a year after it was written and found it to be very relevant. Love the comments. The author is actually correct. It is always laughable when you have people incorrectly correcting something, plus the confusion is so unneccesary. Wow, so many below-average mathematicians here, lol.
____

100% (photographers)
60% (100 minus 60 leaves 40)
40%
25% (40 minus 25 leaves 15)
15% (100% minus 15% leaves 85%)
____

And there you have it. The author was correct all along.

By: St Louis Wedding Photographer

St Louis Wedding Photographer — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 02:37:37 +0000

Thanks for the list of resources. I think I must be a cheapwad because anything online that I have to pay for, I usually just don’t do it. A physical book though, I have no problem paying for. Also, I’ve added your blog to my reader. I’ll catch up with you on your blog soon.

By: Hardy Helburn

Hardy Helburn — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 02:01:40 +0000

To Frank Worth – you should email me if you’re interested in hearing from Bill Helburn – hardy.helburn@gmail.com. He’s been cataloging his old negatives, and reminiscing about old times and old assistants.

By: Ron Gibson

Ron Gibson — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:43:21 +0000

I had a few moments and looked back over these posts to read comments and thought I’d answer some questions.

@ Jim, DDT745, and everyone concentrating on the numbers. There are no cold hard numbers for startup failure. Just note that there is a high rate of failure. Just as in restaurants, people move into something that they just can’t handle and get in over their head.

@Visible Soul- I’ve wondered that for a long time myself. I’d suggest joining a local photography club and see who you can network with. If you are not in a major metropolitan area you are stuck with online conversations. In either case look on deviant art and strike up some conversations, most photographers are fairly open minded and willing to help out others.

@ enrolled agent- That’s a great question. If you don’t want to dive in head first (and have extremely high risk) I’d suggest just starting with it as a hobby (a very expensive hobby). Buy only what you need and start slow. Use any proceeds to improve your equipment piece buy piece. Jumping in head first and equipping a studio is a huge capital investment that I wouldn’t suggest.

I hope this was helpful.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:19:17 +0000

Actually, if you use her numbers and work it out for the 2 years, the actual failure rate is 70% not 85. If you start with 100 new photographers and 60% fail the first year you have 40 remaining. Subtract 25% from that (10 more) and you have 30 left. It makes your article much less credible if you use the wrong numbers.

By: Visible Soul Photography

Visible Soul Photography — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:22:24 +0000

How does one go about finding a mentor? I would love to work with one and learn more. Books can only take you so far.

By: enrolled agent exam

enrolled agent exam — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:33:33 +0000

So many people are visionary or creative people, but they can’t put a business plan together to save their own business. I liked this article. A start-up business requires careful planning. I especially liked the following line and believe it is so true. “If you become like your friends, then it may be safe to say that you will become like the photographers you follow”

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:03:59 +0000

Surprised it didn’t make the top ten… perhaps because it is just a given… but Join organizations like PPA or WPPI. I’m rather new to the biz and the PPA webinars have rocked my world.