Dear New Photographers:

Have you ever found yourself with a brand new DSLR camera in your hand and no idea how to use it? Because we sure have.

 

Have you ever found yourself begging your friends and family to let you photograph them for free so you can practice with a new lens? Good – we’ve been there too.

 

What about having a small panic attack because you’re driving to your first paid job and feel like a total imposter with now idea how to run a photoshoot? Yup. Check that one off the list.

 

Have you ever wondered how in the world you can go from sometimes-my-friends-pay-me-for-photos to a real, legal business entity? Us too.

 

What about wondering how to book enough clients so you can quit your full-time job and pursue photography for good? Oh, we’ve definitely been there.

 

In fact, we’ve been to each of these steps – and many, many more – on the journey to successful, profitable, full-time professional photography. We’ve made countless mistakes and grinded for days and weeks and months for what seemed like nothing at all. We put in our time as self-taught photographers and business people, and are finally beginning to see the fruit of our years of effort.

 

 

There Are No Short Cuts

That’s all part of our story. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a part of everyone’s. Because we put in the hours and taught ourselves and learned mostly by trial-and-error, we grew slowly. But that doesn’t mean you have to. We’re not the type of photographers who act like every new photographer has to put in their years of toil before they’re invited to the big kids’ table.

 

Of course, there’s no magic formula to success without effort. There are no short-cuts anywhere in life. But there are a plethora of ways to waste time and energy and money figuring out which journey is the right one to take.

 

If you want to finally feel confident in your photography, why not see a greater reward from the effort you’re already putting in? If you want to grow your business into something profitable and sustainable, why learn from your own mistakes when you can learn from someone who has already made them? If you just want to learn how to take good photos with your new camera, why not invest a little time and energy in education, and be on the road to success so much more quickly?

 

Don’t misunderstand us — we still grind. In fact, right now we’re hustling harder in our business and our craft than we ever have before. But now, activity for the sake of activity has been replaced by unstoppable progress, and our business has momentum like never before. This past Fall we booked and shot until our heads almost exploded, and made more money than we thought was possible a year ago. And we did it without spending all our money on advertising or selling ourselves for less than we’re worth.

 

 

Would You Join Us Each Week?

Now, it should go without saying that we’re still growing and learning too. We won’t ever pretend like we’ve arrived at the height of success in our business or our shooting. But as we look back on our years of photography we see that we’ve come a long, long way.

 

Throughout college and in the years since, we’ve both served and continue to serve in mentorship roles, pouring into those that were one step behind us in our journeys. Whether it be our journeys of faith, or our career-related paths, we have always loved to stop and turn around on the road to success, and shout out “Anyone back there need a hand to the next step?!”

 

In more recent years, we’ve even had the opportunity to walk alongside some of our assistants and third shooters and other artists in our community, and help them grow in their craft and in their business.  And we’ve been incredibly excited about these opportunities to bring newer and less experiences photographers along with us on this journey. We’re mentors at heart, and we certainly wish we had had someone like this when we were getting started.

 

So now, we’d like to officially invite you to join us each week in this new section of our blog, “For Photographers”. We’ll share some eight- and ten-part series, but we’ll also educate through single, standalone posts. We’ll give advice about shooting and photography gear, but we’ll also be sharing wisdom about running your own business and being self-employed. From taxes to aperture and from golden hour to booking weddings, we have so much to share, and we are so excited to start!

 

 

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Next Monday, we’ll begin our first series, focused on answering one of the most common questions we get from new photographers: “What piece of camera gear should I buy next?”

 

Want More?

 

Click HERE to get your free copy of our eBook: “5 Essential Tips for Turning your Side-Hustle into a Full-Time Photography Business.” You’ll also be subscribed to our newsletter, so our newest content, weekly encouragement, and exclusive offers will be delivered right to your inbox!