How Does One Become A Professional Photographer?

I see this and variations of this question quite often, so I’ll chime in.

The old joke has an element of truth to it.

What’s the best way to make money with photography? Sell your camera gear.

Now, here’s my real advice.

Most “professional” photographers I know, didn’t study photography in college and don’t have a photography degree. It’s a simple enough craft, most intelligent people can self teach.

“Professional” is a subjective term. In a pure sense, professional means it’s your primary source of income. Your insurance company’s opinion may differ though. If you are selling your services or work for profit, that may qualify you as a professional, for insurance purposes. Calling yourself a “professional” means nothing if you aren’t making regular income doing it.

First and most importantly, you have to be a good photographer. Not just average, but above average. The better your work, the more likely you can sell it.

Start a photography business. Create a LLC for your business. Treat it as a small business. Invest in your business, invest in your knowledge and skill set. Treat it like a full time job. Go to work every day, make money every day. It will be extremely difficult to succeed.

Marketing, marketing, marketing. Promote your business. All the time. Everywhere.

Market your  photography to people who want to buy photography. Galleries, art shows, festivals, magazines, books, stock agencies. Have a website, sell your work. Keep pushing, pushing, everywhere you can find to sell your work. Never work for “exposure” Don’t market your photography to other photographers. Market to people who buy photography.

You’ll never make any substantial money posting your photos on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit or other social media platforms. You become a professional (primary source of income) when you either get hired to work as a photographer and can make a living doing it. Or, you sell your photos for enough money to make a living.

You’ll never make money on photos you give away. Never work for free. Photography is a job just like any other job. You need to show up, every day, do your job and then produce results and make money selling those results. You need the tools to do that job. Buying expensive gear doesn’t make you a professional.

Look for photography jobs in the industry. Apply for them, keep doing it until you land one. When you land one, network with others doing the same thing. Keep working, keep networking. in the meantime, find a real job if you want to make money. If you can’t earn 60k or more per year doing photography, you won’t survive as a “professional” photographer.

I tell you this in all sincerity. I am a retired “professional” photographer and have owned a photography business for 20 years since I retired from the newspaper world. I still make some money with photography but I have never made a lot of money with photography. Very few make a lot of money, enough to survive on. Most successful photographers I know are teaching and doing workshops to make a living.