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Some helpfull feedback from you.
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hi Folks, Just a general one here, it may have been posted already i dont know so forgive me if it has.
I have been verry interested and active in photography for the last 3 years. I am lucky enough in my day job that I work shift and can have 3 or 4 days off per week. I have put alot of thought into attempting to turn professional and myself and my wife have sat down and discussed various different concerns.
I am in the process of registering a photography compny and advertising to see what the possible customer base available to me might be like. I have spent quite a good deal of money on this part so far and the response is promising.
I have a couple of weddings lined up and some portrait sittings and a few other commissions.
When I get the company documents back from the CRO I have to talk to my bank manager about a business loan.Just wondering if anybody out there has made a jump like this and if so could you give me a few pointers or highlight some issues you came accross.
Both myself 7 my wife are 100% committed to this and I really want to give it my best shot.
In addittion, for the first wedding in October I plan to get 2 Cannon 5D bodies and 2 L series lenses,
Canon EF 24-105mm F4L IS USM
Canon EF 50mm F1.2L USMObviously the other necassary gear aswell, cards, batteries etc, and backups.
Can I ask, what cameras & Lenses do the folks who shoot weddings here use and have I made a good choice.
Please I would really like your feedback on this.
Rgds
Oh boy, there’s just so much to cover here, it’s hard to know where to start. Like you and many others, I’d like to make a go of this as a career, but I’m taking a different approach in that I intend to grow a business over time rather than get up on a Monday morning to declare myself in business as a photographer.
I don’t know that I can cover everything that you’ve touched on but I’ll try and give my take on it. Some of what I’m going to say might come across as harsh or even arrogant, and if you feel that’s the case, then perhaps you shouldn’t be doing this at all. Being in business for yourself isn’t easy and you will no doubt come across a lot of knocks along the way, of which mine should be the least of your worries but hopefully they will serve as a reality check. I’m not deliberately setting out to make malicious comments but simply voicing my own thoughts on this, as it is something I have thought long and hard about myself.
Let’s start with the easy part, the equipment. You shouldn’t have any problems with a 5D or two for weddings. In fact, I recall reading somewhere that Damien Lovegrove prefers the 5D to the 1Ds MkII because of it’s excellent noise characteristics. But I’m not at all convinced by your choice of lenses and this leads me to ask whether or not you fully appreciate the technical challenges you are likely to face when doing weddings. Do you really know what you are getting yourself in for. I think an f/4.0 lens is a little on the slow side and I wouldn’t go for anything slower than f/2.8. Also, are these the only two lenses you intend using. I think you’ll find that very restricting.
Company registration and bank loans are all very well, but the hard work is in the marketing of your business. The fact that you are planning a bank loan leads me to believe that you have a business plan in place. If not, you’d want to get started on that right away! Unless you can show the bank that your idea makes sense, they are not going to play ball with you.
You don’t mention what plans you have in place to get the whole thing off the ground initially – is that still a work in progress?
What about training and development? One thing I’ve noticed is that photographers here often think they can learn it all themselves and that money spent on training is a waste. Nothing could be further from the truth. They important things is though that you choose the right training and not just do it for the sake of doing it.
And then there is membership of professional bodies. You might think that’s a waste of money, and I tend to agree with you :wink: but look at it from the customers perspective. If they see that you are a member of a professional body, that’s going to give them a little more peace of mind that you are a capable photographer. Of course, you know this means nothing of the sort, but you’ve got to project the right image to the customer – it’s all about perception and instilling confidence!
There’s probably plenty more I could say on this but I’ll leave it at that for now. I would be just as interested as you in what others have to say and you might keep us posted on your progress too.
Cheers,
Thorsten.
Oh Boy
I liked that Thorsten, a great opener!
Thank you most sincerely for your feedback and I was hoping that you would reply as I have been reading a lot of your posts and I think your very well tuned in, basically, theres no bullshit about you. So just to react and comment on some of your points Thorsten.I’d like to make a go of this as a career, but I’m taking a different approach in that I intend to grow a business over time rather than get up on a Monday morning to declare myself in business as a photographer
I am not getting up on a Monday morning and proclaiming myself a photographer. Like the point that you made in your feedback, I have a business plan and by no means do I think that my business is going be established overnight. As I said before, because of my day job, I am in a position to work on this and hofefully over a period of time I can establish myself as a professional photographer.
But I’m not at all convinced by your choice of lenses and this leads me to ask whether or not you fully appreciate the technical challenges you are likely to face when doing weddings. Do you really know what you are getting yourself in for
Simple answer is no, but the most technical challanges would be lighting conditions, which would most definitely be controlled by lens selection and this is one of the areas that i’m looking for advice in, preferably from those that shoot weddings on a regular basis.
Poor lighting conditions indoors and outdoors, and yes I aggree, a faster lens than f4 should be used. I would ideally need a lens that could operate accross all lighting scenarios with speeds up to 1/250sec. with a super fast zoom and focus to give crisp perfect focused shots. I am looking at the L-series short range zoom.What else might you suggest in terms of lenses?
Thorsten you said,
“Company registration and bank loans are all very well, but the hard work is in the marketing of your business. The fact that you are planning a bank loan leads me to believe that you have a business plan in place. If not, you’d want to get started on that right away! Unless you can show the bank that your idea makes sense, they are not going to play ball with you. You don’t mention what plans you have in place to get the whole thing off the ground initially – is that still a work in progress”
To answer the rest of the post, I must summarise.
Yes, There is a business plan in motion, Initially, I am trying to feel the market, and see what level of interest I can generate firstly,by advertising and marketing strategies which are in progress.
Secondly, from this response, I can project turnover figures and for the long and short term.
Thirdly, I have the capital to back this on a short term plan, which will yield me enough information to ascertain if I have a vialble business plan.I aggree with you point about training 100% and I will have a training budget to allocate as I see necassary.
Like you thorsten, there is plenty more to say but the time is late so we can leave it here for now and see whatother posts are made and once again thankyou for your feedback, I appreciate and respect it.
Kind rgds.
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