Thursday, June 12, 2008
FAQ: How did you do that!
I'm D, and I'm 25 years old aspiring wedding photographer from Miami. I've been blog-stalking for a while (and am somehow unashamed to admit it. strange.) I really love your work and its a consistent source of inspiration to me.
Your pink ink studio interview says you've only been a professional photographer for a year now-- I'm hoping you'd be willing to take some time and reply (or write a post) about how you got started and established yourself. I'm at the point where I know I want to jump in, But I'm not quite sure how to do it. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks Guys,
D
FAQ How did you get to where you are today?
Mark and I get this email consistently now, so we thought we would answer the question on our blog.
Our story: I use to work at ADP payroll and Mark use to be a server at a yacht club and He owned his own Music lesson Biz, teaching little kids guitar lessons. We had just gotten married and money was super tight. Mark had always been into "artsy" things like guitar (he majored in it) and photography. So with our $2000, that we got from our Money dance at our wedding, we bought a "nice" camera...the 20D, a couple of lenses and some CF cards (since then we have upgraded our gear). But it is good to know that we took our time building our gear. Side note:...-A good "lens/ mindset" to filter you purchases though is to ask this question: "will this add value to MY business." Just because some other pro is using the 50mm 1.2 and the Mark III does not mean that by purchasing it your pictures will look like theirs. :)-
Gabriel was thinking about starting off a biz also and we had met newer photogrpahers like AHS, so we kept throwing ideas off each other to see what the other person was doing. For fun we started off shooting our friends and anything else for free. We were considering doing it for a living but that seemed to high of a goal at the time.
About 1 month into owning a "nice" camera I went "crazy" aka got ambitious.... I saw Mark with a camera in his hand every day and he was actually really good at it, for a "beginner". So I made up my mind right then and there that this is what we would do with the rest of our life. I was sick of my job and Mark was overwhelmed with music lesson, serving, and school. Photography seemed like a tunnel of light and freedom. So of course I was going to MAKE THIS HAPPEN! And besides it was super fun.
The First Steps:
1. we found others that were beginners photographers and built a community (O.S.P. / Fast track Photographer)
2. we found a place to rent gear... there is no need to Buy a bunch of gear on a credit card! (Sammy's or Pro-Photo)
3. we decided who we wanted to be and what style of photography we wanted to produce. Seriously!! We can not stress how important it is to be YOURSELF!!! every other photographer i know that has "made it" will agree with us!!( our style: Artsy, photo-journalistic, Funky)
4. We networked our little butts off ( my favorite thing to do, i love meeting new people!)
5. We gained some confidence (shoot over 200 pictures every day etc..)
6. Figured out a way to Market (options: referrals,NETWORKING!, Ad's, expos, magazines etc... )
7. Built a website (Mark built ours...and soon it will be done through Show it sites. It is going to be freaking awesome).
8. Told everyone and their mom we were getting into photography.
After we did these things are business flourished. Everyone is different, so your steps might look much different then ours but like I said last night to Josh (a newer photographer that took us out to dinner) be yourself. Figure out who you want to be, and DO IT! So many people want to make that plunge into a career and they tip toe around it because its to scary or its to hard. Screw all that DO IT. When ever Jessica and I work out we think OK we don't want to run 3 mile today, but heck lets walk the neighborhood. AKA: Do something instead of nothing. Just to nail this point to the ground...If there are two different lost people in a forest. The one who makes decisions to find their way back home will live much longer then the person who sits and waits to be found. Even if the lost guy is making wrong choices he will live longer! So don't be so scared to make a "wrong" choice. If you do you WILL recover and learn.
Thank you so much for your questions. We feel so blessed and honored to help a few people out. We love love love what we do and we cant wait to see where we are next year. We love all of our family, photographers and friends that read our blog! You are all rockin' people.
Speaking of Gabriel...Here are some shots we grabbed of them this past week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
26 comments:
You guys are freaking amazing! Come hangout in SB sometime!
:)
these pictures are great!! oh man back to the days.. i miss those days even though now it's much better. i miss mark at the front door asking to use my flat iron, or if we had any garlic, or butter, or sugar, or milk. i miss you guys being next door.
-carlie
Great post. It's so great to see new photographers who have the passion make a real go of it. Very inspiring!
Thank you so much for this post. As my husband and I were going over potential business plans, prices, etc., last night, I began to feel overwhelmed at the thought of having a photography business. But I can't let go of the thought that if I don't try, I'll never know. It gives me great inspiration and encouragement to know that there are others out there who have followed their dreams and rewarded.
P.S. Followed your blog for a while, and I LOVE you guys!
Thanks for the inspiring letter!! :-D Seeing and hearing success stories like this make us even more confident that we're doing the right thing. I guess it goes back to that vid that Dane put up awhile back of, if you've never risked you've never lived?
Thanks a million for the FAQ. :) As well.. what location is that? Us Indiana folks are unfamiliar with your crazy Cali architecture. :)
Thanks for the blog love!
You guys just rock! I would love to take you out to dinner also! Just a tiny distance problem...
Thank you guys for this post--it is encouraging for me who just decided a few weeks ago to just DO IT!! I am working on #4 and 6 right now. I was debating pricing and all that for hours last night with my hubby and I am just glad to see that I am on the right track. You guys are awesome for taking the time to check my blog and leave encouraging comments :)
you guys are definitely successful in having your own look. thank you for sharing your story. it's scary to jump in. i appreciate your boost in confidence.
-sarah
Thank you so much for posting your story! It's helpful and inspiring to all who read it. It sure helps me feel like I'm not so alone in this process! You guys are awesome.
You guys are the coolest!
Thanks fr sharing so much! :)
love it!!! lets hang out soon. we should all go out and celebrate gabriels recent retirement!-Aaron
Thanks for sharing a few secrets of your success! ;o)
I'm in the same boat as everyone else. I love photography, but I don't have any sort of educational pedigree in photography. So my question is how do you know when you're a legitimate photographer and when you're just a hack who spent some money on equipment? I hate the thought of being considered a hack.
Wow. Another amazing shoot! They look like they're on top of this huge pyramid and high up in the sky!
Thanks for being so willing and open to share your story. It's inspiring to newbies like myself. :)
Really lovely point about not being afraid to get lost or messing up...it's all in the journey. Keep it up and thanks for the perspective:o)
Thanks so much for sharing. Your work is inspiring!
Well, along with everyone else, THANK YOU for sharing your story. The idea is so simple, DO IT, yet can be so HARD! Thanks for the encouragement from so far away. Wishing you more blessings and success than you can handle. All my best =)
Great post you guys... very inspirational! I've loved your work for a long time now and really admire you always putting yourself out there. You've raised the bar guys... //enoch
Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. My husband and I are at the very beginning stages of going down the path of doing what you guys have done. It gives me butterflies in my stomach, but makes me so excited. There is nothing I would rather do than photography. If you have any more tips, help or anything that you are willing to share-please do! I have found nothing to be more valuable/encouraging than the advice from other photographers that have been there and done that. Thanks again for the advice and encouragement!!! :-)
Thanks for shairing your story!! You guys ROCK! These are some amazing photos, Gabriel and Carlie is a good looking couple.
I just discovered your blog, your pictures are seriously amazing!
man...thanks so much for sharing!! awesome encouragement!- plus awesome pictures!
It's always great to hear stories like that, and considering I just quit my corporate Office Space job to do photography full time, the timing couldn't be better. It's inspiring to see how other creative professionals made their mark in this crazy (but awesome) business. Thanks mucho for sharing this guys!
First of all...you guys are awesome (as people and as photographers). You totally remind me of a cali version of my husband and myself. And I've gotta say I'm a little envious of you guys and the amazing network of photographers you have around you. We don't have that in Amarillo and it makes things a little difficult at times. When I was starting out I actually had a photographer that I sort of admired here tell me that he didn't share info. It's nice to know I can just hop on here and find great advice and tips from great photographers like you! Thanks for that!!!
apparently i haven't been reading your blog as long as i thought i had because i just found these fun faq posts. anyhow, those last two photos are amazing. i love the space, shadows and reflections. awesome!
... and as always thanks for your encouragement!
Post a Comment