How to Make Money with Portrait Photography
Summary
TLDRThis video offers five lucrative avenues in portrait photography, including headshots, solo portraits, social influencer shoots, wedding photography, and commercial work. It provides insights into each genre and tips for aspiring photographers to build a portfolio, gain experience by assisting professionals, leverage networking, and maintain professionalism to succeed in the competitive industry. The video also highlights the benefits of joining the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) for resources and support.
Takeaways
- 📸 Start with a clear focus: Specialize in a specific genre of portrait photography but be open to offering related services.
- 🎭 Explore various genres: Consider headshot photography, solo portraits, senior portraits, social influencer photography, and weddings as potential areas of expertise.
- 🏢 Understand the business: Overheads like studio space are important for certain portrait photography genres, such as headshots.
- 👪 Diversify your services: Offer a range of portrait photography services including couple, family, and newborn sessions to attract a broader client base.
- 🐾 Don't overlook niche markets: Pet photography can be a specialized and profitable area within portrait photography.
- 👔 Commercial photography offers broad opportunities: Specialize in areas like fashion, lifestyle, or product photography to cater to various commercial needs.
- 🛠️ Learn from the pros: Assisting established photographers can provide valuable insights and accelerate your learning curve.
- 🔗 Networking is crucial: Building relationships within the industry can lead to referrals and opportunities.
- 💼 Professionalism matters: Being punctual, delivering on time, and being a team player can lead to repeat business and recommendations.
- 🌐 Utilize online resources: Joining communities like PPA can provide essential tools and resources for growing your photography business.
- 📚 Build a strong portfolio: A focused and high-quality portfolio is essential for attracting clients and demonstrating your photography style.
Q & A
What are the five ways to earn money with portrait photography mentioned in the video?
-The five ways to earn money with portrait photography mentioned are headshot photography, solo portrait sessions and senior portraits, social influencer photography, weddings, and commercial photography.
What is the main goal of a headshot in portrait photography?
-The main goal of a headshot is to create a clear image that showcases the person's personality and character, usually used in a professional context.
What are some overheads to consider when starting a headshot photography business?
-Some overheads to consider include the need for access to or ownership of a studio space for sessions and the potential for additional services like commercial or fashion photography.
Why might a photographer choose to specialize in solo portrait sessions and senior portraits?
-A photographer might choose to specialize in solo portrait sessions and senior portraits to offer creative photos of individuals beyond traditional headshots, appealing to professionals and those seeking fun photo shoots.
How can social influencers benefit from hiring a photographer for their content?
-Social influencers can benefit by having a photographer capture their content in various creative scenarios, ensuring high-quality visuals for their social media platforms.
What is the significance of PPA in the context of the video?
-PPA, the Professional Photographers of America, is mentioned as a sponsor of the video and a resource for photographers to grow their business with benefits like equipment protection, customizable contracts, and marketing templates.
Why is it important for photographers to build a portfolio in their desired genre?
-Building a portfolio in the desired genre is important because it showcases the photographer's style and work to potential clients, making it easier to book jobs in that specific area of photography.
What can a photographer learn by assisting an established photographer in their field of interest?
-By assisting an established photographer, a photographer can learn about bookings, finding clients, marketing, running a business, dealing with issues, managing a team, and other valuable skills for their own career.
Why is networking considered important for photographers in the industry?
-Networking is important because it helps photographers get to know people in the industry and make connections that can lead to job opportunities, recommendations, and collaborations.
What are some professional practices a photographer should follow when hired for a job?
-Professional practices include arriving on time or early, delivering images on time, responding promptly, being pleasant on set, and working as a team to ensure the job is completed successfully.
What additional portrait photography jobs are briefly mentioned in the script for those interested in learning more?
-The additional portrait photography jobs briefly mentioned are fine art photography, sports photography, journalism, and music photography, including live shows and musician portraits.
Outlines
📸 Exploring Portrait Photography Genres and Business Opportunities
The first paragraph introduces the video's focus on five ways to earn money through portrait photography and the various genres one can specialize in, such as headshot, solo portrait, senior portraits, social influencer photography, wedding photography, couple and family sessions, newborn photography, and pet photography. It also touches on commercial photography, detailing the breadth of opportunities within it, including fashion campaigns and e-commerce photography. The video is sponsored by PPA, which offers resources for photographers to grow their businesses. The paragraph emphasizes the potential for full-time careers in these genres and the importance of specialization and diversification in the field.
🚀 Getting Started in Portrait Photography: Tips and Sponsor Highlight
The second paragraph provides guidance on how to break into the portrait photography industry, even with no prior experience. It suggests building a focused portfolio in the desired genre, gaining experience by assisting established photographers, and the value of networking within the industry. The paragraph also highlights the importance of professionalism once hired, including punctuality, timely delivery, and being an enjoyable team member. The sponsor, Professional Photographers of America (PPA), is introduced as a resource offering insurance coverage, business tools, and a community for photographers. The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to share their favorite tip and to explore PPA for further resources.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Portrait Photography
💡Headshot
💡PPA
💡Solo Portrait Sessions
💡Senior Portraits
💡Social Influencers
💡Wedding Photography
💡Commercial Photography
💡E-Commerce Photography
💡Networking
💡Professionalism
Highlights
Today's video discusses five ways to earn money with portrait photography and how to start in the industry from scratch.
The video is sponsored by PPA, offering resources to grow a photography business.
Portrait photography can be specialized in various genres, with the potential to turn into a full-time business.
Headshot photography is a professional genre used for actors, models, and business owners.
Headshot photography may require owning or having access to a studio space.
Solo portrait sessions and senior portraits offer creative photography options for individuals.
Social influencers hire photographers for content creation in various creative scenarios.
Wedding photography is a popular genre but not the only way to earn from portraits.
Combining couple, family, and newborn sessions can be a full-time photography business.
Pet photography is a niche within portrait photography that can be pursued full-time.
Commercial photography is a broad field with opportunities in lifestyle, travel, and fashion.
Fashion campaigns require creativity and collaboration with various teams.
E-commerce photography is a common job in commercial photography, focusing on product展示.
Other portrait photography jobs include fine art, sports, journalism, and music photography.
Building a portfolio is essential for booking jobs in the desired photography genre.
Assisting established photographers can provide valuable insights and learning opportunities.
Networking within the photography industry can lead to job opportunities and recommendations.
Professionalism on set, including punctuality and teamwork, can secure repeat jobs and referrals.
PPA provides benefits and resources for photographers, including equipment protection and business tools.
Transcripts
hey everyone today I'm sharing with you
five ways to earn money with portrait
photography and how to get started in
these industries even if you're starting
from zero today's video is sponsored by
PPA where you can also find lots of
resources to help you grow your business
and I'll tell you everything you need to
know about them a little bit later on
first let's go through some different
genres of portrait photography you can
pursue and potentially turn into a
full-time business I find a lot of the
time with portrait photography you might
specialize in one of these genres
but also offer a sub genre on the side
as well so for example a full-time
commercial photographer might also offer
head shots in their downtime or wedding
photographers might offer family
sessions during the week or during the
quieter Seasons if you're interested in
doing portrait photography fulltime
hopefully this video can give you some
ideas on how you can achieve that and
for each of these genres I know
personally several photographers who
rely on this style of Photography
fulltime so first we have head shot
photographers a headshot is a photo of a
person's face usually including a little
bit of their shoulders in the frame the
goal of a head shot is to create a clear
image that showcases the person's
personality and character and these
photos are usually used in a
professional context such as for actors
models musicians business owners
corporations and other individuals or
businesses who need to promote
themselves and their careers a downside
to a head shop business is there are
some overheads you need to take into
account as you will need to have access
to or to own your own Studio space for
these sessions while it's interesting to
be able to provide some headshot options
which are shot Outdoors against
different kinds of backdrops with
natural lighting a head shot with a
white or black backdrop and Studio
lighting is the industry standard but
this can be a great business to have and
with a studio it also gives you options
to offer other services like commercial
or fashion photography to potential
clients next we have solo portrait
sessions and senior portraits these are
similar to head shot but I find some
people will often get in touch with me
when they want creative photos of
themselves rather than a more
traditional portrait like a head shot
these clients can still be professionals
like actors musicians and small business
owners but you also have the option of
photographing people who just want to do
a fun photo shoot to have some nice
photos of themselves we don't do this in
Australia but I see in the US senior
portraits are very popular which again
is a photo shoot where you set out to
create create creative portraits of
someone this one is a bit more Niche but
falls under the same category and that's
taking photos of social influencers
sometimes they will hire photographers
to shoot all their content for them
which I have also done before and it's a
really fun experience where you get to
photograph in a lot of different
creative scenarios the next genre is a
big one and that is weddings and I won't
get into this too much because I see a
lot of photographers getting in touch
with me saying that they want to do
portrait photography fulltime but they
can can only think of weddings as a way
to make money and they don't want to do
weddings so I was inspired to make this
video to show you that there are
definitely other ways to make money from
portraits that don't just involve
weddings so moving on there are lots of
photographers who make a living offering
all these Runners together so couple
sessions family sessions and newborn
photography and some photographers who
only specialize in one of these three
for their business I also want to add in
pet photography is technically also
portrait related and something you can
offer and yes I do know someone who does
only pet photography full-time and I'm a
little bit jealous of them finally we
have commercial photography which is a
very broad umbrella with lots of ways
that you can specialize within this so
you have things like lifestyle portraits
and travel campaigns for example I have
the most experience with fashion
photography within that you could be
doing campaigns editorials and
e-commerce I personally really love
shooting campaigns as you get to be
super creative and work with all these
wonderful teams a fashion campaign means
to capture images that promote the
Brand's Vision while showcasing their
products in a creative way these photo
shoots are usually done out on location
and require a large team of people
including a photographer models hair and
makeup wardrobe styling set styling
location scouters and the L goes on and
on depending on what the shoot requires
while that work is really amazing
realistically you'll be doing campaigns
every once in a while and day in and day
out jobs like e-commerce Beauty
photography product photography are more
common and will be your bread and butter
eCommerce is photography to showcase the
entire range of products available for a
brand so for a clothing brand you'll
have a studio space one or two models
and hundreds of clothes you'll need to
photograph you'll spend the day with the
models alternating so you'll be
photographing the front side back and
closeup of the outfit one model is
wearing while the second model is
getting changed into the next outfit it
and you'll continue that until you
photograph everything in the collection
so those are some of the genres of
portraits I have the most experience in
but there are even more portrait
photography jobs that you can get into
since I don't have personal experience
with these I'll just list a few in case
you're interested in learning more about
them so you have fine art photography
there's Sports Photography journalism
and also music where you can photograph
live shows and also musician portraits
for example so we know what kind of
portrait photography jobs there are out
there now I want to get into how to get
started in these industries and I want
to share with you how you can do this
even if you're starting from nothing
maybe you're feeling confident in your
quality of work and you're ready to make
the transition into becoming a working
photographer maybe you are already an
established photographer and you're
wanting to transition from one genre to
something new or introduce a secondary
style of work to increase the amount of
clients you can take on before we get
into that I want to let you know more
about the sponsor of today's video the
professional photographers of of America
who are an online community where you
can find heaps of benefits that are
essential if you run your own
photography business as a PPA member you
can protect your photography equipment
with up to $15,000 worth of coverage
protection from damage forced entry
theft and have access to data loss
recovery they also have resources to
help you get started with your new or
established photography business like
customizable contracts pricing guides
portfolio reviews marketing templates
and heaps more so if you want want to
learn more about PPA make sure to use
the link in my description to get a
discount on your membership so step one
is to start building a portfolio you
can't book any jobs unless you have
something to show for yourself while you
can have any genre of Photography in
your book ideally you want to focus on
creating a body of work in the genre you
want to be hir for if you already have
some photos in your book you'll need to
look through them and color your imagery
to focus on creating a strong body of
work for the photography you want to be
hired for if you don't have any photos
yet you'll need to look for people to
work with and do photo shoots with and
if you do this make sure you plan and
storyboard your photo shoots to make the
time you put into doing these shoots
worthwhile once you create the photos
you need you want to share them to your
social media and post them to your
website because you want any potential
clients to be able to scroll through and
see your style of work step two is to
assist an already established
photographer and even better if they
work in the field you're interested in
you will be able to learn so much from
assisting work and this is extremely
valuable to make your learning curve
into doing this full-time much smoother
and quicker when I first decided to
start making the transition into doing
photography for my career even though I
was interested in fashion photography I
was assisting a headup photographer and
eventually I was also assisting and
second shooting for a wedding
photographer although those genres are
slightly different to Fashion I was
still able to learn so much from these
two photographers that helped me with my
own business you will be able to learn
things like how to make bookings how to
find clients how to Market and run a
business how to deal when things go
wrong how to manage a team how to plan
and organize clients and the list just
goes on and on and on the third thing
you want to think about doing is
networking and I'm sure you've heard
this before and to be honest I didn't
quite understand what this meant or the
significance of this when I first
started doing photography but networking
basically means to get to know people in
the industry and get them to know you as
well many genres of Photography can be
extremely competitive you have a lot of
photographers that have a great body of
work and sometimes what sets you apart
are the relationships you've made there
are so many situations where this could
come into play such as a brand can't
shoot with their regular photographer
because they're already booked so that
photographer might recommend a few
people they know to the brand this could
be you if you did a good job assisting
them or they got to know you because you
got in touch with them a little while
back my final tip is when you do get
hired for a job make sure you are
professional that basically means always
arrive on time or early deliver images
on time respond in a timely manner be
nice on set work as a team to get the
job done you'd be surprised that
sometimes even just being an easy and
enjoyable person to work with is what
can get you hired again and again so you
want to make it as easy as possible for
people to recommend you and want to work
with you again because that basically
means more jobs for you in the future
let me know which one was your favorite
tip in the comments and don't forget to
check out PPA where you can get even
more resources for your photography
business by using the link in my
description but that is all I have for
today's video thank you so so much for
watching I make new videos every single
week so I'll see you all next time bye
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