Being your own boss is wonderful -- you get to pick your own times, projects, clients and events. You have the ultimate freedom of leading your photography platform in whichever direction you please, there is a lot of open room for creativity. But creating a successful freelance career isn't as easy as it seems when there isn't anyone to help with meeting deadlines, shooting fast-paced events and hunting for new clients. You are solely responsible for marketing yourself through social media and meeting with clients to review sessions -- it can be a lot to handle sometimes so here a few ways to smoothen out some of those bumps.
1. Learn the Art of portfolio building.
The bottom line is no one enjoys working for free. But as a freelancer, it's a crucial step in building up an impressive portfolio along with networking with other companies and businesses. When I first started, I volunteered to take pictures of as many charity events and galas as I could possibly find to build connections with event coordinators from those respective organizations. As I progressed, I was always asked to come back and shoot future events which proved that the ends did justify the means. The payments just weren't monetary -- they were in experience and attendance. When future clients took a look at my portfolio, they were impressed by the sheer number of events I had shot along with the status of the organizations I had worked with. It's also important to remember that you enjoy what you do at the end of the day and free work can most definitely be enjoyable. It's also critical to ask yourself whether or not certain events will actually enhance your portfolio. It's all about marketability to future paying clients.
2. You will get asked to work for free.
Friends do this ALL. THE. TIME. Many forget the ridiculous amount of hours that go into editing and retouching photos -- don't forget how much your time is worth! If it isn't for building up your portfolio or relationships for future clients, it probably isn't of much value. Although it may feel great to be asked to take pictures because they believe that you're good at what you do, it's too time consuming to make it beneficial -- it's more of a one-way process where you don't get much so don't sell yourself short. However, if those friends will refer you to potential clients, that can be a potential benefit.
3. Networking is crucial.
You'll definitely spend more time finding people and organizations to take pictures of and for than you'll spend actually doing them. Being a freelancer means that sometimes, running a business is more important than being an artist in which case you need a constant and steady flow of clients. It's also just as important to keep in touch with old clients as it is to finding new ones. Marketing on social media is a great way to share your work on a smaller scale -- create an Instagram account with samples and follow friends you may think are interested! Photos truly do speak a thousand words in this scenario.
4. Value your work.
Art is completely subjective, therefore when you set hourly rates and general shoot prices, you need to be wary of your competitors. There's almost always another photographer who's willing to do the same work for cheaper -- it's always a battle between making a solid amount of income and making any at all. People often say that you should let your portfolio "speak for itself" but at the end of the day, most people would prefer to save money on shoots/events when possible. It's smarter to have more, cheaper shoots than expensive, rare shoots when you first begin to build up your repertoire and move forward from there by progressively charging more.
5. Improve your equipment and experimenting.
The photography world is an ever-changing field. New lenses, new styles, new angles -- everything's constantly improved and experimented with. With platfors like VSCO and Instagram and camera qualities similar the iPhone 7, many believe that DSLR photography is dying out. I beg to differ as the person behind the lens is as vital as the camera itself. To last in such a competitive field, it's important to do research on the newest trends and purchase better equipment with the money you make to stay on top. It also makes it easier to stand out when you try new styles so you aren't just another senior portrait photographer like every other person with a camera hoping to make some extra money.
6. Wondering if it's worth it is normal.
Freelancers often find themselves in "dry periods" when clients are scarce and there just isn't enough work around to continue believing that photography will turn into a valid line of work. It's incredibly unpredictable and everyone's competing to find their spot in the industry and it truly does take a lot of patience and endurance to stick it out until you begin to do well. But I always make sure to remind myself how lucky I am to be able to create a "side career" from what I'm truly passionate about and it all just clicks.
