Digital Camera - Ken Gilbert

42
ditch the dayjob
Runa
workshop
Chris Weston (www.chrisweston.
uk.com) walked away from his
nine-to-fivetopursue acareer as
a wildlife photographer, running
workshops to share his passion.
What advice would you give to
anyone looking to start running
a photography workshop?
There’s intense competition,
so you need to find a niche. And
you must be confident that you
know what you’re talking about.
Being published in magazines or
authoring books, for example, will
help you gain credibility.
What would you recommend as
the maximum number of students
for a workshop?
Numbers can be limited by logistics
– the number of seats in your
transport, for example – and the
leveloftuition; the higher the level,
the fewer people attending.
What’s the best way to advertise
your workshop?
Likeany business, youneed to
explore multiple channels such as
magazines, online and awebsite.
Social networking sites arealso
becoming popular because they
givepeople the chance to get to
know you and your style before
they commit to spending money.
how much should you charge?
You need to work out the per
person cost to run it, including fees
to outside contractors, travel,
advertising and so on, and set it
against your desired profit.
DiffiCulty rating
DigitalCamera July2010
Earning potEntial
Setting yourself up as a
social photographer and
shooting portraitsand
weddings is a moneymaking
routewith the
potential to grow into a full-time
career, but it isn’t an easy ride.
“This over-saturated market isn’t
for the faint hearted, but if done well,
there’snoreason whyyou can’tmake
a great living from the social market.”
So claims Brett Harkness (www.
brettharknessphotography.com),
aManchester-based photographer
whoknows exactly what’s involved in
going it alone and setting up asocial
photography business.
“The best adviceIcan give is
practice, practice, practice. Assisting
other photographers can be a great
way of getting good shotswithout
the pressure, or you can use family,
friends, neighbours or someone’s kids
to practice on – anyone who will help
youcreateabroad bodyofworkthat
youcan use to showpotential
customers what you’re capable of.”
Of course,taking pictures of people
you know is relatively easy, but taking
this to the next level(getting
completestrangerstopose in front of
your cameraand payfor the privilege)
In asaturated
market, you have to
work hardtomake
yourself –and your
work –known, says
Brett Harkness
“Ifyou’restartingout,you
shouldget yourself known
within your local community”
is the real challenge. The onlyway to
do this is to make them aware of you,
and that means advertising.
coMMunIty SerVIce
“You canbethe best photographer
around, but if no-one but your hard
drive knows about your pictures then
there’s absolutely no point!” says
Harkness.“If you’restarting out, get
yourself known within your local
community. Photographing kids is a
consistent market, so approach play
centres and kids clothesshops with
leafletsadvertising your services.Ask
them to put your literatureintotheir
shops and offer to take pictures of
their productsinreturn –you’ll be
giving them something thattheycan
use, and expanding your portfolio.”
However, when it comes to other
people paying for your services,you
need to be realistic about what you
cancharge.When you’restarting out
it can be tempting to do a few jobs for
free, but Harkness isn’t convinced.
“Don’tdotoo much for free,asit’ll be
a hard spiral to get out of,” he says.
“Someone referring youtotheir
friend is one thing,but if theyweren’t
charged for the work, their friend
would expect the same,socharge
what you’reworth. Don’tovercharge
though –it’simportant thatclients
aren’t scared away by your prices.”
DiffiCulty rating
Earning potEntial
Work as a social
photographer
look the part
Arm yourself with this essential kit to ensure the best results
a full-frame D-Slr
will give you a shallower
depth of field with
wide-aperture lenses than
an APS-C sized sensor,
while the option to record
HD video could be an
added bonus for wedding
shooters. If you want to
shoot in low light, or make
your subject stand out,
fast f/2.8 zooms are the
way to go. A wide zoom
will enable you to cover
large groups or show a
subject within their
environment, while
alonger zoom lens is
perfect for head-andshoulders
shots.
A versatile piece of
kit, a flashgun can light a
shot, subtly liftshadows
or be taken off-camera
and used to create a
portable studio. As your
business starts to grow,
you’ll be able to substitute
hotshoe flashes for
location lighting kits.