Just in case you haven’t read any of the other posts, I am doing a 4 part post about what I learned in my first year of business.  Part 1 was about the foundational ideas I built my business on, Part 2 was about specific practices I use to distinguish myself from other photographers.  This is part 3 titled “Being a better photographer”…

Learn your equipment. My assumption is that if you are going to start a photography business that you already have some natural talent in photography.  So other than talent, this is the first step to work on in becoming a better photographer.  It is amazing how much better you get when you can get your equipment to deliver on the creative idea inside your head.  So as much as you don’t want to hear this: spend time reading the manual of every piece of equipment you buy…then go practice!   I firmly believe that if you are a professional your goal should be to shoot fully manual and sub-consciously make adjustments on your camera based on the environment.  Once you can do this you are in position to get THE shot, because you aren’t stumbling around with your buttons.  I have still have far to go in this department.

Develop your style. Once you start to know your equipment, you will inevitably want to try all kinds of new tricks in the camera and in Photoshop.  Along with this comes the desire to try to mimic other photographer’s work.  You’ll learn that with PS and all the actions for sale out there it’s really easy to look like other photographers.  Resist!  I’m not saying to not try new things, that’s how we learn.  Somewhere along the way you have to be yourself.  Way back in post #1 of this series I said that if you are yourself the kind of clients you want to work with will find you.  This is where it is the most true.  The truer your style is to who you are, the more likely you will have people contacting you that understand  and appreciate you.  If you are constantly trying to be someone else you will be miserable.  It is a good day as a professional when you have clients say “Do what you do, you’re the professional”.  It takes off loads of stress after the shoot when you know that clients chose you because of the kinds of shots and post-processing you do.  You no longer will think, “Will they like it better edited like this or like this?”  They will like it because it is in your style, which is what they fell in love with in the first place.

NEXT POST: Working less for more reward.