Ideally, you need to have your own studio (or have the budget to rent a professional studio) to be able to offer photo shoots. However, many clients also prefer outdoor or location shoots, so even if you don’t have a studio yet, there are lots of opportunities out there for you. People will always need a professional photographer to help them commemorate all the special moments in their lives, with or without a studio.
To get started, all you need to do is build a strong portfolio, get your own website, tell your friends and family, share your work on social media, and do whatever you can to get the word out about your services.
Some types of photo shoots you can do:
Depending on the type of shoot, you can charge at least $100 for a session. When figuring out your pricing, do your research and find out how much other local photographers are charging, so you can stay competitive.
Do you have a sizeable collection of high-quality photos? Why not submit them to stock photography sites? It’s a good way to earn a stream of passive income! Become a contributor for sites like
iStock, BigStock , and ShutterStock , or upload your photos to your own personal
Flickr account and license them through Getty Images.
How to sell your stock photos:
Don’t believe that your skills are good enough to win a photography contest? Think again! It’s not just the experts who join these contests, after all. The contestants you’ll be competing with will usually be an eclectic mix of photographers with different levels of experience and expertise, so don’t be afraid to venture out and try your luck.
What do you have to lose? Even if you don’t win any of the cash prizes, photo contests can help boost your confidence and gain you some exposure.
There are plenty of photo contests out there, and the grand prizes can go as high as a few thousand dollars! Not bad, right?
Bloggers make money through ads and sponsored content. If you’re an adept writer, another way to make money is to start your own photography blog. You can make tutorials, share tips and tricks, or write reviews on all kinds of photography gear and software.
Similarly, you can also make money by starting a photography channel on YouTube. It’s essentially the same content (tutorials, reviews, etc.) but in video form. However, your blog or YouTube channel needs to gain a good following before you can actually start making money from it.
A beautiful photo is a work of art—and people will pay for art. If you want to earn some extra cash by selling prints of your work, here are a few ways to do that:
Before you start selling prints, find a good printing service first (check out
AdoramaPix ) to ensure the quality of the end product. Also, as a general rule, people don’t normally buy photos with people in them, so try to avoid selling this kind of photos. After all, these photos will be displayed in their homes or offices.
Contact your local magazines and newspapers and inquire about a possible freelance work. It definitely won’t be a stable job, but it’s a great way to earn some money on the side. Eventually, when you’ve established a relationship with a local publication, you can expect a steadier stream of work covering local events and snapping photos for features and news stories.
Make sure to build a strong portfolio to increase your chances of getting work!
Places like Los Angeles and New York are known celebrity hotspots, so if you live in areas where celebrity sightings are a daily occurrence, paparazzi photography may be for you. Paparazzi photographers are well paid, but their job can also be highly demanding and competitive.
How to become a professional paparazzo:
Most photographers often need a second shooter (like at weddings and events) or an assistant during photo shoots. If you aren’t too confident about going out there on your own and taking on clients, working as an assistant or a second shooter is a great way to get your feet wet, gain more experience, and earn some extra cash—because you’ll be compensated for your time!
Just contact any local photographers near you and ask if they need an assistant or a second shooter. Or, if you don’t feel like calling up a photographer you’ve never met and asking for a job, you can try meeting people (and making friends!) in the local photography community by joining some groups or clubs. Networking is an important part of any photographer’s career, so start building your network now.
You don’t necessarily have to start a wedding photography business to make money from shooting weddings. You can start by contacting clients or offering your services to friends and relatives. Wedding photography is particularly profitable, so it’s always a good option if you’re looking to make money.
Now, whether you decide to do wedding photography full-time or not, it’s important to have top-of-the-line equipment at your disposal if you want to make your clients happy and ensure that they recommend you to all their friends.
Finally, we get to the last and most obvious way to make money as a photographer—starting your own niche photography business.
Putting up a website that offers a broad range of photography services is a good way to make money, but if you want to really get serious about your career and earn even more money, you need to find your niche. If you enjoy photographing animals, start a pet photography business. Love traveling? Then get into travel photography. Just make sure to keep it focused on one or several related niches, as doing so helps you increase your credibility and build your reputation for being an expert in that particular niche.
Why? Think of it this way: if a client wants to hire a photographer for his wedding, will he hire the photographer who does real estate photography, headshots, and the occasional weddings here and there? Or will he hire the photographer who exclusively specializes in weddings? Probably the latter, right?
The bottom line is that people want a photographer who not only knows what he/she is doing but also has the specialized skills and experience to be the best person for the job.
So, if you want to start your own photography business, stick to one particular niche—and be the best at it.
Adorama
Adorama Learning Center is the content destination for photographers, filmmakers, audio creatives and all things electronic. Check out our up-to-date editorial features on all the latest gear, how-to's and interviews with today's most relevant industry insiders.
Tags:
how to become a professional photographer
how to make money as a photographer . Do photo shoots for clients.
Maternity photo shoots
Newborn photo shoots
Pet photo shoots
Family portraits
Headshots
Real estate photos for ads
Boudoir photo shoot

JOIN PHOTO CONTEST
Don’t believe that your skills are good enough to win a photography contest? Think again! It’s not just the experts who join these contests, after all. The contestants you’ll be competing with will usually be an eclectic mix of photographers with different levels of experience and expertise, so don’t be afraid to venture out and try your luck.
What do you have to lose? Even if you don’t win any of the cash prizes, photo contests can help boost your confidence and gain you some exposure.
There are plenty of photo contests out there, and the grand prizes can go as high as a few thousand dollars! Not bad, right?