5 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me

At this point I’m just some random person on the internet spewing another list post at you but I’m putting this out there because there are so many things I wish someone had said to me at the beginning of my photography career. 

1. There are several ways to be successful 

There is no one avenue for success. When I started, I thought the only way you could make money in photography was either to become a high fashion editorial shooter or shoot commercial work. Don’t fall for this fallacy. It’s all lies!! There are people who have built whole careers on photographing dogs. Just dogs. There’s even a guy whose whole career is based on shooting waves. So find what makes you happy (whatever in the world that is) and run with. If you’re like me and like to see people who are successful in their niches then check out 500px or Fstoppers for some great niche artists. 

1. Just go for it

I’m a bit of a perfectionist (only when it comes to my art). I spent a long time developing my style before I ever was even comfortable with submitting my work to magazines and letting anyone in the public see it. Don’t do that. Just go for it. Your photographic style will forever be changing throughout your entire career. So you will never reach a point when you are completely satisfied with your work. Don’t wait for that perfect day because today is the day to just do it.

1. Be Happy. Choose Happy

Don’t stay in a miserable situation dealing with miserable people if you don’t have to. There isn’t a nice way to put this but there are a lot of prima donnas in this industry. Aka, there are a lot of bitches and arrogant assholes in this industry. Conversely, there are a lot of really cool people in this industry. So if you’re working for/with one of the prima donnas, quit. Quit and go find yourself one of the nice photographers. I spent some time working for a ‘renowned’ photographer who was a complete ass and I hated every second of it. They made me not want to do photography anymore. But I got out and found a much better mentor/boss and realized that I didn’t need to fall into the stereotype of dealing with entitled photographers. (More on this subject in the next bit).

1. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re doing it wrong

For some reason there are so many pretentious photographers in the industry. At some point we’ll all encounter those photographers that talk down at everyone. You know the ones that are always prattling on about how ‘you’re not a real photographer unless you’re classical trained.’ “Oh, I did several assistantships under the top photographers in Milan and NYC. What have you done?” These tend to be the older generation of photographers that came up in a time when there weren’t too many different ways to break into the industry so the path to success was pretty rigid. 

Fortunately for you, that isn’t the case anymore. The internet is a strange and wonderful thing. It has opened the world up to a new generation of shooters. It has also opened the floodgates to innovation in the industry. So ignore any and all comments from other photographers that say you’re doing it wrong. You’re doing just what you need to be doing - you.

1. You don’t have to be in a major city to be successful

Don’t fall into the fallacy of thinking that you have to live in New York City or Los Angeles or Paris to be successful. Once again, the internet is wonderful. It lets you network with people all around the world without leaving your home city. And travel is much more accessible now a days so you can easily hop a train, plane, or automobile to get to your shoot location. If you’ve got a killer portfolio and build a good network, brands will be willing to ship you out to their shoot locations. 

Beyond that though, don’t discount the non-major cities either. No matter what city you live in, there will always be a great community of people looking for a photographer. I spent some time in St. Louis and at first I made the assumption that I wouldn’t be able to find any work in lifestyle/streetwear shooting. Little did I know but a lot of the major brands in Chicago were branching out to St. Louis for talent. St. Louis also had a burgeoning art scene and is home base to a pretty well known modeling agency so I was able to make a nice little career there. Of course, I traveled a lot for work. But I also saved a lot of money by living in a cheaper city and traveling to my job.

6. Bonus: Make friends

This is hands down the best part of being a photographer. You get to meet so many people doing so many different things. It’s insane the amount of people that you’ll be exposed to. Soak it up. You’ll make some amazing friends in this industry. Don’t let competitiveness get in the way. We all want to make it. We also all have bills to pay. But that doesn’t mean you need to tear down your compatriots just to get to the top. In fact, that is a fast way to destroy your career before it ever even begins. Just be nice. Work hard. And make all the friends.