Now more than ever it is hard to stand out as a photographer. Anyone can create amazing photos with the phone in their pocket. So how to you stand out and become the photographer you are meant to be?
Know that gear does not matter. Like I said earlier incredible photos can be taken with a telephone. You need to have an understanding of the most basic elements in photography before you can move on and start your journey to stand out.
Learn about my mini course “Conquer Your Camera” here
https://learn.beginnerphotographypodcast.com/p/conquer-your-camera
Once you understand the basic elements of photography you can move on to taking the steps to stand out.
Step 1: Develop your Style
You do not pick your style, your style picks you. It can not be created just refined by taking thousands and thousands of photos.
Step 2: Focus on ONE THING
Don’t be a jack of all trades. Focus on one thing and go deep. Don’t be a portrait photographer, be a lifestyle portrait photographer for families with multiple foster children over 7 years old. Don’t worry about the clients you are cutting out. McDonalds is the most profitable resturant in the world and is not worries about those people who want tacos.
Step 3: Charge More
If budget was not an issue would you rather hire a $500 wedding photographer or a $5000 wedding photographer? Chances are you would choose the $5000 wedding photographer because even though you have not seen their photos, they must be better to charge that much money. It is all perceived value.
Step 4: Care about People
Go 1 on 1 as often as possible. You could pay to have an ad shown to 2000 people to hire you and 1 might book. But if you were in a room with 100 potential clients and you talked to them individually I bet 5 would book you. Take the time to understand people and they will feel valued and want to help you and share you with their friends.
All of this takes time. I know I still need to work on caring for people better. But all of this is not possible if you don’t know the essentials of photography.
Chances are you can not implement all of this tomorrow because you don’t know who you are as an artist, as a business owner if thats where you want to go, or how you want to make the world a better place.
If you have ever been on a shoot and it just wasn’t working and you didn’t know how to fix it, you need to be working on that first. Thats step 1. Because if you still get lost just trying to make sure your photo isn’t way too bright or too dark then developing your style can not be your priority.
That exact reason is why I have created a mini course called Conquer your Camera. I dont want you to feel stuck when shooting, I want to give you a helping hand so this is not your average mini course.
In Conquer your Camera I go over the essentials you need to know before moving ahead to the next step.
In Conquer Your Camera you will learn about the 3 most important elements in photography
What is exposure and how its controlled
How composition is used to frame your photos
and the importance of light and the different kinds to look out for.
But what makes this mini course special is that included in the mini course you will receive the Conquer Your Camera field guide. This set of cards held together by keychain are the perfect companion to attach to your camera bag or camera strap. Never again feel lost when you are out shooting. The answers will be at your finger tips!
It covers everything from when to use what camera settings, where to find soft light, compositional guidelines to improve your photos right away, a checklist of what you need to prepare before going out on a shoot, and a list of photography terms you need to know.
This is the first step you need to take before focusing on all of the extras.
