We are always on the lookout for that one professional photographer who can click frame-worthy pictures! At some point in our lives, we also have tried our hands at photography training with the good old DSLR camera, which was a rage when it launched. We all need photographers to capture some memorable moments that we can cherish all our lives. From major events like weddings & stage performances to personal ones like birthday parties and family portraits. While clicking pictures for fun is one thing, being a professional photographer requires knowledge, practice and experience among other things. We might get lucky and end up with one or two good pictures among the zillion ones we clicked, but that won’t work every time. A professional photography course is all about quality and consistency in the pictures. Well it isn’t something that’ll just happen overnight, it’s going to take time, effort, skill, interest and practice to get there. That’s what this blog is going to be all about. We are going to be giving you some very useful insights that will help you in your journey of becoming a great photographer!

Photography

As we all have used a camera at some point in our lives, we know how to click and capture a basic picture. Photography is the art of capturing light through the means of a digital medium like a camera that develops an image of the same. Photography training is technical as much as it’s creative. Because you have had the chance of capturing pictures, many of you might have realised by now if photography training interests you! If you want to build a career in photography, there are some things that we can help you get started with!

The Journey to Becoming A Professional Photographer

If you are serious about a career in photography, there are certain boxes that you need to check before jumping right in. As a professional photographer, you can either work for an agency or take up freelance projects of your own. There are some short-term photography courses available. Hamstech offers some good photography training course options. Check the Hamstech blog for more information. We have got you covered there and will be discussing in detail about everything that will help you in establishing a career in photography!

Choose the Right Course

• Other than acing your photography skills with a professional photography course, you’ll also have to know how to run a business. There are many short term business programs that you can do while working. This will be of great help to you, when you start working as a freelance photographer or would like to start a photo studio of your own! Having a professional degree in photography training will be an excellent place to start towards becoming a professional photographer. Look for photography courses that work well with your vision and enroll yourself with that program. Hamstech offers some great professional photography course options for 2021 to choose from!
• During your initial days of learning these short-term photography courses will provide you with all the knowledge, information and experience that you need. You will also be doing internships and working under professional photographers who have lots of experience in this field. All this hands-on practical experience will improve your photography skills and give you important insights into the world of photography.

Know the Market Well

• Market research is the best way to know what you have to offer that’s unique in its own way while also not being too eccentric. While there is an audience for every kind of art, you need to know what you are good at and see if that interests people. In any creative field market survey is really important.
• The catch here is for you to offer services that are unique and in demand, to be able to survive in this competitive industry of photography. Check out other photographers in the industry and see the kind of work they are doing. This will not just help you in knowing your competition better but also give you an idea about what people are liking the most these days.

Keep Working Towards Your Passion

• Don’t wait for client projects to come by! One of the best things about being a freelance photographer or having your own studio is you have some time on your hands to explore different types of photography.
• So grab your camera and get going! There is so much that you can still learn about photography out there, so make use of your time by practicing your photography skills. By the time the next project comes by you’ll have new things to offer that you discovered during your photography training sessions.
• All forms of art require constant practice to achieve that perfection you’re looking for! Photography isn’t any different from other art forms either. When you are starting out, there might be some ideas that you would like to try out. While working on those ideas you might stumble across some new ones!
• The point here is to keep practicing your photography skills and gradually improving them! Give yourself a new challenge every day and thrive to get that perfect shot that you have planned in your head. Experimenting and working with different kinds of lighting, angles and lenses will help you in knowing what to expect from certain settings.

Pick Your Field of Specialisation

• Identify and choose your niche and then diversify in whatever you have to offer. Picking a niche and establishing yourself in the same, will create a loyal customer base. You should also be looking at the commercial aspects of a niche that you select. If your only source of income is this, then it’s important to know how much a certain niche can help you earn. Or you can take up side projects for the niche that you’re interested in while working mainly on the niche that pays well!
• While being the Jack of all trades is nice, it can get too confusing especially when it’s a creative profession like photography. There are so many different kinds of photography training and mastering them is going to take a lot of hard work and time.
• So try out different kinds of photography like wedding photography, portraits, wildlife photography, candid photography, product photography and so on. Figure out which kind of photography comes naturally to you and ignites you the most! When you combine practice, experience with natural talent, you could create wonders!
• Take your time, do your homework and settle on a niche that works for you in all ways.

Engage With Your Social Media Audience

• Connect with professionals from your field of work and other photography pages to keep up with the trends in photography. If needed, do an online course to learn about all the tips and ways in which social media works. This will help you in building a unique and strong brand that people will be interested to be a part of!
• We are currently living in the digital age, where almost everything is accessible through the click of a button. Naturally everybody derives their information online from websites, blogs, social media handles, networking sites and applications. It becomes all the more important that you establish your brand on social media for better reach and networking.
• Start by creating a business page on trending platforms like Facebook, Instagram and twitter. Constantly keep posting snips of your work and projects as seeing your work visually will have a much better impact on your audience. Interact with your audience and stay active on your social media handles.
• All social platforms offer options to promote your page through advertisements, pop ups and so on. Make use of these and showcase your work to a larger audience. For example you are a professional wedding photographer and if there is a person out there looking for one, these promotions will show up on their feed and make your brand page accessible to them!
• Promote yourself online! Don’t hold yourself back. During the initial days of starting a photo studio or a photography brand, you need to reach as many people as you can. These people will turn into prospective clients, which is the whole point.

Choose Your Equipment Wisely

• If you have the plans of starting your own photo studio but aren’t ready to do it just yet then try working for other professional photographers in the industry. You will be learning a lot through projects and can also save up enough to fund yourself in a few years.
• It’s no surprise that photography equipment is quite expensive. Don’t just rush and buy every single photography equipment suggested online and end up wasting money. When you are starting off as a professional photographer it’s important to manage your expenses smartly. Work with what you have and then build from there!
• There is no point in investing in high end photography equipment when you have no projects to work on! Use whatever equipment you have to the best of its ability for your initial projects. Don’t compromise on the quality of work that you can deliver. You want clients coming back, don’t you now? Once you start landing bigger projects you can reward yourself with a new camera!
• Working for professional photographers will also help you in building relationships with professionals in the industry. When it’s time for your brand, you would have a portfolio ready and some prior clients to start with.
• Explore other options like renting. We have many photo studios that are ready to rent out their equipment on a daily basis, which can be very helpful when you don’t want to spend all of your investment on just your photography gear. The renting prices are very affordable making them a great option.

Create An Impeccable Portfolio

• Create a website or a digital portfolio and upload its link onto your social media handles so that it can be easily accessed when people come across your profile.
• Also include the different kinds of services that you offer in your work portfolio. As photography projects are client oriented, be open to work on the angles that the clients would like to have.
• Get back to them with options that will work for their ideas, this will help in building a loyal clientele for your brand.
• When a client approaches you for a project they would definitely want to look at your prior work. A well designed photography portfolio will give them an idea about the kind of work you do and if that’s something they are looking for!

Even after becoming a professional photographer there will be so much for you to learn and explore in photography. You will find a lot more about this on the Hamstech blog. These are some points that will be very useful in your journey to becoming a professional photographer. Now that we have covered that part, let’s also look at all the things that you will need while starting off as a photographer.

Which Equipment Will Be More Fruitful?

We believe that one doesn’t need to go overboard and hoard photography equipment. When you join a professional photography course, they will give a list of basic equipment you’ll be needing to work on your projects and internships. We will be listing some things that you will need for your photography training!

A Camera

Well this was an obvious item in the must have list for a photographer. A good camera will be the perfect photography partner. As you are just starting with your photography training, you can invest in a DSLR. Because so many people already own a camera these days, it’s more accessible. DSLR cameras are available in a wide variety and also offer a wide price range. You can pick one that works best in your price range. Talk to your mentor or find some videos online to know more about different types of cameras that you can invest in! If a new camera is proving to be expensive then look for refurbished or second hand cameras that are in a good working condition. DSLR’s are perfect for a beginner’s budget!

Memory Card

Cameras don’t come with a lot of internal memory so it’s really important to invest in memory cards that will give you all the extra room for your pictures. These will come in super handy while trying to transfer pictures from your camera to other devices like your phone, system or hard drive. SD (secure digital) and CF (Compact Flash) are the types of memory cards commonly used for photography purposes. Also certain cameras are compatible only with a certain kind of memory card. Kindly check and know which type of memory card works for your camera and then invest in one!

Lens

Lenses help you in capturing better quality pictures, so these are available in different ranges based on what they are good at! Some cameras come with a pair of lenses in their package. The most recommended and budget friendly lenses for beginners/students would be a prime lens. These will give you high quality pictures for lower prices, which are perfect for all your photography needs as a beginner/student! You can ask your mentor to recommend some lenses that are user friendly and will also work well for your needs.

Tripod

Add this one to your list of photography equipment to buy! Tripods aren’t given much credit for the amount of work they do! You can find many options in the market for a sturdy, good quality tripod that are available for lower prices. You will only realise the need and importance of a tripod through your multiple photography projects and experiences. When you are shooting outdoors and waiting to capture a certain moment, tripod’s can be of great help. You can set your frame, fix your lighting and keep your camera ready for the moment instead of trying to assemble the whole thing last minute. These can also come in handy while clicking group pictures and self-portraits!

Lighting Equipment

Some photographers like using external lighting while others don’t! It’s a personal choice, but when you are starting off as a beginner it’s good to know how to work with different kinds of lighting. You never know when you might end up needing external lighting. Flash is one of the most commonly used lighting equipment by photographers in 2021. A ring light will work well for portraits. You can invest in some basic good quality flash, which many leading photography brands offer! When you discover your niche and know the kind of photography that you would like to continue working on, you can invest in specific lighting equipment according to your needs!

Monitor

Colours make a picture what it is! Once you are done clicking your shots, you need to transfer them to a system for further editing. Having a monitor with good colour calibration will make all the difference! Otherwise the colours on your photo and on the screen will end up looking totally different. The colours that you see on screen while editing, might seem like a totally different colour profile when you transfer and check them out on other devices. There are many good quality monitors available for affordable prices in the market. Kindly check and invest in one that works the best, look for some suggestions online for better reference!

Camera Bag

You can’t walk around holding all of your photography equipment, to think that it would even be possible, would be foolish. You will be handling multiple things at once like a camera, different lenses, flash, memory cards, cables, lighting if any! All these need to be packed carefully while travelling from one location to another. It’s very easy to lose things like a memory card as they are tiny and can get misplaced. Many brands throw in a complimentary camera bag, when you purchase one. Kindly check and invest in one good quality camera bag that has pockets to accommodate different photography equipment that you own.

Editing Software

You’ll need software to process your pictures, these will help you to edit and organize your pictures accordingly. One of the most known and used editing software is Adobe Lightroom. Some even suggest Adobe Photoshop for beginners as it is user friendly and can be of great help to beginners and students alike. These software aren’t very expensive and sometimes your professional photography courses will share them with you. Opt for Adobe Lightroom over Photoshop as the former one is more useful and less expensive.

The list of equipment mentioned above is more than enough to get you started with. You will have to invest in these sooner or later, as you cannot do without them. So research some photography equipment brands and check out their products. Watch product review videos and articles, talk to your mentor and then invest in the right equipment. You will find all the information that you need about these products online. So do your homework before investing in a certain brand of products.

To summarise, everything mentioned above might seem exhaustive, but these will prove to be very useful when you plan on taking up professional photography. Photography is a skill that you keep getting better at with experience. So keep working and trying out new things to discover the kind of photography that interests you the most. The industry is pretty competitive, so it’s important that you know what you want to stay focused. There are many professional photographers doing some notable work out there! Get inspired from their work and work towards your career as a professional photographer.

Take a step closer towards becoming a professional photographer with Hamstech photography courses. Hamstech offers three different photography training options to choose from! Hamstech’s blog has further details on these photography courses. Kindly check to enroll into one of these short-term photography courses in 2021.