Shoot what YOU Love...
I think I briefly mentioned this in an earlier post but as I debated on which subject to come next, after a conversation I had tonight, I knew this was the next subject. Look, if you take anything I talk about, I hope that you'll hear this, and shoot what you love.
Probably my most frequently asked question that I get is what's a good camera to start with, and typically, it's because someone wants to get a cheap dslr so that they can be a family photographer and either quit their job or make good side money. My advice, don't get into photography for the money. Get a camera and go out and shoot the things that you love. If you start by shooting the things that you love, you'll develop your eye, you'll create your style, and if it comes to it, people will reach out to you to hire you or you'll have developed your style to reach out and apply for jobs.
Photography for me started out as a hobby. I just took really random photos, typically it had to do with nature or sports. In 2009, I had written a small book and wanted photographs to go along with it, and so I literally stumbled into working with models. It was for a specific project and I had absolutely no idea it would take off. I love what I do, but modeling/boudoir photography has really become my main gig because it's where things took off for me.
For a lot of professional photographers, photography is a job and they stick to their style, and that's that. However for some of us it's also still a hobby of ours on the side and we like to experiment. For a commercial photographer, it's such a structured area that they may do modeling work on the side to be more creative. For me, I work with people so much I like to do outdoor photography on the side or do different styles of people work that is more in-line with what I like to look at, like b&w film photography.
I think it's imperative that when you take up photography, do it as a creative outlet and something to enjoy. Don't take it up just thinking about a quick buck. It's not. You may have just paid a few hundred dollars out to get your kids photos taken, and think that photography would be a great way to make some cash but you've got to look at not only our equipment costs, and overhead like studio/taxes/insurance/etc, but the time to actually learn to shoot and edit at that level, etc. It's an industry where things are constantly changing and you've gotta stay on top of all the new trends, and then you've got people popping up charging twenty-five bucks a shoot, and you'll never cover expenses that way.
Please don't take this post as trying to discourage you. Photography is a wonderful thing and quite honestly, ANYONE can do it. We can all pick up a camera and take a photo, and that scares some photographers with an influx of so many people doing it. If you look at Pinterest, there's a lot of really pretty photos, but if we're honest, tons of them look all the same and there's not really much distinguishing them from each other. So If you pick up a camera, and shoot the style/subjects that you love, you'll develop your style. You will give it your spin and it won't be those photos that look like a hundred others out there. They'll be yours.
