I coach amateur and professional photographers around the world through online sessions and workshops, and guess what, they need to hear completely different things.
Today I’m going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Who am I to tell a pro what they need to hear? Who knows. I certainly don’t know it all, but I do know a few things. Visit my website at justinmott.com and have a quick peek. If you like what you see, maybe I’m worth a listen. If not, that’s cool too.
Let’s start with amateurs.
Get rid of this idea from the beginning and stay pure as long as you possibly can. Money will stunt your growth, cloud your vision, slow you down, take you down paths you need to explore yet if at all. And guess what, most pro photographers aren’t buying vacation homes. Most are hustling deep into their careers, writing articles about photography for pennies on the dollar. I’m actually doing pretty well all things considered, but most aren’t. Not a brag, just the truth of what I’ve seen.
That dream of selling prints or suddenly landing a Nat Geo assignment in your 40s or 50s isn’t impossible, but it’s pretty far fetched, and even if you get it, they pay garbage. The longer you stay in the pure phase, self discovery mode, the more likely you’ll find yourself, your style, your vision, and the better you’ll get at honing it.
I’m not saying don’t make money from your photography if an opportunity arises, just don’t let that be your motivation or expectation. Stay pure as long as you can.
The goal shouldn’t be seeking praise, viral fame, or winning contests. The goal should be to improve and to find yourself, so spend the time you’d waste on social media learning and practicing your craft instead. Start projects, learn about color, light, composition, and storytelling. Learn from photographers who have books rather than YouTube channels, except me of course. Professionals have to promote ourselves because we need work, not praise. You don’t need either yet so don’t waste your time.
Gear Acquisition Syndrome is serious. It affects 2 out of 3 photographers worldwide and there is no cure as of yet. Get something that suits your budget and your aspirations, learn how to use it inside and out, buy used, and don’t buy again for a few years. If you want to spend money on photography, spend it on education, a workshop, an online class, or photography books.
At some point, hopefully early on, you graduate from admiring and mimicking cliche Instagram or YouTube famous photographers to studying photography legends. I see way too many amateurs spend months learning how to take lesser versions of photos from photographers who take terrible photos to begin with.
Here’s how it usually happens. You want to learn photography, so you go on YouTube, and YouTube shows you popular channels built on well produced episodes but not well produced photographs. They’re middle men, mostly. Some are good teachers. Most aren’t teaching from experience, if they’re teaching at all. Most are selling you gear, like these great bags from today’s sponsor, Wotacraft bags. Great products, but did you come here to learn or to buy?
For the ones who are actually teaching, look hard at their resumes and their work and make an informed decision about whether you want to learn the easy way or the right way. This isn’t to say the best photographers make the best teachers, but there are a lot of terrible photographers who make amazing videos and are terrible teachers too.
You don’t get better wandering around aimlessly taking photos. When you go out to shoot, have a plan. When you travel, have a plan. Learn light, learn composition, learn storytelling, start a project. If it feels like work, you don’t love it, and that’s ok.
Take my attempt to compare marathon running to amateur photography. Start by training to finish. Then, after you finish one, maybe you like it enough to train with purpose, like improving your time, and that takes a plan. Either way, train. That’s what I’m saying. Wait, am I talking about marathons or photography now? I guess what I mean is you don’t just randomly run around the block. Time yourself, stretch, eat properly, have a damn plan is all.
Hold out as long as you possibly and fiscally responsibly can before you start chasing money. Sounds like a weird one, but the more time you invest in figuring out who you are as a photographer and what you want to photograph, the better. Once you start working, that’s hard to find again.
Speaking of money, value your work. Don’t over or undervalue it, set the value appropriately, and only you can figure that out through trial and error and researching the market. This industry isn’t organized, so there are no industry standards to cite from. This will be an ongoing and never ending endeavor, so just be logical. If no one is hiring you and clients aren’t valuing you, sure, first go to social media and vent and tell everyone and let it flush out of your system. But when likes don’t equate to dollars, look inside and figure out if you need to improve or lower your fees.
You frown on your corporate friends working desk jobs, but guess what, they have a 401K and will most likely retire way before you ever do, if you can at all. I know very few working photographers who have proper retirement accounts. We’re quick to drop 10k on gear but rarely put 10k into savings.
Take a second right now, go on your favorite search engine, and google “how much do I need to retire by age 60,” or whatever age you want to stop, and take a look at that number. Are you anywhere close to it? If so, bravo. If not, make a damn financial plan. You’re probably in your prime earning years, and this is the time to save and plan. It’s never too late, so once that pit in your stomach goes away, start planning and use this as a wake up call.
Get your paperwork and archive in order. You’re a small business. Have an invoice, a proper tax system, archive system, standard contracts, healthcare, all that fun stuff. Do it now.
Sell yourself in person and sell yourself online. Now more than ever, a real human bond is important. Be confident when you say you’re a photographer. Tell people what you do and to keep you in mind if they ever need any photography. The hustle never stops. I know so many photographers who say they don’t like to promote themselves. Well damn, if not you, then who is going to get your name out there? Say it loud and say it proud.
Justin is an editorial and commercial photographer who’s been based in Vietnam for almost 20 years. In that time, he’s covered over 100 assignments for The New York Times and shot global ad campaigns for Fortune 500 companies across Asia and beyond.
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