How do I start a photography business?

We get asked this question a lot!  With so many new photographers popping up everyday, I thought I would make a list of the top 20 things you need to do before you start charging people for your services.  Until you are set up as a legitimate registered business in Saskatoon, it is illegal to charge people to photograph them.  Here are the top 20 things you need to do to start your own photography business.

  1. Register your business with the city. You need to renew this each and every year!

  2. Register your business name. This is different than step #1. It is so important you do this or anyone else can actually start a business under the same name. This needs to be renewed every 5 years.

  3. Get insurance! Talk to an Insurance agent to find out what you need. You are technically not allowed in many public areas in Saskatoon without liability insurance.

  4. Get a PST number. You need to collect PST if you are selling a product. And photographs, whether in print or in digital format, is a product. Every photographer should have a PST number.

  5. Once your photography business brings in more than $30,000 a year you need a GST number as well!

  6. Get a camera and learn how to use it in the manual settings. Learn your camera inside and out.

  7. Invest in great lenses. Great glass produces top quality images.

  8. Buy Lightroom and/or Photoshop, and learn how to use it.

  9. Take a photography course, and keep learning! There are some great online courses, but as a creative person I learn best by doing, so in class learning is far more beneficial for myself, which is why we take a few workshops every single year.

  10. Take a business course. Photography is only 10% of running a photography business.

  11. Create a business plan, and review it every couple of years.

  12. Open a business bank account.

  13. Charge enough money so you can make a living, don't charge based on what you think people can afford. People often think that if they charge $500 for a session, that goes directly in their pocket and they don't account for monthly business expenses or taxes, which you have a pay at the end of the year (or quarterly).

  14. Practice, Practice, Practice.... and then practice some more!

  15. Find a mentor. Choose someone who is established and whose work you love. The PPOC is great for this.

  16. Make friends with other photographers.

  17. Once you have a great variety of images, create a website. Facebook pages are great marketing tools, but websites are a must, as a photographers work is so visual.

  18. Hire a graphic artist to help you create your brand, and logo.

  19. Get as much experience as you can. Offer to second shoot/assist other photographers for free to learn as much as you can.

  20. Lastly, know that running a business takes a ton of work. 9-5, Monday to Friday is officially out the window. It's rare I take a full day off, even if that means I'm answering emails at midnight. It never stops!

If you are interested in a mentor, I would love to give you a hand with your photography business. I absolutely love to see other succeed doing something they are passionate about. Those that are out of province (not in Saskatchewan) will get special pricing.

We truly hope this list of how to start a photography business helpful!  Please, feel free to add anything below in the comments:).  Good Luck!

An image we got at the Canada fireworks here in Saskatoon. 

An image we got at the Canada fireworks here in Saskatoon. 

   

Killer - Photographing photographers

This is my friend Dani... she is the photographer over at Danielle Stasiuk Photography and Pink Sugar boudoir.  Her work is killer!  The other night we went out to take some photos of each other.  It was a lot of fun!  She made me feel so comfortable in front of the camera and gave me a ton of direction, which I love!  I will post some of my pics later, but in the meantime here are a few fav's from her session.  If you are interested, you can check out her website HERE

Busy, busy, busy! Welcome to life with two kids:).

I photographed this little girl when she was a baby.  It was so cool to see her so grown up, and oh so busy!  She sat so good at the beginning of the session then we just let her run around and I chased her.  LOL.   And her little bro.  Equally adorable!  Gosh, this family has become near and dear to me.  And their kids.... so freakin' adorable!!!!  I tried narrowing down a selection for viewing.  Obviously it was way to hard, so here are over half of their images!  So many great shots. 

Tidbit Tuesday - Family life

Those of you that follow us know that I (Mandy) have a couple of little rugrats.  My girl is going to be 4 in a couple of weeks (where does time go??) and my boy turned 2 in April.  They go to daycare a couple of times a week which is essential for us.  It gives me time to get a lot of work done and it gives them some time to hang out with other kids without mom there, which I love.  It's also so nice to have a few days with them, where I can focus on just them (well most of the time anyhow!).  I think I can finally say I have found a perfect work/life balance.  It has take a long time to get here, but it is so nice that we have found something that works for us.  I know so many other photographers who struggle with this, trying to work every evening and weekend.  If you happen to be reading this, feel free to message me to gain some sanity in your life:).  My hubby and I will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary on July 25!  Got any fun ideas for us to do?  Let me know!  I would love to hear them.  Here is a family photo from our session last fall with In Love with Photography.  We already have our session this year booked at the end of August.     


Monkey Business

How do we get nice natural smiles?  We act completely silly!  Like really, really silly.  If you've ever been in front of my camera, you will know what I mean when I say, I usually bust out the Monkey.  Doesn't always work for the kids, but it always works for the adults.  I think to be a great photographer, you need to be able to make people laugh.  And by doing that, you just have to have no shame.  This foursome loved the monkey, and it loved them:).

Emma Lake - Lakeland photographer

Did you know we offer sessions up at the lake in northern Saskatchewan for no travel fee's?  We have very limited weekend availability for these sessions but they make for some great memories for all you lucky folks who head up to the lake for the summer!  Sessions are at Emma Lake and Christoper Lake with a small fee for Waskasiu or other surrounding lakes. 

We did this session last week on the beach at Emma Lake.  While the little princess was nearly impossible to make smile, once she got playing in the water, I got a ton of great expressions.  Both these kids are so darn adorable.  They obviously get their good looks for their parents.  

If you are interested in a lake session, please message me early as I only have a couple of weekends still available for these sessions for the summer/early fall.