20 Suggestions on How to Become a Professional Photographer

Don't expect others to do anything for you. Proactive! E-mail is a simple tool in modern technology.

Through it, it is very convenient to sell yourself to the authority in the professional field. Of course, considering the rapid upgrading of the fashion photography industry, it may be necessary to introduce yourself to new industry decision makers many times.

Telephone follow-up

Telephone follow-up should be continuous, but not aggressive. Make sure that when you call someone, the mail is not classified into his spam box, and pay attention to the brevity of the call. Pay attention to respect other people's time, because I hope someone will answer the phone next time.

3. Re-study the research.

Study what your peers are doing, and more importantly, study what your peers are doing better than you. Think outside the box, don't just consider those who seem to be in related fields or ahead of you.

challenge oneself

Keep improving, turn failure into success and push you forward. This will make you braver in the future challenges, have your own ideas about your work, and will not be stumped by customers. (Lara is not the first photographer to make this suggestion. Roberto Valenzuela once said in the course Positioning, Posing and Execution: Challenge-Failure-Learning-Progress? Repeat this process over and over again. )

5. Personal efforts

While testing your skills, you are full of enthusiasm for your work.

Live with gratitude

Be grateful for what you have, don't just focus on where you are going. When you are surrounded by a group of positive people, you will find that those negative emotions are easily driven away.

7. Face up to your own values

Only when you start to take your career seriously will others start to take what you do seriously. Partners listen to leaders because they can trust their own abilities.

When you need someone to cheer you up or make you happy, figure out who to go to. Whether it is the other half, family or friends, you should know who is suitable for complaining.

8. Learn more about shooting.

We should know more about our subject. Don't have any reservations when shooting without going all out. It is very important to tell a story through photos.

9. Put aside your fears

The most important thing to challenge is to let go of fear. People will shrink back because of fear. On the way forward, it is a serious drag, which will also affect the discovery potential. So, be confident!

10. Don't compete.

Know your own value. Although it is important to know what your peers are doing, you don't need to compare with anyone. You don't need to prove that you are better than others.

1 1. Open cooperation

Miracles require the joint efforts of a team. Hairstylists, stylists, models, lighting engineers, and create works with these people. And establish and maintain good relations with these people.

12. Keep learning

There is always more to learn in the world. Learning new skills can reduce the time spent on less enthusiastic jobs.

Share participation.

Share things that inspire you through social media, share the creative process, and participate in communication activities with your peers and photographers-but be careful not to share everything before you are ready to answer.

14. Create a network

You only need one person to introduce yourself to others, which can give you more opportunities that you may not have before.

15. Catch the inspiration

Thinking outside the model, those inspiring things may bring you unexpected creation. Look at the sky, look at the earth, observe everything around you and look for inspiration.

16. Honesty

In this industry, if you are dishonest, bad consequences will always follow.

17. Expect something

If you are on the "To Do" list, make sure it is what you expect at the end of the list. This is not only motivation, but also the reward of hard work.

18. Accept help

Painters and assistants, don't feel guilty when others offer help. You can often learn something when you criticize and answer questions. Maybe you think criticism is unreasonable, but you can try to explain the improvement and make yourself better. Keep an open heart!

19. Shoot for love, not for money.

Follow your heart and shoot with passion, and you can avoid the secularization of your works and being hated by everyone. I really need to make money, but with low pay, if I don't have enthusiasm as motivation, I will eventually hate this job.

20. To be an artist, you should also be a businessman.