I am sometimes contacted by photographers who are seeking advice for on how to transition from a hobbyist to a professional photographer. While I by no means consider myself an expert, I do believe I have made enough mistakes in this journey to be able to share the hard-learned lessons with others.

This is by no means a comprehensive post. It doesn’t even touch the areas of marketing or running a business. This may become the basis for a series of detailed posts on the lessons I’ve learned (and continue to learn). I’ll update this page as I think of more things to share. For now, here is what I have…

Get honest, constructive, unbiased feedback.

There is no single definition of what “good” photography is. While this leaves a ton of room for people to be creative, it also makes it difficult for learning photographers to understand where they need to improve. Additionally, because photography is a form of art, there is often an emotional attachment between the producer and the product. These factors work together to create a situation where aspiring professional photographers can find themselves lost and wondering if their work is really any good.

In the world of commercial photography there are some non-negotiable qualities that the photographer must develop. Many of these qualities are very subtle and only obvious to a trained eye. The challenge for an aspiring commercial photographer is to find a way to have their work evaluated against commercial standards without risking a client’s time and money.

One way I found to get unbiased, honest feedback is by submitting work to stock photo sites. Every image that is submitted gets reviewed by a nameless, faceless, unbiased reviewer who will evaluate the photo from a strictly commercial perspective. At first it can be heartbreaking. Images that received highest praise from peers and family members might be flatly rejected by a stock website for a variety of creative or technical reasons. It suddenly gets real.

I recommend that an aspiring commercial photographer do some research on the microstock industry and then get involved. It is a great way to get honest feedback. Start by learning what the stock sites are looking for in terms of content and quality. Create a few batches of images and submit your best work for consideration. Most stock sites offer free resources to potential contributors.

Based on the feedback you receive, you’ll quickly develop a list of skills you need to develop and/or equipment you need to upgrade.

I recommend that you sign up for at least two stock sites. Shutterstock and iStock are great. BigStock is another good one. Keep in mind that the reviewers are humans, so some of their feedback is just their opinion. Submitting to multiple sites will help you evaluate the validity of the responses.

Over time you will develop your critical eye and you will begin to distinguish between very minor but critical details in your work.

Get lots of practice and do continuous research.

Pick up your camera and shoot. Choose one aspect of photography and focus on it for a period of time until you have a firm grasp of it. Some aspects are composition, aperture, shutter speed, lighting, etc. The point is to just pick one and focus on it without thinking about anything else.
Look for opportunities to assist a working professional. It may not be glamorous work, but volunteering to help on a commercial shoot will give you experience that is difficult to get by working alone.

Participate in photography communities. There are many ways to surround yourself with other photographers both in real life and online. I’ve found Flickr to be a great source of feedback (although generally from unqualified critics), technical instructions (most photos are posted along with the camera settings used), and discussions. There are many active groups on Flickr where professionals offer advice freely.

Look for professional photographers in your areas of specialization who have blogs and YouTube channels. I’ve found the YouTube presentations by B&H Photo and Nik Software to be very helpful.

Never stop learning. Look for new challenges in every shoot.

Develop a plan to strategically upgrade your gear.

While it is true that the equipment doesn’t make the photo, there are some things that you just can’t do without the right equipment. Try to shoot a moving subject during a nighttime concert with a camera that can’t get clean photos over ISO 800 and a lens that has a max aperture of f/5.6 and you’ll quickly realize this reality.

My strategy for purchasing and upgrading equipment is this: upgrade when you find yourself bumping into the same limitation frequently. If you always catch yourself hitting the long end of your zoom lens, wishing it would go further, then maybe you should consider a longer lens. The same goes for the wide end. If you are always fighting to get a fast enough shutter speed in low light, start looking at lenses that will allow you to keep your aperture at f/2.8 regardless of focal length.

Spend money on lenses before camera bodies. A professional lens on a consumer-grade camera body will allow you to create better photos than a consumer-grade lens on a professional body. The lens is the choke-point.

Your actual gear list depends on the type of work you do and your skillset. Many of the professionals who offer free advice via blogs and YouTube frequently will have a “what’s in my bag” entry that will give you a typical equipment list for their specialty.