Turning a passion into a business
Posted 22 April 2006, 21:54 in Business Leave a Comment
I’ve been taking non-credit photography classes during my free time for the past 4 months with a relative of mines. Today we took a class on the art of children photography. Granted I do not have a child nor am close to having one. I took it because our previous instructor stressed that photographing children is one of the most difficult genres to get into. My thinking prior to taking this course was that if I can master the art of children photography, then I can easily apply these techniques to general portrait photography and make my life easier.
The class was instructed by Michael Gilbert who started getting serious about photography at the age of 17. He has made a very good living behind the camera, living on the island of Maui and traveling a lot, doing photo shoots for his high-end and very rich clientele. His photographs have graced the covers of countless magazines and marketing campaigns for companies such as Disney. And based on his website, he is a curator of an art museum on the island of Maui.
One thing that intrigued me most about Mr. Gilbert was the way he structured his 7-hour class. 70% of the class was towards the technical aspects, while about 30% was towards the business aspect of photography. We learned proper lighting techniques, settings for our camera, lens that he prefers, using flash, and not giving a child sugar before a photo shoot. There was also a toddler and a young boy who served as models, which allowed us to take our own pictures under different lighting conditions.
He also gave many ideas on how we can approach photography as a business. I really did not seriously think about the business aspect of photography, since I’ve been taking these courses with the primary goal of becoming a better photographer. When we spoke to him after class, we got many tips on how we should shoot my sister’s upcoming wedding as well as ideas on how to present and prepare ourselves for possible referrals.
Needless to say it was a great day having met someone who is really good at photography and has the business smarts of turning a passion into a business.
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