One of our former students, the amazing Brooke Snow has a wealth of knowledge. She shares regularly on her blog. If you haven’t checked it out, please do! Here’s the first of a series of articles she’s writing about starting a photography business.

And i KNOW you’re going to go read the whole article, but i’ll just quote one part here.
It’s about how to know when to charge for your photography. She is quoting the amazing Rebecca Westover:

“I DO think there needs to be a solid understanding of how to work your camera and how to properly expose photos. There REALLY needs to be a good understanding about the basics before you should be charging for your work. It’s like any other job really. I wouldn’t want to pay a mechanic to work on my car if he was just tinkering around and playing just to figure things out. I’d want him to know what he was doing of course. I think it should be the same with photography. You really shouldn’t charge if you don’t know what you are doing and are just playing around and snapping away on auto modes on your camera without regards to composition, lighting, exposure, posing, etc.

The best things to do to learn how to make beautiful photos are one PRACTICE on your own time…not on a client’s photo shoot. Take courses or workshops. Shoot for fun. Read books. Get involved in forums. There are so many inexpensive ways to learn more about photography.”

So get out there, check out online digital photography communities, take local classes, connect with other photogs, and discover the world from behind your lens. It’s amazing. Truly. If you’re in Oklahoma, we look forward to seeing you in class!

If you’re in Utah, you have to take a class from Brooke. She’s great.

And tell her we sent you.