INTRODUCTION

Photography can be a very expensive hobby particular if you fall for all the advertisements that try to persuade you to the buy all the latest photographic gismos. Through these web pages I want to be able to help you claw back some of that expense - ideally even turn your hobby into a profit making venture.

At the ripe old age of 40, I became a full time photographer. I had been running a successful part time photographic business for a number of years and so when I was made redundant from the day-job the solution to the potential cash-flow problem was obvious.

Becoming a professional photographer was certainly never an aspiration during my early years and instead, after leaving college, I found myself working in the Information Technology industry. However, this was something that was to later tie in to my love of all things photographic when the digital revolution arrived.

I would like this website to help you not only make some money from your camera, but also to create images that not only your Clients will be delighted with but that you can be proud of too.

In writing the content for this website, the vast majority of photographs that I’ve used originated from either positive or negative film. Consequently, I needed a good quality scanner for the job converting these images to digital format. It also had to be capable of scanning medium format negatives and slides and for this job

I chose the Epsom Perfection 4490 scanner. It’s by no means top of the range but it does produce the quality of digital reproduction that I needed. If you’re thinking of buying one, it’s worth shopping around. I found mine on Amazon – post and packing free (and I used to think Amazon only sold books).

Tip : If you do have a one off project for a scanner (such as digitalising your old negatives), consider buying a decent scanner and, when you've finished, sell on an auction site such as e-Bay.

IN THE BEGINNING

For the vast majority of my life I have either owned a camera or had access to one. I recall that on my eighth birthday an old aunt gave me two rolls of film. Not only was this perhaps a strange thing to give an eight year old, but at that time I didn’t have a camera and I pointed this out to her as diplomatically as only your average eight year old can.

When the prints (black and white of course) came back, my older brother quizzed me about why I had wasted so much film on a dog – and who’s dog was it anyway ?  In those days nobody had thought about “asking the audience” or “phoning a friend” so I had to admit that I really didn’t have a clue. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps that was an early indication of what was to follow many years later.

Looking back, there is no doubt in my mind that by this time I had been bitten by the photographic bug and like all good children I wrote to Father Christmas that year and asked if I could have a SLR camera. Like the trouper he is, he duly delivered and a Cannon AV1 (aperture priority only) was found waiting for my under the Tree.

THAT "EUREKA" MOMENT !!

Where ever I went I invariably took a camera with me. One weekend I went to watch a few of my chums playing football at the local recreation ground. Before the match started, someone suggested that I took a team photograph and, would you believe it, everyone wanted a copy !!

So here it is - the first photograph that ever made me money.

It's not the best photo I ever took. But who cares because it was that defining moment when I started to make money with my camera.

	I enjoyed playing around photographing wildlife and birds in particular. I also had some success in generating a small income via photographic libraries (more on that topic in the Photo Libraries section) but it still wasn’t what I was looking for.  Perhaps it was the enormous python that I unexpectedly came face to face with at a photographic seminars that finally put me off.

One weekend I was at a lose end and decided to go on a RPS Seminar about Portrait Photography – why I don’t know as I had no interest in portrait photography, or so I thought. I was totally inspired by what I saw and heard that day so much so that I rushed off home and found as many willing subjects as I could to sit for me. I have to be honest and say that, at that time, I was carried along more by enthusiasm than experience.

Nevertheless, by now I had passed a milestone as my photography had become self financing.

TRANSFORMATION

Within a couple of years, in a rather brutal self assessment of my progress, I concluded that instead of continuing to improve, I had reached a plateau.

So I decided to attend a course called “Studio Start” run by Dennis Hylander and Warren Schaffer, two of the top portrait and wedding photographers in the UK. It was mind blowing and without doubt, the lessons learned added a totally new and exciting dimension to my photography.

NOT GOT A PORTFOLIO ?

By this time, I had long since been firmly convinced that portrait photography was for me. All fired up by attending the Studio Start course I wanted to make use of what I had learned and start finding some serious commissions. But after the course, I realised I didn't have a portfolio that people would necessarily take seriously.

However, over a weekend I created that hitherto elusive portfolio to take me forward. I hired a Bronica 645 camera from a local photographic shop (and fell in love with the camera), borrowed some studio lighting and a couple of backdrops from a friend and I lined a series of friends and relatives to come and be my subjects. I also offered them a free framed 10 x 8 print as a thank you. That said, I also made several sales from that weekend's activities and not only covered my costs but made a small profit too.

Below are some of the results from that weekend's photographic work which gave me the basis of the portfolio I needed.

Following the portfolio weekend, I decided to splash out and bought a Bronica 645 medium format camera. I also bought three Courtenay 1250 watt studio flash lights which still work to this day, including the original modeling light bulbs. Not bad as they are getting on a bit now. The Bronica cameras (I ended up with 3 bodies and various film backs and lenses etc.) I sold a year or so ago on eBay and was very pleasantly surprised that they were still very much in demand.

The final purchase which completed the studio was a backdrop. In fact I bought two and both were canvas. They have served me well and survive to this day unlike the numerous paper rolls I have worked my way through.

I use the word studio with a little tongue-in-cheek as, to begin with, I used my lounge for sittings and then later my converted garage although I finally ended up with a high street studio.

It was about now that I also had my own darkroom but I tended to use this more for my own projects rather than for commissions. I recall Dennis Hylander saying during the Studio Start course that there is more money to be earned from behind the camera than in the darkroom and I am inclined to agree with that sentiment. These days, arguably traditional darkrooms are becoming a thing of the past as the “electronic darkroom” takes over.