How to Become a Freelance Photographer: 5 Tips for Success

In the United States alone, the freelance economy exceeds $1.2 trillion. Learning how to become a freelance photographer will help you get a slice of that pie.

Around 36% of America’s total workforce is freelancing. Being a freelance photographer lets you enjoy the benefits of career flexibility and financial growth.

Photographers capture the beauty of a moment or scene. That’s why people seek out professional photography services to commemorate their special occasions.

Here are five freelance photography tips for success.

1. Invest in High-Quality Equipment

Anyone who’s serious about pursuing freelance photography needs to purchase a high-quality camera and equipment. If you can’t afford it right away, consider looking into refurbished photography equipment. 

It’s best to start your freelance career with good lighting, camera lenses, and camera lens filters. It’ll positively impact the quality of your photos.

2. Gain Skills and Experience

Knowing how to become a professional photographer means gaining relevant skills and experience. The type of photography skills and experience you gain determines what kind of clients you’ll be targeting.

Taking photography classes gives you hands-on experience with a teacher’s professional supervision. It’s ideal to get a college degree in photography. However, simply taking classes will enhance and refine your skills.

As you gain experience, you’ll also be defining the photography niche(s) you align your personal brand with. The niches you serve should be well-represented in terms of this next tip:

3. Build a Strong Portfolio

Use your experience to create a portfolio that showcases your talents. Your portfolio’s purpose is to convince clients you’re the best photographer for the job. For this reason, a portfolio should only include the best of your work.

If you’re an aspiring fashion photographer, consider lookbook printing to show off your style. Lookbooks are the most professional way of showing off fashion shots. Learn more about printing high-quality, full-page lookbooks via the aforementioned link.

Many beginner photographers do TFP (trade for prints or time for prints) to build their portfolios. With TFP, the photographer takes pictures of a model, then gives the model these pictures as payment.

4. Optimize Your Professional Website

It’s not enough for your professional website to be attractive. You must design all parts of your website with SEO in mind.

Include relevant keywords in your website’s copy and content. This helps search engine crawlers find and index your website faster. Also, enable lazy loading to make your website run faster.

The more you optimize your website, the higher it’ll rank in search engines. This makes the following easier to do:

5. Network and Promote Yourself

Get involved with the photography community by joining relevant online groups. This way, you’ll gain insight from other professionals in your field.

Be active in promoting yourself on social media. More clients will find you if you maintain branded accounts on multiple platforms.

Knowing How to Become a Freelance Photographer Is the First Step

54% of freelancers claim soft skills like people skills and communication are highly important to their work. Learning how to become a freelance photographer means learning how to politely interact with clients.

Make it a point to maintain a schedule of shoots. It’ll help you keep track of important dates and prepare yourself on time.

Broaden your business smarts—check out our business articles. The knowledge will make it easier to navigate the freelance world.