Want to be a Photographer? HERE’S WHERE TO START!

One of the most commonly asked questions I’ve gotten throughout the years in my DMs or from friends, or from literally anyone when they see a camera in my hand is is this:  How can I get started in photography?  (or really, what camera should I buy?)  how to become a professional photographer

Wow, this is a doozy of a question.  Typically I need a LOT more information than that, because there is no one path to being a photographer.  Gear is just one aspect of what it takes to be a great photographer, with learning technique and lighting, how to pose people, and the business side (if you’re interested in it as a business) at that.  So I’ve decided to create a guide where we attempt to tackle some of these topics, with real resources so that you can decide what may be perfect for you!

Let’s go! I’m going to dive into the 5 major areas you’ll need to become… a 

I mean a photographer.

1. The Equipment

Okay, so big first question.  Which kind of photography will you be focusing on?  You may be like… I dunno… well you probably should have at least some sort of idea, at least when it comes to the lens that you’ll want to buy.

Before we do, let’s talk about a kit lens.  This is the lens that comes with a lot of “starter” DSLR cameras.  It’s typically an 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 or 18-120mm or something.

This lens will be fine to start with landscape photos, nice shots of your family and groups, and some fun things. But if you want to shoot more professional looking portraits you’ll want an additional portrait lens.  You cannot easily learn manual with this lens when the F STOP doesn’t go down to at least 2.8.  That means this lens really does not do the “blur effect for backgrounds” that most people are used to seeing for a professional portrait.

The Camera Body:

$500 price range:

• Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera 
• Nikon D3500 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens

$1000 price range: (would start here if you want to be a professional)

• Sony Alpha a6400 Mirrorless Camera and 16-50mm Lens
• Canon EOS RP Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only) 
• Nikon D610 24.3MP DSLR FX-Format Digital Camera (Body Only) 

$2000 price range:

• * Nikon D750 Camera Body (less than $2k) (I used these bodies for YEARS)
• * Sony a7 III Camera Body(What I’m currently using, I shoot two of these)
• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Camera Body (or just the 5D if you want a little cheaper)

With the current options, I’d probably go with Sony or Nikon.  Canon seems more expensive than both, and Sony is really the newest technology.  Nikon is cheaper than Canon, and just as good.

Landscape Photography –

That kit lens you got

• 16-35mm
• 24-105mm

Portrait Photography –

• Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8G Lens / Sony – FE 50mm F1.8 Standard Lens (THE BEST BEGINNER PORTRAIT LENS)
• Nikon 35mm f/1.8G Lens  /Sony 35mm F1.8 Large Aperture Prime Lens  (I use this lens, best for families)
• OR for Nikon professionals – Nikon 35mm f/1.4GLens / (I used to use this lens)

Wedding Photography –

• Nikon 85mm f/1.8G Fixed Lens  /Sony 85mm F/1.8 Lens  (I have used and loved both of these)
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens (this is getting into much more professional territory here)
• For Sony – Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8  or Nikon 70-200 (so is this)

BE SURE TO CHECK THESE THINGS!!!!!

1. Not all of these camera bodies are compatible with all lenses.  Check if your camera of choice is FULL FRAME or NOT, and then make sure that lens is for whichever one!!

2. Keep in mind if this product is from the USA or “international”.  International is often cheaper, but means your equipment probably won’t be covered by any warranty.  USA products often have a year warranty with the company.  Just make sure to check.

3. ONE number in front of mm means it DOES NOT ZOOM.  For example- the Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens is stuck at 50mm focal length.  A 16-50mm 3.5-5.6 lens means it ZOOMS from 16-55mm focal length.

View MY full gear list for more professional gear and recommendations on this blog post: “must have gear for full time photographers”

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2. Lighting

I would start with learning natural light, then add a flash.  Studio lighting is not for today in my beginners blog!

You can choose to do photography with the help of flashes, or learn to use natural light.  However if you’re ever charging, you do need a flash for indoors or when night hits.

I recommend a flash where you can change the direction of the light, so one where you can point the head in various directions besides directly forward.

Flash recommendations –

• Flashpoint Zoom Li-ion R2 TTL On-Camera Flash for Sony (make sure it’s for YOUR camera brand)
• Nikon SB700
• Canon Speelite 580 exii
• Yungnuo for Canon

NOTE for all of my equipment recommendations:  These are NOT the only good options!  But I have to condense or else it’s too overwhelming unless you have more knowledge about the gear!

3. Education

You have to invest in your education if you’re going to work towards charging.  The whole purpose of hiring a professional is that you can solve problems for the people seeking your services, so you need to make sure you can do that consistently and reliably.

The best education is always going to be getting out and photographing.  However you can definitely scoot your process along much much quicker by finding more education and mentors who can help guide you and show you what works and what doesn’t.

1. Creative live – is an awesome hub of photography education and videos that I recommend going through, you can find most topics you may be looking for.

2. Follow photographers you admire on social media – what kind of work are you drawn to?  What are these people doing that makes you so excited?  How are they doing it?  There’s no better way to find out what you love than seeking it out.  But don’t get too caught up in someone else’s journey.  You want to find your own voice in the midst of it all.

3. Find a mentor – Want to really jump start your process?  Find a great mentor who is successful at what you want to be doing.  Don’t take advice from just anyone.  Who is really killing it?  You can always just cold email someone, but truthfully if they are impressing you, they probably have a reason and have a lot going on.  Try and offer them something they may need.  Well first… you could pay them.  Or at least offer help in some way.  That’s going to be a great way to stand out.

4. Get involved with the photography community – there’s plenty of photographer facebook groups if you just start looking for them.  Ask questions, and browse what other people are asking to start soaking up knowledge that way.  And maybe you can meet up with some and photograph together!

4. GET OUT THERE AND SHOOT

You can’t just sit around waiting to get good enough to photograph.  You have to just jump right in.  Start by asking your friend or family to just stand in different lights so that you can test your manual settings and see what looks good.

Try to specifically do test shoots in interesting lighting.  When the sun is out but there is a lot of shade is the perfect time to learn how to manipulate different kinds of light.

Don’t have any friends?  Well let’s just move onto where to look for subjects.

Finding models:

The ways to ask people do change over time, I come from the days when model mayhem was a way to network.  Now days I would just recommend reaching out to people to shoot on instagram.  If you have no work, then you’re going to have to offer something.  If you can’t guarantee great images at their level, then it makes sense to offer payment for an experienced model.

Remember, learning photography is an investment into you and your skills!

5. Editing Programs

So you’ve taken some great images, now what?!  Let’s talk about what to do with them from there.  There are multiple ways to edit your images, but by far the most common is with the Adobe Suite programs, Lightroom and Photoshop. 

Lightroom is where you can start “culling” your images (narrowing them down) and then editing each one.  This is great for exposure, color adjustment, contrast, and more.  It’s the best program for getting started.

• I use the monthly subscription with Adobe that includes both photoshop and lightroom for $19.99 a month.  Hey hate to break it to ya, but being a photographer costs money!

Now we bring in Photoshop.  This is not for beginners, as it’s a pretty advanced program.  I use Photoshop specifically for things like blemish removal and removing people and things from the background I don’t like.  You can also use it for advanced effects and pretty much anything, but this is a beginner tutorial.  So let’s talk more about how to become a professional photographer down belo

I learned both of these programs through slowly watching youtube tutorials.

I recommend getting started by learning lightroom, and then worrying about photoshop later.  You can do quite a lot of editing in lightroom, including lightening or darkening parts of the image, and yes you can do blemish removal in lightroom too.

• Most photographers will really start to need photoshop when they are doing things like removing people from the background, or doing more advanced retouching (hair flyaway removal, body altering if that’s something you’re trying to do, etc.)

NOTE: Change your camera settings to shoot in “RAW”.  You may have heard this term before, so I’ll mention what it means.  When you take an image as a jpg, the camera condenses and flattens the information so that the file is easier to work with and internet friendly.  Changing it to RAW means the file will be bigger, but it also stores a lot more “information” from that moment.  So if you accidentally have the wrong exposure, RAW is a LOT more likely to have more data so that you can much more likely recover the image.

BONUS: Looking to create a website?

If you’re looking to get serious about photography I have a few additional resources for you to jumpstart your journey.  Here are some amazing templates to buy, I do not recommend trying to design your website yourself at all unless you’re already proficient in that field.

The two website template sites I highly recommend:

• Flothemes (code RAE25 for 25% off)
• Davey & Krista

It’s no secret that I believe having an amazing website is one of the most powerful ways to fuel your photography business in bring in the right kind of client who needs your services.

You can find my course on “how to create a website that sells” here, specifically geared towards photographers.

Rae Marshall is a full time wedding and portrait photographer of 15 years, having photographed thousands of sessions and 500+ weddings.  She is currently based on the island of Oahu, Hawaii!

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