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5 Essential Things to Have in Place for Your New Photography Business
Before you start your photography business, there are a few essential things you need to have in place. Utilize this as a checklist to tell yourself that you’re ready to launch.
Before you start your photography business, there are a few essential things you need to have in place. Utilize this as a checklist to tell yourself that you’re ready to launch.
Getting a new digital camera is an exciting time for photographers and videographers. A world of possibilities and learning lies ahead as well as doors to new adventures and places to visit. But it’s not always smooth sailing when it comes to using a new camera as a beginner. There are lots of complex numbers, letters, and acronyms to wrap your head around, let alone figuring out how to operate the numerous dials, buttons, and switches. But by following the simple steps included in this checklist you should be up and running in no time.
As with buying anything secondhand, it is a good idea to have a good idea of what to look for when buying a used film camera lest you spend money on one that has major problems. Thankfully, there are some simple ways to check for problems in film cameras and their lenses... including smelling them.
You're full of excitement, and new adventures and life experiences are just around the corner. You have finally completed those last minute errands and your bag is now bursting at the seams as you try to squeeze in the last few items before zipping that bad boy up and darting out the door for the airport. But you pause for a moment and find yourself staring at your bag. You think to yourself, "Have I forgotten anything?"
If you are a photographer or fledgling retoucher opening Photoshop for the first time, it is a daunting experience, to say the least. There is a wealth of knowledge, free and purchasable online, but how do you know what to search for if you don’t know what you don’t know?
Many of us have done remote shoots where we’re miles from home (or a store) and we forgot one or more key pieces of gear that make or break a shoot. And it’s often the little things: batteries, SD cards, gaff tape/zip ties, plastic bags or specific tools we didn’t think to bring or didn’t think we’d need.
Los Angeles-based photographer and photo assistant Shawn Corrigan has spent the past 10 years traveling the world assisting and shooting. Over time, he has developed an “everything but the kitchen sink, plus the kitchen sink” kit that he brings to each set. In addition to the absolutely essential leatherman and light meter that every assistant should carry around, here's a checklist of others things you should consider packing.
Editor's note: The checklist presented in this post is also available as a text file for you to print out and carry along for reference. This post was first published here.
Almost all of the camera equipment I have ever owned was purchased used. While this isn’t something to be proud of, I do like to think I know a thing or two about cameras and lenses. I have run into the occasional problems with lenses, but I made sure I had the option to return them if they had issues. I have also purchased a few lenses and cameras from people on Craigslist as well and as long as you know what you’re getting and tried it out when you made the purchase, you should be covered. There are a few things that I always check and I’m putting them up here in the hope that you might find some of it useful.