Backing Yourself

When I seriously began thinking about getting into photography as a profession, I often wondered how to go about it.

That statement might sound pretty stupid, but I know there are readers out there that can relate. After all, how many positions for photographers have you seen advertised in newspapers or online?

Exactly.

For some time it really did remain a mystery to me. Photography – professional photography – was like a black box. Closed and out of reach.

With time though, that changed. I read, talked with other working photographers, thought about my target markets and began going about getting work. I still do it to this day and given my client list is growing, I figure I must be doing something right.

I recently read a post by a person wanting to get into photography asking how one goes about finding editors and pitching story ideas for potential publication. This post was on a moderated forum of working photographers and it sank like an anchor.

No one responded and that didn’t surprise me.

You see the thing is this – it takes time and effort to connect with editors and to develop working relationships. I really believe that the post in question went unanswered because as a photographer wanting to break into a market, there are some things you need to figure out for yourself and how to find magazines and editors is one of them.

If this is you, then remember this: it doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you find a way that works for you and which gets you connected with the right people at the right publication.

You have to back yourself, learn from your mistakes and enjoy the wins.

No one can do that for you.

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