In the old days, we would learn a skill, practice it, hone it, and that would be our area of expertise and our main way of earning a living. However, in 2022, it seems that mastering your camera, actually taking pictures, editing them, and then applying that skill may not be all you need to become a photographer. successful photographer in today’s climate.
Video Content is King
We are all aware of the promotion of video on popular platforms like Instagram, who are said to be in direct competition with YouTube and TikTok. The photographer is embrace video if we want to go ahead and stay there, whether we want to or not.
So what does this mean for a seasoned photographer in the social media motion picture landscape? Is this the new expected skill you must require to land the job, meet or exceed customer expectations, and market yourself to an audience, or grow your business and online presence? You do not?
Let’s discuss this further, using my personal experience as a hobby photographer who can now see a future as a creative entrepreneur in the photography space . Oh, I should probably mention though, I don’t get paid for actual photography. Read on, and I’ll explain.
The photographer’s predicament
I am the kind of photographer who is in a very challenging niche. I do not shoot portraits, headshots, weddings, events or families, nor do I take picturesque landscape photos that are considered fine art. I have never been shown or printed in a publication. Just to make things more difficult and financially more difficult, I only shoot 35mm film and don’t know how to use a digital camera. I know, I seem like the least ideal person to hire, and that’s because technically I am.
As you can see here, I am fascinated with a lone shopping cart, an old sign, a puppet faucet, and many other extremely mundane subjects that almost everyone else walks by. These subject choices are kryptonite killing any chance of me anti-competitive photography with more traditional aesthetic choices in such a hyper-competitive industry. For 10 years, I walked around doing my job and received no recognition or considered it anything other than the weird thing I did and enjoyed.
So How Do I Earn Income?
Fast forward to 2022 and now I make $500 to $700 a month through various sources of income, all related to my photography, but not directly because of it. These isolated photos will struggle to make that much money, and I’m the first to admit it.
So what is the source of the metrics I provided above? Simple answer: YouTube, most of. Creating a YouTube channel is the best and most rewarding thing I’ve done for my photography and its visibility, no pun intended. For the past 14 months, I’ve been uploading videos almost weekly with the help of a partner who has fixed all of the shortcomings in the areas I lacked. We have become a team and together we have built a channel that is proving somewhat profitable with growth that can expand into the future, of course we have always been consistent.
I do not Chelsea Northrup with millions of views, so my income right now comes from a few different places: Google AdSense is one, paid sponsorships for videos, Patreona small amount from sales printing and now recently, write these posts for the lovely readers of Fstoppers. All of this takes a lot of time but is something I really enjoy, so it’s a win-win through my lens. I also started a audio fileswhich I have yet to monetize, but it means I have the opportunity to create long-form content that people can listen to while driving or working and continue to build my connection with my audience.
I recently interviewed a 22 year old photographer living in London Sophia Carey, who has multiple sources of income all focus on her photography and portrait design skills. Sophia has scaled up her business and diversify her income through revenue streams like Skillshare, where she creates courses on portrait photography, branding, and using color theory to improve your work. Now, video is a key ingredient to educating people online and yet another reason to get used to being more confident in front of the camera and improving your video skills is not only worthwhile, but also rewarding. very important and profitable.
It’s time to press Record
All of these sources of income wouldn’t have existed if I hadn’t started on YouTube, so they technically all come from videos and my on-camera presence as a photographer. People value education and entertainment, and I was able to monetize this venture to hopefully cover the costs and get a little on hand to keep making more.
Without YouTube, I wouldn’t have this audience, so this begs the question: is video the best way to scale your photography business and make a living or turn it into a side business? ? Instagram Reels is on the rise, and many of us are adjusting to video content, wanting to see the person behind the camera and connect with them even more than their photography. While this won’t suit many people who are shy in front of the camera or wish their work to stand on its own without “personality”, it certainly suits someone like me.
I think with practice or a little tweaking, we can all find a way to show our audience in new and different ways, or maybe open new doors for us beyond the model. The traditional “I pay you to take this photo” image that we all equate to being a professional photographer. While we all complain about the unfairness of algorithms and the struggle to get noticed online for our work, you have to admit that now, more than ever, everyone We all have the opportunity to create the career we dream of. It just revolves around a lot of factors that I will leave for another post.
However, social media certainly has its downsides, doing an ironic job of making us more connected yet lonelier, and this is bound to get worse. So why not use these platforms to share and connect, in the truest sense of the word, and give your work a voice, a story, a face to photography. family?
