What Does It Take to Be a Professional Photographer? | Career Crush

0:00Want smoother, brighter skin without adding another complicated step to your routine? Try Daily Microfoliant from Dermalogica. This exfoliating powder activates with water to gently polish away dull, flaky skin, leaving it feeling smoother and looking brighter. It's gentle enough to use every day, so keeping your skin looking healthy and fresh is easy. Ready to see the difference? Visit Dermalogica.com and use code SMOOTHACART for an exclusive gift with your$65 purchase. I actually wanted to be a professional photographer when I was growing up. I had the DSLR slung around my shoulder. I was taking pictures of my friends.

0:39I even had a photography blog on Tumblr. But I decided to go into something easier, writing.

0:49I always wondered what it was like to be a professional photographer. Is it as challenging as I always imagined it is? It seems like an absolute hustle, but how do these professional photographers go out there, make money, and get their photography out in the world? What is the job of being a photographer really like?

1:19I love making people feel good when they see themselves in my photos. I love the confidence boost I see from people. I love when they light up. That's Raven B. Verona. She's a photographer that specializes in portraits and concerts. When I saw Raven's Instagram, I was blown away. I just saw all of these pictures of like Beyonce and Jay-Z and John Legend. And I was like, oh my gosh, this person just gets to spend their days photographing these legends. I would define my work as intimate. I feel like it's intimate. I feel like it's bold. There is a feminine perspective to it that is very personal to me.

1:59I would overall say that when you look at my work, you can tell that I have a relationship with my subject and I want you to feel that same relationship. So let's look deeper behind her amazing photography. I really want to know how did she start? When I first started and I picked it up, I was like in my late teens and it was just a hobby. I liked photographing my friends. I liked photographing parties, things we were doing. And then I started getting like, I started going like little underground shows, concerts, things in the city, because I'm born and raised in New York. And then I started getting asked to do like little events here and there.

2:35This is like all in the span between like 20 and 25. So I was doing photography on the side as a hobby, but also as like a side gig. And then I had like a, like a day, a day job. And it was mostly like music, street style stuff, portraits. It was a little mix of everything, but it was just basically what my environment was. And then at 25, I was like, okay, well, I've been doing this as a side hustle for five years. It seems like it's picking up. I was starting to get asked to shoot more events. I was like, maybe I should just go into it all in. And so I quit my day job and I went freelance. How do you get permission to go into a concert venue with a camera?

3:18I've always wondered that. You either sneak in your camera, but you have no access and you shoot from the crowd. You get permission from the said venue itself. So you're shooting for the venue. You can be shooting for the said artist. So you get the pass from the artist, which pretty much will allow you full access to document the artist, the show, be in the pit, be anywhere you want. Or you get like a media pass where there are some places that are like, oh, we'll let you shoot if you're shooting for Vibe or you're shooting for XXL, you're shooting for Complex. I mean, in my early days, there were days that I snuck into places, brought my camera in.

3:52Made in America, I didn't have a pass. I mean, I had a ticket, but I didn't have a pass. So I shot from the crowd and I just had a zoom lens. A lot of it is, again, relationships. In 2010, I became really good friends with a bouncer at Irving Plaza. So anytime there was a show in Irving Plaza, he would say, like, hey, Raven, there's a show. Do you want to come shoot it? We'll get you a media pass. And I shot so many concerts there. Like I shot J. Cole, YG, I shot Lil' Kim there, Dream. Network, network, and then network some more. And don't worry about networking with already established people.

4:27I mean, they're obviously good to know, but it's also... One smoother, brighter skin without adding another complicated step to your routine? Try Daily Microfoliant from Dermalogica. This exfoliating powder activates with water to gently polish away dull, flaky skin, leaving it feeling smoother and looking braider. It's gentle enough to use every day, so keeping your skin looking healthy and fresh is easy. Ready to see the difference? Visit Dermalogica.com and use code SMOOTH at CART for an exclusive gift with your$65 purchase. It's good to network with people who are at your level. Growing with others is going to help you tremendously.

5:05And so when you were shooting those shows in the early days, what did you end up doing with the photos? Did you just add them to your portfolio? Were you trying to sell them? What did that look like for you? I never sold them. I think I've always been really fearful of like using someone's likeness without permission. I would be highly against recommending it for people. I definitely say get permission because you don't want to get caught up later on in life. A lot of it I was like instantly putting on social media, which is why I feel like it was gaining so much traction and why people became so invested in me.

5:37I would be at the show. My camera was wireless. So I would directly send the photos from my camera to my phone. I would be editing them in real time, posting them in real time. And it was providing an experience for people who weren't there to feel like they were there. So I felt like that's what really grew my engagement. Another thing was I was sending it to the artist. So I would post them online and I would at the artist and tag them, which was kind of creating this relationship. So people knew if they saw me, I'd be taking pictures and they knew they could come back to me. but it was also allowing them to reshare the photos, which is another way that was like building my brand and building like, I guess, a name for myself.

6:22What does the day to day look like for a photographer? For me personally, it varies. There are days, depending on what I'm working on, there are days where I'm up very early at like 7 a.m. because I have to be on set for a shoot and the call time is like 6.45, 7, and I'm on set for like 12 hours. And I'm like the pre-production is me talking to my lighting assistant and coming up with a creative concept and drawing up mood boards and things of that nature. But then there's also just like a side of like going out and just shooting for the thrill of it, shooting for yourself, shooting personal projects, connecting with other people, looking for inspiration.

7:03But overall, it's really just a matter of depending on what the shoot is. Because there are shoots that like, there's a lot that goes into it pre, like I've said. And then there are shoots that I just like, hey, we need you here at 1 p.m. We need you to take this portrait. I'm there for an hour. I come home. I spend hours editing and selecting photos and going through all that process. So I'd love to hear about some of the misconceptions of the photography industry. Like you talked a little bit about how it's not just shooting photos. There's a lot of like after work. I'm sure it's not all like glitz and glamour, like photographing these amazing celebrities, even though it looks like it.

7:40But what are some of the misconceptions? Time moves very differently when you're photographing somebody, whether you think you have seven hours and you don't account for hair, makeup, how the person is feeling. That seven hours could very easily turn into you having an hour with said person. When it comes to shooting celebrities, the motto to me is hurry up and wait. It's also like physically really exhausting, to be honest, like carrying equipment. You're on your feet all day. You know, if I'm in shape and I feel healthier, I can like squat for hours to take a picture. I can be running around and and when I'm not in shape, I can't do that.

8:15OK, let's talk money. What should you charge as a photographer? Like, especially if I'm just getting started, like how do I know how to value my work? OK, Kelsey, let me tell you something is I've been working for a decade. and that is the hardest I tell you you can ask any creative person it is the hardest thing to put a value on your work like even now like I'm trying to figure out my prints and my prices and I'm just like this is so uncomfortable I'm definitely probably an underbidder when it comes to my work like some people go by hour like they say I charge 100 an hour I charge 200 an hour 15 hour, but this is include like the deliverables are like, I'm going to give you.

9:00Want smoother, brighter skin without adding another complicated step to your routine? Try daily microfoliant from Dermalogica. This exfoliating powder activates with water to gently polish away dull, flaky skin, leaving it feeling smoother and looking brighter. It's gentle enough to use every day. So keeping your skin looking healthy and fresh is easy. Ready to see the difference? Visit Dermalogica.com and use code SMOOTH at CART for an exclusive gift with your$65 purchase. 20 edited photos or whatever the case is or two looks. So there are people that go about it that way. There are people that just have a day rate.

9:38I would advise people that are starting first, think about how much money do you need to live? Like, what is your budget? What would you if you were looking for a regular nine to five job? you know there are certain there's a certain criteria you go for with a salary I would I say apply that to your photography as well so maybe you're starting out and you're like you know what I just need to make thirty thousand dollars a year let's just say and you factor that out and then you're like okay if I'm trying to do three shoots a month I will price point it at this because I feel like this is what my work is worth but I also feel like when you're working with companies or you're working with brands or people that are seeking you out you should always ask them what is their budget chances are it's probably a little higher than what you were going to ask for anyway so you might have done a photo shoot for three hundred dollars and then you say like hey what is your budget or what are you looking to spend for this shoot and they might say oh i'm looking to spend six hundred dollars and now you've doubled what you were going to ask just from simply like having that back and forth um and also i would tell people especially new photographers to factor in the post work that you do like you might be on set with somebody for two hours but then you're home for five hours editing the photos and retouching them and and those things so definitely don't um undersell yourself people will pay for work they want there is money to be spent there is a lot of money in the world so please do not feel like you can't ask for it especially if you are a woman and especially if you are a woman of color that's a good lead into my next question which is i feel like a lot of the times creatives especially they're told like you should do work for free to get experience and exposure which like I'm totally not here for but is that kind of like still the vibe in like creative industries these days?

11:24I agree in doing work. I don't think you should be slaving yourself for free but I think if you can look at an opportunity and see that there's no opportunity cost or loss to it and you can only grow from it then I would say go for it. You know there's been so many times I've worked for free so many things I haven't been paid for, things that you show, I mean, shows across the board, I wasn't getting paid for until I toured. So I had probably shot over 100 concerts before my first tour that weren't paid. But those photos I enjoyed doing. I liked sharing them. They got me to a space. So I wouldn't recommend maybe, you know, slaving or interning for someone like 100 hours a week.

12:04But I definitely believe when it comes to photography, photographing stuff to me is not always free work it's beneficial to you so I encourage it

12:18okay question and it's going to be about Beyonce and Jay-Z because it's got to be what is it like photographing Beyonce and Jay-Z um it is iconic it is um pretty life-changing I I think they work at such the highest caliber and photographing them makes you want to even be better. It's like this magnetic energy you get from working with people that are so good at what they do that you're like, oh my God, I have to work harder. I have to sharpen my needle. What are the skills and kind of mindset I should have kind of going into a career in photography? There's a lot of photographers nowadays. So it can be easily discouraged or you can feel like, okay, well this person is already doing this, so how do I get a job here?

13:09But I feel like it's forcing the photographers that are new to really tap into what is unique about them. I think one of the most interesting things I learned and something that I really take to heart is the idea that just because there's a lot of people who have the same dream as you doesn't mean it's not achievable for you. I also really respect the fact that she took something she was passionate about, photography, fee and turned it into a side hustle and then turn that side hustle into a full-time job. Like that takes a lot of guts and bravery and determination. The one thing in my life that always puts me in a good mood, no matter how hard it is, it just makes me feel like I have a purpose.

13:51I love making people feel good and I think that my work does that for them and so I love it. Thanks for watching! Do you have a career crush? Tell us about them in the comments and we'll see if we can talk to them for you. Subscribe to our channel to see more interviews with people actually living the dream. Bye!