How to Get Your First Client as a Photographer
We like to think back to when we started our photography business from time to time.
It’s been 2 years now, and it is honestly hard to believe the amount of energy we’ve put into this thing. It continues to be an uphill battle as we continue to refine our process and make better business decisions in the process. Fortunately, we are happy to have had such a positive response to our work from clients and their friends/family.
After investing so much time, effort, and money into our photography business – we actually enjoy sharing what we have learned with others thinking about joining the ranks of pro photographers.
In this article, we are going to discuss some ways how you can get photography clients. We found getting the first few people in the door was the most difficult for sure, but once you clear this hurdle and wow your client, things tend to be pretty smooth sailing from there.
Be prepared to handle paid photography work
Before we get into explaining some ways you can get your first photography client(s), it’s important for us to take a quick pause at the start of things to make sure you are actually ready to do photography for a client.
In today’s day-and-age, it is extremely easy to pick up a camera and feel like a photographer. It’s actually a pretty beautiful and sometimes surreal thing when you think about it. Anyone can snap off photos and post them online, or print them out to put on their walls at home. Out of all the art-forms, photography is probably one of the most accessible – it’s certainly easier to start snapping photos than learning computer code or how to play the piano.
The downside to this accessibility is that, sometimes, people bite off more than they can chew. Once you begin selling photography as a service to people, it can no longer just be fun and games. People have expectations for how your work will turn out, and if those expectations are not met (or otherwise controlled by you), it can lead to negative consequences for your reputation.
Understanding the business side of things, and the potential challenges that may arise, will help you make better decisions in your photography business.
It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyways), there are also other considerations to be had here.
While entry level cameras may be very affordable, they do not output the same quality images as you might find in a $3,000 pro grade camera. You may be able to get away with a budget camera and lenses early on, but as you progress, it will become very necessary to upgrade.
We will not inundate you right now with a list of gear we suggest, but if you are interested in knowing what we use to capture beautiful images ourselves, check out our Resources page.
Additionally, you will want to think about how you will be booking your clients, how you’ll handle collecting money, contracts, insurance, etc.
With all this said…if you’re ready to start putting your photography skills to use for others, get ready!!
How to Get Photography Clients
If we didn’t scare you off yet (and we hope we didn’t!!), now let’s talk in more detail about why you are here – learning how to get photography clients for yourself.
Given our photography business success, we will share what we did specifically to get these first couple of people in the door.
Note: Please keep in mind our photography business is oriented towards attracting couples and shooting weddings. While most of our recommendations can be applied to any style of photography, the subject of your photography (ie: people, landscapes, etc.) might dictate some differences.
1). Build your portfolio
It might seem silly, but there is no way anyone will want to hire you to do photographs for them if they have no point of reference to know what your work looks like. Because photography is a visual product, you need to have at least some content for people to look at.
Because we wanted to orient our photography business around shooting weddings, this was pretty tricky for us at the start. Second shooting and styled shoots ended up being things we participated in pretty heavily to get ourselves some portfolio material.
If you have any close friends or family, they are often fairly easy to convince to let you take some photos of for free.
For additional information about building your photography portfolio, please check out the below links we had hand-selected for you!
(All links open in a new tab.)
2). Setup a website & social media accounts
Once you have a small portfolio together, it’s time to start showcasing them to a world of prospective clients. You do not have to start off with something overly complicated. Setting up a pretty nice looking site (like ours) through Squarespace with their pre-built and customizable templates takes a day or two. Starting social media accounts is as simple as signing up and getting started.
We highly suggest starting Instagram (see, also, our article entitled How to Use Instagram to Market Your Photography Business!) and Facebook accounts at the bare minimum. We have had the most success with these platforms for gaining new followers and inquiries.
3). Make a basic marketing plan & advertise
When just starting to look for photography clients, having a prepared marketing plan can help make this process a little bit easier. Even just writing down how you are going to approach posting content on social media is going to be a good starting point. Research the best times to post content, good hashtags on Instagram, and leverage Later to schedule your posts in advanced.
While many people don’t care to spend money upfront, if you are serious about growing your photography service, you should also consider running ads on Facebook and/or Instagram to help promote your service.
4). Keep your prices low
One of the first things you need to do is evaluate the photography market in your area. If high quality and seasoned portrait photographers are selling sessions for $300, you should probably come in at a lower cost.
Remember: you can always raise your prices later. We have done this several times over ourselves. Getting your first clients in and wowing them is extremely important to this process. So while you may not make a lot of money initially, the first clients you book will help pave the way.
5). Set clear expectations
One thing many new photographers avoid doing (and even seasoned photographers skip this…) is learning how to set expectations with their clients. While we don’t think it’s necessary to go into super micro levels of detail like “I’m only shooting on a Canon Rebel camera,” you should be upfront about your experience level and what you are offering.
While setting and managing expectations, it is important to never refer to yourself in a negative way. This can be challenging for some, especially when you don’t have a lot of photography work experience to draw from.
6). Use Facebook groups, referrals from family/friends, and Thumbtack to your advantage
If you haven’t already, you’d be amazed how many opportunities exist out there to photograph people – if you know where to look.
The easiest opportunities tend to come from family and friends referring you to others. From there, most other opportunities require you to put in some leg work, but fortunately it’s not too hard these days.
For us, local photography groups on Facebook helped us to really connect with the photographer community in our area. We’ve gone to meet ups and have worked with other creatives on stylized projects as a result. From time to time, people will also post requests for second shooters and, in the right group, prospective clients might post looking for a photographer to shoot them.
In addition, while there is some controversy in the photography community about it, the website Thumbtack actually worked surprisingly well for us. We booked a handful of early clients through this site, and had no issues ourselves. There is some cost involved, and they have changed things up a bit since we last used it, but you may consider it yourself. With this said, we don’t really recommend it for long term use as many people on there seem to be price shopping – this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (and from a consumer perspective – it’s pretty smart), but if we’re being realistic, you probably won’t end up booking a $4,000 wedding client through it.
While not every potential lead will end up turning out, put your name into the ring and start getting involved in the local community. With some time and effort, good things will follow.
7). Setup styled shoots
We mentioned styled shoots as being a way to grow your portfolio early on, but let’s talk for a minute about other benefits of styled shoots on your ability to attract clients.
By setting up your own styled shoots, you have the ability to start dictating the look of your photos and the people you are photographing. A lot of what may attract people to your photography service are the things that make you unique, and the unique things you photograph.
When we setup some of our own styled shoots, we would look to accessorize with cool but simple looks – as this was meant to attract an audience into this sort of thing. Picking cool dresses for the ladies, neat accessories like jewelry and flowers, makeup and hair stylings, and even the backdrop for the shoot – all create a synergy that can have an influence on your future success.
In addition, while you can do styled shoots on your own (even with the help of a friend as your model), you may want to consider reaching out to some other vendors in your area. During one of our recent shoots, we involved a local jeweler and hair/makeup stylist, and by collaborating we were able to create something cooler and more interesting than just something we could think up ourselves. These connections also come in handy, as we often refer clients to one another!!
8). Shadow other photographers in your area
Sometimes the best way to get exposure to the photography industry is to work with someone who is already experienced. As we mentioned already, with shooting weddings, we would often second shoot weddings for other photographers. We never had restrictions in being able to use images for our personal portfolios as well, though you would want to check with the photographer you are looking to work under as they may have limitations.
It’s worth noting that, not every photographer is going to need or want help. The best way to pitch yourself to other photographers is by noting ways in which you can help them. Being available and willing to assist with other areas of their job such as setting up lighting, carrying bags, etc. are all simple things that show you are not exclusively being motivated by your own self interest.
We hope this article taught you something about how to get photography clients. We know first hand the difficulty you may be facing, and want to reassure you that the challenge is worth it.
We found our business began to grow rapidly just after the first couple of sessions. Growing your portfolio is essential, and having these clients who can (and will) talk to their family and friends about you is so beneficial. Once you get your client booked, do everything you can to blow them away with your work and make your photography service memorable and a great experience!!
