If you could be or do anything in the world, what would you choose? What’s your dream career?
I know, I know. I’m starting off this blog with a heavy question, aren’t I?
But seriously! Maybe you’ve always dreamed of having a creative, exciting profession where you get to work with all kinds of people. A profession where you’re the boss, and you make big bucks doing something you love.
For me, that dream career five years ago was being a professional photographer and stylist. And you know what? You can start making your dream happen right now. Let’s talk about how you can do that.
Why product photography?
If you’re more interested in wedding/event photography, or lifestyle and fashion photography, you do you! The most important thing you need for launching your own biz is a passion and an idea to guide you.
But if you’re not sure what you want to do and think product photography and styling might be the answer, I think you’ve made a good choice.
When you combine the two services into one business, your skills are more in demand. As long as companies are making products, there’ll be a need for product photography. And you’ll likely work with brands more than individuals. Brands often have bigger budgets (meaning you’ll get paid more $$$).
Plus, your work can be done remotely! I don’t think we need to cover why that’s so valuable after 2020 happened.
A tip for getting started
What can you do to actually get started and put your name out there? I suggest creating as much as you can right now. Take all the photos, create all the videos, experiment with prop sourcing and shoot styling and editing. You get the idea.
Focus on creating, which will help you develop a unique, trademark style and POV! This will help you build a portfolio, which you can host on social media, your website, or both. In turn, your portfolio will help clients find you and look over your work.
It’ll also help you figure out what type of work you want to do and what clients are looking for. While putting together your portfolio, you may realize that you really love food photography, or that you prefer shooting live models instead of flatlays.
Once you narrow down what you like, only share that type of work on your portfolio! Figure out your niche and unique style. That way, you’ll attract clients who will hire you for it…and you won’t get stuck doing something you’re not really passionate about (or even hate).
A little bit about how I got here
You might be thinking, “Okay Lish, but why should I listen to you when it comes to career advice?” Fair question!
I may look like I have everything going for LISH Creative on my blog and website and social media, but the truth is? A lot of hard work, trial-and-error, and figuring out things on my own got my business where it is today.
All those food styling hacks, weird photo props, and stop-motion tips you see on my TikTok? I learned all those skills along the way. The same goes for clients I connected with and camera gear I invested in over the course of my career.
This isn’t meant to be a #humblebrag, I promise. I want to show you that you can build your own photography and styling business from the ground up, without a lot of experience or tech from the start.
The one thing I wish I had was a resource from a professional who could tell me what to expect when I started my biz, which could have saved me a lot of wasted time and money. Because I didn’t have access to such a resource, I set out to create one for aspiring photographers and stylists myself. And it’s called How to Break into Product Photography.
Ready to take the next step?
How to Break into Product Photography is a FREE training that’ll teach you even more about being a commercial photographer and stylist. When you join, you’ll learn more about my story and how to get started as we talked about on this blog. You’ll also learn must-have skills and gear you’ll need at the beginning, how to increase your earning potential, and lots more.
Plus, How to Break into Product Photography is prerecorded, which means you can watch it and complete it on your own time. And all you need to take this training is your listening ears and an interest in the product photography biz.
Join my FREE training now, and you’ll get immediate access to the video!
