Lisa_Holloway
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Upload & Sell: Off
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Hi Natalie,
I understand completely where you are coming from! This was me also at one point some years back. I've always been an artistic, creative person, and photography is how this has manifested itself in my adult life. Also, like you, my children reignited my interest in photography.
When I was pregnant with my 5th little one, I was part of an online mother's group. A little photography group branched off of this group and people that were interested in learning more about photography joined up. I remember looking at the work of a pro child photographer in this group and just *wishing* I could do that.
I am incredibly stubborn once I set my mind on something and I set my mind on getting good at photography. That was the turning point for me. I taught myself how to shoot in manual mode on a little old 4 megapixel Olympus point and shoot. I went through every stage a new photographer could possibly go through - OOF pics, selective coloring, alien eyes, nuclear colors, you name it - I was there. lol When I finally felt like I had a handle on shooting in manual mode, we scraped up the money to buy me a Canon 40D and kit lens. I was in LOVE. I also quickly realized that that kit lens was limiting me, and thus, my 'wish list' started to grow.
By this point, I was expecting our 7th child and was a stay at home mom. We had enough money to pay the bills but certainly not enough for me to be blowing thousands on the expensive glass that forever lived on this 'photography wish list.' My husband finally told me that if I wanted more than the equipment I was currently working with, I'd really need to start making some money taking pictures. It was at this point that I made the (rather spontaneous) decision to move from hobbyist to business woman.
I had no clue what I was doing business wise. I was cheap. I had a $50 session fee and my disc of edited images was $75 (I now charge a $300 session fee and the disc is $2750). I knew nothing about taxes, turning a profit, etc. It was definitely a learn as you go thing for me. Most people starting out like I did (without a clue) burn out quickly. This is where I think my stubbornness comes into play. I have tinkered around with my pricing over the years more times than I care to admit. I've made dozens upon dozens of mistakes (we won't go into that here). I have also found that I enjoy taking pretty pictures MUCH more than I enjoy running a business. I do not like bookkeeping, taxes, dealing with mountains of emails, rigid scheduling, etc. But gosh darn it - I was pretty proud of myself when I saved the money to purchase my very first upgrade (the 5D Mark II and the 85mm 1.2L).
I've been plugging away since 2008. I raised my prices pretty significantly this year because honestly, I'd rather shoot 10 clients for $25,000 than 100 clients for the same amount. I now have 10 children and homeschool some of them, with more to be added to the homeschool group soon. I still hate dealing with business stuff and still much more enjoy taking/making pretty photography.
I guess the few points I would like to get across in my long ramble is that taking that step from liking photography to owning a photography business is a HUGE one. Do I regret it? Not really. While I don't love the business aspect, it has given our family a lot that we could not have afforded before, and I've been blessed enough to be able to earn every last piece of equipment that was on that wishlist, and then some. We could survive without my photography income, but we would be on a very tight budget. No more organic everything, no more eating out, no more road trips, no more new purse just because I like it, etc etc. But we could survive.
I've had my days where I was over it and ready to throw in the towel, but I haven't. Also, as Steady mentioned - people will look at you and your work differently when you are in business. There will be new expectations you will have to meet. No more going out and just shooting what you want, editing a few images that you like, and being done. You will deal with PITA clients (most are nice - but the ones who are awful will definitely stick in your head). I've had my share of both.
Think about it long and hard. Do you want to own a business? I would probably cringe if I knew how many hours of my life I'd dedicated to this over the years. The to do list never ends. If I'm not taking photos, I'm editing them, if I'm not editing, I'm answering emails, if I'm not answering emails, I'm promoting my work, etc etc. I'm a one woman show so I do it ALL (with the support of my very helpful and patient husband and children). I've sacrificed a LOT to do what I do. There are days where it hardly feels worth it.
To answer your original question though, you should begin charging when you are sure that you want to run a photography business. As a matter of personal opinion, I also think that you should charge when you are able to regularly and without fail turn out a professional looking set of photos to a client. What that means is up for interpretation.
Do you feel that your work is up to professional standards? Do you WANT to own a business? How much is your time and talent worth to you? Think about these questions, and then proceed carefully. Just so it doesn't sound all doom and gloom (I swear, it isn't), it is pretty awesome to be able to bring in an income doing something that you love. I mean - despite my less than warm and fuzzy feelings about owning a business, I'd much rather be doing this than sitting behind a desk in a cubicle somewhere. Best of luck to you. 
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