Can You Become Rich If You Take Photography As Your Profession?

Do you want to be a professional photographer? If you love taking pictures then I bet you do. Isn't it cool to be holding a big camera with a long lens connected to it and you are shooting events, artistic shots and what not?

At the back of our mind however, we might be asking, "can I survive if I do Photography alone as my job?" Maybe you can but again you might be thinking, "can I become rich if I'll be a professional photographer?"

I remember the time when I was going with a professional photographer for a wedding shoot. We were inside the elevator with the bride and her maid of honor when they asked, "Is a photography business good?" Then the photographer said, "Well, you cannot actually survive if you do photography alone." As someone who is dreaming to be like him someday, I was a bit discouraged for what I heard. I thought becoming a professional photographer is really great but why is it that this photographer said that you cannot survive out of it alone?

In the Bollywood movie "Three Idiots," there is a line that I can never forget. It says that choose your passion to be your profession and the work will become play. A student in that movie gave up his career in Engineering and he chose to be a photographer because it is what he wanted in life.

I admit not every photographers are not given the opportunity to become rich. Some made it to the top, some are low, and most I think are in between the two. If photography is what you like to do in life, then I suggest that you just follow this passion and it will surely give you success. Whether it will give you more money or however not is up to you.

But who does not like to make more money out of his or her passion anyway? Of course we do. And that's where marketing skill comes in too. It is nice to be a very good photographer but without the knowledge in marketing, we might not make big amount of money. So if we want to make photography as our profession, we must also learn some business skills.

I suggest that when we are still beginning, it is good to have another job first while building up our own career in photography (unless you're lucky to have a day job as a photographer immediately). You can start by documenting small events among your friends and relatives. You can volunteer in documenting their son's birthday for example and then give them a big discount. This will save them from spending a lot in hiring a professional photographer. Then from there, your career will soon grow as you continue it.

The good thing nowadays is that photography business is not just limited in documentation, print and broadcast media, and others. Internet opened more ways on how to make money in photography. Stock photography is a very good opportunity for photographers to make money. This works by joining any stock photography websites and selling your photos online through them. You also don't need to have a big amount of money to start in this business. Both amateurs and professionals also have the opportunity to join.

So if you ask me if it is good to take photography as a profession, then I would say yes. But whether you'll be successful or not still depends on you. All you have to do is be patient to work it out. Just like in any other career, it's not an overnight matter to be successful. Just continue to pursue your career and don't quit. If you fail now, just take that as a lesson to be learned to perform better. As a line in the movie "Three Idiots" says, "Just follow your passion... and success will soon chase you."