hey guys. i'm in a rough patch with my overall life perspective and i feel like my photography is starting to feel it. i've been a long time hobbyist just recently trying to make the switch to paid jobs. my main frustrations are that i'm finding it's hard to get enough experience under my belt because im new to this city i live in (houston) and i cant find enough friends/models to shoot to build my portfolio (im mainly trying to get into portraiture).

i dont want to turn this into my life rant so i want to ask how do you vetarans and rookies stay motivated and encouraged? what picks you up when you're down?

I'm pretty sure it happens to everyone. Its probably due to just living in a new area, once you meet new people it'll go away. This sounds more like a life personal problem than a photo related problem. Just go find new friends, dating sites, anything.

what kept me motivated when i was starting up my pro career was a 5 year plan with a variety of goals i wanted to achieve...in the end it took me ten years to achieve all goals - but i did make it, one babystep at a time. And now i'm starting all over again in a different field, because i miss the challenges i used to have

Donate your services, time and expertise, to several of the local charities that do auctions to raise funds. Let the winner pay for any prints ordered. Take one of your best images to be displayed. Attend the auction, give business cards to everyone who expresses and interest in your work. TRY to get email ids and addresses ofeveryone you can. Then use those contacts to offer them some sort of special deal

Jack Daniels and I are good buddies.
Photography is one of the toughest professions to be REALLY successful at financially. Everyone is a photographer nowadays, doing it better and charging less. Competition is fierce. It's not like the old days. If you have another career keep it. Continue your hobby.

Specifically, if you are doing portraits and building a portfolio, maybe join a local phot club who periodically does model photo shoots/days ? That will give you exposure to subjects to practice on, get some new samples ? If you're good they'll tell their friends.......if you're not that good, change hobbies or keep it a hobby, not a profession. Join your local chamber, get to know people, offer FREE sessions with a print for any auctions for local charities. There are tons out there. High school organizations, church organizations. area clubs, non profit organizations are always having fund raisers and need donations.

Non profits usually have higher income members who are a great source for clients. As I said, if you do excellent work, they will refer you after the fact. If not, then realize your limitations and take appropriate action.

banky wrote:
hey guys. i'm in a rough patch with my overall life perspective and i feel like my photography is starting to feel it. i've been a long time hobbyist just recently trying to make the switch to paid jobs. my main frustrations are that i'm finding it's hard to get enough experience under my belt because im new to this city i live in (houston) and i cant find enough friends/models to shoot to build my portfolio (im mainly trying to get into portraiture).

i dont want to turn this into my life rant so i want to ask how do you vetarans and rookies stay motivated and encouraged? what picks you up when you're down?

Check in with a couple of high-end social organizations that provide scholarships to youth and volunteer to be the special photographer of their scholarship winners. Make this something you do for them each year, cost free, but be sure they understand that this is a business complimentary offer just for that single purpose.

Your work gets publicity and you don't have to make the choice of "worthy candidates"--a group with its own bona fides does it for you.

Presuming you do a good job, then at some point, you will have an opportunity to make paying clients of those organizations for their own publicity, and paying clients of some of their members as well.

banky wrote:
hey guys. i'm in a rough patch with my overall life perspective and i feel like my photography is starting to feel it. i've been a long time hobbyist just recently trying to make the switch to paid jobs. my main frustrations are that i'm finding it's hard to get enough experience under my belt because im new to this city i live in (houston) and i cant find enough friends/models to shoot to build my portfolio (im mainly trying to get into portraiture).

i dont want to turn this into my life rant so i want to ask how do you vetarans and rookies stay motivated and encouraged? what picks you up when you're down?

One option is look on meetup.com for photography related meetups in your area that interest you. It's a great way to meet and network with others in your area, and even get some shooting done. Model mayhem can be useful as well if you are looking for local talent (though the talent tends to be fairly amateur and/or hobbyist).

To stay motivated, I keep a list of things that I want to shoot as the ideas come to me, and read over the list occasionally. Even if the ideas are not what I'd normally shoot, and may never actually do, it helps to have the list to refer to.

Portraiture is a very wide description. Figure out in your own mind where you want to go with it. Portraits of families to hang on a wall? Portraits of the people who go to Burning Man for art gallery shows? Portraits of killers on death row at San Quintin for Rolling Stone or Celebs for Vanity Fair?

Create a swipe file for inspiration, scour the internet and keep a file of work that interest or inspires you, figure out how you can do something similar or use those pix as a starting point. Don't just restrict yourself to photography, look at movies and the lighting in paintings by Vermeer or Caravaggio is amazing....Look at old and new, something will stick that you can use in your next shoot.

Once you have some sort of direction, you can work towards a goal. Whether it's self assignments of interesting people or networking with the 1% who will spend thousands for a giant family portrait with the kids and the hot second wife, or the daughter and the $75,000 horse you need a direction. It's easy to burn out when you re going in all directions without an plan or goal.

And just because you pick a 'speciality' doesn't mean you can't change...

Another idea is to take a class or two at the Art Institute of Houston, meet up with other creative people of your generation, (for some reason I assume you are young) work on group projects. Houston is a huge place, it ain't Austin but I am sure you can do something interesting.