Are you REALLY a Professional Photographer?

I hear the question asked often in photography groups. "What do you feel makes you a professional photographer?"

I think we all really know the answer to this.... but then our self doubt gets in the way...

Let's start this off with a story... It begins with a familiar situation. That girl who you *think* is a new friend invites you to her baby shower and then asks you to bring your camera... womp womp... When this happened, I was still new to newborn photography, I had been taking Newborn Clients for 7-8 months now. I had done her gender reveal (for a whopping $75..face palm) and had her newborn session scheduled. It didn't even occur to me that I had only been invited because she wanted free photos but that's a different subject for a different blog... I happily donned my cutest sundress, bought a gift, and brought along my camera. As soon as I arrived, I started photographing the details of her shower, food, decor, and guests.... at one point after I had taken group shot of several of the mom-to-be's friends, I found myself standing and chatting with a girl friend (who was expecting), and 9 or 10 other girls she had just introduced me to...and 5 of them were very clearly pregnant.... My friend, being the sweetheart she is, started gushing about what an amazing professional newborn photographer I was. JACKPOT right? This should have been my cue to graciously thank her, talk about how much I love what I do, and give out my info to anyone who wanted it. But you know what I did instead? I got flustered and uttered the words... "No, I'm not a professional, I just have a camera and like to take pictures....." and then the rational voice in my head started yelling "WHAT THE *!&%#@ are you dooooooiiiiiiiiiinnnnggggg!?!?!?!?!"

I guess the nervous self doubting part of my mind got the best of me...and maybe a little part of me was trying to be modest... but really, I was just being stupid and overly self deprecating... I was standing in front of 6+ potential clients with wide eyes and pregnant bellies and basically destroyed any chance of them hiring me. Guess how many of those women booked newborn shoots... ALL OF THEM... but guess how many of them booked them with me? That's right... ZERO....

Looking back on that day I CRINGE! I might as well have been an ice cream truck driving around a crowded park on a hot summer day, just to tell kids I don't sell ice cream...

So what DOES make you a professional? Is it a business license? Is it years of experience or confidence in what you do? Is it paying taxes or having the best equipment? Is it being the best in town or having a degree in photography? Is it having a big studio down town? Is it shooting for big magazines like Vogue?

NO It's NONE of those things! He is where the cute story ends and I get very REAL with you. I'm NOT going to sugar coat this because honestly that's not what you need to hear.

The difference between being a Hobbyist and a Professional is GETTING PAID TO DO IT! END OF STORY. See how easy that is? I'm glad I could clear that up for you because believe it or not some people had no idea... If you play football with your friends in your free time, it's a hobby... If you get paid to play football, you are a pro. It doesn't matter if you are a starting quarterback who just won the super bowl or just on the practice team. Did I just use a sports reference correctly? No one is more shocked than I am.... Why is it any different when you have a camera in your hand? As soon as you take MONEY FROM A CLIENT to perform a service, you are a professional. Some people think that you aren't really a professional if you aren't charging a lot or if you have another full time job. There are three reason's you need to know if you are a professional or not. One is so that you have the confidence in yourself and your work that you need to be the successful girl boss photographer that you and I both know you can be. If you aren't confident in your work enough to call your self a professional, then honestly (again no sugar coating here, this is tough love advice not a bag of M&M's) you shouldn't be charging people. If you aren't, you need to stop taking money and practice until you are confident that your work is good enough and consistent enough to charge (and charge enough). And if you are, then you need to put on your big girl panties and do it right. What do I mean by that? There are a million ways to run a photography business. But by "doing it right" I mean you need to be *drum roll please* A LEGAL BUSINESS.

I hear a lot of people say "It's just a hobby" when asked if they pay taxes or have a business license. But then, suddenly, they are a pro when they are advertising mini sessions on Facebook.... Some think the line between being a Hobbyist and a Pro is thin and gray but its not. Its drawn with a BIG FAT permanent marker. Not in the eyes of your client or in the eyes of the government. The second you take money from a client to perform a service, you are a professional....but here is the important part.... If you are getting paid, you are a professional, you just might not be a legal one... or a successful one. That's right, I said it. (There might be a few variances depending on where you live but that's pretty much it.)

And that's my final point about which side of the professional/hobbyist line you are on. I say this all the time. YOU DESERVE TO BE PAID ENOUGH TO LIVE OFF OF! If you are a Professional, even a legal, fully licensed, tax paying, professional photographer, you still might not be a very successful one....We can argue all day long about how we define success.... so technically, if you are meeting your goals (even if your goal is to just break even) you are *technically* successful relative to your goals but is that the kind of success you really want to set as your goal? Your goal should AT LEAST be to make what someone working the same amount of hours for minimum wage makes per year. And that's a very liberal use of the terms "at least" and "successful." The gender wage gap is REAL ladies. And often times, it's self imposed. But we will get more into being a successful photographer in later....(Read that BLOG HERE and Make sure you subscribe!)

If you still aren't sure if you are a professional (or what kind of photographer you are) I put together this nice little flow chart for you. Answer the questions and follow the arrows based on your answers. Ready set go!

So where did you end up? You are probably a professional. But are you a legal one? Are you a successful one? If not, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to sit there and be ok with being illegal or mediocre or are you going to let go of whatever fear and excuses are holding you back and be the best professional photographer you can be?