The Cheapest Way To Start A (Legal) Photography Business With No Experience and Minimal Funds
Let me guess, you’ve been googling how do I start a small photography business, how much money do you need to start a photography business, how do I start a photography business legally, with not money, on the side, tips on starting your own photography business, photo business and startup checklists, how to start a photography business from home, is photography profitable, how much money do photographers make, and on and on. Starting a photography business can be so overwhelming, especially if you don’t know anyone that’s done it that can help guide you through the process. It’s hard to know where to even start!
Now, while it’s not cheap to start any type of business, photography gear and equipment costs can seem very daunting. I’ve mentioned several ways you can save and keep things as affordable as possible, but starting a business is an investment, and sometimes has upfront costs that are too much to pay for all at once. Many camera and computer companies offer payment options which helps you get started sooner if paying upfront just isn’t an option. Just remember that you don’t have to buy everything all brand new, especially to get started, and that you can upgrade as you go. I’m still in the process of building my ideal gear collection, and I’ve been doing this for 15 years!
Back when I started, google wasn’t what it is today, and Pinterest didn’t even exist. My best option was a black and white film college class, and photography books at the library. And while I did figure out how to start a business and built it up through the years, I made a lot of mistakes (some I was aware of, some I wasn’t until later). It would have been a godsend to have an article like this for me to use as a simple checklist for everything I needed to know to start my business off right, and all the things I needed to do, both the fun stuff, and the legal stuff. It’s WAY easier to start your business on the right building blocks than to try to go back and fix everything.
You are going to come across multiple articles and videos and gather so many resources and while it will be helpful, it’s nice to have someone break things down into a simple, step-by-step process focusing on the basics of exactly what you need, including an easy checklist you can print or use on your computer, so let’s get into it!
Technical Shiz
Legal Step By Step Checklist To Start Photography Business
Trust me, I know. This is the most boring part of starting a photography business. I KNOW you want to jump on canva and start designing a logo, choose your branding colors, getting photo inspiration on pinterest, and to start creating beautiful photos. I get it. Remember me saying there were some things I wasn’t aware of when I started that I had to go back and correct? This is the stuff. And it’s WAY better to just get it done and out of the way. If you need to, you can work on this side of things for 20 min, then do 5-10 min of the creative stuff, come back to this for 20, look at branding inspo for 5 min—you get the point, but FOR SURE set a timer to help keep you on task. Ok let’s jump into this so you can get this part checked off your list!
1 | Choose Your Business Name
Do not overthink this. You need a legal name, and you might as well just have it be your name. First and last then add photography. First and middle name Photography. First initial, middle initial Photography. Middle Name Photography. Every photographer I look up to comes to mind by their name—Ansel Adams, Brooke Johnson, Yan Palmer, The Kitcheners (that’s a couple wedding photo team’s last name). Keep it simple. You can always change the name you call your business on your instagram or website if you ever want to change it in the future, but you can continue to operate under the name you registered. Using your name also protects you against copyright, since nobody can copyright and own your legal name. One other thing, think of those weird email addresses you had when you were a teenager, and how you now just have a regular email with your name/initials. Just keep it simple with your name or some variation of it, otherwise you may be fighting an uphill battle while people try to remember what their friend Jenny’s photo business name was so they can tell their friends about her.
2 | Register Your Business
This part might be even more boring than step 1, but just needs to be done. It will typically cost $100-$200 to register with both your state and city. This is where you’re going to use that new name you just came up with for your business. All you need to do is google “register new business in ‘x’ state, and ‘x’ city. The steps are usually all listed right on the site and easy to walk through. However, if you are having a hard time navigating the site, you can call the number listed and have someone help walk you through it. I would recommend registering as an LLC. That’s what all of my photographer friends and I all have. The way someone explained this to me is that if someone were to sue your business for some reason, they can only go after the assets of your business, and not your personal assets (home, vehicles, etc). If you have more questions, I recommend another google search because I’m not a legal expert. But if you’re wondering if you need a license to be a (legal) photographer, the answer is yes.
3 | Set Up Business Bank Account
This is not a requirement, but I would strongly recommend it! It’s so helpful to track everything financially and keep it all in one place as much as possible. I am not a financial expert, but I like to set aside my sales tax and transfer it into my business savings account so that I have it ready when it’s time for me to pay it. Also, a quick note on sales tax—you will need to look into the laws of your state. Photography is a service, but in the state of Utah, they consider digital files a good that you have to pay sales tax on. It can be different among states, so a quick google search should help you figure this out, and also will help you find the amount you need to charge based on where you live. And since you are collecting sales tax, you just add it to your pricing. If you’re unsure and can’t find the right numbers, call the number listed on your state or city’s website and someone can help you. For some killer advice on how to set up your bank account system, I recommend the book Profit First.
The Fun Stuff
Now that you’ve got the least interesting part of building your photography business taken care of, you get to jump into the fun part. The creative aspect, where you get to find inspiration, create, and develop your brand. I’ve included buying gear in this section because this is where you go from cell phone photos, to photos that look magical, high-quality, and professional.
Software and Supplies Needed For Your Photography Business
1 | A Computer
Luckily, most of us have a computer at our disposal. If you don’t, this will be a necessary purchase. I do know that some people will edit on an iPad, and you can definitely do that, it just comes with some tricks. There are several youtube videos on how to use Lightroom on an iPad. Buying a uses iPad is a great way to get your foot in the door at a price that is more affordable. I edit on a MacBook Pro, but have friends that have built their own gamer computers to edit with.
2 | Editing Software
Lightroom and Photoshop. Look no further. Just go sign up for it. It’s like $10/month. Back in the day it used to be like $500 to buy them. These do take up a lot of space, so you’ll want to be mindful of that when buying a computer for editing.
3 | Memory Cards and Case
Every camera is different. Some require CF cards, some SD cars, and some XQD cards. You will want to have a good handful of these on hand so that you don’t have to delete sessions to be able to shoot another session. This puts you at too high of a risk of accidentally deleting a session before you got all the photos put onto your computer. I’ve heard SO many stories of this happening. The ideal scenario is to have a camera that has two card slots to give your images the best protection. For sure get a case for your cards so they don’t get lost, and just keep them in your camera bag. I’ll link my favorite one below. Each pocket zips shut, and the entire case will velcro shut as well. Then I clip it to my camera bag so it can’t ever get lost.
4 | Online Gallery Delivery
You need to have a way to send the digital files for clients to download once they are edited and you’ve got lots of options here, and most of them offer a free version. I personally use pic-time, but you can also use pixieset, shootproof, and dropbox.
5 | Form Of Contact
How are people going to get in touch with you if they want to ask about photos? Text, instagram, facebook, email, website? Ideally you will create a website that people can send an email through, but a website isn’t necessary if you are limited on funds. You need to be able to send them your pricing and schedule a time for their session and I would recommend an email address you use just for your business that you set up through gmail. It’s so much easier to keep it all in one place and not have inquiries get lost in texts and Instagram DMs.
Software and Supplies That Are Nice To Have, But Not Necessary
1 | Hard Drives
Photo files are large, especially when you shoot in RAW (best quality), and they can take up a lot of space on your computer and slow it down. You can buy smaller or larger hard drives, just depending on your budget.
2 | Backblaze
This is a program that will backup all your files from your hard drive and computer. It’s very affordable and I feel SO much better having it. Hard drives can corrupt, break, or get lost, and this way I know if any of those things happen, I can get my files from the Backblaze cloud. Highly highly recommend doing this because technology is not bulletproof.
3 | Shootproof
This is a $10 a month program that allows you to keep all your invoices and contracts in one place. It makes the business side of things SO much easier. Google forms can be a good option for questionnaires and it is free. Eventually, as you get busier, you may want to look into other CRM programs such as Dubsado or Honeybook so that you can automate your work and stay organized, but starting out you really just don’t need it.
4 | Website
Whatever you do, do not use WIX for your website! It might be fine to get started, but is not great for being found on google. For example, if someone googles ‘elopement photographers in Utah’ it is not going to do well in showing up in the websites Google lists. I LOVE Squarespace, and it is really simple and affordable, with pre-made templates that are ready to use. You just add your own photos and info and you’ve got a great website. It you want to invest in having someone do this for you, I offer basic Squarespace website setup using your branding message and colors.
Overwhelmed at putting a website together? Let me take that off your hands and eliminate the stress and overwhelm of trying to figure out a whole new program. I’ve got you. After a quick consult, I’ll implement your branding colors into a simple, easy-to-use website with a clean, minimal design, and the proper building blocks in place to help people find you on Google.
5 | Logo and Branding Colors
Neither of these is necessary, and they are very likely to change over the years, but they are a fun way to set the vibe for your business. Canva is perfect for this, and you can just search logos and color palettes to find the colors and logo that set the tone for the type of work you want to create for others. These are great to have for website setup to help communicate to your potential clients what your style is and what you can create for them. It is something that they will remember you by.
Photography Gear You Need To Buy
Already have your camera gear? Keep scrolling for portfolio building and pricing tips!
While you can easily spend THOUSANDS on gear, IT IS NOT NECESSARY to start your photography business. If you’ve got extra cash, cool, buy the higher quality options, but if you’re limited on funds, you can get away with simple gear. I’m going to give you the budget options, as well as let you know where I would NOT buy the cheaper option and would recommend splurging.
Where To Buy Affordable Cameras and Lenses
While it’s fun to buy brand new cameras and lenses, they are freaking expensive. A used camera won’t have as much of a shelf life, but is a great way just to get started, but used lenses are safe to buy used, as long as the owner took good care of them. The two places I like to look for lenses are ebay, and GREENTOE.COM. With greentoe, you can find the product you want, and make an offer on what you are willing to pay for it. They will then let you know if your offer was accepted. I’ve gotten lenses this way and saved BIG TIME. Facebook marketplace is also a good place to check because you can also check out someone’s profile and see if they are a credible person and not a scammer. Speaking of scammer’s, don’t let ebay scare you off. Ebay has excellent customer service and is great to work with if a scam situation comes up.
Cameras
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji—where do you even start? Let me just tell you this. They’re all going to create high-quality images that you can create beautiful work with. I’ve primarily shot on Nikon, and a little on Canon, and only on DSLRs. The industry is shifting into mirrorless, but that’s still a high price option at the time of writing this article. I’m going to stick with what I know, and recommend the gear I have personally used. One more thing to add—we can often fall into thinking we have to have brand new everything, and that’s just not true. Start where you can, and upgrade as you improve your skills, and as you start to notice limitations your gear has. One thing to keep in mind is that it will likely be cheaper to buy the camera body in a kit with lenses, cards, and batteries, but I recommend buying the camera body you want, and then slowly buying the lenses you want over time because they will be WAY better quality and take better photos than the kit lenses.
Lenses
You can buy what’s called a kit, and that is essentially a package that includes the camera, some cards for your camera, batteries, cords, and lenses. The lenses included are referred to as kit lenses, and while they do a decent job, this is where I recommend splurging. Buying a nice lens for my camera is one of the things that made the biggest impact on the overall quality of my photography. The photos are so much sharper, and can allow you to shoot in darker situations without losing as much quality. Lenses are something that you can buy used without worrying as much about how they’ve aged. As long as they were well taken care of, they should work as good as they did when they were new.
NIKON
The first camera I used was a Nikon D80, and you can literally buy this on ebay for $50-$100. It’s a great camera to get started on, and take great photos. You will eventually want to upgrade to a full-frame camera (google full frame vs crop frame to understand more), but if you want to get started and just don’t have the funds, this is a great camera. The next camera I used was a Nikon D700, which can also be found on ebay for less than $500 and it IS a full frame camera.
The next camera I want to suggest is the D750. It ranges from $1000-$1500, but the best thing about this camera is that it has two memory card slots. Sometimes memory cards can corrupt, resulting in a loss of images, and having a backup second one decreases that risk. You need to set your camera up to capture on both cards at the same time, but this is a HUGE benefit. Nobody wants to lose their photos, and I’ve seen it happen way too often. Again, if it’s not in your budget, it’s not in your budget, and you can upgrade as soon as you are able.
Nikon D80
Nikon D700
Nikon D750
Nikon Cameras I Recommend For Starting Your Photo Biz
Best Professional Camera Lenses I Recommend
A couple things to keep in mind when buying lenses—one, they are camera specific. So you can buy a 35mm for Nikon or Canon. Be sure it says which camera it can be used with. Another thing, you may find a lens for cheaper, but it may be because it is not for full frame cameras. So these lenses will not work on any camera that is a full frame camera. Full frame cameras basically make it easier to take in more of the scene that a crop sensor. To get lenses that are for full frame and crop sensor cameras, make sure they say fx in the name of the lens. Another thing that can affect the price is the f stop capabilities. In the description you will see: f1.4, f2.8, f4. This impacts the amount of light that can come into the camera, making it easier to shoot in darker situations, again, helping you create higher quality images.
One other thing I recommend when it comes to lenses is to try renting them. You can go to borrowlenses.com or lensrental.com and test any of these lenses out to see which one has the look you like the most.
This lens is EXPENSIVE. However, you could buy this on lens and it can work for just about every type of photography scenario you may be in. It can zoom in and zoom out, is so diverse, and a fantastic lens with excellent quality. If you aren’t ready for the investment, you can always start with one of the other options and rent this one for extended family sessions, or weddings, which are situations that it makes your job 1000x easier.
2 | Nikon 85mm f1.8 (buy the f1.4 if you really want to splurge)
The 85mm f1.8 was my favorite lens for a solid year. It gives the prettiest blurry background (bokeh) that none of these other lenses I mention will. The way the sun flares on this lens is gorgeous as well. You do need a little room to shoot with this lens, so it may not be ideal to be in a small space shooting with this. This lens is magic.
3 | Nikon 35mm f1.4 OR 50mm f 1.8
The 35 is pricey, but has been the lens that lives on my camera for the past several years. You can buy the sigma version, but they need calibrated and I just haven’t had good experiences with the sigma lenses.
The 50mm 1.8 is going to be a more affordable option, and is a beautiful lens as well. It also gives a prettier blur to the background than the 35, but I love the wider angle of the 35 and feel like it gives the photos a little more of a modern, documentary look.
Canon
While I have shot on Canon, my experience is primarily with Nikon, but here are the Canon products that I know are good. I’ll link the Canon versions of the same lenses.
2 | Canon 35mm f1.4 OR 50mm f1.8
3 | Canon 85mm f1.8
Pricing and Portfolio Tips When Starting a New Photography Business
1 | Pricing
This is a huge topic, and one that there are entire courses on. I’m going to keep it SUPER simple, and reassure you on a few things. I’m not a financial expert, but the biggest tip I have for you is to keep your business expenses as low as possible while keeping it running smoothly and efficiently. I was paying almost $40 a month for HoneyBook when I hardly had any clients. It was just an expense that I did not need at that time. Canva Pro has some cool designs, but the free version is great and has amazing options. Add up what you are spending monthly, such as website, gallery delivery program, editing software (lightroom and photoshop), etc. You need to be able to cover these costs with your business income. Also, you want to set aside money for your taxes, which is typically 30-35% of what you are making. That being said, I am not a financial expert, but have tried out just about every type of pricing structure there is, and there are advantages to each of them. One more thing—do not listen to the people that say you are too cheap and are undercutting the market. We all start somewhere, and when we’re brand new at anything, we don’t start out making as much because our skills aren’t that great. You can raise prices as you feel are appropriate, but don’t let anyone make you feel bad for what you are charging. You need to be profitable for it to be worth your time, and raising prices is an important part of a photography business, but everyone’s timeframe is going to be different. Just don’t do photography at your own expense because then it is just a hobby.
2 | Portfolio
I’ve got a course that goes into so much depth on building your dream portfolio, photographing your dream shoots, and attracting the type of clients that will be more than happy to pay you for their work. It talks about how to find them, and how to build this strategically into your business. I’m going to share a few tips for free to help you to get started in this direction. One thing you can do is attend styled shoots, and some of them are quite affordable, but the cheapest way to do this is to create your own “styled shoot”. This is where you get to practice your photography skills, no strings attached, and improve and build your creativity and knowledge. Find friends, family, people in the community, friends on instagram, and offer them free shoots. I recommend hand selecting these people so that you can create a well-rounded portfolio. This is where you get to practice using your camera, learning how to work with people, and in different lighting settings.
If you are wanting to do something geared more towards product photography, or travel photography, start with shooting some products you already have at home. Style them in a beautiful way, and practice different settings and camera angles. For travel, go to a local coffee shop, to a lake, the mountains, and try to re-create some of those cool travel photos you’ve seen on Pinterest. This phase is all about practice and learning. Every single photo you create isn’t going to be a masterpiece. But some of them are, and those are the ones you’re going to put into your portfolio to use for your website, and to post to social media.
Summary, you’re amazing, you can do this
Starting a photography business is such a great way to bring in an income, whether you want to go full-time with it, or just have it be supplemental. There are so many different categories you can choose from as well, and you can always shift into other styles of photography, making it a sustainable way to make an income. There is always someone needing photos, whether it’s families, couples getting married, or companies and brands that want to sell their products and have good quality photos of them. There are endless options, you just have to take the first step and get started.
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