TOP TIPS FROM THE PROS
DAVE KAI PIPER “As you start out and you work through your new and exciting path, there are two very important things to remember. The first is that your time is worth something and that shouldn’t be undervalued. The second is that you need to build a network.”
CLAIRE GILLO “When it comes to editing your images we’d all love a super-speedy Mac computer, but if the budget is tight it’s PC all the way! You can also look into refurbished computers, and most importantly, make sure you have a decent screen.”
IAN PACK “Apache OpenOffice is the best free software available out there for you to use for all your admin work.”
SUZANNE PORTER “Make do with what you have. During my years as a social documentary and travel photographer in Africa, I was away for months at a time in very remote areas. My camera bag was my mobile office so I had limitations on what I could carry. I had to photograph, edit and send the photos back to the client, and I learnt to do what I did with what I had!”
DAVE KAI PIPER “Work on yourself, that is what people will want to hire. Real clients won’t care what camera you have or what bag you use. They will want to hire you because you are awesome to work with.”
SUZANNE PORTER “Get as much free training as you can. In France (where I’m based for now) it has amazing support for people wanting to start their own business, from free training courses to grants and loans. Look around to see what you can find that’s close to you.”
IAN PACK “I would avoid using your kit lens and instead look into purchasing prime lenses. Although they don’t have a variable focal length, the benefits of wide aperture settings make these great value for money.”
SUZANNE PORTER “Remember that your time is also valuable. When it comes to image editing it’s worth investing in software that does the job as quickly as possible. My preferred choice is Lightroom for batch editing, and for that reason I pay £9.98 per month for the Adobe photography package. For me it’s worth the investment, however, if you can’t afford the outlay remember that your camera comes with free software to edit your RAW files. Also, a good alternative to Photoshop is Affinity Photo, which is a fraction of the price.”