How to Turn Your Dog Photography Hobby Into a Sustainable Business
I started working full-time when I was 21 years old with a pretty clear idea of what success looked like. Work hard, climb the corporate ladder and build a successful career. For more than 20 years, I did exactly that. I moved up, took on more responsibility and worked incredibly hard, but as my career grew, so did the stress. I had young kids at home, and I started wondering what would happen if I put that same amount of energy into building something of my own — something I actually loved.
Then came the crash. After years of pushing myself, I ended up taking almost a year away from my corporate career on stress leave. During that time, I picked up a camera. Photography gave me a creative outlet and a reason to get out of the house, and I started teaching myself everything I could. Somewhere along the way, a seed was planted. Maybe this thing I loved could become something more.
I kept learning, photographing and slowly building. Two years later, I left the corporate career I had spent more than 20 years creating to pursue photography full-time. I was taking the work ethic, business experience and determination I had developed throughout my career and finally putting it into something of my own.
That was the beginning of Champagne Photography Studio.
Being a Great Photographer Isn’t Enough
One of the biggest things I’ve learned since becoming a professional photographer is that being talented behind the camera and knowing how to build a successful photography business are two very different skill sets.
I know photographers whose work I absolutely admire, but they struggle to build a successful business because they don’t have the business skills — or sometimes they simply don’t believe their work is good enough. Then I know photographers whose work might be considered average within the photography world, yet they’re thriving because they learned how to run a business.
Of course, your photography matters. We should always be learning, improving and creating work we’re proud of. But beautiful images alone don’t bring clients through the door. A successful photography business also requires knowing who you want to serve, how to reach those people, how to price your work profitably and how to create an experience that makes people value what you do.
At some point, if you want photography to become more than a hobby, you have to start treating it like more than a hobby.
Turning Your Photography Hobby Into a Business
When photography is something you do because you love it, you can make decisions based largely on what feels right. Once you decide you want it to become a business, the questions start to change. How much do I need to charge? How many clients do I actually need? Who is my ideal client? What makes my photography different? How do I market myself? And how do I turn inquiries into paying clients?
Those questions are just as important as learning your camera, lighting or editing. You begin looking at the entire client experience, from the first time someone discovers you to the moment they receive their finished photographs. You start creating systems instead of figuring everything out as you go.
One of the biggest mindset shifts for me was learning to stop asking myself, “Would I pay that?” and instead asking, “What does my business need to charge for this to be sustainable?” Your pricing needs to make sense for your costs, your time, your goals and the kind of business you want to build.
Passion gets you started, but business is what allows you to keep doing it.
You Don’t Need to Be Fully Booked to Be Successful
There’s an idea in the photography industry that being successful means being fully booked. I don’t believe that at all. In fact, I don’t want to be fully booked all the time. I like having slower months. Sometimes I want to take time off. One of the reasons I built my own business was to have more control over my life, not to create another job that consumes all of it.
For me, the more important number is what the business produces over the course of the year. If you need 40 sessions a month to reach your income goals, that’s one business model. If you can reach those same goals with fewer clients, a higher average sale and a more valuable client experience, that’s another.
I want a profitable business that also gives me the freedom to have a life. That, to me, is a much better definition of success.
The goal isn’t necessarily to photograph more people. It’s to build a profitable, sustainable photography business that works for the life you want.
Build a Photography Business Around the Life You Want
Leaving my corporate career was never about not wanting to work hard. I work incredibly hard. The difference is that now I’m putting that work into something I created and something I genuinely love.
It was also important to me that my kids saw me do it. I wanted them to understand that the career you choose when you’re young doesn’t have to define the rest of your life. Success can change as you change. You can decide you want something different, take a chance on yourself and build a new path.
And I certainly didn’t leave everything I had learned in the corporate world behind. I brought those years of experience with me. Communication, sales, organization, client relationships, professionalism and understanding how a business operates have all influenced the way I built Champagne Photography Studio.
Photography was the passion. My business experience helped me turn that passion into a career.
Stop Waiting Until You Think You’re Good Enough
One of the things I see holding photographers back is the belief that they aren’t good enough yet. They compare themselves to photographers they admire and think they need to reach that level before they can charge more, market themselves confidently or take their business seriously.
There will always be someone whose work you admire. There will always be something else you can learn, another technique you can master and another image you could improve. I’m still learning too. That doesn’t stop because you become a professional photographer.
So many photographers ask themselves, “Am I good enough?” I think there’s a better question to ask: What do I need to learn to turn this into a business?
You don’t need to know everything before you begin. You need to recognize what you don’t know, be willing to learn it and keep moving forward.
Why I Started Coaching Other Photographers
Over the years, more and more photographers started asking me questions. How do you price your photography? How do you find clients? How do you structure your collections? How do you sell without feeling pushy? How do you create a premium client experience? How do you photograph dogs? How do you light and edit your portraits? And ultimately, how did you turn photography into your full-time career?
I realized how much I genuinely enjoy helping other photographers figure those things out. I especially love working with someone who has the passion and wants to make photography more than a hobby but isn’t quite sure how to get from where they are today to where they want to be.
That’s why I now offer one-on-one photography coaching and mentoring through Champagne Photography Studio.
Photography Business Coaching Built Around You
I don’t believe there is one formula that every photographer should follow. Your business, your goals and even your definition of success may be completely different from someone else’s. That’s why my photography coaching is personalized around where you are right now and what you want to accomplish.
For some photographers, that means learning how to turn a photography hobby into a business. For others, it means looking at an existing business that isn’t producing the income they want and working on pricing, packages, marketing, sales, client experience, profitability, branding or finding the right niche.
I also work with photographers who want to learn dog photography or introduce pet photography into their existing business. We can work on studio lighting, editing and retouching, posing dogs and their people, session workflow, creative photography or becoming more confident working with dogs in front of the camera.
Sometimes coaching is completely focused on photography. Sometimes it’s completely focused on business. Very often, it’s a combination of both. Before we begin, we have a conversation about where you are, what you’re struggling with and what you want to achieve, and we build from there.
From Hobby Photographer to Full-Time Photographer
If you’re working another job right now while photography is something you do on the side, I know what that feels like. I also know how easy it is to wonder whether you could ever really make a living doing something you love.
You don’t have to quit your job tomorrow. You don’t have to have everything figured out, and you certainly don’t have to become somebody else’s version of a successful photographer. But if your goal is to eventually make photography your business, start building it like one.
Learn your craft, but also learn your numbers. Understand your client. Learn how to market yourself. Create an experience worth paying for. Build systems. Become comfortable talking about money and selling your work. Most importantly, decide what you actually want this business to give you.
Photography started for me as a creative outlet during one of the hardest periods of my career. I had no idea when I first picked up that camera where it would eventually lead. But that little seed grew into Champagne Photography Studio, a full-time career doing something I love and, now, an opportunity to help other photographers build something of their own.
Ready to Build Your Photography Business?
Whether you’re just starting to think about turning your photography hobby into a business, you already have a photography business but want it to become more profitable, or you want to develop your skills as a dog photographer, I’d love to hear where you are and what you’re working toward.
My one-on-one photography coaching is available online, so I can work with photographers anywhere, as well as in person at Champagne Photography Studio in Port Perry, Ontario.
Start with a free consultation call. We’ll talk about where you are in your photography journey, where you’d like to go and what you’d like help with. From there, we can figure out the best way to work together.