Janie Burden talks about how she set up in business and her advice for anyone wanting to get started in photography.
New photographer Janie Burden talks exclusively to Suite about how she came to form Clear Band and how others like her can turn their hobby in to a career.
Suite101: How did you turn photography from a hobby in to a profession?
It all happened by accident for me to be honest. A couple of my friends were in a band and I was at one of their gigs, just taking photos for myself really. They asked me to take live pics for them, then I was invited to their video shoot to do photos and next thing I know, my photo is on the CD cover for their debut single and I'm suddenly thinking "I want to do this as a career!!". It was basically an overnight thing, one day I'm just doing it all as a hobby, next day I'm doing it as a profession and looking for when the next shoot is happening. It takes a lot of hard work and determination to do it. Like with any dream. If it's something you believe in hard enough though - it can happen.
Suite101:Did you seek help with the business side of things?
I went on a business course run by Business Link, which helps you find out about self employment, what route you need to take, they basically went through everything you need to know about setting up a business, how to keep your books up to date, advertising, etc. You get to meet people who are in the same boat as you and want to go self employed.
Suite101: How did you go about showing people what you could do?
I put together a portfolio, I know sometimes people get others to do it, but I wanted to be in complete control of my work and I wanted to put together the portfolio myself . I asked people what their favourite photos were, took note of peoples expressions if I ever saw them looking at my photos, listened to what feedback people left about my work and took all that into consideration to put together the best portfolio.
Suite101: As someone who is self taught what tips would you give to anyone else starting out, or resources that you've found useful?
I'm completely self-taught and basically I've just learnt from experience, trying different things out. I read a lot of photography books and magazines. You can never read up enough and do a lot of practicing between shoots. One of these is Digital Camera Magazine.
Suite101: Do you think there are enough opportunities to learn photography and get in to the industry?
Personally I do. At first I didn't think there were courses but I've been looking into it, I want to widen my knowledge and get a qualification to prove I can really do this and there are so many courses! Opportunities are at every corner; it's just a case of being in the right place, at the right time and not getting too disheartened when something doesn't go quite right and you miss that big break by a single shot.
Janie is a passionate and determined young lady and her work is a fine testimony to what can be achieved with belief and hard work.
Janie Burden also talks to suite about her achievements and love of photography.
For More information on making money from photography or self employment see:
- Go It Alone- the street wise secrets to self employment by Geoff Burch
- Making money from photography in every conceivable way by Steve Bavister
