What happens when you stop waiting to be ready and simply start doing the work?
In this solo episode of Alien Eyez Photos Industry Talk, photographer and entrepreneur Steve Jackson reflects on his journey from picking up a camera as a young child to developing the professional skills, business knowledge, relationships, and confidence required to turn photography into a business.
Steve talks about returning seriously to photography around 2018, learning the technical side of photography and production, working alongside other photographers, serving as a second shooter and production assistant, and even getting the opportunity to work on the set of Superman while it was filming in Cleveland.
But one of the biggest lessons came from doing the work before getting paid.
Steve describes spending his first roughly 150 events working for free, using those experiences to develop his skills, understand equipment, learn lighting and workflow, build relationships, and discover what professional photography actually required.
Eventually, that experience led to his first paid photography client his brother Eroc Beatz for a $50 photo session.
From there, the work compounded.You don't become good at your craft by waiting until you're ready. You become good by practicing, doing the work, getting around people ahead of you, testing yourself, and eventually learning how to charge for the value you've developed.
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