Helping out & sharing each other's work & photography ideas

I've been doing photography for about 2 years now as a self taught hobbies & have learnt most of what I know from others - youtubers & the Internet & im still learning everyday , but I don't feel as if I'm not pushing myself as hard as I could , I want too give something back , I don't have a big following on the likes of the Internet but I'd like too , I know some photographers have a big following & get over 20 + weddings a year , it's early days but I'd like to aim for this in the next coming years , I'm slowly building up a portfolio.

I have setup a Twitter & Instagram accounts - to share my work & it's starting to get followers really slowly - I'm thinking the next step is too try my luck at a YouTube channel , sharing my ideas & doing 2 video blogs a week & engaging with people and sharing my passion with photography & helping others in the process , I live in the south west of England so the photo opportunities are endless , What do you guys think ? Keep updating the portfolio , advertise on Facebook & most off all just post my best work ? Cheers Guys .

if you want weddings, go and buy a plot in a few wedding fairs, take your portfolio and sell yourself.

What is it that you actually want to achieve? Get a bigger internet following or make money from your work?

Not sure what you mean by "give something back"?

Also, do you have examples of your work we can look at?

Do you have an original idea for a TY channel, it's pretty much a full time job to make contents for it weekly if you want a big following.

If you're just starting out and want to do photography as anything other than a hobby then don't give anything back until you've got a lot more experience. Anything you know which isn't already out there is extremely valuable to you and will help set you apart from the competition. You need this. Paid photography work is an absolutely brutal, cut-throat market.

By all means share you work and build a following but don't feel that you need to "give back" by offering your best knowledge out.

Not wanting to sound harsh or judgemental, but do you honestly have that much to give back if you're self taught with only 2 years experience?

If you want to make money as a wedding photographer I doubt a youtube chanel would help that much. It's already heavily saturated (you say yourself that's where you learnt from) and like Raymond says, you'd need an original idea to attract followers, otherwise you're just duplicating what's already out there.

Best bet is to see if you can tag along with a wedding photographer locally and gain experience by helping them if they'll allow it or just observing.

If it's for you and you think you're up to it, advertising on FB would be a good bet.

What I mean is with YouTube you have to go on it not just for yourself , you need to give others a reason to follow you , entertain them , make them laugh & give them inspiration so it would make sense to do my video blogs mainly about photography as that's what I have a passion for , from looking at other inspiring photographers a lot of them now team up with the wedding magazines so this is a great way to advertise your photography , so it would make complete sense to do something like this for : example : I would start with 2 blogs a week - blog video 1 - drive to the coast one morning , talk to my audience , arrive at the location , inspire & explain what kinda photos you want to get , show them in detail what you are doing , be creative , head home & explain in detail how you edit your images in photo shop / Lightroom ... And all the time keep everyone entertained , it will start of very slow but within a year I'd like to hope people enjoy what I do & follow me , who knows where it could take me , I'm still learning myself so a lot will be trial & error but we will all be learning together.

Raymond Lin said:

Do you have an original idea for a TY channel, it's pretty much a full time job to make contents for it weekly if you want a big following.

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My aim is to start of with just 2 blogs a week - photography locations in my area Somerset / Dorset , go from there and the main goal is to then go to loads of amazing locations all over the uk , learning as I go a long & sharing the adventure with others & inspiring people who enjoy photography.

Steve M said:

Not wanting to sound harsh or judgemental, but do you honestly have that much to give back if you're self taught with only 2 years experience?

If you want to make money as a wedding photographer I doubt a youtube chanel would help that much. It's already heavily saturated (you say yourself that's where you learnt from) and like Raymond says, you'd need an original idea to attract followers, otherwise you're just duplicating what's already out there.

Best bet is to see if you can tag along with a wedding photographer locally and gain experience by helping them if they'll allow it or just observing.

If it's for you and you think you're up to it, advertising on FB would be a good bet.

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I've done a lot of FB advertising but only friends of friends , would it be worth advertising in my area and paying fb ? The completion is tough in my area so I need to stand out from the crowd...


Advertise on fb & also how do I go about coming out on top on google search engine in my area ? Again I think that would help loads , I'm going to start doing blogs for my portfolio as I believe this will help.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q

always enjoy watching this guys videos, is this the kind of thing you mean?

jasonsony735 said:

I've done a lot of FB advertising but only friends of friends , would it be worth advertising in my area and paying fb ? The completion is tough in my area so I need to stand out from the crowd...

Advertise on fb & also how do I go about coming out on top on google search engine in my area ? Again I think that would help loads , I'm going to start doing blogs for my portfolio as I believe this will help.

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Getting a decent audience for a Facebook advert can be very expensive and a first page Google result for a photography business takes a LOT of SEO knowledge and even more effort.

Starting out with a photography business, especially when you acknowledge that there's a lot of competition in your area, is hard and takes a lot of time. The business admin side of it takes up more time than the actual photo taking.

I'm not trying to discourage you if it's something you genuinely enjoy and want to do but you need to be aware that getting work as a photographer is a completely different beast to doing it for a hobby.

Cyanide said:

a first page Google result for a photography business takes a LOT of SEO knowledge and even more effort.

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Not in my case. I created myself a site and got first page google in a matter of months. In fact, I believe i'm number 1 on google when searching for either my name (Steve Millward) or my name along with 'photography'. Also first page on Bing and Yahoo search.

The only effort was creating the site in the first place.

Steve M said:

Not in my case. I created myself a site and got first page in google matter of months. Also first page on Bing and Yahoo search. The only effort was creating the site.

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"Derby Photographer"
"Derby Landscape Photographer"
"Derby Nature Photographer"

Not on the front page?

Nice site and great work though

[edit] ninja edit there... For most people "on the first page of Google" would mean searching for their trade in their area, not their name. If someone's searching for your name then chances are they know who you are anyway!

Cyanide said:

"Derby Photographer"
"Derby Landscape Photographer"
"Derby Nature Photographer"

Not on the front page?

Nice site and great work though

[edit] ninja edit there... For most people "on the first page of Google" would mean searching for their trade in their area, not their name. If someone's searching for your name then chances are they know who you are anyway!

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True.

I meant when searching for either my name (Steve Millward) or my name along with 'photography'. My point is, that took little effort.

Steve M said:

True.

I meant when searching for either my name (Steve Millward) or my name along with 'photography'. My point is, that took little effort.

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That won't do, chances are there aren't that many people out there advertising the same thing with your name so even a small amount of SEO will get you up there.

Getting potential clients to see your business by searching your trade and location (which is what most people do on Google) is a completely different ballgame and usually takes an incredible amount of work - especially in a field such as photography.

Fair enough. Should have called it 'derbystevemillward.com'

Steve M said:

Not wanting to sound harsh or judgemental, but do you honestly have that much to give back if you're self taught with only 2 years experience?

If you want to make money as a wedding photographer I doubt a youtube chanel would help that much. It's already heavily saturated (you say yourself that's where you learnt from) and like Raymond says, you'd need an original idea to attract followers, otherwise you're just duplicating what's already out there.

Best bet is to see if you can tag along with a wedding photographer locally and gain experience by helping them if they'll allow it or just observing.

If it's for you and you think you're up to it, advertising on FB would be a good bet.

Click to expand...

This times 10.


I'm extremely doubtful that you have anything to give back. I've been in to photography for over 20 years now but had a camera for probably 25 years. I've been seriously in to my photography for the last 12 years, read countless books, browsed endless websites, watched loads of video tutorial, taken hundred of thousands of photos, gone on numerous photo-centric holidays, shot weddings, professional events, children birthday parties, dedicated hundred of hours to selling stock photos. I spent years trying to improve various aspect of my photography. I had one relationship end because I took photography so seriously at one point. I always analyze TV shows and movies for the camera work, analyzing compositions, exposure, lighting. I also spend hours walking around art galleries staring at paintings to understand composition and get inspired by the greatest artist to wlak the planet.

I don' think there is anything I can "give back" that isn't already out there, and if by some miracle I had some unique personal knowledge I'm not going to make a youtube video out of it!


As other have pointed out, you need to figure out exactly what it is you want to do, your post is not coherent in the slightest OP.Do you want a web presence and large blog/youtube following? If so why?. Do you want to become a wedding tog, then start second shooting weddings and forget a blog an corny youtube videos.

Bones said:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q

always enjoy watching this guys videos, is this the kind of thing you mean?

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Pretty much yes but in my own style and way

D.P. said:

This times 10.


I'm extremely doubtful that you have anything to give back. I've been in to photography for over 20 years now but had a camera for probably 25 years. I've been seriously in to my photography for the last 12 years, read countless books, browsed endless websites, watched loads of video tutorial, taken hundred of thousands of photos, gone on numerous photo-centric holidays, shot weddings, professional events, children birthday parties, dedicated hundred of hours to selling stock photos. I spent years trying to improve various aspect of my photography. I had one relationship end because I took photography so seriously at one point. I always analyze TV shows and movies for the camera work, analyzing compositions, exposure, lighting. I also spend hours walking around art galleries staring at paintings to understand composition and get inspired by the greatest artist to wlak the planet.

I don' think there is anything I can "give back" that isn't already out there, and if by some miracle I had some unique personal knowledge I'm not going to make a youtube video out of it!


As other have pointed out, you need to figure out exactly what it is you want to do, your post is not coherent in the slightest OP.Do you want a web presence and large blog/youtube following? If so why?. Do you want to become a wedding tog, then start second shooting weddings and forget a blog an corny youtube videos.

Click to expand...

YouTube brings a whole new Audience if you do it right , When I say give back I mean as in show of my work and creative ideas and share it with others , we can all learn from each other , the obove is nothing new you are looking at what is all ready out there , you need new creative ideas and I think I have a few

Raymond Lin said:

Do you have an original idea for a TY channel, it's pretty much a full time job to make contents for it weekly if you want a big following.

Click to expand...

I have been watching a few youtubers over the past 6 years or so now and have watched them grow from say 25k followers to most of them now with over Half a million , and they now live of the money and do creative fun vids everyday , so its possible , and most of them just Vlog there lifes , My best bet is just to get on with it and give it a shot , its Free after all , just need to dedicate 2 nights a week too it.