Amateur Photographers

I am a pro photographer and I was once where you are now. I say go for it! Until you have a great portfolio and an excellent case of equipment, though, don't charge a sitting fee. Or if you do, make it nominal. I learned that once I regularly started getting clients I had expenses, like babysitting. Make sure you price your prints in such a way that those expenses are being met.

Go down to city hall and file for a DBA and sales tax number. You MUST have a good contract. Get a lawyer who specializes in retail contracts to draw yours up. It has taken me years to finally understand what needs to go in it, but the bare bones are a good place to start.

Now, do understand that when you are making professional images and charging for them, your equipment really does need to be top of the line. If you have an image that the client wants to zoom in on and then blow up for a large wall print are you going to be able to do that? It's embarrassing to say, "Sorry, we can't do that. My equipment doesn't make images that clean." If you're charging, you have to be investing. Last yaer I spent $35,000 on my business. I've been doing this for some years now, so that's not even my initial investment. That's ongoing costs of advertising, 6 mos. of studio space (cheap space at that) and a couple of bridal show along with sample images, insurance, professional fees, new equipment, just basic stuff that I have to do to keep going.

It's a struggle to hawk for clients. I'm an award winning photograher, high end, sought after, but I still call lead lists in order to stay afloat.

There is a business side to photography that I think most people miss. I see people start and fold all the time because they don't understand pricing, marketing and customer service. Study these things with the same intensity you study your craft and you have a shot.

I wish you all the best. You'll never know what could have been if you don't give it a shot!

I would make a book of 10-20 pieces of your kids, and ask if you can shoot some friend's kids for your book/website etc. if you want more than just your kids. Once you have that body of work you should market yourself as a professional. It can be in a fun light way, but don't offer things for free etc because you'll be frustrated when people don't bite because they think it's not "real". You don't have to charge a lot, but don't say, "I'm not experienced so you might not have to pay..." or anything. IF people are taking notice of your shots, you have no reason not to do it!
Start to research what other photographers doing what you want to do are charging and doing. By all means, shoot people for free for practice, but once you're comfortable, have clear guidelins for services and charges. You should and CAN do it! I just googled this, subscribing to a magazine will really help. Read it before bed. I do that with art mags when I can't get into the studio to paint:

Children's Photography Today™ is a magazine dedicated to professionals and amateurs whose primary subjects are children. Brought to you by the International Guild of Children’s Photographers (www.igocpinc.com), this magazine is a way to bring a fresh, new perspective to photography.

Our mission at Children's Photography Today™ is to help professionals with the creative, technical, and general business aspects of our industry. For amateurs, our goal is to help improve your skills, inspire, and share what the leading professionals are doing. The rewards for both professionals and amateurs will result in better all-around skills and will put a fresh face on children's photography.

Go for it...don't 'try'...decide...to DO IT! Some great advice already I see.
I see you're from Pittsburgh. I would suggest contacting a couple of local women photographers and ask them if they'd be willing to talk with you about how they got set up in Pa. I know of one in the Baldwin area who is really cool...and I'm guessing she'd be open to helping you!
Email me at ____@____.com if you would like her contact info!
Dream it..Do it! You can!! Good luck!
Jen

Definitely need a business license and tax ID number...however, what I did to get into photography was taking a few continuing education classes online that taught me about aperture, ISO, and shutter speed instead of just the point and shoot method I was used to. They were cheap and didn't count for college credit...just enrichment. ( http://www.ed2go.com ) You really need to know what all the settings mean on your camera and be able to choose settings based on knowledge and not only on trial and error, although trial and error isn't all bad. I searched for samples of other photographer's work to see if I felt like my own compared to theirs...even though yours is meant to be unique, I was going for clarity, resolution, etc. Good Luck!

I haven't done it personally, but a few of my friends are photographers. They charge about 100 dollars for an hour of time and all of the images on a CD/disk. That way you are charging up front for your talent (and time)... you don't have to deal with prints.

Later on, when you get more clients (word of mouth, etc.. a nice website) you can up your fee..

If you don't want to start your own website yet, a lot of people use smugmug.com. It's a good way to set up client photo albums that are password protected, etc...

Thanks for asking about this! I am in the same situation. I LOVE photography always have. And have been told I've got a good eye. My problem is I prefer candid or nature shots.

I am a professional photographer and here is my advice. Find some photography forums (like Mpix) and put some of your portraits on there. Get their advice. They will let you know if your work is good enough to "go for it" or not. It's also good because you can learn what you need to do to make your images better....lighting, composition, positioning multiple people, etc. I truly don't believe you need to have schooling to be a great photog, you need to have an eye for it and lots, and lots of practice and advice. Also, there are tons of books at the library that you can learn from. Good luck.