How I Started My Photography Business in November 2024 (And Why a Bad Lens Changed Everything)

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I'm going to be honest with you — when I launched my photography business in November 2024, I did not have it all figured out. Not even close. I had a camera, some gear I'd just bought, a freshly built website, and a whole lot of hope. What I didn't have was a clear niche, a client list, or the faintest idea of whether anyone would actually pay me to take their photo.

The First Steps (And the Ones Nobody Tells You About)

When I decided to start, I did the things that felt obvious: I built a website, invested in new gear, and told people I was open for business. Simple enough, right? What nobody tells you is that building the website is the easy part. The hard part is filling it with work you're proud of, writing about yourself without cringing, and putting it out into the world and waiting.

I didn't land my first client through an ad or a perfectly curated Instagram grid. I landed them through word of mouth — the oldest marketing strategy there is. My cousin was having her bridal shower, and she asked me to photograph it. I showed up with what I can only describe as a truly terrible lens and a flash that was not doing me any favours. The photos? Semi-okay at best. But I turned up, I tried, and I delivered.

The Moment That Made Me Think — Wait, Maybe I Can Actually Do This

My second client came through my mum — someone she knew had a daughter graduating, and they needed photos. I still had that same terrible lens. I was still figuring out my settings, my angles, my everything. But something shifted during that shoot. I looked back at the images on my camera screen and thought: huh. These aren't bad. These are actually... good?

That graduating client was the moment I stopped asking 'can I do this?' and started asking 'how do I do this better?' There's a difference between those two questions, and it matters enormously when you're starting out.

What I Offer (And Why It's Still Evolving)

Currently, I offer headshots, portraits, event photography, and commercial work. Do I have a perfectly defined niche? Not yet — and I'm okay with that. I think there's pressure on new photographers to niche down immediately, to brand themselves as 'the headshot photographer' or 'the wedding photographer' before they've even explored what they're most drawn to. I'm still figuring that out, and I think that's actually an honest and healthy place to be.

What I do know is that I care about making people feel comfortable in front of the camera, and about producing images that actually look like the person in them — not a filtered, posed version of them.

What Starting a Business Actually Taught Me

Starting a business teaches you things no course or degree can. It teaches you to back yourself before you feel ready. It teaches you that your first client doesn't need you to be perfect — they need you to show up and care. And it teaches you that the gap between 'terrible lens' and 'professional photographer' is smaller than you think, if you're willing to keep going.

If you're sitting on the edge of starting something, wondering if you're ready — you probably aren't, and that's fine. Start anyway.