Child Photography – What You Should Know Before You Start a Business

Unlike most business start-ups, you don’t need a lot of money to start a child photography business. You can work from your home and do some or all of your photo sessions outdoors or in the client’s home.

I have done various types of photography for the past thirty years, including having a downtown studio doing family and child photography. I’m suggesting that you don’t open a studio, I believe that working from your home is the best way to go. You will save a lot of money and a lot of stress.

An associate of mine is operating a child and maternity photography business from her home and she doesn’t have a studio or lights of any kind, only window light. Word of mouth is bringing her more and more business as a result of her engaging personality and photographic skills.

Word of mouth is great, but it’s a slow method of building a business. You really need to use other means along with it to speed things up. Use various methods for promotion, and any time you can get free publicity, go for it.

Usually you can do photo shoots in your home using available light if you have some fairly large windows, as this produces a very soft, even light. For the background you could purchase two stands with a connecting bar to drape a bed sheet, black fabric, or any color you choose. If the fabric is wrinkled, not to worry. Just remove the wrinkles with Photoshop: it’s fast and easy.

So, what do you need to start a child photography business and what do you not need? You’ll need a camera of course, but what kind? You could use a “point and shoot” camera and achieve pretty good results, but it will limit your creativity. You will be much better off with a digital SLR so you can blur the background, zoom in and out, shoot in low light situations, and much more.

If you don’t own a digital single lens reflex you are probably wondering what kind to buy. I wouldn’t spend much time mulling this over if I were you; it’s largely personal preference. Don’t forget that all the manufacturers are competing against each other and my belief is they’re all very good.

The other things you’ll need to start a child photography business is a computer with image manipulation software such as Photoshop. That’s about it. You don’t need a lot of capital and you don’t need to get a loan from anyone. You don’t need a studio either, just a bit of space to hang your back- drop if you want to do some sessions in your home.

And don’t forget that you can also do maternity and pet photography with the set-ups I’ve described above, plus other types of photography if you’re so inclined.

Oh, and a few other things you’ll need: a passion for photography, a passion to make great photos of kids, and loads of patience.