Tips for Photographers in Pandemic Time

Tips for photographers may come in many forms. During this pandemic time, I will not give you any photography tips. Photography in pandemic time is no easy task. In 2020 we are battered and bruised by COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus.

We all know that COVID-19 has flipped the world upside down. Almost everyone got affected by this deadly virus. From big IT companies to small image editing companies, no one got to escape from the bad effect that pandemics brought.

One such profession is photography. Because they have to run from here to there to shoot different events, weddings, seminars, etc. If you are a photographer you are also one of the victims.

However, you can continue doing your photography business if you follow the tips I have come up with. In this article, I will discuss some key ideas that will uplift your confidence to continue your photography business at this time of the pandemic.

10 Tips for photographers:

Stay Positive

Stay positive - Tips for photographers
Tips for Photographer

Yes, that’s what I would say at first. You should stay positive about everything in this hard time. No matter how slow your business grows, just stay positive. If you are a freelance photographer, this is true that you are going to face a harder time in the coming days. But this is not the end of the world.

If you mainly shoot weddings and events, you might have already started feeling the financial crisis. Most organizers are cancelling their programs, seminars, meetings, and so on. So, the photographer who specializes in this field of photography is doing nothing now.

If you are one of those, then use this free time and develop new skills related to photography. You can learn simple image editing like background removing service, image masking, image manipulation, color correction service, and clipping path. You can practice these skills using your old photos. Don’t worry this will benefit you once the pandemic comes to an end.

Keep Your Scheduled Work for Next Season

Work plan - Tips for photographers
Tips for Photographer

As you are in professional photography you must have had work scheduled to shoot. Check the contracts you did with your clients. Check your emails and keep the scheduled contracts for next season.

Read all the contracts carefully. You will find some ways to keep your customers. In the contract paper, there should be an alternative way to

E-mail each of your clients accepting the cancellation issues and try to convince them to postpone the event. By this, you can keep some of the work in your control. Yes, not every client will agree with you but you have to contact all of your clients.

Pay Your Taxes If You Didn’t

Tax calculation - Tips for photographers
Tips for Photographer

If you haven’t paid your taxes yet, this is the right time to calculate all your earnings. Though the governments around the world have decided to extend the time for tax payments, you can utilize this time to pay your taxes. Otherwise, this will become a burden when the pandemic will over. So, do it now as you are free.

Save Extra Funds and Lower Your Expenses

Save money - Tips for photographers
Tips for Photographer

In this crisis moment, you should save your money. You cannot just randomly buy new stuff. Transfer some money to your savings corner so that you can cover your basic need. Though you lost your job, you have to continue living. You have to spend on regular expenses. Rent, utilities, and basic living costs are so high nowadays.

Moreover, you have to reduce your expenses. Make a list of expenses and eliminate the less important items you want to buy. Therefore, you can save that money for something important. Do not go for any lavish material that will take half of your monthly expenses.

Organize Your Website (Tips for photographers)

Website organizing - Tips for photographers
Tips for Photographer

Before this pandemic, you must have clicked so many photos. You have been uploading images on your websites for a long time. Now your website is jam-packed with thousands of photos. As you were busy taking photos and updating your websites you could take care of your web presence.

However, now you are free and you can make a redevelopment on your website. Reorganize all the pages, and delete unnecessary photos. Your website will become a little lighter than before. You can find the broken links on your website and correct them.

Moreover, now you have time to handle your website. So, rearrange it as you want. I hope after this pandemic time, you will reap the best result.

Start Building Network

Yes, I know this pandemic has left no one unharmed. So what? You can still do your marketing and start building your network. If you start contacting your existing clients for no reason and ask how they are doing, it will create a positive impression. They will think that you have considered them more than a client, you care for them.

Moreover, you can search for new clients as well. Sending emails to new clients will allow you to expand your network. If you do this, you can have a good number of potential clients.

Teach Yourself Some New Skills

As a photographer, your main skill is to shoot photos with perfection. But other than this, you have to acquire some photography related skills. One of those is image editing. Well, you might say that you can certainly take image editing services from other individuals or from companies. But let me remind you. We are in a pandemic period. All of the events you were preparing to shoot are shut down now. So, you can learn editing skills. You can start with comparative simple editing tasks like background removal, image masking, clipping path, etc.

Moreover, you can try some new techniques while living in quarantine. If you have no idea about handling the camera, and maintaining accessories you can have firm knowledge about these things. Besides these, learn to handle photography-related software. If you do not update yourself with the time, you will be discarded shortly.

Participate in Contests

Thousands of contests are going on around the world. Organizations like Lucie, Getty, WordPress and Magnum organize many contests. You can take preparation in this free time to participate in these contests. Use this time to make yourself fully prepared for competitions like this.

Just select some of your best works and submit those to the organizer’s mail and wait for feedback. I hope they will give you a positive return. Well, it’s far better than passing a lazy time.

Reorganize Your Gears

Gears
Tips for Photographer

Many photographers suffer from the gear-acquisition syndrome. Photographers suffering from this syndrome buy every new camera gear they see. If you are one of those you must have bought so many gears unnecessarily or in need. But now you cannot do this. You have to downsize your gear list.

However, I would recommend you make a list of the gears you have. And then find out the most unnecessary gears you bought. Sell them at a cheaper rate. You can earn a handsome amount of money by selling your gear. Similarly, your buyers will get camera gears they were craving to buy for a long time. Most importantly, they are getting these at a cheap rate.

Read Books (Tips for photographers)

Books
Tips for Photographer

I will not bound you within a specific genre of books. You can read anything you like. But I would suggest you read books from different genres. Keep some photography books. Books about photography might include wildlife photography, photojournalism, image editing, etc. You can also read fiction and nonfiction.

After passing a hectic schedule of shooting you can get yourself refreshed by reading some books.

Do’s and Don’ts for Photographer

Tips for photographers cannot be completed without discussing some do’s and don’ts for the photographer. You need to roughly know what you can do and what not. Now it’s time to share some dos and don’ts for you. Go through these quickly and follow them strictly.

Do’s

  • Maintain social distancing.
  • Check your finances.
  • Wash your hands regularly.
  • Clean your gears.
  • Maintain a hygienic lifestyle.
  • Wear masks when you go out.

Don’ts

  • Do not travel to public places.
  • Never share your camera gear.
  • Do not disregard your customers.
  • Try not to get overloaded with works.

Final Touch on Tips for Photographers

We are at a time when you cannot ignore the damage coronavirus is causing. From big wigs to penniless people, everyone has been affected by this pandemic. So have the photographers. However, every bad news comes with good news. You can utilize this time to improve your photography and image editing skill level, and read books. I hope, this time will come to an end. We will start work in full swing very soon.