David Molnar - Learning to See: A Photographer’s Guide from Zero to Your First Paid Gigs

My dad and me in the hospital on Christmas Eve 2002

My world was turned upside down that day. I found myself at a point in life where everything I thought was going to happen did not. I was not going to college, not on scholarship or for any other reason. I would not wrestle again. I would not become an airline pilot. The life I had envisioned just would not be. The irony of that accident, however, was that it gave me eyes to see another life that was not only possibleit was necessary. I had to get a new vision for the future since the one I had was no longer possible. I would one day start to see it come together, but that was still a long way away.

As I dug my way out of a minor depression, a new path started coming into focusnot as a wrestler or a pilot but as a photographer. Well come back to all that, but for now, all you need to know is that life doesnt always go the way we expectand thats where some of the best stuff can be found.

When you fail, whether in photography or in life, you can always refocus on whats important and take another shot.

Why I Wrote This Book

My journey toward becoming a professional photographer started in struggle. I remember all too well what it was like to hustle through a decade of work, using painful trial-and-error to stumble my way through to eventual success.

My dad gave me his old Nikon 35mm film camera so I could take Photography 101 in high school. After graduation, I begged a nonprofit to let me volunteer as a photographer for their organization. During this time, I began to tackle the basics of how my camera worked. I also started fumbling around with editing.

Next, I worked with my godfather, Billy Diggsa professional surfing photographer and contractorto help him build a website for his construction company. I learned some techniques from him and even made my first twenty-five dollars from a magazine as a surf photographer. Unfortunately, I never made another dime off surfing photography.

For a brief three-month stint the following summer, Biff Jennings gave me a job shooting beach portraits of tourists on medium-format film cameras. It was fun, and I learned about posing and lighting and how every family must wear khakis and white polos on the beach. On one shoot, I managed to insult a ladys weight completely by accident and almost got beaten up by her husband. Needless to say, they didnt order any extra prints. Sorry, Biff! Clearly, beach portraits werent the long-term focus for me.

Then I moved to Nashville and asked other professional photographers to let me assist on their shoots. I ended up cleaning toilets, carrying sandbags, making lots of coffee runs, and setting up far-too-many-to-count lighting rigs. My role in these shoots was something like a cross between a housekeeper and a Sherpa. I would pick up clues here and there but still had to spend years assisting others only to learn a fraction of what I needed to know.

While I was an assistant to other photographers, I began shooting low-budget weddings. To make these shoots, Id often have to drive all night to another stategetting only a few hours of sleep in a crappy hotel roomthen photograph all day before driving home back to my life and work in Nashville. In between gigs, I spent thousands of hours trying to edit my photos. Sometimes, I would delay delivering my work to clients because I was unsure if it looked good or not. Determined to succeed, I spent years struggling to make ends meet.

As I developed my skills as a wedding photographer, I became proficient and slowly started raising my prices, which allowed me to travel more and attract a higher-end clientele. Eventually brides started flying me in to shoot weddings from LA to NYC and many domestic locations in between. My wife was able to quit her job and join me shooting full time as we traveled internationally to exotic destinations like the Alps in Switzerland and the emerald waters of the Greek islands. Our wildest dreams were coming true. Except for one: shooting album covers.