Bleeblu - Retrato: A Guide to Portrait Photography, Gaining Followers and Making Money

One time I found this old home movie my grandma made of their visit to the Grand Canyon back in the 50s. She's filming the scenery and a couple times you can barely see my dad and uncles run by. We're watching this in the mid '00s - 50 years later, near the end of her life. She goes Why didn't I point the camera at them? I don't care about the Grand Canyon.

ciscomd, Redditor

T here was a point in history when photos used to mean a lot more than a few likes. It was when photography was treated as a rare art more than an acquired skill and the photographers devoted many years to master the craft. It was a time when every picture meant much more than an upload to social media. Every photo told a story and every photographer was a story teller.

Lets travel back in time to the early 1900s. I couldnt tell you what was going on exactly because I wasnt alive during that time. My father wasnt either but I imagine photography and daily life wasnt as taken-for-granted as it is today.

Lets consider 35mm film. To be a photographer you had to buy a 35mm camera because you wouldnt have known what cell phones were at this time. You also had to buy film for your camera because the idea of digital was exactly thatjust an idea. So with your camera, your lens and your roll of film you were only permitted to take 24 exposures. Yes, just 24. 24 may not seem like much and thats because it isnt. There was little room for mistakes. Dozens of things can go wrong but were only halfway through with the scenario.

Once youre finished shooting the entire roll, you had to develop it yourselfin your own darkroom, using your own equipment and chemicals. Remember, 1-hour photo services werent around yet either! Many things could go wrong in the darkroom, as well. The equipment, chemicals and photo paper were also expensive. I know this absolutely because I took a darkroom class, 100 years into the future, and it shrunk my wallet.

But lets say you had the money and the expertise to develop your own prints, sota-da!you now have actual, printed copies of your pictures. Now how do you share your pictures without the internet? By literally walking around town, pictures in hand, to show them off to those you could bother. This method, though effective, isnt efficient. Can you imagine how long it would take you to gain a large audience?

How awful would it be to live during those times as a photographer after having lived now! Now fast forward to today.

To be a photographer in the present, you still need a camera but one is already conveniently placed in your cell phone. You dont need to worry about only 24 exposures, darkrooms or chemicals. All you need to do is to tap your screen and, within seconds, you see your image. You can then text or email it to your friends who live in any part of the world. You can also upload it publicly to the internet and expose it to millions of people. I, too, know this with full certainty because one of my photos was viewed by over two million people in a single day!

This is life as we know it: simple, convenient, quick. Can we take a moment to process just how far weve come?

Since everyone has a cell phone these days, everyone can be a photographer. You have to stand out as an artist to receive a bit of noticeability. Taking one or two good photos and leaving it at that isnt enough. Among other things, you have to find your niche, brand yourself and know how to market your work. You will need to increase your value and give people a reason to become your customer. The world is saturated with photographers and you need to outshine all of them in both skill in photography and skill in marketing your work.