Establishing Yourself as a Photographer?

I have recently come to realize that I have a lot of potential in Nature, and outdoor photography. I am looking for guidance on how to make a portfolio, and put myself out there. I am looking to get into a little bit of freelance stuff. Any Input and Sites would be great!

What I am looking for:
1: How to develop a Portfolio of my work (what it acceptable)
2:Sites that guide me on this Endeavor.
3:Sites that take any and all submissions
4: Any other helpful information that is out there!

Thanks Everyone!

1, Portfolio 10 - 12 images directed at each target audience you can have 2 0r 20 portfolios they don't all have to be mounted some could be on CD to send to publishers ect all images sent out must be the best _ cleaned, edited and your best work
once you have mastered photography the key to your success will be if you can market your self. don't focus on just the glamorous side of the work. you will have to
work hard at it all
good web site - site for help see below
great books
Freelance Photographer's Market Handbook, Bureau of Freelance Photographers
Your complete guide to where (and how) to sell your pictures (and articles) for cash.

"Sucessful Self-Promotions for Photographers" Elyse Weissberg,

Beyond the Lens, Association of Photographers
Rights, ethics and business practice in professional photography.



Good luck

You can develop a portfoio just by taking a ton of pictures. There really are no guidelines as to what should be in your portfolio, but you can decide what goes into your portfolio by what your audience is and stuff like that.

I don't know any sites that might guide you on this. Sorry!

Photobucket.com, deviantart.com, though deviant art might not take photography. I don't use it enough to know.

And you might want to make your own website. You can do that through freewebs, drupal, and a ton of other sites. Though freewebs is free, I don't like it very much.

You have found a photographic field that is quite expensive to support (long lenses will kill your budget)

Look at these links for more information from one of the leading photographers in the nature and wildlife field

http://geolepp.com/
http://www.leppphoto.com/

My ex-wife introduced me to George when we were attending Brooks many, many years ago. He was shooting nature like a wild-man back then and hasn't looked back

Since you will be buying lenses that will cost more than many small cars, you may find some good used ones (Nikon and Canon). At a minimum, you will what a 400mm f/2.8 and as you get further into your craft, the 600mm f/4 will eventually find its way into your equipment trunk. You can save some money buy purchasing a good used Nikon F4 or F5 or a Canon EOS Elan 7NE to mount on the end of those lenses.

As you travel and build a volume of colour transparencies or digital files, you will find some "knock-your-socks-off" images you will want to have some 11x14 Ilfochrome, (formerly known as Cibachrome) made. Usually ten or twelve is a good start and as you continue shooting and perfect your skills, you will replace some of the older ones

After figural studies landscape is my favorite.

If you truly want to be competitive in landscape photography you should really consider a 6x7 or 6x9 camera or even a view camera. Landscapes lend themselves to huge prints with gorgeous detail.

You have not seen a landscape until it has been printed 16x20" on Ilfochrome from a 4x5" transparency.

Sure, practice light and composition with 35mm or digital but when you are ready to do the real deal make sure you have film, medium or large format camera, and are ready to trek!


Have fun!