Have you ever wondered when and if your big break in photography will ever come?
I know I did.
Most photographers are waiting for their big break hoping that the algorithm will finally provide that opportunity that gets your foot in the door.
Yet, at some point I realised this was a fallacy and knew I had to look in other places.
For me getting my big break was about showing genuine interest in other people (still related to my overall field of adventure photography) and being dedicated to continually learning and growing my craft.
Opportunities beyond the algorithm
Don’t get me wrong opportunities do and can come through social media, but with the field saturated in every style of photography from weddings to action sports how do you start getting paid work?
Especially if you’re at the bottom of the food chain in terms of followers (although keep in mind that having a high amount of followers doesn’t guarantee paid work).
I thought of myself as having the the quality of imagery that was good enough to attract attention that would eventuate in paid work. Yet years started to go by and I was becoming dejected. I had friends with big accounts that shared my work and still the algorithm didn’t provide.
Social media and instagram are great vehicles to share your work especially if you are consistently posting stories and engaging content, yet if you are like me with a low social following, scaling the foothills through Meta Mountain can sometimes feel like a fruitless pursuit.
If that’s you with a low social following yet with the quality of work to match some of your favourite photographers, there comes a point where you must look outside the box of social media and realise that there are other tracks to your first big break.
Think Chris Burkard selling CD’s to surfers on the beach.
Emmett Sparling backpacking through Mexico and Indonesia to build his adventure travel portfolio.
Elliot Grafton making a passion piece in 2016 called ‘Moments’, highlighting the landscape and adventure of South Australia.
These are guys that are now top of the game, that all took alternative routes to land where they are now. The common thread they all have? Building relationships and following their own curiosity and passion.
As photographers and film-makers we are often telling stories about someone else or something else, not our own story. Although our own story will inevitably shine through over time.
Social media is flooded with an abundance of aesthetic imagery and its hard to stand out against all the noise, so what can we do to be in that position where we can tell those stories?
It requires us to be doing something different.
It requires us to build relationships.
It requires us to take an interest in other people (after all we are telling that person or things story).
It requires us to be continually improving and learning new skills.
And to do these things it may mean we have to say no to other things.
Instead of partying on a Saturday night you might wake up early on the Sunday to grab a coffee with a fellow creative.
It’s up to you.
My big break
My big break came at the end of last year when I got a job working for We Are Explorers x Bass Coast Shire. The job was to produce some reels and written articles based around the surfing competitions being held there in the month of October, The Rip Curl GromSearch and The Australian SUP Titles. For reference one of the of the pieces can be found here.
From the outside it seemed like fortuitous timing and indeed it’s all about timing, but the things I was doing prior to my first big job lined up in a way that was meant to be.
I had written an article for We Are Explorers after bike-packing with my sister and her boyfriend (what I mean by taking an interest in other people, as bike-packing definitely wasn’t my thing), where I then got added to a Facebook group where they posted jobs with open applications.
6 months after getting added to the group, the job was posted that required someone to shoot the surfing events down in Victoria (additional content was also required). The payout was a handsome $7500 and I said to one of my best mates, ‘can you believe you can get paid that much for that job?!’.
A month before I was travelling Indonesia capturing surf images across the islands mainly for fun but also selling some images to surfers, which paled in comparison to the fee offered in the job description.
The job sounded perfect for me, but the fee sounded absurd, so I thought ‘as if I’d get the job’..
I had plans to be elsewhere but applied for the job anyway and before I knew it I was making alternative arrangements to stay in Victoria.
Even better the job was in Phillip Island where I already had connections after spending the previous summer living and working down there.
When an opportunity like this comes it seems like it happened overnight, but the years of persistence and dedication to learning the craft of photography, among other skills such as writing is not too be overlooked.
Rip Curl GromSearch & Australian SUP Titles
Of course being visible online is still really important in this day and age.
But I found that when I looked outside of social media is when I actually found some success.
For me it’s the blend of online visibility, skill development and relationship building that will get you further than most.
As Chris Burkard said on the Adorama Photographer’s Roundtable, ‘you invest in so many little things that accumulate into bigger things’.
To me the little things are the things that you show up and do consistently over time.
For me that now looks like becoming a better storyteller and a better marketer.
For you that may mean something else such as becoming a better editor or having better composition in your photos.
Grab your pen and paper
Before that job that you’ve been waiting for comes your way it may help to sit down, grab a pen and paper and answer the following.
– What are your unique interests that you’re exploring through photography? – Start with your interests first, money will come later
– What other opportunities beyond social media are out there for you in your field?
– In what areas can you improve your visibility – both online and in-person?
Answering these questions will provide you with a good framework to direct your time and energy into work that you wish to pursue.
Photography and creative work is a journey that never ends and is constantly evolving due to the rapid rate of technological change through tools such as AI, hence the opportunities that exist are always changing.
Although I believe that AI isn’t going to replace creativity but rather enhance human storytelling and authenticity. As long as you follow your interests and curiosity, this will rise above AI slop every day of the week.
Hopefully you’ve received some value from this post. My aim with this style of post is to provide you and other photographers alike with tools and takeaways from my own photography journey that I think can help you along yours.
There’s always someone on a different rung of the ladder than you and who knows maybe your experience could help someone else on the rung below you?
To me your big break isn’t necessarily a moment, it’s more like a series of choices over time that builds momentum and boils down to a moment in the form of your first big job.
To build momentum, focus on your interests, be persistent, take genuine interest in other people and make sure you share your work even if you’re slightly afraid of getting judged.
As I have shown your big break doesn’t have to be a compromise between choosing what interests you and making money, the proof is in the pudding, money will come later.
The barrier to your big break is lower than you think and I probably took way longer than I should have to ‘get there’ but it doesn’t have to be that way for you.
A couple of things that I think can help you get there sooner than I did are:
Learn how to direct your attention – I find mindfulness meditation really useful for this
Leverage the connections you already have – you most likely already know someone with a small business that needs photography
Lean on the skills and gear you already have – if you need to learn something watch a Youtube tutorial
Sunset during the Rip Curl GromSearch competition Oct, 2024
The time is now to create and go after what you want out of your photography.
You’ll have your unique challenges and skills that you will wish to acquire along the way, but as long as you continually practice those opportunities will eventually show up.
Keep in mind your social media status isn’t the be all and end all, although it does have its advantages.
If it helps treat your creative work as a journal entry, it’s only a moment in time that represented a part of you in that moment, don’t take it so seriously, have fun with it.
Keep creating and watch yourself grow over time.
Thanks for reading.
– Moey.
