Online Photography Forums to Launch Your Photography Career

Have you always been a shutterbug, but never thought you had what it takes to launch a career as a photographer? We sat down with freelance photographer, Anne Dillon, recently to learn more about her thriving business and to find out what it takes to be a success in this competitive field.

Anne had a ton of great advice and insight for photography job seekers, which we will be featuring in our weekly newsletter this coming Tuesday. (If you aren’t already registered for our free newsletter, now is a great time to sign up! It’s chock-full of exciting career profiles, interesting interviews and helpful tidbits on every imaginable cool job.) But today, I wanted to focus on one especially helpful bit of advice that Anne offered to newbie and wannabe photographers: Get involved in online forums.

In fact, Anne told me that online forums are “far and away the best resources for someone either thinking about starting a photography business or just starting (or just wanting to learn more about photography).”

“There are quite a few of them out there,” Anne explained. “They are broken down into areas where you can go to learn about lighting, processing, business, marketing, maternity, weddings, portraits, etc. You can also upload your images for feedback from others.” Some of Anne’s top recommendations include:

• www.clickinmoms.com – a community of women with a passion for photography

• www.prophotogs.com – has over 1 million posts covering everything from marketing and techniques to actions, templates  and more.

• www.ilovephotography.com – covering everything from business and client relations to techniques and tutorials

While Anne didn’t mention this, I also wanted to throw out there that I love Darren Rose’s tutorial-rich blog, Digital Photography School.

Have you joined an online forum to learn more about your freelance field of interest? Whether its photography, freelance writing, or mystery shopping, almost everyone looking for a work -from-home job can benefit from online networking. What forums have been most helpful to you in your career development? Spam us with your links in our comments section. We’d love to hear from you!