Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for
posted
Greg Samborski stumbled into his passion for photography during his downtime while he was teaching English in South Korea. Now that he's transitioned to being a full-time corporate and portrait photographer, he's constantly looking for ways to grow his business and he hopes to relocate back to his native Canada.
We chatted with Greg recently to learn more about how he made the leap from hobbyist to professional and what he's learned so far about getting new customers and expanding his business.
Company: Greg Samborski Photography
Started: February 2015
How did you create your awesome job?
If you'd asked me what I wanted to do for the first 29 years of my life, I would never have said photographer! I wasn't the kid who found his dad's old film camera and turned the bathroom into a darkroom.
I studied criminal justice at University of the Fraser Valley. Months prior to graduation, I still couldn’t decide on a career. A friend from my criminal justice program offered me a job in South Korea where she was teaching English. Without any kind of interview or experience, I dove into it. Eight years later I was an instructor at a local university with a 12-hour work week.
The free time I had is what allowed me to really explore my new Canon DSLR. I enjoyed documenting nature, travels and events. I detested the look of flash until I stumbled on a blog called Strobist by David Hobby, which forever changed my life.
How did you decide to turn your passion into a business?
In 2009, I joined a "365" photo group that challenged members to post a selfie a day for a year. I spent hours each day crafting a final image and posting it to Flickr. Getty Images then invited me to submit my photos for sale as stock on their site, and I jumped at the opportunity. I ended up making quite a nice side income, typically $200-500 or so per month. Occasionally, an image would sell for $1,000! My hobby was paying for itself.
Friends and family kept telling me to pursue photography, but I always brushed it off, thinking I wasn’t good enough and that there wouldn’t be enough clientele. In 2011, my best friend Brandon visited me in Korea with his girlfriend Kim, who was pregnant at the time, so I suggested we do a maternity session. Brandon and Kim shared the photos on Facebook and that's what led to my first customer and the beginning of Greg Samborski Photography.
After I realized that people were willing to pay for my images, I created a website on WordPress. I became consumed by SEO and created every page with that in mind. My targeted keywords “Seoul English-speaking photographer” and “Seoul engagement photographer” started drumming up Google hits. To this day, Google is my primary source of customers.
When did you make the transition from freelance to full-time photographer?
I freelanced seriously for four years before starting full-time. When it got to the point where I was turning down photography assignments due to my university schedule, I decided against another year of teaching.
Nearly a year and a half later, I haven’t looked back. Business is better than ever and I’ve never been happier in my job. I can honestly say I love each and every day of work.
Who was your very first customer? How did you find them?
My first customers actually found me. Aside from the Getty Images I sold, my first client was a woman named Sarah and her family. She had seen the photos I took of my friends Brandon and Kim on Facebook and asked them for my contact info. She hired me to do maternity and family portraits. I was nervous but very excited, and our session became my second blog post on my website.
What has been the biggest surprise so far after starting your own business?
I’m shocked how much time I spend on email! I spend more time on it than I do taking pictures.
How do you price your services?
Pricing has been one of the hardest areas to master. I think it comes with experience.
I've set rates for anything related to portraiture and events. My clients pay me for my time and number of images. The commercial work I’ve done — corporate headshots, automobile photography, events — is a lot more complicated to price. Many variables factor into the quote, like company size, stature, number of images requested, where and how the images will be used, in what format and for how long.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to get paid for what I produce, not how long it takes me to produce it.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Around 7am I wake up and check email in bed. It’s a bad habit, but I’m always excited to see if new work has come in. Then, I cook breakfast and take my daughter to the bus stop. As of 9am, I decide whether to work from home, at a cafe or at one of two office spaces I utilize. Then, I usually jump straight into email.
From 10am to about 6pm I’m booking new clients, fielding invoices and contracts, delivering images, planning photo sessions — some combination of all that.
Shooting days are incredibly varied, depending on the assignment. If it’s landscape or architecture, I typically start an hour before sunrise and continue for a few hours.
For big corporate events, I may spend over 10 hours cycling between keynotes, breakout sessions, luncheons and other events for days straight. For engagements and family sessions, I usually book an afternoon session for two to three hours at an historic palace, park or cool urban area. If it’s product photography, I’ll spend the day in the studio playing with light.
If you could go back in time, what’s the one thing you would do differently when starting your business?
I would come up with a more detailed vision for my business. For the longest time my goal was simply to make a living doing what I love. Now I’m doing that, which is amazing, but I’m having trouble figuring out what’s next.
I would like to move on from being a one-man show, so we’ll see how that plays out in the future.
Tell us! Do *you* have a story that's similar to Greg's?
Have you successfully taken your hobby to the next level and turned it into a business? What tips do you have for Greg as he thinks about next steps for his business — and how he can expand his offerings?
Share your own story with us in the comments below! :-)
