When I first started my adventure in photography, I had this very competitive, secretive idea of how I should run my business. I was suspicious of anyone who asked a question that was photography related, for fear they would try to become competition. I avoided people who were also photographers, be it amateur or professional, because we just couldn’t be in the same circles without competing for clients. And I was irrationally jealous or skeptical toward people who said, “I want to get into photography, too!” Because, you know, I was already so professional.

Shortly after I began this adventure and started getting regular, “paying” clients (by this I mean friends and family tossing me twenty bucks to snap some pictures), an old classmate of mine added me to a group on Facebook that was for local photographers. I was super excited to get into the group and see what they would do, but I was also pretty nervous. What do photographers do in a group like this? We shouldn’t be friends…we were competition!

I was shocked and amazed by the interaction in the group. These people really were friends! They were supportive of one another’s businesses, and open to sharing ideas or knowledge with other photographers, new or experienced, it didn’t matter. I was so completely floored by the open, sharing atmosphere in this local group. It took some time to get used to it, but then I realized how completely freeing it was to have support and friendship with people who shared my passion for photography and for business. How refreshing to know I could ask a question from a real person rather than searching out an answer from the great unknown (aka, the Internet).

The first time someone posted a question in the group that I had an answer to was another turning point for me. I had to get over my preconceptions of “competition” and share my knowledge with this person. But once I had commented with an answer, I encountered a feeling of an entirely different kind: it was pride in my knowledge, and a desire to mentor those who were looking for advice; I was in love.

I know for many areas, there are no groups similar to this that are so open and supporting. I know a lot of photographers still have the mentality I began with. It may be hard for you to consider changing your view on this, because it is so opposite of what you have always thought. I’m going to share a couple quick points below to show you why this feeling of cooperation is far more powerful than a feeling of competition and secrecy, as well as how to create this atmosphere with photographers in your area.

1 | There ARE Enough.

The competitive spirit comes from the idea that we don’t want another photographer to “steal” clients from us, for fear that we will not have enough to keep our business running. You need to acknowledge the fact that there are enough potential clients in the world (and in your area specifically) to keep all the photographers busy. There are millions of people, and there is no way one or even a dozen photographers could provide service to all those people. It would take many hundreds of photographers to provide service to all the people in the world, so you need to stop thinking that you need to be the only photographer in your area. This is becoming even truer now that the big department store studios are shutting their doors. People are realizing that they can get something of far better quality from an individual photographer than they can from the mall studios.

2 | Cooperation is More Powerful than Competition

Don’t get me wrong. Competition can be a healthy motivation to push harder and provide more and better services. And even with a spirit of cooperation, there is still some amount of competition naturally. The definition of cooperation is: “association of persons for common benefit” (via Merriam-Webster Dictionary). I have seen so many photographers grow and excel through participation in these groups that it’s crazy! Through this spirit of cooperation, we are able to:

  • ask for constructive criticism on images from people we know and trust, and who know us and our style and skill level;
  • bounce ideas off other professionals who are working in the same culture, to help us break through creative blocks or find a new direction for our business;
  • make friends with other professionals and even find new potential for partnerships and sharing;
  • vent about frustrating experiences and gain ideas and insight into how to handle similar situations in the future;
  • work together to grow and expand your skill level through group shoots, classes, and demonstrations;
  • create a more supportive community when photographers are friends and will not speak ill of one another;
  • find photographers you know and trust to refer clients when you are booked, or for inquiries into photography styles you do not offer, or gain new clients from other photographers doing the same.

3 | Create Your Own Group

I have learned from friends who work in other areas that they are unable to find any local groups that offer the same spirit of cooperation and friendship as these groups in my area. If you are in a similar situation, you might wonder how you can benefit from this new concept if none of these groups exist. To this I reply: create your own group! Creating a new group on Facebook is as simple and quick as posting a status. It’s a no-brainer, and you would be sure to fill it up with local photographers in no time. Set ground rules from the first that make it known the group is for positive, cooperative participation only, and you will soon have a community of photographers working and learning together.

4 | Host or Participate in Local Shoot Outs

What is a shoot out? A shoot out is a conceptual photo shoot planned by a local photographer, in which there are multiple photographers participating. One of the groups in our area, called The Potato Patch (because we are Idaho spuds, after all), hosts themed shoot outs several times each year. The creator and administrator of the group calls for volunteers to run the shoots, and those volunteers are responsible for choosing a theme, arranging the location and models, and selecting the photographers who will be participating. The theme is generally announced in the group, and photographers are chosen based on a “first to comment” basis. They are generally free to all, unless money is required to secure a venue. The themes are awesome, because they allow us to branch out and be more creative with our work than we can when a client is calling the shot. They also allow us to focus on an area of photography in which we struggle, like the shoot that allowed us to practice posing men, or the shoot in which we learned together how to pose curvy girls (via a workshop from Sue Bryce…incredible!) and practiced on several models. We come together to learn, practice, and increase our abilities, as well as have fun and make new friendships.

You can see more of the shoot outs hosted by The Potato Patch group at www.thepotatopatch.com. So what are you waiting for? Get out there, find or create an awesome, supportive network of photographers for your area, and sit back and watch while it transforms your business mentality from competitive to cooperative!