CAREER CHANGE to photography - graduated college and realized I won’t make more than $25k/year in my field

It’s been 15 months since I’ve graduated college and got my degree in Kinesiology from a very reputable school in another state, then moved back in with my parents who live in a southern state in the US.

Since last year up until April of this year, I’ve applied to countless positions in my field and literally had over a hundred interviews with over 50 job offers, all of which pay HOURLY at around $10-15/hr OR they have some sleazy commission-only pay structure that sounds more like a pyramid scheme than an actual productive job. Needless to say I’ve turned them all down since the pay would barely cover my living expenses, and I truly believe that the knowledge, talents, and professionalism that I bring to the workplace is worth more than what I was making at my first job as a 16yo.

That being said I’ve decided to pursue a different career... Photography. I’ve been taking pictures of cars, people, and things since 2012 and had multiple Instagram accounts of mine gain more than 500k followers, which I then sold for a pretty penny while I was still in college (now realizing this was a big mistake). My work has been featured in magazines, venues, car dealerships, private collections, websites, car manufacturer’s accounts, etc... but all without being paid a dollar because up until recently, I took and edited pictures as a hobby... (frankly, it had also never occurred to me that I can charge people for my work).

Since April of this year, I’ve been doing extensive research on the photography market in my new area, especially as to what the other photographers’ work looks like and how much they all charge for their work. I then invested in better gear, made a professional website, got business cards and decided to go to work.

Quick note: my style is editorial and artistic, something similar to what you would see on a billboard from Porsche or Mercedes Benz. Not as good, but similar.

5 months in and I’ve had a really tough time getting work. Almost all business/persons I meet with don’t take me seriously. After being rejected, I offer to create content for them, free of charge, and let them decided if my content is of any use for them. I’ve done this with small restaurants and clothing shops, coffee shops, exotic car shops/dealers, paint shops, parts shops, the list goes on... I’ve gotten rejected every time, then I later find out that they hired and PAID some other photographer with more “professional experience” that took well-below average photographs and gave it to them straight out of the camera with zero editing, without developing a style or color palette, and without creating a “feel” that matches the company aesthetic and targeted demographic/market.

This has been HIGHLY discouraging, especially since I know that while my work is not perfect, it is still much more polished and professional than what those business ended up paying for. Also the fact that I had success in the past in generating a total of over 2 million Instagram followers on 6 different accounts makes me see that I’m not crazy in thinking that my work is any good.

I started a new account on Instagram last month to gain more exposure, and am now at 16k followers. No luck with any realistic work though... any advice on how to turn my skills in photography into a career would be greatly appreciated!

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