Should I Become a Professional Photographer?

Once upon a time, not too long ago, I said that I never wanted to be a professional photographer, taking photos was just merely a hobby of mine. While I still don’t consider myself a professional, I feel like I’m taking a step in that direction and I don’t know how I feel about it.

Basically, my friend Allie and her husband George are on a super strict budget for their upcoming wedding. In order to save money, they initially decided to skip engagement photos and use the money for the actual wedding photos. Then Allie found this adorable card box, which is pretty amazing in my opinion! The outside of the card box displays photos so it also doubles as a decoration for the reception hall. Since all of the wedding card boxes on the website were shown with engagement photos, Allie decided that she need a couple to put on display instead of printing off pictures of her and George that were taken on an iPhone and probably in a bar, which I totally get. The part I’m still trying to wrap my brain around is why she wanted ME to take a few “engagement photos” for the card box. 

Needless to say, I did it because that’s what good friends do. I was extremely nervous about the session because I haven’t ever really done an actual photo shoot with people. The majority of my experience consists of nature photos and an obnoxious number of photos of my dog. After my jitters went away and I started to feel comfortable, the photo shoot was amazing! Allie and George were so much fun because they went along with all of my crazy ideas. I’m really happy with how the photos turned out and can’t wait to see them in the wedding card box next month. 

As much as I loved helping out my friends, I don’t necessarily want to be a professional photographer. Some of my other friends who have seen the photos already have told me I am crazy for not trying to get into the business though. And now I’m on the fence about what I should do! To me it seems kind of crazy to make such a big career change, but I also know it could end up being totally worth it. I’m going to have to put some serious thought into this, even though I don’t have to make a decision right now and could even change my mind down the road. What would you guys do?