“You never know where opportunity will present itself . . . be ready to promote yourself,” says Justin Haugen about his recent transition from wedding photography to commercial photography. Haugen worked full-time as a graphic designer for many years and shot weddings part-time on the side for ten before going into wedding photography full-time for another ten years. He began making the transition to commercial photography when he saw an opportunity open up with the same company that had laid him off ten years prior.

Haugen recently joined Nikki Closser on The Portrait System Podcast to talk about his career path from weddings to commercial photography. Listen to it here.

Here are three tips Haugen shared on the podcast for others considering making the same transition:

1. Don’t burn bridges. By staying friendly with his former colleagues, Haugen knew the right moment to put in a bid for contract work with them as a commercial photographer.
2. Network with other photographers. Haugen’s other major client came to him by referral. The offer initially came to another photographer, who is a member of the Facebook group for local photographers that Haugen runs. He couldn’t take the job and suggested Haugen.
3. Be prepared to promote yourself. As Haugen says, “Be somebody’s solution because you never know where people will need you to fill in.” It is not uncommon for corporations to need to downsize employees. Often when they do, it opens the door for contract workers. Be prepared to let them know how you can fill in the gap.

In the Q&A below, Haugen shares more about his business, including what inspires him most and why photographers need to talk more about the financial side of their businesses.

Justin Haugen Q&A

How did you push past fear when building your business?   

I don’t know that I’ve ever really pushed past fear as it’s been a significant motivator in my life. My entire photography career and its pivotal moments were largely motivated by fear. When I sense fear growing around my business, it means that it’s time to take action. I think over time when you’ve done this long enough, you start to coexist with fear and recognize it as a healthy part of being a business owner. I can’t even say fear is exclusive to being a business owner as my last experience with full-time employment was surrounded by fear which largely was warranted as I was eventually laid off. 
 

What fellow artists in the industry do you gain the most inspiration from?   

Creatively, I’m a big fan of my friend Jason Vinson. Jason has this incredible ability to take any mundane space and pull absolute magic from nothing. He’s the literal MacGyver of photography. Give that man a utility closet, a dirty window, and a recently engaged couple and he’s walking away with a Fearless-Award-winning image. Some photographers are photojournalists. Jason is an artist. Jason also has a big heart for sharing his methods. There are no secrets when it comes to what he does, and all you have to do is look up any of the many free pieces of content he’s shared on the internet from FStoppers to the Sharpen YouTube channel where he breaks down his process. 
 
Lately, as my work transitions to editorial, commercial, and more polished portraiture, I pay close attention to photographers like Alexis Cuarezma and Felix Kunze. 

Most artists have a point in their life when they knew this was meant for them. Did you have that moment?   

It’s hard to look back over 20 years and think of one defining moment since there have been so many versions of that. I’ll call back to a time when I was a 20-something photographer with a Canon 20D and a 70-200 F4 L, and I had made it track-side to the photo pit of a professional race series. The year prior, I was a spectator and I remember telling myself, “A year from now, I want to be on the other side of the fence.” That’s what photography has always been for me. A way to find yourself on the other side of the fence. It’s been my passport to life experiences and seeing the world differently. The first time I was on “the other side of the fence” was the first time I knew that I would do anything to keep this feeling alive and that photography would be a big part of my life. 

Do you regret any decisions you have made in your business?  

I really regret how I managed my finances. I think photographers as a community have very little interest in talking about this side of their business. It’s a point of comparison and shame that few want to measure themselves against established photographers in this industry. Your growth as an artist can be visibly seen, and it’s a badge of honor many wear proudly (deservedly) to have mastered skills that have brought them admiration by their peers. Bring up Roth and SEP IRAs in what should be a safe space, and many will shrivel from the conversation. I know, because I’ve been that photographer. It’s a space where I felt completely out of place and my fear around how I handled money left me to miss out on years of better utilization of my earnings. 
 

Where do you see your business in the next five years?  

I see my business being less about my ability to handle a camera and more about how I manage my processes and resources. I envision being more established in corporate event photography while managing a team of photographers. I see this as a space that will be less affected by the disruption of AI as you can’t AI generate documented events.