As an Adobe Community Professional, A.J. has been an enthusiastic representative in the creative community for several years. It's not surprising he's been ranked the #1 Adobe Instructor WORLDWIDE more than once. Students enjoy his straightforward teaching style, and the ability to communicate ideas in the simplest of terms. An active NAPP Evangelist, A.J. posts Adobe tutorial videos each week on YouTube. Follow A.J. on Twitter, post your questions to his Facebook page, and catch the latest insights on his blog.

Catchy huh? Yeah, I'm not once to mince words although, I generally like to spin a tale or two. It's my pleasure to join you today, and I appreciate the invitation Seshu extended to me quite some time ago. He is a gracious & patient host, and I hope my thoughts leave you wanting… Wanting more like Charlie Sheen's 2nd performance in Chicago, not wanting to leave like the angry mob that caught him in Detroit. Where was I?

Oh yes, harnessing your talent, your desire, that passion which many of us find in photography. It's rather difficult to focus on that passion when you're bogged down with the day-to-day running your photography business isn't it? There's the marketing, the office paperwork, the website, dealing with clients, to Facebook or Twitter, the list goes on, and yet many of today's photographers seemingly do it all. Maybe you're just starting out, and you haven't thought about your business plan or the logistics of making money from photography. Perhaps you're a seasoned pro, and you're wondering how you'll stay on top of all the changing technology, and the wolves scratching at your door. It's a wonder you get to take any pictures at all. That's okay, I'm here to tell you:

To discover your talents you have to recognize & acknowledge when you suck.

It's a common philosophy I share with my students, and many interpret it as a direct statement about their passion. Like Simon Cowell, I'm somehow there to obliterate their dreams. Let me clarify the statement with some editorial tweaks:

To maximize your talents you have to recognize & acknowledge where you suck.

I know plenty of folks who at some point were caught in company downsizing, and ended up being one of the lucky ones who had more job responsibility for the same or less pay. Oddly enough, I see the same types of folks launch their businesses with DIY zeal only to suffer from burnout or stagnant growth after a year. Yes, you have grand ambitions, some talents, maybe a kickass plan or two, but you're just one person. What you need are minions … I mean a support group … umm … network –- You need to develop your network. Just like that lone crusader Batman had a sidekick, and spent some time with other superheroes in the Justice League of America. (Wait … what do you mean a comic book reference kills my credibility?) Focus–a network.

Leverage your strengths, outsource your weaknesses.

When I talk to photographers about networking events many of them mention social mixers based around getting clients or connecting with peers. Generating leads is a must, and mentoring other photographers or finding a mentor is a wonderful thing. However, those connections do not address the immediate issues of office management, marketing or managing your website. I highly recommend finding those people at the networking events they attend. Where do you start? Your local Chamber of Commerce is a good place. Another good place is Meetup.com. Any hobby, popular fad or obscure interest can be found listed at Meetup.com. The best part is meetup groups are specifically designed to get people together live and in-person. Now I know what you're thinking, “That's a good way to generate client leads!” Point to you dear reader, that's a takeaway bonus for hangin' out with me this long.

But let's stay focused. I don't want you networking without purpose. What you should be doing is building your network. Your team of professionals. The people that you can call to handle the portions of your business that are really best suited to be handled by someone other than you. If you suck at website design, then by all means hire someone to do your website. And if you're great at website design, why in the world are you spending your time as a photographer? My point is by building your network, you can focus your energy at the really important tasks. My good friend Glyn Dewis is a fine example. He had a hand in building his first website, and it wasn't bad. It got the job done. See for yourself. However, Glyn's passion for photography literally oozes into everything else he does, so a good website wasn't good enough. Now he probably could have spent the man-hours himself building & retooling his website, but he found someone better suited to the task. Scott Kublin is another fine example. You don't know Scott? He enjoys HDR photography. He's friends with another HDR guy–Trey Ratcliff. *heart pounding from sheer awesomeness* You can read the backstory on Scott's About Me page, but the summary is Scott wanted to learn HDR and Trey needed some top-notch SEO for his website.

Leverage your strengths, outsource your weaknesses.

Thank you for taking a moment to read this post. As a fellow-overachiever-one-man-band-DIY-caffeine-infused-control-freak, I know it's tough sharing some of the parental responsibility for your growing business. However, it's the best way to ensure your business does grow. I want to thank my partner in creative shenanigans, J Schuh for illustrating my thoughts in the opening cartoon. Feel free to buy a t-shirt if we've tickled your funny bone. Oh, and where are my manners?

Here's a quickie Photoshop tutorial for you:

This guest post is by Pavithra Meera Ramasubramanian, a San Diego-California based photographer turning passion into profession by photographing Nature, Portraits, and Lifestyle. Learning is the key and you can see her work progress by following her on Twitter and seeing her work on her blog.

Learning photography as an art and becoming a professional is a hard balance to understand. I just began my journey towards becoming a professional and this is the biggest lesson that I am still learning.

I love photography and my passion drives me towards it. So after finishing my Biology degree this past year I set myself to becoming a professional photographer. The one question that keeps running through my mind when I’m learning the ins and outs of this industry is: Are you working for yourself or someone else as a Professional Photographer?

Coming from a culture that strongly believes in biology or engineering as the career of choice, it has been very hard to endure the numerous questions and advice on why I shouldn’t pursue this field. Although career changing is not so uncommon these days, it has been hard for me to convince not only my family but also my friends that this is what I want to do. It was bestowed on me, a South Asian woman, that I should pursue a normal life with a safe job. And Photography, as I have learned, is not the normal or safe job according to the people I encounter.

I say this because I have had to sit through many birthdays and parties where people just hand me their point and shoot camera and say something like: “since you want to become a pro photographer … take our picture.” More than a compliment it had been said in a condescending manner. I go home thinking wait is that all I get to do? Where is the art or vision in photography if there seems to be little respect or little satisfaction of having composed something beautiful? So photographers just work to please others but not themselves?

These moments in the past really have brought me to ground to rethink photography and my vision. In that period, I started forming a huge gap between my camera and me. It was very difficult understanding what people want and what I want out of me. It wasn’t bad that I was questioning myself but the fact that I was questioning what I am passionate about was something I wasn’t ready for.

Everyone needs a good support system to be successful in what we do. Whether it is our family, friends or the best of all a good audience for our photography, we all need some kind of push to help us love our work. It was at my low point that my family gave me the right push. They began to truly believe in me by being right by my side and pushing me to take the next step. They guided me to start asking some serious questions to myself and to listen to my heart. I started to find my inner peace to know that you win some and you loose some. It was tough to deal with people who didn’t appreciate my work but it was even more grateful to know that I have a good group of viewers enjoying my photographs. It was these viewers who helped me understand that I have the ability to find beauty in everyday life.

For those of you who are just entering into this field and changing a hobby to a passion here are some things that you should consider and understand:

1. Take both forms of advice, good and bad – but apply what you know and feel is right, the one that helps you move forward.

2. Don’t do it alone- take all the support you can get- this is the biggest key to help you succeed.

3. And remember at the end of the day you have to answer to yourself- your thoughts and your happiness- if you do something you love, you will work hundred times harder at it and prove many people wrong.

You will soon find yourself in a place where you will know how to combine both the artistic world of photography and see that others are also pleased with your work. And learn that you have a clear complete vision of who you are and what your photography means to you.