how to become a professional photographer?

[Samantha]

I've always had a passion for that perfect shot of a beautiful sunset /sunrise. Not to mention the shrimp boats, birds, & water shots!? I've recently purchased a SAMSUNG WB100 26× ZOOM and now have the camera I need to get real shots, now my question is...how do I actually make bank doing it!¿ I've heard working for free in the beginning is a given? I'm not in a position to do anything for free I see some beautiful shots of the sky in my area how do I go about posting & selling the shots? Make a website? Post on Etsy.com? EBay? Craigslist? Facebook? Any answers would be of great help! Iam a complete newbie, (a rookie so to speak) when it comes to marketing professionally!

[Photofox]

For a start, you will be at the back of a queue of millions of other aspiring photographers.
You will have to get a DSLR and know how to use it, plus a tripod,
Your shots will have to be absolutely PERFECT (not just "good")
You must have an excellent eye for composition and also be able to get some originality into your shots.

[Mark]

You won't like this answer, but...hard work, talent, persistence, trial and error. Repeat again and again.

And a Samsung 26x zoom is not regarded as a serious camera. Not by a long shot. If you think that is a camera which is going to make you "bank", you obviously know very little about photography and your idea is a pipe dream.

[Steve P]

Nice fantasy. The reality is that you and millions of other people have the same idea. It seems that every person alive now with any kind of camera considers themselves a photographer with photos that they think people want to buy. The market is FLOODED with photos. Some good, many awful. The problem is the overwhelming glut of awful photos makes it real hard for good work to be found and seen. Even when good work is found by someone, the economic climate in the world today is not conducive for people to part with their money for photos with no personal reason. In other words, the majority of money spent on photos is for things like weddings or personal portraits or personal events and the like.

You will have better luck selling if you make quality prints of your work with good framing and try to sell them locally in a cafe or art gallery (if accepted) or at art fairs and such.

Putting your photos online at places like Etsy or Fine Art America just puts you in line with millions of other people thinking they are going to make easy money. That is simply not the reality of it. If it were that easy, there would be a massive amount of people walking around with money falling out of their pockets.

... and by the way, hate to break the news to you, but your camera is a joke in relation to what you THINK it is.

steve

[B K]

To be a professional photographer all you need to do is take images that are good enough that people will want to buy them. If they are not good enough (and by good I mean flawless, awesome pictures) people will not buy them.

That is all the word professional means, to be paid for what you do - and to make your living in that profession.

A Samsung WB100 is a nice little point and shoot camera, BUT it isn't a pro level camera. Professional photographers use cameras that cost many thousands of dollars, as well as lenses that cost as much or more than the camera.

You see where I'm going with this - if you are up against real pros with top level photographic equipment, your chances of making your living with a point and shoot are literally zero.