On practicing the "semi-professional" photography - take the chance of an assignment

Doing a 'real', professional photo session is something I always wanted to try. There is however a problem - how to get such assignment not being a professional photographer? One solution is to actively search for them, starting in your own environment. Look for the opportunities by asking your family, friends, close acquaintances. It has some clear advantages: you are known to them, most probably they probably know your work, so you are not completely out of the comfort zone.
I have tried this approach lately. Everything started with an e-mail from my relative, asking for sharing of  a web shop of the jewelry made of glass, amber and metal.
When I saw the page I noticed two things: a real beauty of the offered products and not so good quality of the pictures showing them. So I thought "hey, I can do it better".
So I shared the page but asked if the jewelry maker wouldn't like to have better photos of his products.
After getting a positive answer I had my assignment.
I have arranged the session at the 'customer' premises and spent couple of hours photographing his products. We both had a lot of fun; I learned a bit about his craft, he was really thrilled by the results of my work.
It wasn't the real professional work, since I haven't earn a penny. But it was a "win-win" situation anyway. I have learned new aspects of photography, he got decent pictures of his products.

Next assignment will be much more challenging - a wedding of a good friend of mine. I'd better do it right, because I don't want to loose a friend :-). So I've been practicing for several months already.

A potentially useful tip for all interested in practicing the Brenizer technique

No, it will not be yet another post about the Brenizer method. If one wants this kind of information, use Google or (even better), look at the instructions of the author of this technique.
Although it sound simple, it requires some practice before achieving repeatable decent results (at least, I still learn it). Just to mention a few aspects:
- Learn to pre-visualize the final composition,
- Choose the right focal length and the distance to the subject,
- Learn to move the camera properly during taking the shots.
The bottom line of this is that it will require quite some sessions and panoramas to be stitched.
And here comes the tip: at least in the initial phase choose the stitching software that works fast. Just to be able to judge the results quickly and move on.
I have started with Photoshop and its Photomerge function. It delivers good results, but it is slow, especially if the number of photos grows. There are alternatives based on the SIFT algorithm. They work amazingly fast. Autostitch is very simple to use, free, but with the limited functionality. Another that I have tried is Autopano Pro. It works also very fast and offers a lot of post processing options. It is not free, but the demo version is more than enough to practice the Brenizer technique.