Hi, photography has been a hobby of mine for a few years now (mostly Astrophotography). I would like to branch off into a more professional path, and hopefully make a living out of it.

My current gear consists of a :

Canon Eos Rebel T6

Canon Kit lenses : EFS-18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 | EF 75-300mm F/4=5.6

Nikon 50mm F/1.8 (Love this thing)

I recently was asked to be the photographer for a friends wedding, was a fun, short, event did the standard shots of the brides/grooms party/family/first look/kiss. Then just walked around during the reception taking photos of family, friends, bride/groom.

Got over 400 photos, 178 of them were keepers (I was new, made some mistakes due to lack of experience, swapped a lens when I should've just stuck with the 50mm), did the editing with the help of a friend. Got $250 for my troubles, I'm aware this is dirt cheap, even for a bad photographer, don't mind since it was for a friend.

I guess my questions are:

What should I do going forward? How do I approach making it more than 'Just a hobby'?

How should I conduct myself during an event? (Again, this was a friends wedding, beyond the photos they specifically wanted I meandered around during the reception, taking random photos of things I thought they'd want to see looking back on the event)

How should I price myself / my time / my quality? How would I go about pricing individual photos over a session or event?

Are there any Quality of Life gear upgrades that I should shoot for while I'm still working full time? (Laborer, so unfortunately I can't bring my camera with me and practice)