 Dean Boyer |
Making a Living I just want to know if it is possible for someone to make a living in photography, is being independent freelance the way to go?
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Tony Sweet |
Hello Dean! I'm doing fine as a professional nature photographer, teacher, and lecturer. It's very possible, but be willing to live by your wits and work 18-20 hour days for a long time. One way to get an idea of even where to begin the process is to take a few workshops with someone who is successful at what you would like to do. After getting to know that person a bit, emulate what they did and, if your "mentor" is willing, get guidance along the way. There are no short cuts. The sacrifices are great and the rewards, if successful, are equally great. Good luck!
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Vik Orenstein |
Hey Dean, I'm a professional portrait photographer specializing in kids and families, and I also teach here at BetterPhoto.com, as well as write books on photography. I'm very happy with my work and with the living I make, and I know a lot of other photographers who say the same. You need to take a look at your marketplace -- is your city large enough to support a studio in your area of specialty? Perhaps your market area is saturated with wedding photogs, but there's room for another commercial shooter. Do a little research in your area -- you'll be happy you did. And here comes a shameless plug for my most recent book, which will be available in april '04 from writer's digest books: THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS. I'll also be teaching a class here at BetterPhoto.com on pricing and business practices starting winter session. Good luck!
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Andrea L. Akin |
I have been an amatuer for the past 10years and I am wanting to move up to the next step. But I don't know in which direction I want to go. My favorites are pet photography and nature photography but I also enjoy children and wedding portraits. I am thinking about taking the NYIP correspodence course because I would like some kind of certificate or degree behind me before I start calling myself a professional. I took photgraphy in high school but that just wasn't enough for me. I have sold a few of my prints but not many.
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John A. Lind |
It is indeed possible to make a living, but it is also a tough and highly competitive business. There's no shortage of people who buy a 35m SLR with lens, a flash to put in its hot shoe, and then put themselves out for hire as a "professional" with pricing below the bargain basement thinking it will be easy. There's also no shortage of potential customers whose overwhelming concern is "the price tag," and they judge the cost of a professional doing a shoot against what they can have a 24 exposure roll of 35mm film developed and printed for at the cheapest one-hour lab in town. Tony's not exaggerating; I've seen a few local professionals go through their business "startup." To create a viable business that has a good chance of survival also requires a considerable capital investment in proessional equipment; not all you will ultimately need be bought at once, but enough for a "startup" isn't insignificant either. Having backup gear for critical items of equipment is essential. The mainstream for most independents I know is wedding and portraiture. Even though they do a wide range of other work, it's their "bread and butter" primary source of revenue. Weddings in particular are not for the faint of heart, and it requires good physical condition. They're both physically and mentally demanding; photographers either either love or hate them. It is possible to also do professional work part-time while holding down a "day job." That is what I'm doing, although I keep a tight lid on how much work I take on . . . particularly with weddings. Although I intend to keep it part-time, some use this method to get a business started and ultimately switch over to full time photography after the business has a reasonable reputation and is on a good financial footing. It's a bit slower path, but it has less financial risk.
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Collin Clack |
Andrea, I think photography is a business you can go into without a degree or diploma. Your portfolio is what people are interested in. I feel it is the quality of your work and the way you bring out the best in your subject that would determine if you are a professional or not. Sure the NYIP course gives you a good foundation and the paper to go with it. But does this mean that the person with the paper is a pro and the one without not? I do not think so, your potential clients will ask to see your work, not the piece of paper hanging on the wall.
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Andrea L. Akin |
Collin, I do agree with you that it is the quality of the work but I would just feel better with it behind me. I don't think I have enough confidence in my own work yet. I am jsut starting to get back into photography and the course is just something that I've wanted to do for a long time. The only classes of any kind I have taken was back in high school about 10 years ago. I worked as an assistant to a photographer for about 4 years but I was just setting up the shots I was'nt the one taking them. Mostly what I have taken has just been of family and friends over the years.
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Gregg Vieregge |
It take two years of planning to qoute "Get your Ducks in a row" before quiting your current job and going professional. Keep your job and start planning. I would suggest first subscribing to Shutterbug, Rangefinder magazines for current articles and trends. ($20/per year, cheap) Go to Zuga.com and study the masters such as Monte Zunker. Look up Larry Peters Photography on the net for the best senior support and props. Start buying your equipment now and have it paid for before you give up your other job. Go digital, the public is demanding it. (Their more high tech than we think) People photography is what pays the bills unless you live in a scenic tourist winderland 12 months of the year. Take the nature stuff ans sell it in the slow months. Go on the internet and search photography studios to get marketing ideas and price structure. As far as the classes they can come once you are in business. The public doesn't know what all those letters mean after your name. PPA is important , join. Also WPPI. If you plan on shooting just 35mm, forget the whole idea and stay a amateur.
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Vik Orenstein |
holy buckets, gregg! I agree with you that no one is checking for diplomas when they hire a photog, and PPA is a great organization. and while digital is certainly gaining popularity, many, many shooters (including myself) are still making very good livings shooting film. to pronouce "digital or die" is still a little premature. I like your conviction, though.
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John A. Lind |
I agree with Vik. There are an enormous number of small, successful independents still making their living solely with film. I explored the possibility of digital and found it unattractive. Running solo with digital in a manner that provides clients with photographs rivaling those from film would require too much work on-location and too much back-end work afterward. As a part-time business, the time isn't available to devote to it. To do it right would require assistant(s) and working the buisness full-time. Furthermore, the cost of consumable digital materials in the buisness plan I worked up for it would be more than film, developing and printing costs (not even considering the value of my time). The high capital investment required would never be recouped. BTW, as a sanity check I compared notes on this with a non-competing friend who does local sports work (something I don't do) using higher end digital. All the numbers came out in the same ballpark . . . and he verified the intensity of the back end work. YMMV . . . but it didn't work for me. It is a buisness and decisions should be based on revenue/profit. First, don't think you must start with everything. It would take about $50k - $70k to establish a full studio with props, backdrops and sophisticated lighting equipment. Very few could afford that, and even fewer just starting professionally (without formal education in studio work) would even know what to do with it all. You can do a startup with only 35mm and having backup for what you already have is more important initially than expansion. Second, I recommend expanding lighting capabilities after ensuring you have backup equipment and consider this more important than moving up in film format. Photography's medium is light. It's not the subject, film, or print materials. There is an essential interaction of light with the subject, but it's the light that is recorded. Ability to control and use light makes more difference than nearly anything else. Gregg is correct that using only 35mm won't work for the long haul . . . but digital wouldn't add anything more that you cannot do with 35mm film. Medium format should eventually be added for its larger film size, but it is down the list from essential backup equipment and adequate lighting. Why a 3rd priority? The bulk of the market in middle America, as Gregg mentions, is photography of people: wedding, basic family portraiture, passport, H.S. senior, sports action and teams, etc. In reality, 35mm format can easily serve for the overwhelming majority of the photographs. Medium format is only needed for making prints larger than 11x14, although I like to use it for prints that size also. You do ultimately need capability to make large photographs, but that can wait until you have other, more important bases covered. The number of orders for 11x14's is very few; 16x20's are quite rare . . . and I have yet to encounter or even hear about anyone ordering anything bigger than that. -- John
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John A. Lind |
About Zuga.net: IMHO the site **was** a useful resource; emphasis on past tense. It is now exclusively adverising teasers for their on-line subscription "Zuga.tv channels" and the $20 per month cost for it doesn't seem justifiable. That doesn't consider the increased cost of a broadband internet connection that's required to use it! Most Important Question: Will it generate *more* profit for the business than the subscription and broadband connection costs . . . emphasis on profit, not revenue? From a pure business standpoint, it cannot be justified if it doesn't. The excellent tutorials that used to be there, particularly those by Monty Zucker, have disappeared into the Big Bit Bucket. -- John
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