Re: Photography

sjane2008

Hi there. I am new to 'up your income' i currently earn a good salary but was thinking a lot of my friends are using f book etc and are buying portrait photos etc so they may be a nieche ie not charging as much as the others.

A course starts at college soon and i have a slr and am already into my photography. Does anyone do this or think it is/not cost effective etc to do?

Thanks

If not...what else?!

Sally

LittleCharlie

It's not cost effective.

Everyone now days is a photographer and no one wants to pay for pictures because everyone knows an Uncle Joe that can get do them for free.

Anyone who WILL want to pay serious money won't pay someone who doesn't have the professional experience.

You need at the very least a professional digital SLR and a complement of top quality lenses to charge for your work.

And then of course you need all the lighting gear that goes with it, and a bloody good computer complete with software to batch process the results. And then of course a website so that people can view proofs online and order their prints.

I do pet and human portrait photography as well as boudoir and weddings, and it's not a cheap business to get into. It's also alot of marketing to get to the point where you start to break even.

danjames20

Apologies to slate what you just put LittleCharlie but a lot more factors affect photography. I'm also a professional photographer and it is my sole income, being self employed.

I have 2 lenses and yes a good mid range EOS 40D but i managed with my old 350D previously which is not a very expensive SLR really.

I have a degree in media (not in photography note) and have built a reputation over the last year through my reasonable prices and offering good quality photography, mainly learnt through experience. It is not true to say that Uncle Joe will do all the photographs as there are so many areas for photography....

yes weddings are good money as are portraits at times but there's also advertising as well as modeling, structural etc so don't loose faith

A course is a good idea if you have some spare money, otherwise i'd advise buying a good but cheap studio set up and grab a room in the house if you can for it (i use a spare room which works fine for groups up to around 5) ideally i suggest Elinchrom lights, i have 2 and a black and white backdrop which does as my main set up.

I also do no advertising except the odd piece in the local magazine (£40 an issue in full colour and quarter page, not bad!) and so don't loose faith

Sorry to get on my high horse but when i started photography someone i bought my equipment off said "there's no money in photography" and it frustrated me

If you want to chat more im happy to talk about my career (still in its early stages really), PM me

LittleCharlie

Glad it's working out for you Dan. I'm semi professional I suppose you'd say. I have a job and I work photography (getting my own commercial premises shortly - yay!)

I am seeing more and more fantastic photographers going out of business and having to get low paid jobs in offices. The bottom is falling out of the market. Even with stock photography which is my main income, I have seen a downturn in the short time I have been doing it, which most people put down to amateurs selling their work too cheap.

Of course, people will only pay what the market will charge, but the original poster would not be helping the market if she deliberately undercut local competition.

Katgoddess

I'm looking at going into photography as a serious hobby. Have you looked into stock photography? There are some links on the digital photo school website.

farso

LittleCharlie wrote: »

Of course, people will only pay what the market will charge, but the original poster would not be helping the market if she deliberately undercut local competition.

Thats no real reason to try persuade them that its a bad idea! Quite honestly, if someone who is only taking photos for personal enjoyment is able to sell them better than a professional, surely the professional isnt that great?

onlineallthetime

What do people do about insurance etc... as a business? If you're running the 'photography' sideline thing, do you need insurance? I'm mainly thinking about working at events (weddings) and stuff... anyone know?

danjames20

onlineallthetime wrote: »

What do people do about insurance etc... as a business? If you're running the 'photography' sideline thing, do you need insurance? I'm mainly thinking about working at events (weddings) and stuff... anyone know?

personal insurance should cover you for your own health and safety but i'd advise equipment cover, maybe tag it on to the house insurance if its just a semi-pro/hobby. For businesses i have a shop outlet for my prints in my local high street which needs public liability insurance and most insurance companies will tag on cover for you and your equipment outside of the shop for an extra set amount.

afterglow_2

i trained as a photogrpher, (foundation, degree, n filmmaking diploma), for a while i did work as a photographer, ran my own darkroom for a year, worked for an internet ipix photography business for a year, and did freelance and my own landscape photography , exhibitions etc for couple of years.
But through a few factors film-digital, internet bubble bursting etc i lost my busines and all my work!!
Despite being very qualified and a very good photographer (i think!) i only do the occassional job now, and work as a chef and bar licensee, which provides a far more stable income!
There is not much money for most now due to everyone having access to digital cameras and photo editing software etc.
The only ways of making a go of it, are huge investment in equipment, i would say at least £10000 to have all the kit for large pro jobs, and a website, marketing and proven ability and track record.
Or do a degree and preferably an MA aswell and go down the art route, where having all the pro equipment is not always necessary, this is the route i may have another stab at going down!!!

farso

Looking back at the topic, everyone seems to think the question is

"Should I be a professional photographer?"

Where as the actual question posed was

"Could I make some income from my photographing hobby"

afterglow_2

well i assumed that because sjane2008 was thinking of doing a course,
as far as upping income, most of the stock photography websites, where you upload countless photos for a tiny profit if any sell i wouldnt reccomed, after all by the time youve invested in even basic equipment, spent time taking photos, uploaded them,
you'd be better off getting a paper round, probably 10x better off at least!!