Is It Hard To Make Money Doing Photography?
By admin on Feb 18, 2010 with Comments 8
My husband and I make a decent living. We’re both entrepreneurs and have successfully launched a business that does very well. To get my mind off of work, I like to read before bed to wind me down from the hustle and bustle of the day, along with picking up other ’small time’ hobbies (in some I have profited off of my hobbies, but not much at all).
I know how hard it is to be successful and stay in business when opening your own shop. It took me 6 small time business for me to finally succeed. So im wondering…If I get into photography… is there much money involved? I would take classes, and purchase a nice camera, and start up pro bono to build a portfolio etc. I was just curious how the pay goes….and if you could give me any examples. Like I said before, I work a lot, and have enough to cover all of the bills, so thats what matters most, but I was just wondering how much extra $$$ I could earn on the side.
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any answers/suggestions/comments/ideas welcome. Thanks =]
Filed Under: Featured
honestly I don’t think you should, if you are already doing well, then you don’t need to do it, if you have no experience with lighting or exposure, stuff like that, then, I think you’re better of not getting into it.
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You strike me as a money hungry type of person who only considers a venture if it’s going to be profitable. With photography, it’s one of those things where it’s nice to be paid for it assuming you’re any good but if you lack the passion, creativity, skill, and drive to do it and can only see dollar signs, don’t bother.
Making money from photography is challenging. If all you care about is how much money you can make then find something else to do.
If you are good at photography, a good people person, and a good post-processor of the photos than you can absolutely make excellent money doing photography. You have to have an eye for it though. I’m a professional photographer that just started up this year and am already making great money.
Well. put it this way… probably 80 percent of photographers who consider themselves working shooters need a second job to survive.
As the doe says to her friends, ‘ There’s some big bucks, let’s hope we don’t get really f**ked’.
It is almost impossible to make any money with photography. I’ve been a pro photographer for a long long time (20+ years) and times have changed. Today just about anyone can create a well exposed photo with a point and shoot camera. And, they get to see the results instantly. In order to produce images of exceptional quality will require a great deal of money. The nice camera is the least expensive item you will need. Lighting is everything in photography and that little flash on top of the camera won’t cut it. If you are going to shoot pictures of people (portraits, weddings, children…etc) you will have to have off camera lights as well as softboxes and/or umbrellas for diffusion. The kit lens that comes with DSLR’s are usually pretty low quality and for proper portraits you are going to need a telephoto lens. Then there are the backdrops and the backup equipment. What if you are shooting a big event and your camera dies? You have to have at least two of everything.
Then we get to post production. Photo editing has a steep learning curve and requires expensive photo editing software. In order to sell pictures of people these days you will have to be able to do basic skin retouching and slimming.
But lets say we do all that. We buy all the equipment and learn how to use Adobe Photoshop. How do you market your business? 90 percent of my work is marketing, finding and retaining clients. The actual photography is the fun part.
I don’t want to discourage anyone from taking up photography but I would be doing you a terrible disservice if I didn’t let you know how hard it has become to break even these days. There are always those who take on the challenge and do well, but that is becoming more and more rare in the photography business.
Good luck to you!
Timhttp://www.timothylittle.com
LOL… There are a lot of funny answers to this question so far.
Can you make a decent living? Many do. Even in this economy. I suggest joining the PPA, and looking into the material that they offer – webinars, downloads, and some of the programs they offer.
There are a lot of really good photographers starving and going out of business because while they’re good technicians, they’re lousy business people. Take a good look at the book “The eMyth Revisited,” although I suspect you’re already familiar with it. There are also a lot of lousy photographers doing great as a business.
Nothing wrong with being a “money grubber.” That’s the word “ambitious” said by someone who can’t figure out how to be an entrepreneur.
I’ve been in business for a little over 10 years. 10 years ago, we were scared because our film cameras were getting so inexpensive, and had auto exposure and auto-focus – any idiot could buy a camera and compete. Things have NOT changed. There are still clueless newbies who think they can make it rich giving away their product, with minimal time or financial investment, and that the technology ensures that they’ll have a first class product. Well, it doesn’t, and even if it did, you need skills in running a business that most people who figure on buying there way into the field through a top-dollar set of gear don’t have.
The amount of money you can earn depends on the field of photography you wish to pursue. That’s were the PPA and the material they offer will come in helpful – along with the basic market research that I have to assume you know how to do.
Good luck!