“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.”
Jay Maisel
How do you advance your photography on a business end?
In this episode we discuss different scenarios of making money with photography. Although it might sound pragmatic, the financial aspect of “photography as a career” plays the crucial role in a healthy, successful development of the profession.
From working as an in-house full time photographer to a freelance life and its financial implications, here are stories form 4 Professional Photographers in ASK 4 PHOTOGRAPHERS” Youtube episode .
The full interview is available of YOUTUBE. For your convenience, here is the transcript of it as well.
Carlo Parducho @carloparducho : It’s hard to make a living as a photographer if you freelance and you don’t like talking to people or talking about yourself and your work, because that’s what you have to do. They call it shameless self-promotion. If you don’t like doing that, then yes, you’re in big trouble, unless you work as an in-house photographer, which is what I do. In that case, you do one interview, you stick with that job for as long as you can, and then you get a paycheck doing photography.
Jon Sams @jonsams : Just by the nature of the business it is kind of hard to become a full-time photographer, especially with such an influx of home brewed photographers who are coming into the business.
Jon Sams @jonsams : If you just focus, you focus your drive, you make it your whole goal, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to become a full-time photographer.
Julia Mindar @juliamindar_photography : It’s a huge topic about paying photographers, because lots of people, they don’t understand why they need to pay over 200 for a photographer.
Julia Mindar @juliamindar_photography : Seems present to be really easy to go and just taking a picture is so easy, I can ask my friend to do that. But for me, it’s not only two hours or three or four when I’m on the shoot. It’s also 10, 20 hours when I’m editing, and hours of preparation, of thinking about stuff of the shoot, bringing all my equipment. If you are creative enough to explain it to your clients, you will be good.
Mila Zvereva @mila_zvereva : It can be a challenge to find regular gigs and become a go-to photographer. Technique alone is not enough. A successful photographer is easy to work with. Synergy, personal attention to clients, models, crews, are essential. Once you develop a reputation as someone who can achieve it, the money will find its way into your pockets.
Carlo Parducho @carloparducho : If you want to be a professional photographer, you need to do it because you like working with images, not because you’re looking for a side gig or whatnot, because if you want to make serious money consistently, then you need to be making pictures all the time. You can’t just put your leg up and do one shoot a month, put your leg up and hope jobs will come.
WANT TO TEAM UP WITH OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS TO SHOOT IN A UNIQUE SETTING?
SIGN UP FOR OUR GROUP SHOOT ON A SAILBOAT! that will take place on August 2nd-3rd, 1-3pm, in one of our Los Angeles studios.