Can my camera actually work for me?

[mongoose]

I am a student all the way from South Africa,, and I have waited 8 months for my camera been saving up for some time now.
So I was lucky to get meself a Alpha200:hail: lol very good camera indeed. The task is now what can I do to insted do part time work like I did saving for my camera how can my camera work for me?
I was thinking of doing weddings butt there must be other ways to right???

 

[asfixiate]

Are you new to photography? Weddings can be good way to make a good amount of extra part time cash but can be very stressful to inexperienecd photographers(not saying you are) since there's not really much ground for error. Its always good to have a backup camera as well as backup person when you do weddings as well.

I'd say you could get into family portraits, real estate, car dealerships, headshots,etc and work into weddings. All these are very controlled environments with a lot of room to adjust lighting and take multiple shots without having to ask if someone can get remarried.

Hell Starbucks is a good way to get extra money.

 

[JerryPH]

Doing weddings professionally without a good amount of experience and more than one camera/lens is pretty much out of the question for most beginners.

Since you just got your camera, the first thing to do is :
- get to know it... VERY well
- be VERY comfortable in photography
- KNOW THE BASICS

There are tons of things to do, once you are good... photojournalism, local papers, local schools, local businesses.

Talk to a few local professional photographers and see what they can offer.

 

[Village Idiot]

Read a lot. Buy books. Read some more. Shoot pictures, take your camera everywhere. Read more. Meet other photographers. Take more pictures. Read again. Learn everything possible. Don't forget to shoot pictures. Are you still reading?

Knowledge and experience are the best tools. Don't expect to make $500 for a day of work with no experience. Don't expect to make $250. Don't expect to make anything really. Once you have experience and you feel comfortable that you can do what a client ask, then you charge them money.

Portraiture is a some what cheap field to get into. Lights may be needed.

 

[JerryPH]

... and don't forget to read... lol

A good way to gauge yourself is to compare. Join Flickr, PBase and Photobucket and compare yourself against professionals. If you cannot get the results like they are... you are not quite ready to go play with the big boys.