Funding my addiction

[morydd]

I love to take pictures, and have a nasty habit of going through obscene amounts of film (I'll probably go through at least 3 rolls this weekend on a trip to Iowa) and because of this, don't shoot nearly as much as I'd like to. DW gets annoyed when I spend $100 on developing and then throw away 80% of what I've shot. (She understands why, just wishes it didn't cost so much.)

I'd like to go digital, but looking at $1200 for the camera I want, it'll be a long time before the film savings to catch up.

So, any suggestion on how I might make my "hobby" help pay for itself? Here's the problem.... my "real job" (the one that pays the rent and insurance) usually has me working nights and weekends, and I live in a relatively small apartment so a studio is not really a good option.

So... ideas?

 

[LilmaK]

Since 1200 is steep u may consider stepping down to about less than half that on a Fujifilm S7000. Mine paid for itself in just a few months.(took months because I only did 3 or 4 LITTLE jobs.) It's worth it trust me. The photo quality is really nice and you'll soon be able to purchase the 1200er out of ur pocket without DW ever finding out.

 

[2framesbelowzero]

So... you are around in the afternoons, during the working-week
and you want to earn money from photography. You live in a big,
famous city. You don't feel you have the space or the extra budget at the moment for a studio-space.

How about....corporate photography for a company's in-house magazine,
new management joining the company, people leaving, company charitable functions / lunches / 'fundays' and initiatives.

or...approach property-development companies / interior-design companies who may be looking for promotional photography of their
latest projects.

To get some folio-materials together for each of these, idea#1:
Do some free event photography for a few of local charities who are organising fundraisers in the business-communuity.

idea #2: approach newly-opened (yuppie) restaurants and bars in Chicago and offer them some free photography. Get hold of architects ttrade magazines or 'Design Week' type publications with a local focus and see who's running 1/4 page display-ads in the back.

 

[2framesbelowzero]

..or if neither of those is your scene at all... start knocking on the doors of start-up music-labels, fashion-houses in Chicago. I think whatever you try, it will take a year or two to get the ball rolling.