How did you get your photography job?

[Rekd]

Wow.

Lots of RAWR!!! in this thread.

Congrats on the job. It's a start and you should be proud of that.

Back on topic: I fell into photography as a part of my part-time writing jobs. I started out blogging for free, realized other bloggers got paid, and applied at CreativeWeblogging and got hired on at like $7.00 per post writing about family-based motorsports recreation.

I was able to leverage that to get track access to some CORRacing events and other motorsports things, which increasingly encouraged me to get better camera equipment.

That helped me land my first international print magazine gig with ATV Magazine, my first internet magazine gig with ATV Source Magazine, and then many other gigs including on-line gigs, newspapers, local magazines etc.

Now I've got a steady gig with About.com (New York Times Company) and continue to write for magazines and newspapers, both online and in print.

This week was another milestone for me. ATV Source Magazine contacted me and asked me to represent them at a Kawasaki Press Ride for their new quad. Kawasaki is going to fly me up to Medford Oregon and pay for everything and I get to ride quads and take pictures all day, then sell the articles/photos to the magazine.

I've done a press ride before for Yamaha but Yamaha contacted me via my About.com site. This time a magazine contacted me instead of the other way around. (I usually query the magazine and offer articles/reviews etc).

Probably a small step in the eyes of some here but it's a good feeling to know I was the first choice for the magazine to represent them.

So far my writing has not only helped me get into photography but it has also literally paid for ALL my equipment many times over. :thumbup:

 

[Forkie]

I am an in-house photographer taking photos of the stock for the company to place on their website.

You'd be much much better off working as a third party, charging them stock prices rather than a set salary, you will be knocking out more photos for less money that way.

I totally agree that if I was a freelancer, or had a third party company I could probably charge them a lot more, but as a photographer starting out, the offer of a fairly good salary for taking photos all day was too good an offer to pass up.

And right now, the experience is golden to me rather than a huge salary and as I can use the studio in my own time, I can add to my portfolio as I wish. We all have to start somewhere, right?

Figures a company would hire a civilian for a product photography job. They couldn't possibly hire a pro. No offense. It's why, you'll start to notice, how terrible product photography on the web is.

I did product photography for 3 years (100-150 images shot per day plus email blasts and marketing material). It was a thankless job and I was creatively stifled. When I departed, I went freelance. I now shoot weddings and portraits - couldn't be happier.

Hi Cinka, you're right, of course companies will hire a non-pro if it saves them money and it's not the most creative of photography genres! I'm taking up to 250 shots per day (useable ones that is) and the thanks is more a pat on the back than a financial bonus. However, the experience is invaluable, regardless of all that.

Rekd, that's a great story. Thanks! That gives me some encouragement (not that I'm not already encouraged!)

 

[Stephen.C]

Congrats on the job!
I've always been told part of getting a job is being in the right place at the right time, and also just being lucky.

Reading this thread though has made me lose some faith in the professional photography career game lmao.

 

[Forkie]

Congrats on the job!
I've always been told part of getting a job is being in the right place at the right time, and also just being lucky.

Reading this thread though has made me lose some faith in the professional photography career game lmao.

You're right, it is all about about luck. If I hadn't kept photography as an interest on my CV (which apparently, is a CV faux pas) and had got the job I originally applied for, I may never have this job.

I think professional photography (certainly as a freelancer) must be hard. I do worry about eventually hating it if I go freelance and don't enjoy the rest of the stuff that goes along with being a freelancer (marketing, financial stuff, etc.), but I guess there's only one way to find out!

 

[spacefuzz]

I think professional photography (certainly as a freelancer) must be hard. I do worry about eventually hating it if I go freelance and don't enjoy the rest of the stuff that goes along with being a freelancer (marketing, financial stuff, etc.), but I guess there's only one way to find out!

I would have the same worry if I was to ever go into photography with the need to make enough money to eat. Seems to be a lot of unhappy pro photographers out there.

 

[SCraig]

And third ... it's a 7 year old thread.

 

[jcdeboever]

And 4th, it took away 5 minutes of my life reading it, will never recover those 5 min

 

[MidnightUK]

Well, I am glad this thread resurfaced as I have now read the OPs bio (which is updated to at least 2015, possibly more recent?) and he seems to have continued as a pro photographer doing various subjects, there is hope for us all.
Ian Forknall - Biography - IMDb