donny1963
No longer a newbie, moving up!
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- Dec 15, 2015
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Some one once asked me, what are the chances are doing photography full time..
Well that's going to depend on what type of photography your going to do.
#1 the photography world is changed all the time, and first off most people
can take their own portraits these days, it's not like the 70's and 80's any where.
where most camera's these days are digital from your smart phone to a $200.00
camera.
Yes a professional photographer can do a better job, but most people these days don't care any more..
How ever Wedding photography is still alive and they are wedding photographers that are
making anywhere from $40,000.00 a year to $150,00.00 a year depending..
Now if your one of them who wants to get your pictures published, then good luck to you in that, you and 50 million other photographers out there are trying that..
Getting your pictures published to make any kind of money is going to be somewhat difficult
First off most publishing magazine companies use their own hired photographers, for instance like
Cosmopolitan, People, Elle, Time, The Glamour, Rolling Stone, Women's Day, Vogue,
Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Allure, All of these magazines / Publishing companies, have a few of their own photographers they pay a hefty Salary, with benefit's health care and all that..
And to actually work for any of these publishing empires, that is not going to be easy either.
I have a friend who is has been a photographer for a couple of the magazine's i mentioned above.
This is not a position you see in the news paper or craigslist,
these companies only consider the photographers by word of mouth, 99.9999% of these photographers get hired from with in the company, Never a some one who inquire's for such position.
You see for most of these empires, the photography end is the backbone..
They won't even consider some one they don't know, no matter who you are, or how great your pictures are that you present to them..
And believe it or not it's not all about how good your pictures are, they are lost of other things that are factored in..
If you ever dream of getting your work published i say keep trying, but also keep in mind that chances are it probably won't happen so you have to be ready for that disappointment.
And again working for any of these big empires, is going to be very difficult task to achieve, not impossible but very unlikely, like i said, 99% of these people are hand picked by people in the business who referred them or word of mouth.
For example, To get a pass as a photographer at fashion week in New York, is very hard as well..
I myself could never achieve this, i have gotten a pass once, but only because i knew some one.
Other wise, they would not even reply to me or even look at me for a second.
Getting that pass is very hard, But with it comes great things, first off you get all access to everything including the back state dressing rooms to all the models, and get to meet them and photograph them, you get to walk up to them and pull them aside and get them to pose for you for a few minutes.
Alot of famous models are there including Victoria Secret's models.
Last time i got a pass was in Fashion week in the late 90's early 2000's
Some people get lucky, but this is the very few.
Most people think, wow your a vogue magazine photographer, you must be amazing, But that is not really the case, they are far better photographers who never even had 1 picture published..
The fact is that most of the magazine photographers are just average photographers..
And in most magazine's where celebrities are published, like Rolling Stone, most of the images are just sent to them by what ever Film Production at the time has featured these celebrities.
For example most of the celebrities pictures published are taken from the film / Movie they did recently..
See as i said Digital imaging is changed in a huge way, there really is no need for a photographer on a move set to take Commercial images any more, they just capture if from the Digital Film.
And the quality is just as good..
The way the world is changing in this era is cinematography, Now there is a booming profession, working as a cinematographer for a motion picture company, these people are making far more then any famous Vogue Magazine photographer has ever combined all of them to 1 cinematographer , the Avarage earnings as a cinematographer for a major motion picture company is 1.5 million dollars a year, this is huge..
How ever again, not an easy job to get, you got about 10 million people going to school for it and ever even seeing the inside of a major motion picture company..
It's like anything else, if you got 10,000 Dodge Vipers and 1 million people who want one then $990,000.00 people are going to not get one, lol
It's just like anything else the reality of business millions of people want to be a movie start and make millions of dollars, but only 1% of the people who go to hollywood California actually make it, out of millions of people..
You have a better chance of winning the Power ball these days..
You ever hear the old saying ? You came close but never made it..
Same thing with Photography in this type of business..
Now for Wedding photographers, this is most of all photographers make their money these days to stay alive..
And just like any other business you need to know how to run a business, you need to have them skills or your never going to make it..
So it's not just all about being a good photographer or knowing how to take great pictures, you need to know the business end of it.
Now This is where i got lucky, my uncle has his own photography business for 40 years and when i got out of high school, i started doing weddings with him and learning.
after about 6 years, he left me the business all his clients and everything..
I got lucky because i had a foundation to stand on, i had clients and so this made it alot easier then starting from scratch,
again if no one knows you why would they want to hire you when their sister will tell a would be client, why don't you use this guy he did my brother brothers wedding he was great, so there you go you lost one would be client because your would be client's idiot sister who has no idea what she is talking about, and referred your would be client to some one else..
This is how easy you can lose work, again just as easy you can get work, word of mouth is a great way to keep your business running, you do Mr Ed's Wedding, and he has a sister who will get married in 3 years and so mr ed will refer her to you, and so you end up doing the entire family circle for the next 20 years.
And that's just one family..
Also if your going to be a portrait / wedding photographer, you can't rely on your customers wanted portrait work outside, you need to have a studio.
with nice backdrops and lights.
I have this for my customers, this is a must.
I been doing this for a long time i'm 53 years old now and ready to retire, i have had enough..
but if your going to want to do photography Full time as your main source of income, then i would start out doing weddings, because this will be the easiest way to stay alive..
Also keep in mind there is alot of pressure and stress in this field..
If your not even sure of your self skill wise i would say don't try it..
The other thing is, if your not a real social type, then your going to suck at this business, because you have to be sociable and able to be a people person, other wise
this is not the job for you.
You need to be a people person and actually like people,
Other wise your going to be the worst suck ass photographer alive lol
I mean this is not hard to figure out. Wedding, Wedding being a sociable event, where people
get together and be happy and have fun, if your one of them shy idiots who can't even say hello with out looking like you kill some one's dog, then again this is not the job for you..
Believe it or not i see alot of people like this who try to do a job where you have to blend in with the crowed and be sociable , fail and fail huge, once you learn about all the aspects of wedding photography you will figure out, being able to take great pictures is only 20% of what it takes to be a wedding photographer, and be successful at it..
Most of the weddings i done, the family wants some one who can be like one the guest, mingle with them, alot of them will ask you to join in the fun from time to time, you can't insult them and refuse either..
Anyway just wanted to bring up a few things about this topic and what most are up against in this business if that is what your looking for..
Cheers
Donny
Well that's going to depend on what type of photography your going to do.
#1 the photography world is changed all the time, and first off most people
can take their own portraits these days, it's not like the 70's and 80's any where.
where most camera's these days are digital from your smart phone to a $200.00
camera.
Yes a professional photographer can do a better job, but most people these days don't care any more..
How ever Wedding photography is still alive and they are wedding photographers that are
making anywhere from $40,000.00 a year to $150,00.00 a year depending..
Now if your one of them who wants to get your pictures published, then good luck to you in that, you and 50 million other photographers out there are trying that..
Getting your pictures published to make any kind of money is going to be somewhat difficult
First off most publishing magazine companies use their own hired photographers, for instance like
Cosmopolitan, People, Elle, Time, The Glamour, Rolling Stone, Women's Day, Vogue,
Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Allure, All of these magazines / Publishing companies, have a few of their own photographers they pay a hefty Salary, with benefit's health care and all that..
And to actually work for any of these publishing empires, that is not going to be easy either.
I have a friend who is has been a photographer for a couple of the magazine's i mentioned above.
This is not a position you see in the news paper or craigslist,
these companies only consider the photographers by word of mouth, 99.9999% of these photographers get hired from with in the company, Never a some one who inquire's for such position.
You see for most of these empires, the photography end is the backbone..
They won't even consider some one they don't know, no matter who you are, or how great your pictures are that you present to them..
And believe it or not it's not all about how good your pictures are, they are lost of other things that are factored in..
If you ever dream of getting your work published i say keep trying, but also keep in mind that chances are it probably won't happen so you have to be ready for that disappointment.
And again working for any of these big empires, is going to be very difficult task to achieve, not impossible but very unlikely, like i said, 99% of these people are hand picked by people in the business who referred them or word of mouth.
For example, To get a pass as a photographer at fashion week in New York, is very hard as well..
I myself could never achieve this, i have gotten a pass once, but only because i knew some one.
Other wise, they would not even reply to me or even look at me for a second.
Getting that pass is very hard, But with it comes great things, first off you get all access to everything including the back state dressing rooms to all the models, and get to meet them and photograph them, you get to walk up to them and pull them aside and get them to pose for you for a few minutes.
Alot of famous models are there including Victoria Secret's models.
Last time i got a pass was in Fashion week in the late 90's early 2000's
Some people get lucky, but this is the very few.
Most people think, wow your a vogue magazine photographer, you must be amazing, But that is not really the case, they are far better photographers who never even had 1 picture published..
The fact is that most of the magazine photographers are just average photographers..
And in most magazine's where celebrities are published, like Rolling Stone, most of the images are just sent to them by what ever Film Production at the time has featured these celebrities.
For example most of the celebrities pictures published are taken from the film / Movie they did recently..
See as i said Digital imaging is changed in a huge way, there really is no need for a photographer on a move set to take Commercial images any more, they just capture if from the Digital Film.
And the quality is just as good..
The way the world is changing in this era is cinematography, Now there is a booming profession, working as a cinematographer for a motion picture company, these people are making far more then any famous Vogue Magazine photographer has ever combined all of them to 1 cinematographer , the Avarage earnings as a cinematographer for a major motion picture company is 1.5 million dollars a year, this is huge..
How ever again, not an easy job to get, you got about 10 million people going to school for it and ever even seeing the inside of a major motion picture company..
It's like anything else, if you got 10,000 Dodge Vipers and 1 million people who want one then $990,000.00 people are going to not get one, lol
It's just like anything else the reality of business millions of people want to be a movie start and make millions of dollars, but only 1% of the people who go to hollywood California actually make it, out of millions of people..
You have a better chance of winning the Power ball these days..
You ever hear the old saying ? You came close but never made it..
Same thing with Photography in this type of business..
Now for Wedding photographers, this is most of all photographers make their money these days to stay alive..
And just like any other business you need to know how to run a business, you need to have them skills or your never going to make it..
So it's not just all about being a good photographer or knowing how to take great pictures, you need to know the business end of it.
Now This is where i got lucky, my uncle has his own photography business for 40 years and when i got out of high school, i started doing weddings with him and learning.
after about 6 years, he left me the business all his clients and everything..
I got lucky because i had a foundation to stand on, i had clients and so this made it alot easier then starting from scratch,
again if no one knows you why would they want to hire you when their sister will tell a would be client, why don't you use this guy he did my brother brothers wedding he was great, so there you go you lost one would be client because your would be client's idiot sister who has no idea what she is talking about, and referred your would be client to some one else..
This is how easy you can lose work, again just as easy you can get work, word of mouth is a great way to keep your business running, you do Mr Ed's Wedding, and he has a sister who will get married in 3 years and so mr ed will refer her to you, and so you end up doing the entire family circle for the next 20 years.
And that's just one family..
Also if your going to be a portrait / wedding photographer, you can't rely on your customers wanted portrait work outside, you need to have a studio.
with nice backdrops and lights.
I have this for my customers, this is a must.
I been doing this for a long time i'm 53 years old now and ready to retire, i have had enough..
but if your going to want to do photography Full time as your main source of income, then i would start out doing weddings, because this will be the easiest way to stay alive..
Also keep in mind there is alot of pressure and stress in this field..
If your not even sure of your self skill wise i would say don't try it..
The other thing is, if your not a real social type, then your going to suck at this business, because you have to be sociable and able to be a people person, other wise
this is not the job for you.
You need to be a people person and actually like people,
Other wise your going to be the worst suck ass photographer alive lol
I mean this is not hard to figure out. Wedding, Wedding being a sociable event, where people
get together and be happy and have fun, if your one of them shy idiots who can't even say hello with out looking like you kill some one's dog, then again this is not the job for you..
Believe it or not i see alot of people like this who try to do a job where you have to blend in with the crowed and be sociable , fail and fail huge, once you learn about all the aspects of wedding photography you will figure out, being able to take great pictures is only 20% of what it takes to be a wedding photographer, and be successful at it..
Most of the weddings i done, the family wants some one who can be like one the guest, mingle with them, alot of them will ask you to join in the fun from time to time, you can't insult them and refuse either..
Anyway just wanted to bring up a few things about this topic and what most are up against in this business if that is what your looking for..
Cheers
Donny
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