Fingtam
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2012
- Messages
- 55
- Reaction score
- 4
- Location
- Jacksonville, NC
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Hi everyone, this is my first post on these forums.
I fell in love with photography when I was in high school. I bought a modest Nikon D40, which was the only DSLR I could afford at the time, and accumulated a few lenses and other equipment before I graduated. I would have loved to have pursued photography more seriously, but good photography equipment is EXPENSIVE. Especially when you're sixteen making minimum wage at your uncle's Bait shop.
Fast forward a few years, and I am now 22. I am currently serving in the Marine Corps and I'm about to be deployed to the Horn of Africa for about eight months. While I'm overseas I'll be making extra pay for living in hazardous conditions, and obviously I won't have much to blow my money on while I'm over there. Most guys come back from deployments like this with about $20,000 and then buy a new car or blow it all on booze and women.
Several of my closest friends are full time photographers with no other source of income, and for the last few days I've been formulating this idea in my head that I could get into the business as a side job. So I went online, looked at some camera and lens reviews, pulled up Microsoft Excel, and calculated that I could set myself up with a pretty sweet set up of new equipment for about $13,000 that includes everything I need (ok, want). The specific camera I'm thinking about is the Nikon D3.
I have about six years of experience as a moderately active photographer hobbyist. I've done two weddings for friends who were getting married on a budget, one friend asked me to take his senior pictures, and I'll have an occasional photo shoot with friends who were just interested in having cool looking facebook pics. However, I don't know if I have enough confidence in my photography to charge people who are trusting me to capture their special moments to their satisfaction. (Obviously, that is a skill that would come with time.)
Anyways, I have a very secure full time job in the military with most weekends off (between deployments), so I'm not concerned about making enough money from photography to support myself. While I'm in the states I will have the ability to invest sufficient time and money into a photography side job without risking too much of my financial future.
My current contract expires in June 2015 and I don't plan on re-enlisting. It would be great if by that time I could develop the photography skills, and business savvy to make a full time job of photography. I have no family, debt, or bills, so spending 12-15 thousand dollars cash after my deployment will be no problem for me. And I feel like this could be an investment that would actually end up making me more money in the end, as well as a great opportunity to kick start a great career that I know I would love. Or at least it could be a job that supports me through the rest of my college.
So, with all that said, my question is this. Obviously, I'm talking about a large sum of money here. Is it foolhardy for me to consider putting so much money into equipment before I even know what I'm getting myself into? I fully understand that all the expensive cameras in the world won't make me a good photographer by themselves. Would it be much wiser for me to buy the equipment little by little? Honestly, I probably would not be motivated to pursue photography as an occupation unless I started out fresh with the right equipment.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?
I fell in love with photography when I was in high school. I bought a modest Nikon D40, which was the only DSLR I could afford at the time, and accumulated a few lenses and other equipment before I graduated. I would have loved to have pursued photography more seriously, but good photography equipment is EXPENSIVE. Especially when you're sixteen making minimum wage at your uncle's Bait shop.
Fast forward a few years, and I am now 22. I am currently serving in the Marine Corps and I'm about to be deployed to the Horn of Africa for about eight months. While I'm overseas I'll be making extra pay for living in hazardous conditions, and obviously I won't have much to blow my money on while I'm over there. Most guys come back from deployments like this with about $20,000 and then buy a new car or blow it all on booze and women.
Several of my closest friends are full time photographers with no other source of income, and for the last few days I've been formulating this idea in my head that I could get into the business as a side job. So I went online, looked at some camera and lens reviews, pulled up Microsoft Excel, and calculated that I could set myself up with a pretty sweet set up of new equipment for about $13,000 that includes everything I need (ok, want). The specific camera I'm thinking about is the Nikon D3.
I have about six years of experience as a moderately active photographer hobbyist. I've done two weddings for friends who were getting married on a budget, one friend asked me to take his senior pictures, and I'll have an occasional photo shoot with friends who were just interested in having cool looking facebook pics. However, I don't know if I have enough confidence in my photography to charge people who are trusting me to capture their special moments to their satisfaction. (Obviously, that is a skill that would come with time.)
Anyways, I have a very secure full time job in the military with most weekends off (between deployments), so I'm not concerned about making enough money from photography to support myself. While I'm in the states I will have the ability to invest sufficient time and money into a photography side job without risking too much of my financial future.
My current contract expires in June 2015 and I don't plan on re-enlisting. It would be great if by that time I could develop the photography skills, and business savvy to make a full time job of photography. I have no family, debt, or bills, so spending 12-15 thousand dollars cash after my deployment will be no problem for me. And I feel like this could be an investment that would actually end up making me more money in the end, as well as a great opportunity to kick start a great career that I know I would love. Or at least it could be a job that supports me through the rest of my college.
So, with all that said, my question is this. Obviously, I'm talking about a large sum of money here. Is it foolhardy for me to consider putting so much money into equipment before I even know what I'm getting myself into? I fully understand that all the expensive cameras in the world won't make me a good photographer by themselves. Would it be much wiser for me to buy the equipment little by little? Honestly, I probably would not be motivated to pursue photography as an occupation unless I started out fresh with the right equipment.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?