Want to get second shooter jobs-how do I do that ?

[goodguy]

First I live in Toronto Canada.

I have been upgrading my equipment and my skills in the past few years.
I dont want to run and look for paying jobs just yet, I want to get a bit more experience as a second shooter in weddings.
I have designed a site that shows my pictures

My Site

I put few ads on kijiji asking for volunteer job as a second shooter but no reply.
I know I have everything it takes to do this but yet I cant find anyone that will take a guy with all the equipment and good skills for free.

Any suggestion or thoughts will be welcome

 

[Braineack]

sign up a secondshooters.com?

 

[tirediron]

You need to get out there and sell yourself. If you don't already have one, get a proper portfolio printed up, with 8-12 of your BEST images as well as a 'Z' sheet with three of your best and your contact information, shine your shoes, put on your tie and put an extra dab of Bryl-Kreem in your hair and start knocking on doors. As, in: Get out there and actually knock on doors, talk to people. If you can't actually talk to someone who can make a decision, leave a 'Z' sheet and a card, ask for one of their cards and call back in a week or two.This takes a lot of time and shoe leather, but an ad on Kijijijjijijijijijiiiiiii will likely get you exactly nowhere because you're one of ten thousand fish in the same pond.

 

[goodguy]

You need to get out there and sell yourself. If you don't already have one, get a proper portfolio printed up, with 8-12 of your BEST images as well as a 'Z' sheet with three of your best and your contact information, shine your shoes, put on your tie and put an extra dab of Bryl-Kreem in your hair and start knocking on doors. As, in: Get out there and actually knock on doors, talk to people. If you can't actually talk to someone who can make a decision, leave a 'Z' sheet and a card, ask for one of their cards and call back in a week or two.This takes a lot of time and shoe leather, but an ad on Kijijijjijijijijijiiiiiii will likely get you exactly nowhere because you're one of ten thousand fish in the same pond.

I am not looking for a paid job, I am looking for a photographer to work with for free!
My coin is experience and confidence.
My advanatge is that I have a career I love so photography is something I enjoy and want as a side income but not as a full time career.
I need to find somebody that will give me the chance to get better.

 

[goodguy]

sign up a secondshooters.com?

Never heard of this site, will check it, thanks for the link!

 

[Vtec44]

Facebook groups, especially local ones. That's where I go when I need a second shooter while my regular second shooter is unavailable. You'd probably start out as an assistant.

 

[tirediron]

You need to get out there and sell yourself. If you don't already have one, get a proper portfolio printed up, with 8-12 of your BEST images as well as a 'Z' sheet with three of your best and your contact information, shine your shoes, put on your tie and put an extra dab of Bryl-Kreem in your hair and start knocking on doors. As, in: Get out there and actually knock on doors, talk to people. If you can't actually talk to someone who can make a decision, leave a 'Z' sheet and a card, ask for one of their cards and call back in a week or two.This takes a lot of time and shoe leather, but an ad on Kijijijjijijijijijiiiiiii will likely get you exactly nowhere because you're one of ten thousand fish in the same pond.

I am not looking for a paid job, I am looking for a photographer to work with for free!

You and a thousand others! I realize you're looking for an intern position, and if you want one with a GOOD photographer, you're going to have to compete for it. This will take every bit as much work as getting a paid job in another sector.

 

[goodguy]

Looks like I have a long road ahead of me.

 

[goodguy]

Facebook groups, especially local ones. That's where I go when I need a second shooter while my regular second shooter is unavailable. You'd probably start out as an assistant.

Good idea, went and signed up to 2 Toronto Photographic group, hope they will accept me.

 

[gsgary]

A quote from one of my favourite photographers, " I wish people would get more serious about photography and treat it as a hobby"

 

[Derrel]

A quote from one of my favourite photographers, " I wish people would get more serious about photography and treat it as a hobby"

Huh...that sounds kind of familiar to me...

 

[Dillard]

Second shooting is all about networking. Meet and get to know local photographers that may be in need of assistance, post in community Facebook groups with current examples of your work, and quite frankly, don't be afraid to ask.

I posted in a local group offering free second shooting service because its something that I wanted to do. I wasn't interested in the money, and quite frankly didn't want the stress of botching someones big day. I wanted to shoot the wedding, be able to use my creativity, and step outside of my comfort zone with a new subject and environment. Within an hour after posting, I had at least 4 photographers message me. There are many people out there (now granted, they are lower end wedding photographers most likely), that don't price themselves in a range that allows them to fork out $200 of their profit for a second shooter, and would love for someone to come help out free of charge.

Now is that a permanent gig? Of course not. But it gives you wedding work that you can now incorporate into your portfolio for future networking. Not many photographers like paying someone to second shoot that have absolutely no wedding experience. It's kind of like being a teen and trying to get a credit card. You have to have credit to qualify for a credit card, but as a teen, its difficult to get credit without a credit card.

 

[JoeW]

"Second shooting is all about networking." Yep! Totally true in my experience.

Look, I'll offer my personal perspective--if I needed a second shooter for a wedding or another gig, I would only take someone that I knew, someone that I felt I could trust. If it were some big, impersonal thing like an athletic event with a shooter at each station and 10 stations (you know, a marathon or color run or maybe covering election night across the state where you want photographers at multiple campaign headquarters for about 10 different candidates) than I might be recruiting sight unseen. But for something like a wedding--no way! I'm going to only use people I know. It wouldn't be enough to look at their work online (b/c someone can have 10 lovely pictures and 1,000 pieces of crap that didn't make it up. Or they could consistently miss all of the key timing "money shots." Or they could be unreliable--fail to show up or show up late).

And when I've been picked up as a second shooter, it was always someone who knew me...or knew someone who knew me.

So what this means is: you're going to need to make contacts. Join groups (for working professional shooters, they're more likely to be online rather than meet-up groups in person) and have intelligent things to share in the online conversations. Get to know some wedding planners. Find out who the big wedding shooters are in your neck of the woods and try to make connections, offering to be a second shooter for them or assist on projects.

 

[Dillard]

Another note I forgot to mention, several photographers in my area have teamed up from time to time to host second shooter workshops. Its basically a way for you to meet the photographers and learn from seasoned professionals. They explain what they look for in a second shooter, how to compliment their own shooting style, and the general do's and don'ts. If you ever have something like this come up around you, try your best to go! Not only do you learn from those who have been shooting weddings for years, but its an amazing opportunity to network and show what you can do.

 

[goodguy]

Second shooting is all about networking. Meet and get to know local photographers that may be in need of assistance, post in community Facebook groups with current examples of your work, and quite frankly, don't be afraid to ask.

I posted in a local group offering free second shooting service because its something that I wanted to do. I wasn't interested in the money, and quite frankly didn't want the stress of botching someones big day. I wanted to shoot the wedding, be able to use my creativity, and step outside of my comfort zone with a new subject and environment. Within an hour after posting, I had at least 4 photographers message me. There are many people out there (now granted, they are lower end wedding photographers most likely), that don't price themselves in a range that allows them to fork out $200 of their profit for a second shooter, and would love for someone to come help out free of charge.

Now is that a permanent gig? Of course not. But it gives you wedding work that you can now incorporate into your portfolio for future networking. Not many photographers like paying someone to second shoot that have absolutely no wedding experience. It's kind of like being a teen and trying to get a credit card. You have to have credit to qualify for a credit card, but as a teen, its difficult to get credit without a credit card.

I think we share exact thought process, I have a full time permanent job, actually its more then a job its a career and I love it, photography for me is Love, Passion and all these good things, I aspire to turn this potentially in the future to a side income but that's for the future, since I have my regular income I am in a position where I can shoot for free, get the experience I need and the pictures I need to improve my portfolio.

I have listened to all your wonderful thoughts and I have signed up to a local Facebook photographer group and offered my free services, as I said this is not going to be a quick process but I will work on my networking and hopefully someone will be nice enough to use my free services and I am sure it will be a win/win situation, what I need it to be active and patience.
Active I can do easily but sadly I was never a patient man