I was Just wondering...

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AcidFetishToy

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How many of you on here actually have a job as a Photographer? or a Photography based job

Just wondering :)

currently tryin to plan a career - would be great to know what your all doing

cheers!
 
I don't, I work in finance (mortgages & insurance). I did want to study photography when I went to college, however my dad wouldn't let me chose any subjects unless they were 'academic'.

Now that I'm older I have started it up as a hobby and will see what happens.
 
Me.

Planning is good -wish I had! I got fed up working for MIME's (minor intellect, major ego), found wearing a suit too restrictive, chucked-in the towel, moved 250 miles and started again doing something I enjoy!

To start planning a career you should decide what you're interested in and what you're good at then decide whether there's a market for that and whether you want the 'freedom' of working for yourself or the 'stability' of a regular wage.

Photography covers such a wide range; Portrait/Wedding-Social documentary-Fine Art-Landscapes-Forensics-Advertising-Magazines(themselves covering every subject under the sun!)-Glamour-Lifestyle, etc, etc...

Decide where your interests lie - perhaps start with what magazines do you regularly read and narrow it down from there (do you want to do forensics or shoot for Vogue or Canal Boat Monthly?)

Then decide how you want to get there - do you need any specific qualifications?

Whatever you decide it will be hard work but may just possibly be worth it. Good luck!
 
Ah, I'm doing BTEC National Diploma in Health studies but i really dont want to do that anymore, so im applying for an AS level in photography, My parents didnt really have a problem with it aslong as i was happy.

I would love a job following Bands around, or just taking pictures of Alternative models i think that would be an amazing job.

But i think joining this forum has made me reconsider sticking with the Nursing and just doing photography as a hobby

im so confused atm :(
 
i considered it when i was at uni (not doing photography) and not enjoying my final year, but i decided that it would be very difficult to forge a career in it and keep my head above water, especially doing band shots as i was back then, i just couldnt see the money being viable for survival at anything more than a hobby, so now i work in the motorsport industry and just take pictures as a hobby whenever i can get to motorsport events.


wasnt really sure if i would enjoy photography as much if i HAD to do it to survive
 
Yep, I do, there's a few working togs on here. I think it's nice that the distinction between the two is so blurred on TP :thumbs:
 
I hope i will get by doing photography :\ if not i always have my Diploma to fall back on so im not that screwed.
 
Im just a hobbyist here too but its my dream job. Im not entirelly sure I would be able to make as much money from it as I do from my day job either. Would dearly love to be a motorsports photographer though :)
 
I really am clueless atm :| lol
ah well i'll just go to College - have fun there
whats the worst that could happen :)
 
Just a hobby for me. Although I work in the printing industry, so I work "with" photography all the time. It was actually working with image manipulation software (Photoshop, Illustrator etc) that first got me interested in photography :)
 
I'm an ex pro who used to do weddings mainly but Ive done most stuff - portraits, school photos, pets, parties, corporate days at various activities, retirement home and restaurant brochures, and a lot of photo editing and restoration for the trade. I'm now retired and really enjoying my photography as it should be enjoyed - as a hobby. ;)
 
ah kool was it hard to find jobs n such?
or are you just amazing with a camera lol
 
Once you get known in the area and have a few good results and satisfied customers under your belt the work soon starts to roll in. It depends on your attitude mainly... there wasn't much I'd turn down if it involved using a camera and getting paid for it. ;)

If you want to specialise in fashion, glamour or shooting pop groups it's going to be a lot tougher to break in and it could be a long time before you're eating on a regular basis, but if you're prepared to tackle what comes along, then you can be learning a good grounding and getting invaluable experience for specialising later on.
 
Would it be easy to make a name for yourself by shooting like local unsigned bands? and then work your way up the ladder?
Haha i didnt really have pop groups in mind
A friend of mine is a photographer for some of my favourite signed bands, she has offered to give me a hand with whatever i am struggling with :)
she's handy to to have around
 
LOL. It would certainly be good practise and if that's what you're interested in then you should grab every opportunity as it comes. The problem with unsigned bands is they're in the same position as you - trying to break in and they're not over-burdened with money when it comes to paying. :D
 
I wouldnt be too bothered about making the money at that point really, but making a name for yourself is just as important.
But a bit of money wont go unwanted :)

I should be taking a few shots of my friends band soon, and ive got enough people offering to pose for me. ee cant go wrong with the friends i have
well. maybe! lol
 
main problem i found with unsigned bands was the fact that most dont seem willing to pay for quality, they'd prefer blurred shots by one of their mates with a point and shoot than to pay someone for really good quality pictures which will help sell their band in a press pack. and then when you help to build your portfolio by doing a few promo shoots for free, its difficult to move past that and start getting paid for it,

im not tarring every unsigned band with the same stick as ive found some to be incredibly proffessional, but it does annoy you when a band asks you to turn up and shoot a gig for them and they dont even have the decency to put you on the guest list!
 
What kind of genre bands have you had experience with?

And yeah most of them are just kids really

I'm not saying im that good atm or any better than their little friends :p but i just want to get a portfolio going
 
just a hobbist with loads to learn, but my other hobbie is my job :D. I would hate to have the pressure of doing a wedding shot imagine if it went wrong and you spoiled that couples day :gag:. maybe when I get better I would think about putting pictures on a site that people can buy from but that would be my only aim
 
Haha im sure i could live with myself :p

and kool i suppose you cant go wrong with something like that if you dont make any money out of it then theres not really a loss there
 
I agree with Whitewash, working with unsigned bands is a tough way to make any money. I was lucky as the first band I worked with were willing to pay a decent rate for promotional material but in general most bands don't have anything that repesents a budget beyond beer money :(
 
Who would you say is the best type of customer?
like bands, models, ect in your experience?
 
I'm not in the photography business yet but I will be at some point I'm sure. I currently work in a quality organisation dealing with how to improve the way the business opperates in terms of how we do things.

I would suggest that if you are thinking of a career in photography you should identify whether you want to be primarily a career artist or a career business person whose business is photography. What's the difference - well an artist feeds his own desires and unless they are lucky and their desires match what others want most will be poor but happy. On the other hand a business person will feed the desires of the customer producing what the customer wants and therefore will get paid and therefore should live comfortably but may not be as happy. Remember though you can mix the two and be primarily a business person and an artist in the quiet times.
 
I am actually a full time magician.

I like using my camera as a break from the day job - when I can find time that is - usually performing tricks somewhere. I keep practising the old smash it with a hammer in a hankie trick with my cameras too and I am now on my 8th Canon 5D!
 
Hehe I had a band once say £20 was too much. A whole band couldn't afford £20?! Things like that turn me off music photography quite a lot. Then you get another band say my rate is good and off we go.
 
yeh £20 between 5 people is scarcely more than a round of beers for the band, but they wont even pay you that for your time (which they dont seem to realise is alot more than the 15mins you spend shooting them!
 
Haha your talking pocket money if you ask less than £20 :|
Even though the unsigned band i know only gets like £5 a night for a gig, bless them lol
 
AcidFetishToy said:
Who would you say is the best type of customer?
like bands, models, ect in your experience?
Click to expand...

I make the most money from event type work. It's money for jam really but boring as hell. It doesn't need much photographic skill, a bit of chat with the punters is the main thing. With the right events the profit level means I'm earning around £300 an hour which is nice but I couldn't do it full time as I'd probably go insane after a week of it and attack people with a spoon ;)

It's a necessary evil as it pays the bills and lets me do far more interesting jobs that pay the bill for my creativity and soul :thumbs:
 
Im in the transitional (sp) stage, currently doing boring office work and want to go professional / freelance, have got my plan, fingers crossed by the middle of the year there will be no more boring office job!
 
AcidFetishToy said:
Haha your talking pocket money if you ask less than £20 :|
Even though the unsigned band i know only gets like £5 a night for a gig, bless them lol
Click to expand...

thats dreadful, i know bands dont get paid much for playing at a gig, but £5 is rediculous, they are either playing at the wrong venues or are not bringing any sort of a crowd with them. it seems the only way for a band to make any sort of decent money before being signed is to be a covers band playing at weddings etc and thats the sort of thing most musicians would refuse to do.


i know of one band (one of the only ones who ever paid me) who are full time musicians, they ran a covers band which paid for everything so they could then have the 'proper band' as well as not having to work etc...
 
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