Professional photos with budget camera?

Phil V said:
It’s a shame that these type of threads often do that, they give the impression that the OP is just trying to build up expertise and work for free...

But the reality is that they mistakenly believe they’ve spotted a gap in the market, and they want advice from pro’s whilst they’re happy to undercut them whilst using their lack of experience as an excuse for their naïveté.

What happens next is very predictable, some experienced photographers give the benefit of the doubt and tell the OP to go practice and research the market properly. And then some posters decide that the pros are clearly trying to protect a closed shop and slag them off for that (even though it didn’t happen).

The fact of the matter is that there’s a great business to be had shooting pets, and as he’s a marketing expert he will quickly realise that, he can invest in some training, get out and practice and make some really good money.

Who’d create a ‘business’ shooting for £30 a day when they could be earning 10x that or more?
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Really do many people pay for that? (I am not planing to do it BTW).
 
davholla said:
Really do many people pay for that? (I am not planing to do it BTW).
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At least one current member and a former contributor who charged much more.

Photography, as I said before is a luxury product. No one needs photos, so it’s pointless trying to sell at bargain basement prices, the market for ‘high end’ products is not only more secure, it’s actually larger.
 
  • if your shooting a wedding and getting paid , you need insurance , otherwise if anything went wrong on your part you could be liable to restage the wedding. and only one camera what about a backup
 
steve_lyt said:
  • if your shooting a wedding and getting paid , you need insurance , otherwise if anything went wrong on your part you could be liable to restage the wedding. and only one camera what about a backup
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:tumbleweed:

I’m sure you felt that was relevant, but without further explanation, I’m sure no one else could.
 
AndyG123 said:
Hi guys, I do love my photography since taking it up in September with my d3300 and kit lenses (sigma 70-300) and 18-55 3.5. I want to try and earn some spare pennies with photography... How hard is this to do with my camera if my shots are good.
I do have free access to website hosting and actually make websites for a living. So it's not an issue getting a website set up.
I've thought about building a portfolio of doggies in the family and getting some nice shots of pooches.. Have thought about using these images to Build a Facebook page and website. Then offering people a free 1 hour session with access to purchase a memory card with all of the images at cost of the memory stick. For liking and sharing my page. To boost traffic. Then starting to see if people would actually buy this service (at very little cost in comparison to others) . My only problem is Im not a professional photographer and my kit is limited.

Do you guys think with time and practice this could be possible to do with the kit I have?.. (the reason I say dogs is because I am an animal lover and animals do seem to listen to me) more so than children. (still failing to get a fantastic picture of my 4 month old baby)
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How many negative people on here o_O I'm pretty sure you all started somewhere with no experience back in the day (n)

Andy as a beginner I bet some of these posts got you down!! seriously dont let them! Everybody, no matter what they decide to do in life has to start somewhere and EVERYBODY chooses to do this differently. Some may take a photography degree (of which many people on here have told me not to do that) others tread carefully and take it easy and others throw them selves in at the deep end!

Honestly your 2 months into it so yes your very novice (i'm over a year and a half and still dont really consider myself good enough to make money) but advice I have gotten off many well established photographers here in Australia is to never photograph for free or they will always expect them free and potentially loose their custom when you begin charging. However 30 pounds for a usb?? personally think that is a little steep.

I would say advertise as a "new year offer" of (how many prints for the price of the usb) (E.G Get a 1 hour shoot of your dog with minimum 25 prints for the price of a usb) main thing is MARKET YOURSELF! do a few different "offers' to get yourself experience, learn studio lighting and hire a studio and do a similar offer. When your confident you can produce Quality Picture for EVERY customer then start charging a price to make profit from them. (I also like the Doggy Day care option)

Through all this though you need to ensure you have the correct insurance to cover yourself fully.

If you dont Believe in yourself who will?

Best of luck :banana:
 
Getting professional results and using a camera as a professional is two different things.
Being good enough and getting images of a quality that people will pay for on weekly strolls and personal hobby projects would be great and I for one wouldn't hesitate if approached by someone willing to buy one of my happy accidents ;) starting up a career using an entry level camera and with only little experience.......... hmm maybe to much risk, at least for me.
 
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soeren said:
Getting professional results and using a camera as a professional is two different things.
Being good enough and getting images of a quality that people will pay for on weekly strolls and personal hobby projects would be great and I for one wouldn't hesitate if approached by someone willing to buy one of my happy accidents ;) starting up a career using an entry level camera and with only little experience.......... hmm maybe to much risk, at least for me.
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I don't really see what he's risking if I'm honest? He's not packing his job in and throwing everything into this with no experience and an entry level camera. He's got a camera, enjoying it and wants to see if he can take it further? He's not charging £120 a shoot he's offering shoots for for the price of a USB and experience basically. If he advertises that he's not going to get people expecting top notch/pro quality images.

I admire his drive to get out and learn tbh. Why should he not get out and learn with an entry level camera and upgrade as he goes along. Smart move I would say, maybe upgrade from the kit lens after all I hear a lot of photographers say it's not as much to do with the body as it is the lens.

This isn't negative towards you btw, just my opinion :)
 
Jessica Forster said:
I don't really see what he's risking if I'm honest? He's not packing his job in and throwing everything into this with no experience and an entry level camera. He's got a camera, enjoying it and wants to see if he can take it further? He's not charging £120 a shoot he's offering shoots for for the price of a USB and experience basically. If he advertises that he's not going to get people expecting top notch/pro quality images.

I admire his drive to get out and learn tbh. Why should he not get out and learn with an entry level camera and upgrade as he goes along. Smart move I would say, maybe upgrade from the kit lens after all I hear a lot of photographers say it's not as much to do with the body as it is the lens.

This isn't negative towards you btw, just my opinion :)
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No offence taken, opinions are welcome :)
Nothing wrong with learning as you go along. What I meant was taking on jobs e.g shooting a wedding or other once in a lifetime events I would hate not being able to deliver according to contract because something went wrong either because I screwed up or my my camera failed. The difference between getting professional results and using the gear professionally. Selling something you have made because its really great, no problem. Taking on a job without a safety line, hmm not for me. :)
Yes getting great shots is more about the person behind and the lens in front than about what's in between. I can go out and make stunning shots if Im good enough and the only one hunting if my camera breaks is me.
 
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soeren said:
No offence taken, opinions are welcome :)
Nothing wrong with learning as you go along. What I meant was taking on jobs e.g shooting a wedding or other once in a lifetime events I would hate not being able to deliver according to contract because something went wrong either because I screwed up or my my camera failed. The difference between getting professional results and using the gear professionally. Selling something you have made because its really great, no problem. Taking on a job without a safety line, hmm not for me. :)
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Ahh I never saw anything about doing a wedding/ once in a lifetime event with no experience[emoji85] must have missed that somewhere. I fully agree that is a no go area without plenty of courses / second shooting!
 
Jessica Forster said:
Ahh I never saw anything about doing a wedding/ once in a lifetime event with no experience[emoji85] must have missed that somewhere. I fully agree that is a no go area without plenty of courses / second shooting!
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No one did ;)

The OP never mentioned weddings, he wants to shoot pets. And he left this thread weeks ago.
 
Would I think about starting a 'hobby business' these days? Not a chance! By the time I'd paid for the necessary Public and Product Liability and Profession Indemnity Insurance, carried out the necessary risk assessments associated with having premises to which clients and their pets would have access, notified HMRC that I'd started a business, kept detailed financial records (profit and loss accounts) and filled in the annual self-assessment tax form (or paid an accountant to do this for me), changed my house insurance to a 'specialist' dearer one as the company I was with wouldn't provide any cover if there was any business use or any business-related visitors to the house (despite me believing that I already had this aspect covered by my business Public Liability insurance!), and all the other things that are needed but often forgotten about by people just thinking 'I know, I'll set up a little part-time hobby business', then I very much doubt I'd cover my actual costs (money and time), and I'd have turned something I really enjoyed doing as a hobby into something akin to a millstone round my neck. No thanks! If someone likes my photos, and I like them, then I'll print a copy off and give it to them as gift... it's a lot less mither!
 
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Phil V said:
No one did ;)

The OP never mentioned weddings, he wants to shoot pets. And he left this thread weeks ago.
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No I was just giving some examples, though to extreme, for kinds of Work I wouldnt do with this level of experience and to some extent gear. Take photographer have fun and then maybe afterwards offer the food pictures for sale is another matter.
 
GaryLaird said:
Excellent video that proves the point that it's not the equipment used that makes a good photo and no amount of equipment will make a good photographer ;)
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I do love a good YouTube video. Never seen this, there's also another vlogger who does a series called 3 photographers 1 model. And each one has very very different results.
 
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