gthopkins Loc: Stratford, CT

Hi all, I'm relatively new here. I have been reading posts and learning. I enjoy getting out and photographing people, pets, sports, architecture, anything around water or the shore. I am currently using a Nikon D7200 and Nikon lenses. I started taking photos back in 1969 and had a small darkroom, contact printer and enlarger for B&W. My first digital camera was a Sony, which used a 1.44mb floppy. I spent some time and money on Canon bridge cameras before buying a Nikon D60, then a D3300, and now the D7200. I never treated photography as a business, although, I have been paid to do shoots for local drum corp and school marching band and one gig as a photographer of a local senator. I mostly enjoy learning and shooting and post processing in LR and PSE.

I have a question for all. How many of you are professional (earn your living) photographers as compared to taking photos as an expensive hobby?

I have noticed many professional photographers spend a lot of time writing books, doing seminars and webinars, and other forms of teaching. This makes me think photography doesn't pay the bills on its own. I have also noticed some teach 4 or 5 days and only spend one day a week or trip shooting for themselves.

Thanks. I would love you learn what drives you to take photos. Is it money, fun, a desire to create, to communicate? Please share your thoughts.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Welcome to UHH. For me at this point in my life I create images for my own enjoyment, a desire to create, and to communicate. In my other life I taught photography at a University for 12 years and also had my own studio. I converted to Digital 10 years ago. I do miss my 8x10 and 4 x 5 cameras and darkroom.

Spiney Loc: Reading, PA

My wife and I owned and operated a portrait studio for 15 years. We were successful and made a living out of it. We weren't living large, but neither of us had a job outside of FT photography and we were legit, paid taxes, licenses, had to pay for ever increasing health insurance. That was our largest expense next to rent. Started at $125/ month and went up significantly every year. Our final year it was $1200/month for BC/MED-RX. I did take on PT work during the slow months of Jan-May. We were extremely busy from June-December with High School Seniors, in summer early fall, and children & families Fall-Christmas. Did babies all year round, and no weddings by choice. Our 1st five years we did do weddings, but never enjoyed them. We were good at them but extremely time intensive on the back end, after the wedding. Would be easier now. Our first 11 years we shot film. Last 4 were digital with all retouching in house.

I often thought that many of the so called Big Name teaching photographers made the bulk of their income off of teaching. How could you be on Tour so much and have a busy full time business, didn't make sense to me. If you were really making a $ million a year in photography then why take the time to teach your competitors. Like many people I was skeptical.

Yet several that I met were extremely nice and liberal with teaching you their ways, it could have been legit. One that comes to mind was a child & senior photographer named Ed Pierce out of MD/ DC area. Really nice guy who would answer my questions every time I emailed or called. Others we really out to sell you expensive How To manuals, classes, exclusive insider groups, and Special filters, backgrounds, and Photoshop/ LR Plug-Ins and add ons. There was one husband & wife team who I won't mention but they supposedly had a very successful studio, but seemed to be teaching all the time and sold a studio software package as their claim to frame.

IMHO there is no magic bullet or filter or school. 1) be able to create a pleasing image. 2) Have a pleasing, likeable personality. 3) Work hard & efficiently. & 4) but really #1 have good business sense/skills and Market Your Studio ALL THE TIME. That's the key as I understand it.

We loved having a studio, and I would love to still be able to do it. One of the keys to our success was my wife is a natural born sales person. She wasn't high pressure, like a used car sales person. We didn't sell people tons of pictures they didn't need or couldn't afford. But we weren't afraid to ask for a sale, and sell what was really needed. When you do a once in a lifetime extended family portrait and it comes out great, it shouldn't be a 5x7 or even an 11x14. It needed to be a minimum 20x24 and in reality a 30x40 or 40"X60" so you could really appreciate it. The people had to be properly retouched, the print, printed perfect, and framed accordingly. Then it's an investment, a family heirloom that we would sell for around $1000 before being framed.

I always said, people would buy a nice package or wall portrait, write my wife a nice big check or credit card swipe, and Thank Her. That's doing it right. And her saying, which was true is no one ever picked up their print and said, wow that's too big. The opposite can often be true, they get it home, the wall swallows it up and they say, wow, I wish I'd bought the next bigger size. To which we would say, when you get it, if you really think it's too big, we will reprint it, and refund you the difference. Never had to do that.

Sorry I got so long winded, hope I answered some of your questions, Spiney-Dave

whitewolfowner

A little secret here for those wondering about professional photographers. The better one's and the happier ones are serious amateurs; they shoot what they want, when they want. Pros shoot what they are paid to shoot and for most, it's a second, part time job. For those making a living at it are mostly cook book studio shooters and after a few years are so bored with it they want to jump off a bridge. Being a photojournalist is an exciting life, going all over shooting all kinds of different events from a fashion show to sporting activities; but most photojournalists are half starving to death making a little over minimum wage and can work from 6am to 11pm daily with one or maybe two days of less hours or a day off maybe a couple times a month if lucky and on call 24 hours a day. There are exceptions but they are practically one in a million.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I used to be a pro, now I'm retired with an expensive but satisfying hobby. No complaints, can't wait for that new D6, or 7, or 8 to come out.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Welcome to the forum.
I just like recording where I've been and things. It's fun to use the little box to capture what I see. I like to try to make attractive images of places and things, mostly scenic. For the large part, for myself and friends. Simply a hobby.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Welcome to UHH.
I am an amateur photographer, I do it because I enjoy photography, not to make money.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

For me, photography is a total financial loss, but I enjoy it. I would never want to turn this hobby into a business.

Your observation is right on the mark. Getting a couple of hundred people into a room, and $100 a head, is a fast and easy way to make photography pay. Of course, in order to do that, you need the credentials. Most lectures are about how to use software because that is never-ending. Writing books or giving lectures is totally different from photography, though. One involves technique and talent, and the other involves writing/speaking ability and a knack for connecting with people.

When photography becomes a chore, it's no longer fun.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

GT, I have done all sorts of work over the years to earn a living, with much of it related to the camera. Early on I earned a good living shooting interiors for architects and interior designers, and general contractors. I had a built in client resource - having attended architecture school, before long clients were scheduling all of my free time, which was quite lucrative for me. At the time I had no need for a studio, since 100% of the time I shot on location, using large format equipment. I did not have to look for clients, they came to me, and often by strong referral. After a while I shared a studio with a fellow photographer - which worked out fine. My focus shifted to commercial work, which was quite boring but it paid the bills. I also did weddings and events (not my favorite use of my time), sporting event coverage for adult soccer leagues, professional table tennis, and equine competition. Each of these kept me busy and paid the bills, and helped me get my three kids through college, and one of them through grad school. I was also part-owner in a computer business which was focused on helping many of my previous clientele adopt computers in their businesses. I became an Autocad dealer, and sold turnkey solutions, at first for drawing and documenting, and ultimately for all aspects of their businesses. This was also quite lucrative - and I would switch between photography and computers over a period of 15 years. In the middle of all of this I worked alongside an excellent food stylist for a bit, and learned the craft of making food look good enough to eat. I guess I was in the business of Food Porn.

Now I am retired to both businesses, but I still teach and mentor in photography. I am a resource to several local clubs, I do photo workshops, and do the occasional event here and there, but mostly as a second shooter. I don't do it for the money, though it does help feed the habit. I do enjoy sharing my 50 yrs of experience with other photographers. And a day doesn't go by that I don't learn something new, which keeps it fresh and interesting for me. I do sell my fine art work, and I have several local galleries that regularly show and sell my work, which now mostly consists of nature and wildlife photography. I do enjoy photography very much, and I am enjoying the freedom to shoot what I like, when I like it.

A postscript - I am involved with feral cat TNR - Trap, Neuter, Return - in my community. On a routine basis, I make the rounds with the local shelters and independent caretakers with my cameras, helping these poor animals (dogs, cats and whatever) find their forever homes by taking their pictures and donating my time and resources. It is an extremely rewarding experience to have people at the shelter tell me that a picture received 200 or more likes and in three days the dog or cat was adopted.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

If you are economically challenged in the first place, and especially not living near New York or LA, you can just about forget about making any real money actually DOING photography. Today, the good money is in TEACHING photographer wannabees - which can be done almost anywhere.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Couldn't agree more with everything you wrote!

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I have several enterprises going on. The two that provide 90% of my income are rental properties and my Photographic Art. I'm averaging $8,700 a month gross from my Photographic Art which I sell at Fine Art America. My target audience comprises Realtors, loan agents, title agents, and escrow agents; they buy for use as unique close-of-escrow gifts. Many of them, though, are also buying now for unique birthday gifts, wedding presents, graduation gifts, and as wall gifts for family and friends with new offices.

See this link here at UHH for how I succeed at Fine Art America while theoretically in competition with tens of thousands of other photographers: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-327835-1.html

P.S. My goal has always been to get to $10,000 a month by the end of 2016. I didn't think I was going to make it but I just checked on orders and it looks like Christmas gifts are going to help me get there.

korat Loc: Eastern Shore Virginia

I take photographs just because I have fun doing it, but I second what Gene51 says about using your skills to help homeless animals find homes. I photograph the dogs and cats at my local shelter for their Petfinder page and love it when people comment on the photos and come in to look at an animal because of what they saw there. Saying it's an extremely rewarding experience is understatement.

whitewolfowner

I did the same thing here. This town I embarrassingly live in, the size of about 40,000 people kills well over 120 dogs a week because they have no laws or measures in place to keep the population down, nor do they make any reasonable effort to find them homes. There was a group of people trying to curb this problem and had it down to less than 20 a week being gassed and was trying to bring it to zero. I was going to the pound and photographing the dogs for the internet trying to get them homes. It got stopped a few months later by the city because they couldn't stand seeing the group saving that many dogs; they even tried to bring a law against the group. We were a hinderance from increasing the traffic through the pound for people looking for a pet they saw on the internet and coming by every day to photograph them was too much of an inconvenience. So now they are back to gassing over 120 dogs a week.

gthopkins Loc: Stratford, CT

Hi, everyone! I just got a chance to catch up on the posts. These responses are great! I appreciate you sharing what you do, how and why. You have given me plenty to think about. I live about 45 miles outside of New York city. I hate the commute and avoid it unless it is for entertainment reasons. It's just not worth the time and frustration unless you are going into the city to have some fun. I love the idea of volunteering at the animal shelters and will look into that with our local shelter. I'm still getting comfortable with the D7200 and I really do enjoy taking photos. I need to find some time before the snow hits and get out there to capture some Christmas lights and decorations. When I was carrying a Panasonic Lumix p&s camera during the day, I was taking several hundred photos a week. Now that I dusted off the DSLR I am choosing when to carry the extra load and where I shoot with more planning and care. If I could afford it, I would photograph every lighthouse I could get to. I would also like to get some shots at all the major league ball parks. Lofty goals, indeed.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to share with me. This forum seems like a friendly and knowledgeable place to hang out, share, ask questions and learn.