Does anyone do freelance work in the evenings?

[Tom JK]

Hello all,

I have some free time during weekend evenings and am exploring ways to make some money on the side. Just curious what others out there may be doing to earn extra cash.

So far, sports photography for evenings games is the only thing that comes to mind.

[canonnoob]

i freelance quite a bit as well as owning my own sports photography company. i also do some stringer work

[Tom JK]

Canonnoob,

I'm not that familiar with stringer work. Are you talking about working on assignment for a local newspaper? Is if tough to break into?

I have a limited background in photography but have some decent gear (Canon 5D MarkII).

[canonnoob]

its not tough to get into, but right now it is as many news agencies are not hiring or anything. stringer work is basically where i go to emergencies and other things going on and shoot. car wrecks, shoot outs with police... etc.

** dont do it unless you have protection IE a vest.

[Tom JK]

Can you clarify what you meant by the last sentence? Protection IE vest?

[jacuff]

Can you clarify what you meant by the last sentence? Protection IE vest?

He means don't just show up at a scene involving a gunfight hoping to sell a photo to a news outlet without the proper safety precautions such as a bullet proof vest.

[canonnoob]

He means don't just show up at a scene involving a gunfight hoping to sell a photo to a news outlet without the proper safety precautions such as a bullet proof vest.

bing bing bing

[jacuff]

I'm also a stringer for a paper here. I knew lots of people that had tried to get on with this paper but they were told nothing was available, which was probably the case at the time they asked. The staff is small and photographers are even fewer. I got the position because I knew one of the editors and she asked me if I was interested. This editor was already familiar with my work. So my advice is to get to know an editor or two. You'll have to prove to them that you can not only produce good work, but also produce it on a tight deadline.

As Dave mentioned, it may be tough to get into being a stringer because many papers are struggling and don't have the money for any additional personnel. The flip side to it is that it may also be easier now more than ever. Since they don't have the money for personnel, its much more affordable for them to contract out positions like reports/photographers rather than have them on full-time staff.

Speaking of which, sometimes I not available on weekends because I shoot weddings. You can join the exciting world of the weekend warrior wedding photographer.

Also don't forget the ever popular way to earn a few extra Lincolns... stock/microstock photography.

[Tom JK]

jacuff, canonnoob

Thanks for the replies. Just a couple more questions if you have the time.

1. Is there anything the editors look for when evaluating photographers? Previous background in photography, portfolio of images, etc.

2. What are the hours like? I work a regular 9-5 on weekdays so I'm looking for something that can fill my time on the evenings during the weekends.

3. What's the pay like?

4. Any other gear needed other than camera and car?

I tried doing a search of previous post related to the subject but couldn't come up with anything. Thanks.

[jacuff]

1) Well the editor I knew was already very familiar with my work, so I didn't have to provide anything other than my direct deposit information and W-4. However, if I didn't produce good images and make my deadlines, I wouldn't still be shooting for them I guess.

2) Freelancers make their own hours. It really depends on the assignment. If I am covering a high school game, I can show up and leave whenever I want. I just need to get the images for the story. I occasionally do stories around my lunch hour that are close to my office. Most of my assignments are sports, so they tend to be either in the evenings or weekends.

3) The pay is something you should negotiate, though you'll find out that most have standard rates. I know some people that make $8 an assignment. Don't be surprised if their standard pay is somewhere between $25 and $75 per assignment.

4) The more specialized your gear, the more assignments you might find you'll get. A laptop is most likely needed. Newspapers have deadlines and any equipment you have that helps you make that deadline is a plus. For me, I found that adding MobileBroadband to my Blackberry ($30 extra dollars a month) actually helped me get more assignments and bigger assignments.

The biggest piece of advice I have is to read the contract before you sign. (Goes without saying but still...) Most likely there will be a clause stating that your images fall under "Work Made for Hire". WMFH will mean the paper would own the copyright on the images. This is where good negotiating skills come in. Don't be too difficult to deal with though, as there are loads of other photographers that would love to freelance and won't think anything of the WMFH clause.

[Tom JK]

jacuff,

Thanks for answering my questions. I guess I'm a little confused. Is there a difference between the freelancers that work on assignment (sporting events, etc...) vs. those that cover breaking news (police shoot outs, late night incidents, etc..)? Based on my understanding, the media outlets prefer video over photography for breaking news.

Also, I looked into stock/microstock work but I don't think I have knowledge to be able to capture anything of value. From what I understand, most of the money is on images that focus on subjects that companies want to sell/market. I could probably do well on be able to find a niche area to focus on but I don't think I have the technical background to be able to capture a quality image. I have decent gear that probably gives me an edge but I have limited background on what would pass as stock photography. I'd be willing to learn of course, but I'm looking to generate some side money at this point.

[jacuff]

There is probably a difference. I fall into the work on assignments only category. I have editors that ask me if I can cover a particular event and I say yes or no. I don't follow the breaking news and hope to submit and get paid. It wouldn't do much good with this paper as it is a weekly paper. The website pretty much only has PDFs of this weeks papers. However, the pay is good and I keep my rights.

Even with the big daily paper in my area, the breaking news seldom has videos on their site. The breaking news videos are found on the websites of the television stations... all which have their own videographers and reporters.

I was kind of joking tongue in cheek when I said stock/microstock. Unless you have thousands of images keyworded and ready to sell you'll have to make a major time investment to earn pennies on the dollar. It's a hard market to break into though it's one of the first markets people try when they think they would like to start earning some extra money with their camera.

[Biffbradford]

I always try to make it a habit of grabbing a camera of some sort when I leave the house and so I did today when the weather folks were forecasting our first snow of the year. I shot a couple stills here and there as I ran my errands, and while driving home on the highway, shot some video. Little did I know that there was a serious accident on the other side of the median with an SUV on it's roof! I shot video as I drove by, uploaded the clip to Photobucket when I got home, and emailed one of the local TV stations saying they could use it if they wanted. The good part of the video is only about 3 seconds long, so how could I ask for money?

Well, it was the ... ahem ... lead story on the 10 O'Clock news! :D

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/biffbradford/th_43crash-short.jpg (http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/biffbradford/?action=view&current=43crash-short.flv)

Last month I had two photos featured on the 10PM weather segment and today I had the ... ahem ... lead story on the 10pm news!

It's a shame I didn't get a few bux for the video, but it sure is a kick in the pants knowing that I shot something that they wanted and seeing my name plastered right across the TV screen.

I'll record the 3am re-air of the news broadcast so I have a copy.

It made my day. :D

[Karl Johnston]

I shoot people on the weekends. Families, portraits..looking to get into weddings but it's hard to find a good igloo up here to shoot in without melting it from the heat of my strobes.

In serious I freelance in portraits, maternity, personal and family..though my personal stuff and maternity doesn't hit the web (usually people want the privacy) and I'm still really green at doing them properly.

[badgerdid]

Do papers buy photos of accidents etc, if theres an accident involving 2 or 3 cars on the main road and i took some pictures would they buy them? would this be a good way to get to know the local paper editors etc.

[Biffbradford]

If you can get some shots that nobody else has, then that's a good start!

[jacuff]

Do papers buy photos of accidents etc.

Depends on how "newsworthy" the accident is. If the accident involved someone famous or influential in the community, then if would come down to what you have to offer vs what others have to offer, etc. Just your "average" accident doesn't generate much news.

A good way to tell is look at your local paper(s). Do they print photos from accidents? If they do, then look to see who the photos are credited to. Is it a staff photographer? Is it the police department/highway patrol? Is it from a freelancer? You'll be able to get a good feel for it after looking at several past publications.