Does anyone actually make a decent living from this?

I know there are the one in 100,000 photographers that are lucky enough to work for a magazine, big newspaper, or something like that who are making the big bucks, but what about the average guys shooting senior portraits, weddings, etc? Seems like everyone I know who does this professionally either has a day job or is living a very minimalist life to keep doing what they love.

I do. Just bought a house with my income and no other job.

Do you shoot more weddings or portrait stuff?

Both. I had a newborn shoot on Wednesday, a wedding Friday, a family portrait today, and tomorrow I have another wedding. So my portrait to wedding ratio is about even. Weddings obviously pay more.

Depemds what you call decent ?

I make about $ 6,000 a month from Photography alone.

Nightstalker wrote in post #12540930
Depemds what you call decent ?

I make about $ 6,000 a month from Photography alone.

This is a good point. I see my income as being decent. I pay my bills, feed myself, drive a nice enough car, have a nice house and a small savings for retirement. I'm happy, healthy, and content with my life. I'm not a millionaire, I can't afford a sports car, a big boat, or to go on expensive lavish vacations, but I'm ok with that so, IMO, I make a decent living. But other people may disagree if you saw how much I actually make.

I really wish I could get an idea of what you're doing to achieve that income reliably, but I don't want to ask you too much about your personal expenses and all that, I'm just trying to figure out how I could turn what I love into something I can make a future with.

Firstly what I don't do :

I don't do weddings or portraits.

I don't actively market my services - work that I get is generally through contacts or referrals.

I don't have an active website.

I don't have a business facebook / twitter etc.

If you want to know what I do - drop me a line and I'll happily discuss offline with you.

What the hell..this I have to hear.

You have PM because I just LOVE Stuey.

Thanks for the info!

The most important thing, and the thing a lot of small business owners miss is that your role changes when you move from hobbyist to business. You have to think like a CEO, not like your best employee. Talk to your local small business incubator. Talk to your accountant get an attorney, talk to your banker/lender.

These are the very basic steps to becoming a successful BUSINESS. The content of your business depends on your passion.

A friend of mine is a Wedding Photographer. When I got married two years ago I couldn't afford her. I couldn't afford her even with a steep discount. She came as a guest and left almost all her gear at home. Keep in mind that we dropped close to $3k after prints but w/o an album so its not like we went with a CL photographer.

I know I have one local wedding photography business charging about $10,000 per wedding, but they have a lot of photographers working for the business, it's not just a small little 2 person deal.

The Framed Life wrote in post #12541025
I really wish I could get an idea of what you're doing to achieve that income reliably, but I don't want to ask you too much about your personal expenses and all that, I'm just trying to figure out how I could turn what I love into something I can make a future with.

Look around at your local photographers, see what they do. You should very easily, and very quickly, be able to find out who the big names are in your area. There are an awful lot of people making a very good living at photography.

I just work. I'm not afraid of work, I'm not above work, I'm not better then work. I think a lot of people expect to be rich without putting in the effort and that is rarely how it works. If I were to add it up I think I could easily clock 60+ hours a week (shooting, editing, marketing, legal stuff, professional development and research, etc.). Running a business is never easy. It's a lot of blood (literally, sometimes), sweat, and tears. If you are driven enough, determined enough, and lucky enough you will succeed. Just don't give up. It took me 3 years to get to where I am. Three years of eating a lot of brown rice, retried beans, and frozen chicken and never going anywhere unless someone else paid for it. Now, I'm in a very comfortable position and can do more with my life... Like get married, buy a house, reproduce, and go on cheap vacations! And arguably three years is a short amount of time. 5+ wouldn't be unreasonable in this economy.