Howwww do you do this$$$?

Can someone please explain how in the world is it possible to own all this equipment?

http://youtu.be/_pLV2w​zainM

I've assisted and worked with studio photographers who don't own the lenses and soft boxes they're shooting with.

Honestly I thought most photogs would rent/lease gear based on the gig they're hired for.. where does that much $$ come from?

Chase has a whole team of people working for him and easily bills out seven-figures per year.

I try to build up my gear rather than hire out gear as much as possible. If I get a good deal or buy it used, I am going to be able to sell it for near that same price after using it for years, so the cost to me is just the investment in cash instead of being liquid. But then I have everything I need.

Thomas Campbell wrote in post #16753476
Chase has a whole team of people working for him and easily bills out seven-figures per year.

I try to build up my gear rather than hire out gear as much as possible. If I get a good deal or buy it used, I am going to be able to sell it for near that same price after using it for years, so the cost to me is just the investment in cash instead of being liquid. But then I have everything I need.

IFFF you get a good deal, that's rarely the case as people selling gear are just like you, trying to get the same or more money than what they paid. And I doubt you make your initial investment back after using gear for years..
Good deals are hard to come by, which is why it makes sense for me to rent gear, unless you doing the same exact gig over and over.


And how does Chase make that much? Book deals, orrr?

His essential photo gear is bang on. I actually have just a bit more essential that he shows.

I started out part time, and still only do Photog work part time but have acquired more than what Chase shows over the past 5 years.

My essential kit is 2 1D Mark IV, 16-35mm 2.8, 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 300mm 2.8, 3 480 M2 flashes and PW flex triggers, batteries, cable yada yada yada. I doubt I ever have less than 20k worth of gear on me for any shoot these days.

I used to rent the occasional piece when I needed to, but there is bigger bang just baying. as other's indicated, you buy little by little based on your needs, and in a few years you will have more than this gear.

AR15th wrote in post #16753551
And how does Chase make that much? Book deals, orrr?

...the short answer is that he has worked his arse off creating a brand/products/service​s that people are willing to pay for. There isn't any great mystery. How much are these studio photographers you've been working with billing on average?

Here is a pretty standard sample invoice from a commercial photographer:

http://fstoppers.com …raphy-part-4-license-fees

Even with normal business overheads: a well run and planned commercial photography business can easily make back their initial investment in gear, and continually upgrade as required.

You can come close to being able to break even when selling your used gear if you get lucky with your initial buys and when you go to sell. However I think that buying gear you plan to use for an extended period of time is a far better way to go about building a collection. I plan to still have all my current lenses on hand a decade from now, and see little point in bothering to sell any of them.

If I were shooting professionally then I would be working harder toward investing in an array of quality gear centred around the 'next' job I'm aiming myself at.

Having a vast array of useful gear on hand means you can be far more competitive, and get far more recommendations from past clients to drum up new work. Would you rather hire the person who you've been told showed up to do a job and then promptly had to put it on hold while he waited for a new/replacement bit of kit to get there, or would you rather hire the one who showed up with more than the gear needed, and then quickly completed the task to a very high standard of quality?

I've made a profit on most of my bought/sold items. Probably because I buy used from the US where lenses are cheaper and sell here in Canada. But I'm sure that you can at least break even with patience and searching.

Chase? Isn't he a commercial photographer with lots of clients with deep pockets? They need him to produce so he needs the gear to make it happen.

Luckless wrote in post #16753617
You can come close to being able to break even when selling your used gear if you get lucky with your initial buys and when you go to sell. However I think that buying gear you plan to use for an extended period of time is a far better way to go about building a collection. I plan to still have all my current lenses on hand a decade from now, and see little point in bothering to sell any of them.

If I were shooting professionally then I would be working harder toward investing in an array of quality gear centred around the 'next' job I'm aiming myself at.

Having a vast array of useful gear on hand means you can be far more competitive, and get far more recommendations from past clients to drum up new work. Would you rather hire the person who you've been told showed up to do a job and then promptly had to put it on hold while he waited for a new/replacement bit of kit to get there, or would you rather hire the one who showed up with more than the gear needed, and then quickly completed the task to a very high standard of quality?

Ideally you'd do your 'due diligence' and be ready for the shoot with the appropriate gear. I don't know of any working photog who puts a client on hold to go get more gear, that's not OK.

banquetbear wrote in post #16753608
...the short answer is that he has worked his arse off creating a brand/products/service​s that people are willing to pay for. There isn't any great mystery. How much are these studio photographers you've been working with billing on average?

Here is a pretty standard sample invoice from a commercial photographer:

http://fstoppers.com …raphy-part-4-license-fees

Even with normal business overheads: a well run and planned commercial photography business can easily make back their initial investment in gear, and continually upgrade as required.

Not totally sure what they're billing, but they work for legitimate online and print publications.
I guess I still have muuuuch to learn. They amount of gear he has still seems a bit excessive but I guess you're right, he must be producing enough to justify it.

i_am_cdn wrote in post #16753606
His essential photo gear is bang on. I actually have just a bit more essential that he shows.

I started out part time, and still only do Photog work part time but have acquired more than what Chase shows over the past 5 years.

My essential kit is 2 1D Mark IV, 16-35mm 2.8, 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 300mm 2.8, 3 480 M2 flashes and PW flex triggers, batteries, cable yada yada yada. I doubt I ever have less than 20k worth of gear on me for any shoot these days.

I used to rent the occasional piece when I needed to, but there is bigger bang just baying. as other's indicated, you buy little by little based on your needs, and in a few years you will have more than this gear.

Very impressive ! I just imagined keeping up with the latest gear/tech that some of the equipment becomes out of date over time

AR15th wrote in post #16753629
Ideally you'd do your 'due diligence' and be ready for the shoot with the appropriate gear. I don't know of any working photog who puts a client on hold to go get more gear, that's not OK.

Probably because anyone who does that frequently doesn't stay in business all that long. But I have dealt with people like that in various fields in the past. Hire them to do something, and they show up to do the job but they've forgotten some tool, or they need a different one than what they own.

People like that generally don't get called back, even if they can show up on shorter notice. I would rather wait longer for the crew that I know will get the job done correctly right from the get go than have someone show up sooner and then waste my time.

AR15th wrote in post #16753551
IFFF you get a good deal, that's rarely the case as people selling gear are just like you, trying to get the same or more money than what they paid. And I doubt you make your initial investment back after using gear for years..
Good deals are hard to come by, which is why it makes sense for me to rent gear, unless you doing the same exact gig over and over.


And how does Chase make that much? Book deals, orrr?

Chase was a highly successful commercial photographer before he started doing all his things that catered to new photographers.

It is not that difficult to get your money back on gear.

For instance, I paid $5000 for my 400mm 2.8L IS. It was used in good condition. I took great care of it and when I try to sell it, I should easily get more than the $5k that I paid. That is after using it for football/baseball/bask​etball for several seasons.

New lenses come out and the price of older lenses often rises because despite the fact that my used 400L was $7500 brand new, the new one is 12K so what sold for $5k used before the new one was released has appreciated a bit and often sells for 5500-6500 depending on condition.

The same can be said of my 300 2.8L IS I - I paid $2800.

Good deals are not that hard to come by. When you want to buy gear, put the money aside and check out here, Facebook sell groups, Sports Shooter, KEH and FredMiranda and you will find a deal pretty quickly that will work for you.

In buying Nikon, the only thing I will really lose a lot on is the two 5D3s I bought, and that is because I preordered them both. However, I made over a quarter-million gross on shoots I used them on, so losing $750 on each camera doesn't bother me too much. Just part of the game.

But the rest of my gear I will either break even on or make money on.

AR15th wrote in post #16753642
Very impressive ! I just imagined keeping up with the latest gear/tech that some of the equipment becomes out of date over time

Cameras become out of date in 2-3 years. Lights and lenses rarely become out of date.

A lot of great photographers are still rocking Dynalites and Speedotrons for their portraits.

My go bag for weddings/general travel is:

D800
D4 (usually 2x)
14 2.8 (manual focus)
24-120VR
70-200 2.8VR II
35 1.4
85 1.4
Elinchrom Quadra w/ A head
Two video lights
two SB-700s
two LP180s
Set of radio triggers
A card wallet with ten 32GIG 1000X Lexar cards
Each camera has a backup card that is 32GIG in the second slot.
Gels
Radio triggers (have PWs and Skyports)
32x extra AA batteries
two extra batteries for each camera.

Thomas Campbell wrote in post #16753647
Chase was a highly successful commercial photographer before he started doing all his things that catered to new photographers.

It is not that difficult to get your money back on gear.

For instance, I paid $5000 for my 400mm 2.8L IS. It was used in good condition. I took great care of it and when I try to sell it, I should easily get more than the $5k that I paid. That is after using it for football/baseball/bask​etball for several seasons.

New lenses come out and the price of older lenses often rises because despite the fact that my used 400L was $7500 brand new, the new one is 12K so what sold for $5k used before the new one was released has appreciated a bit and often sells for 5500-6500 depending on condition.

The same can be said of my 300 2.8L IS I - I paid $2800.

Good deals are not that hard to come by. When you want to buy gear, put the money aside and check out here, Facebook sell groups, Sports Shooter, KEH and FredMiranda and you will find a deal pretty quickly that will work for you.

In buying Nikon, the only thing I will really lose a lot on is the two 5D3s I bought, and that is because I preordered them both. However, I made over a quarter-million gross on shoots I used them on, so losing $750 on each camera doesn't bother me too much. Just part of the game.

But the rest of my gear I will either break even on or make money on.

Interesting... As I've been assisting and learning more about the business side of things, I've been growing to become a sort of pessimist on potential income in the photo business, but reading this is changing my outlook!

I've tried KEH and have found their pricing on lenses to be comparable to other sites like Adorama and BnH where I can shop in person.

I pre-ordered a 6D and had to go back and get a price adjustment when they reduced the price by $250.00! Lesson learned there.

AR15th wrote in post #16753635
Not totally sure what they're billing, but they work for legitimate online and print publications.
I guess I still have muuuuch to learn. They amount of gear he has still seems a bit excessive but I guess you're right, he must be producing enough to justify it.

...I have the same amount of gear as he's got: only the quality of my gear isn't quite up to his grade. As i_am_cdn mentions: his essential kit is pretty much an essential kit: and you wouldn't want to do any commercial shoot without what he has in his bag. What part of his gear list do you consider excessive?