possible start from hobby to somewhat paid

Ok so first.. i know the title.. "somewhat paid"... don’t tear me up please..
i know a lot of you guys are paid professionals.. And i respect that...

i do not want to do weddings or portraits..

I have been taking pics of my kids in soccer and hockey.. I usually always give away the pics I take for the parents..

Recently i gave the hockey pictures to a friend on the board and he loved the pics.. I do ok.. not great.. but if you look through the t2i thread or my flickr below.. you will see I have some.. ok wb is off or something..

they like my pics so much they want me to do the tournaments coming up... well I don’t mind if my kids are playing but if they are not.. now it is my inconvenience... and of course I know they are expecting free...

now I dont mind that one part.. but I’m thinking differently...
so i give them a web size for free... but setup zenfolio (in process now to test it out)... and have them give a link back... people can check out the pics.. if they want digital downloads bigger than the web, they pay.. if they want photo prints.. they pay...

so my real questions here are...
if I do this...
1. do I need to register a name like "My Photography" (generic example i know)? or keep zenfolio basic with just my name as zenfolio will send a 1099?

2. my neighbor is in a band and he said he can be sued if they don’t play but I wouldn’t have that problem as they see the pics and buy... true?

3. I want to start this up to fund my hobby but want to make sure I cover myself... am i missing any steps you think i should look at?


I want to fund some of my hobby... My oldest son's hockey coach is on the board (different guy than who i gave the pics to)... his wife told me that he wants to talk to me about doing a fundraiser... so my point here is I have an opportunity stirring waiting for me to take it... and I want to make the best of it... I could possibly be the "official" photographer for them!!!!!!

what do you think?

{sits in the corner waiting to be reprimanded}

OH MY GOD when you give away pictures of little league players for free, you are LITERALLY taking food from my table. I saw you there last night when I got up for a glass of water, you looked just like the Grinch swiping my precious roast beast.


Now, with that out of the way.

In Florida, I believe you don't have to register as a business or do anything special unless you have more than $500 per year in gross income. Up to that point, it's still just a mildly profitable hobby. After $500, it's a business and needs to be treated as such, including paying state sales tax. The laws for your state may vary, so you'll need local advice. (In Florida, I don't THINK you have to pay sales tax if you're still operating as a hobby, but I can't be certain)

You still DO need to report that income on your federal tax return, and presumably your state tax return if applicable. I don't use Zenfolio or Smugmug, so I don't know if they send out 1099 forms. Looks like Smugmug has an article on it - hopefully someone else will chime in with more specific information here.
http://news.smugmug.co​m …lectronic-1099s-for-pros/

Presumably, your friend's band has a contract with the venues at which they perform, so they are contractually obligated to appear and play. It's a very wise idea to get yourself some basic contracts in which your agreements with your clients are VERY CLEARLY described, so that both parties know exactly what they're putting in, and what they're getting out. If your friend pays you $100 to "take pictures of her," and you say "great, let's do it," what exactly are you delivering? The 6 best images from the shoot, retouched and in ready-to-print format? Every image where you mashed the shutter button, even the crappy ones that are out of focus and where the flash didn't fire? A jump drive full of facebook-size jpegs? The raw files? A leatherbound album filled with hundreds of beautifully retouched prints? WHO KNOOOWWWWS?! That's why you have a contract - before you agree to do anything, you know exactly what work you're doing, and the client knows exactly what they're receiving. Then you both stick to the contract.

People and organizations love free photos, especially if they are low-profit, not-for-profit, or community organizations like little league teams. If you shoot this season for free, and you try to charge next season, then next season they'll just get the free photos from the mom in the stands with the T3i and kit lens she just got from Circuit City. If you're a great salesman and networker, you might be able to sell team photos, player cards, calendars, and the like - but at this level, it's more dependent on your people skills than your photography skills. If they don't already have an "official" team photographer, that makes it a little easier for you to become the "official" photographer, but a little harder to charge for anything, because they've never paid for photos in the past.

thanks for the reply... sorry bout the cheese steak i knocked off your table..

yeah this isnt a "hey ill pay you $100"

it is more of a .. hey.. im taking pics of my kids... do you want to check them out... here is where you can see them...

i know i havent got a lot of replies yet beacuse i know im bumping with the pro's...but by all means.. 14 degrees out, cmon out.. my 5yr old has a game tonight...

im just figuring if I give out cards at a game.. i just want to make sure im covering the basis.. and the card would be... Jeff's Hobby.. check em out....
that type of a deal...

It's very hard to make enough shooting entirely on speculation to make it worth your time.

I shoot on contract, providing a set of posters and a slideshow to the team for a few hundred. This drives traffic to my Zenfolio where I usually net a couple hundred more. In all I can make 60 to 80 per hour work shooting and processing. This is OK for a hobby, but doesn't work as a business because of the cost of the gear.

The problem with spec shooting is getting traffic to the site. My contract work drives traffic because the parents see my work at the banquet. Plus I can price to what they will pay because I already was paid to shoot. The only challenge is that I must get the whole team.

For spec, organize the kids in order and cull your shots hard. Don't make the parents work to find a good shot of their kid. My Zenfolio is always in order by jersey number.