Rukes wrote in post #9940273
At the risk of not doing a huge book, yeah, it pretty much was. Most of the pics in 2005 and earlier were just for fun. I generally got paid a little to do club events for the first few years (usually just ClubPlanet in 2005), before Avalon/Giant hired me in 2006, Insomniac/Giant in 2007, and even then it wasn't until late 2007 that I took the huge risk of leaving my 9-5 job to try photography full-time. It ended up working out well, since in 2007 I also started working with Pioneer, did my first mini-tour with James Zabiela, got hired to shoot events at WMC, and started doing massives in LA.
Hahah, yeah I think everyone "got paid a little" from CP. I remember authorizing your payouts.
Only JUST comparable pay to a basic 9-5 job, but it showed promise and I stuck to it. I figured if it didn't work, I would just go back to my old job. It's nice to do my taxes every year and see it increase more and more; I think 2010 will be the first year for me that the amount of money I earn will be more than "just enough" thanks to touring/merchandise and probably joining something like Getty on the side.
Careful with Getty, etc. I'd really advise talking to an attorney before signing anything they put forth.
The one thing I will say is that it is a bit tougher now, since back when I started, I was pretty much the only person in a club with an SLR, and there were no hipsters or really any other photographers.
Nowadays with everyone having a camera, there is, as many people said, the "well we could get this ****ty photog for free". It doesn't matter in the long run anway; if a promoter is too cheap to hire talent when they see it, they are probably not making any money and won't last long regardless. Quality promoters always know how business works, and they know that if they are making money, they want thier events to look good so they can keep making money, so a good photog is a business investment. None of the big promoters in LA will ever pay a ****ty photographer, but if a decent one want's to do it for free, they might let them, but just only pay the qualified people. People also have to remember that even though everyone can be a photographer now, everyone can be a promoter too. Promoters are good at making things look good. I can't even begin to count the amount of promoters websites I have seen with full on event calendars and even photography every gig, to go under pretty quickly...so never let any of that get to you.
This is true. When I started back in antiquity, there was "one" game in town for club photography and it was the website of a print mag called Ocean Drive. I was their intern and got dispatched to events their staff guy didn't have time or the inclination for. They loved me since I "had a pulse and could do more than just point and shoot...". With film. Even in web they operated on a print schedule so waiting a few days didn't bother them. The mag is semi-defunct now but that's normal for print these days.
Later on through some friends I met the owners of an independent club website, who needed a shooter. They couldn't pay much if at all, but they let me keep my photos, and promoted the hell out of me, i.e. like an agent. It'd be something like 3 months of free work, and they'd score me a plum paying gig. All this time I worked a normal 9-5.
The real "payout" was when the site was acquired by the owners of CP, and part of the sale involved hiring me as a full-time photo editor/shooter.
All that glitters isn't gold though and 2.5 years down the line that whole situation went to pot. However, my friends came through and got investment dollars for the sites I run/own today. I still work with them for other projects, which do tie into my shooting in certain ways.
All the while other sites have come and gone. Now, some of them have stuck around, others look like flash-in-the-pans that ape something I did five years ago.
The big thing now in Miami is the promoters themselves get a cheap Nikon and "do it themselves". In the words of one local promoter, hiring a shooter is "too damn expensive". And they don't want to hire a cheap one since the quality is low. In other words, they want top quality but don't want to pay for it. So, I guess they can play the game of "Well, if I do it, I can just say I'm learning..."
And of course, during Conference I see 20 sites I've never seen before. Most suck.
It always changes too. When the economy hit LA late 2009, people were switching clubs and promoters were saving money, so I was pretty much out of a job locally for a bit. If it wasn't for Deadmau5 wanting me to document his life, pretty much, I would either have no galleries for a bit, or been doing a lot of freebies for no good reason. Even then, freebies to keep the relationship going is great. When Giant switched back to Avalon, I think I did a gig or two for free just to say "Hey, i'm here for you guys, here's what I can provide when everything gets back in order".
It's called marketing. 
I'll go to some places pro bono just to get the word out.
Exactly! I can't stand daylight stuff, it just seems too simple, almost like cheating.
I find daylight challenging since it's hard to make a daylight photo different from other daylight photos. As you know, part of our scene here goes into the afternoon hours, and sometimes that's when I have the most fun. I like making punchy blue skies and such.
