Making a living

Hi everyone, this is a question for me aswell as anyone else thinking about going into photography for a living.
First, I'd like to know what kind of schooling you had, if any, aswell as if you are working for a company, a paper, magazine, or for yourself?

Any information would be great, as well as any advice.

Cheers,
Johnsoir

PS: This is really only for people that are actually living off photography, though anyone that is using it as a side income with some info or advice is welcome to give their opinion.

At a Cross Road (career advice needed)

I picked up a camera with no training, now I make a living photographing weddings. I've done seminars, photographic and business, that have helped, but mostly self taught.

Did get an associates degree in applied science (with a major in Photography), which was a 2 year degree. Worked with a pro for around 6 mos. Learned how NOT to run a business, had another extremely established pro take me under his wing (for a percentage) and went on my own. I was 19 photographing brides 10 years older than me. 17 years later I'm photographing brides 10 years younger than me...

I recommend the training under an established pro. Worked out well for both of us. He got some pay (albeit not much) for dispensing knowledge and I didn't have to learn it all the hard way. My fees started WAY above what I would have charged, so essentially it didn't cost me anything. Probably worked better for me than for him. Maybe it also made him feel good to see me succeed? Anyway, perhaps you could try this. Oh, and I also carried the bags of at least 3 pros while I was in college, all for free! Occasionally they would send me $50 for the 8 hr wedding I helped them with. Actually, that probably helped more than anything, because I saw firsthand knowledge without it being my game and reputation on the line. And I WAS NOT a 2nd shooter so I was simply watching and soaking it all in.

I read alot of books,magazines,online how-to guides,wasted alot of film learning how to get things right...

I am however thinking about taking a business course at a local community college.

If you are a reasonably talented self-starter with self-confidence, you can make it without schooling. If you are not all of those things, school will help you get there.

Primarily commercial photography (95%), self taught in photography, but had a business background from working in the corporate world for a number of years (I got to see how you shouldn't do it ). I never assisted, but am a sponge and soak up things very well on my own. I think I literally have every photography book published that has anything to do with photography techniques, or the business, legal issues, and promotion or photography. I'm also pretty active in the professional circles and try to stay abreast of what the industry is all about. I don't read typical photography magazines, but gravitate to those that are more industry based (PDN, etc). I also shot actively for my own enjoyment for 15 years before deciding to do it as a business.

I meet so many students each year that approach me to assist, and find they know very little of what's really needed in my opinion to be ready. I've found most of the more than competent with a camera, but lack any understanding of the industry, pricing, usage, organizational structure of the clients, basic clients needs, preparing files for press, etc. If schools taught what they do now, than took it another 6 months to add in business, industry trends, pricing/bids/estiamtes​, usage, and so on, I would absolutely recommend a school first.

I believe that if you are a self starter, motivated, and with the discipline to approach this as a business, and not a hobby, it can be done without schooling. But with the extreme competitiveness of the industry, if you don't approach it as a business, regardless of your talents and photography skills, its going to eat you up and spit you out. There is just so much to learn past the f-stops and composition, creativity and vision, that the photographic part is only a third of what you must really know well to succeed.

Probably the best recommendation I would give would be a three prong approach. Some school on the techniques of photography to get the ball rolling. Then self study, workshops and seminars, and assisting for an established pro. And finally some small business courses which include accounting, cash flow, marketing research, administration, and federal/state/local regulations, and some self study on the photographic industry.

(Short version) I have a B/A in photography and have worked as a full time professional photographer since I graduated and worked part time (shooting weddings) about 9 years before that and shot weddings all through school. A good school can cut down drastically the time it would take you to learn on your own but you can do it. Many of the greats were self taught.

When I graduated I went to work for a high end portrait/wedding/comme​rcial studio doing all the B&W and color custom printing, portraits, and some table top 4X5 catalog work. I worked for a hospital for 10 years as a staff photographer. The prerequisite for that was 5 years professional experience and a B/A in photography plus a STRONG portfolio.

I now have my on full time business and shoot mostly for health care clients, annual reports, ads, surgical procedures, events and anything else that would be used for advertising, employee news letter, community news letters, anything that would be relevant to health care.

If you go to the right school the education you get can be so valuable. Learning things like color theory and 2 dimensional design will really help you when refining your vision. Being around other photographers/other creatives and the friendships you make I can't stress how important that can be. Your success no matter what area you go into will be on how you run your business and how consistent you become. You're only as good as your last job and if you want to have longevity in photography you will need repeat clients and a great reputation and that come from delivering a high quality product CONSISTENTLY.

I would take some business classes but I would HIGHLY recommend going to work for a successful photographer for a couple of years and learn how he does business. You will learn more there about how to run a photography business than any place else. Also you can make all your mistakes on someone else dime. So when you go out on your own you can have most of the wrinkles ironed out.

I have supported my family with photography since I graduated from college in 86. I have been very lucky and seemed to make the choices that were right for me and I am now in a very narrow field and have a dozen or so clients that keep me busy. My advise is don't try and be everything. Find something you really like and do it with real passion. Put everything you have into it and learn all you can about your craft and the business and you will more than likely be successful.

I work during the week as a graphic designer and weekends as a wedding photographer. I'm planning on being able to quit my day job next year. I dropped out of college because I didn't see the benefits in it for me.

Good luck Adam - hope it works out for you.

The fact that you are a graphic designer is a definite plus in your favor. Any photographer that already has formal/informal art training and talent is always ahead of the pack. This will give you an edge in the way you perceive and compose the world through your lens.

But just throwing my .02 in here Adam: Is your day job as a designer a pretty steady paycheck? If it is, there is a lot to be said for stability, and wedding as well as freelance photography is not the most constant of incomes.

For decades I worked for a large telecom company during the week which made many things in life possible: good home, well educated children, modest bills, etc....... and for Saturday & Sunday I was the weekend warrior at weddings and bar mitzvah's. Only you know what's best, but it's something you want to consider seriously. - Stu

adam8080 wrote in post #5697624
I work during the week as a graphic designer and weekends as a wedding photographer. I'm planning on being able to quit my day job next year. I dropped out of college because I didn't see the benefits in it for me.

Yup. My graphic design job is a normal 40hr per week job. I also do a little bit of freelance graphic design work when it comes my way. I've also been wanting to get into stock photography, but I haven't had the time right now. There are only a few things that I learned in school that dealt with art.
1. Rule of thirds
2. Odd numbers are more interesting
3. Lighting
The rest fall under those categories. Everything else I know I learned from reading books, looking online and trial and error. The only thing that I learned in college, is that college isn't a necessity to be successful.

I would agree with that partially Adam.

I come from a family of artists, but I don't have the talent my dad and sister have. I took a few photo courses in school, but mainly college taught me how to research, distill information, write a bit better, and manage my time (or not ). I also shot for the school paper for a few years.

I ended up with a BA in Anthropology, one of those fascinatingly unemployable fields. But the "college" degree got me a job as a manager in a graphics department, and I've done about 9 different things since then in addition to the photography.

There are some on this forum who have related excellent experiences on business courses they took in school that helped out with their photo jobs. I never went the business course route, but they seem to have been beneficial.

adam8080 wrote in post #5697983
Yup. My graphic design job is a normal 40hr per week job. I also do a little bit of freelance graphic design work when it comes my way. I've also been wanting to get into stock photography, but I haven't had the time right now. There are only a few things that I learned in school that dealt with art.
1. Rule of thirds
2. Odd numbers are more interesting
3. Lighting
The rest fall under those categories. Everything else I know I learned from reading books, looking online and trial and error. The only thing that I learned in college, is that college isn't a necessity to be successful.

I started taking pictures in high school and then received a degree in photography. After graduation I moved back to my hometown and got a job with a local studio that had been in business about 10 years. They employ multiple photographers (in edition to the owner and his son) although it seems to be a "stepping stone" for most employee. Its usually 2-3 years of working there before people tend to venture out on their own.

I can totally agree that college did not teach me anything about business. BUT, that's okay - I learned it working at the studio. Its what I call "on the job training".

What I did learn was fundamentals and techniques. I also had access to a fully stocked "stockroom" where we could (and were encouraged/assigned) to check out every piece of equipment imaginable. We had semesters that focused on everything from large format, studio, location, color darkroom, digital imaging, etc. In edition, I had a huge support group of people who were interested in the same thing as me - and willing to give honest and helpful critiques. Best of all....I left with A LOT of contacts for people all over the country.

I work as a network administrator during the weekend, wedding photographer on the weekends. It works really nicely since I can pay my bills with my regular job, so I use my photography jobs to feed my photography habit.

Forum mods; some great advice here, this should be stickied.

I'm in the same boat here. I want to get into the business eventually. I'm currently in business school, and it's great to get out and do some photographic work on the side. It's a passion of mine. I believe that you need a good practical start to understand what entails a business and passion. As long as you keep at it, you can be as successful as you'd like to be.