You want to make money at photography? read this!

We run into a lot of this in the ad industry as well. It's one of the only industries I have ever seen where people that have absolutely no background in the subject, think they know it, they think it's easy. And we always come back with "Well I have a great idea on how you could do heart surgery better...", etc. (said to one of our medical clients), and they get the picture.

I think creativity is a gift, but it's also something that has to constantly be refined and updated. Those that lack the creative gene, and there are plenty of those, tend to criticize those that have the gene, harder than their creative peers. The beauty about art and photography is there is no real, one strict right way to do it. I can look at a painting or a photo and it might not be something I would want in my home, or it might not be done how I would have attempted to do it, but I can certainly appreciate the time and thought that was put into it from it's creator. Inspiration comes from everywhere, if you want to see it.

It's a nice shot and a good tale for those interested in going into photography.
It's just my opinion and I'm assuming you posted the photos in the wedding section when there was one here. But I find that section to have more flame wars and such. I see it in other forums where they have a wedding section. I'm not sure why.

As I say, those that know how to do, do so for a living, those that don't teach it for a living or post online now days.
ha ha ha, I kiiidddd, I kiiiddddd....

Well said Global. Fortunately, I learned a lot of what you said about this place, very early, and began to only visit the 'Sharing Knowhow' section and ignoring the 'Gallery' section. And, Lord willing, I am hopefully on my way to a successful career capturing memories TTL.

Nice post! Thanks for a very informative post, now I know that I can earn money in photography. By the way we have same in common I love playing guitar too.

it's the internet. it makes everyone an expert, and forums like this are a double edged sword... they can be a great resource, especially for beginners, but.... there are 241,000 basically anonymous members here. you're going to get negative responses on ANYTHING that is posted. it's why i rarely post any of my work on here.

are you happy with your work? is your client? then thats all you need to worry about.

I would hope most people have the common sense to tell which critique to take and which not to. Hardly a reason not to share. Who cares what anyone says or thinks really. Offline or on. While inspirational to me this reads like: Doesn't matter if your not good or don't produce quality work ...you can still make a living in photography. Which is true, the photo biz is very little to do with actually taking pictures....But that doesn't mean you shouldn't aspire to be better than your peers, or continually develop your skills. Take the critique you see as valuable to achieve your vision and ignore the rest.

So rather than ..."don't listen to the criticism"
it should be... "choose which critics you listen to wisely"

Really, none of this advice has anything to do with making money at photography. If you want to make money at photography just do charge for your work and if people find the value in hiring you for it based on what they like or see from you then you're in business. If they don't...and you're wondering why...you may ask others why..and thus you get critique from your peers (forum in this case) ...but are you forced to take the advice? No..if your clients are coming to you for your work as it is now and your winning awards and making a very nice living off of photography then why would you care? Why would you spare a thought?

Fact of the matter is the messenger is what gives the message concrete value, otherwise it's just words. What's the big deal with being anon?
I read this as rant from someone who had their photo "picked to death on this forum a while back" and is coming back to spite the critics were wrong to critique it in the first place

Karl Johnston wrote in post #10016114
Fact of the matter is the messenger is what gives the message concrete value, otherwise it's just words. What's the big deal with being anon?
I read this as rant from someone who had their photo "picked to death on this forum a while back" and is coming back to spite the critics were wrong to critique it in the first place

+1

If a person has something to say, they should be bold enough to stand up and say "this is who I am and this is what I have to say." Cowering behind anonymity creates suspicion of the motives of the speaker and skepticism of that which he speaks.

tl;dr version:

Art is subjective.

Josepi wrote in post #10017027
tl;dr version:

Art is subjective.

Actually "It's Not"

When on the receiving end of critiquing I find it very interesting to go and look at the critiquer's work to put the critiquing in perspective. Sometimes I pay attention to what they say and sometimes I snort.

Thank you. Just, thank you.

Art is not subjective... it's whatever I say it is.

Yeah I feel the same thing, I'm only 16 and out of about 7k shots I've probably come up with about 5-6 flawless pictures.. maybe about 10. Flawless as in I would be able to post them HERE without any negative feedback. But then I've learned so much ever since I joined this site

But then, people have commented on how great my pictures are yet they looked horrible to me, and now I have people wanting to pay me to photograph their Motorcross, soccer, and now a local camp..

forthewinwin wrote in post #10026323
Yeah I feel the same thing, I'm only 16 and out of about 7k shots I've probably come up with about 5-6 flawless pictures.. maybe about 10.

i don't know too many photogs who consider ANYTHING they've done to be flawless.

NounStudio wrote in post #10026635
i don't know too many photogs who consider ANYTHING they've done to be flawless.

Amen...