How did you get your very first gig?

Did someone see pictures you took of your kids, did you post TFx on Craigslist? Were you paid for your first gig?

Just curious.

I started at the elementary school taking pictures of my son. One day, a friend and parent asked me to attend a baseball game for his 3rd grader and asked if I could take his action shots. During that same game, other parents started to apporach me and pointing out their kids so that I can also photograph them. I also was asked to take pictures at the school fashion show since they no longer wanted to pay the previous year's photographer the going rate of $200.00/hour for their fund raiser. I did not charge but was allowed to sell a DVD with all of the images. It went very well for me and has taken off since then.

imahawki wrote in post #10160034
Did someone see pictures you took of your kids, did you post TFx on Craigslist? Were you paid for your first gig?

Just curious.

My co-worker hired me for their wedding with no Wedding Photog history, and all I had was a Canon Rebel XTi with my kit lenses and he was impressed with my work. It's just how you market yourself.

I got mine off someone having a relative in my town and seeing my website.

My very first gig came from taking some landscape photos while in Florida and someone approached to take photos of herself and her son. It was a paid gig. Strange story but absolutely true.

I used to work for a trade magazine covering the retail industry. I was an editor, stuck in the office all the time. Then the boss found out that photography was a hobby. So he would send me to certain events in town (NYC), and really liked the shots I brought back. So then he paid to fly me to this "concept" store opening and paid me as a freelancer to photograph the event. It was pretty cool. Not the most exciting stuff to shoot, but the experience taught me a lot.

No family connections, no friend connections. My first gig was found via craigslist. I was paid $20/hour to shoot a small party at a marketing firm.

I attended a music recital put together by a music school owner who happens to be the husband of my wife's co-worker. I shot photos to test out a new lens I acquired at the time. He liked the photos so he paid me to shoot a charity event he helped organize.

That was a few years ago. Next month, I shoot at Jazz at Lincoln Center for another charity event he's organizing.

The most difficult thing is to figure out how much to charge him each time one of these pops up because of the nature of the shoot. On the one side, it's a charity type event, on the other hand I know this guy does well with his music school business.

Mine hasn't started yet :P

I answered a Craigslist ad for a NY based magazine (very small) looking for a local photographer to shoot a truck for their next issue.

I ended up driving 3 hours 1 way through Los Angeles traffic and got the shoot finished with about an hour of sunlight to go. I was paid $250 and got the cover. Not really worth my time shooting or driving, but my connection with the magazine got me a media pass with an off road racing series that has brought in a lot of business over the past 3 years.

Craigslist. Offered a free wedding and learned the ropes.

Some would say that isnt cool or the right way to do it, however, I was completely up front with the couple. I am a good photographer, been shooting for years... just needed to learn the flow of weddings.
Once you have one under your belt the rest just come to you.

I just posted a draft of my business card on Facebook, and a friend who is a hip hop artist let me shoot her. I offered to do it for free but she insisted on paying me $100. That was 5 months ago

Went to a local Dixie youth baseball field and took action pics of all the kids on a team which one of my buddies coached and then sent home proof images and all but one parent bought my photos, but actually sold my first pic off of a local outdoor forum but this was my first gig that I just kinda made happen

My first paid gig was event coverage of a 40th anniversary party for my inlaws.

That led to a friends wedding, which gave me enough of a portfolio to start with.

From there I have shot a few more weddings, and while photography is a somewhat paying hobby for me, I do now shoot the odd event or wedding, make the odd stock sale (not micro), and sell the odd print.

My first paid shoot was for a big halloween party (1500-2000 people) in 2008. I had done photos at house parties and a friend was a go-go dancer for the halloween event, she hooked with me up with the promoter. I borrowed a 580exII from my cousin and rented a 17-55 for my XTi and went crazy. I had no idea what I was doing but somehow I got some great photos. I wasn't supposed to get paid but my friend ended up handing me $150 at the end of the night...the rest is history, I'm now shooting local dubstep shows (500-1500 people) every week because of it.