Photography as a job...

What kind of opportunities are there for people who want to pursue photography as a career but do not want to open up their own business? I see so much talk about opening up your own business here, but a lot less about freelance or full time hire work.

I'm looking for as much information as I can get, especially from people in the field!

-newsapapers/magazines
-shooting for zoos, calendars, etc

are you looking to shoot for someone else, not yourself, am I correct?

Free lance work is getting hard to come by anymore, papers arent making as much as they used to and magazines are being discontinued. Another thing that makes it hard to make money in free lance is there are to many amateurs out there willing to give their work away for free just for a byline.
I have had a couple magazines who I have tried to get in with offer me the chance to shoot for them, but then say they dont have anything in the budget to pay me. Pretty much wanting me to shoot for them for free.

I'm mostly interested in Freelance work or to be on someone's Payroll. I work for a small company right now and am very much uninterested in running a small business

Some hospitals have staff photographers. One ad agency I know of has one on staff. Various corporations have staff photographers as well as government agencies. Some would require a degree of some kind. I notice you're in Bucks County so there are some possibilities around you, mostly in Philly I would suspect. When I lived in Bucks County big pharma was a large employer, you might try one of them.

Well, unless you're a staffer then you have no choice but to run a business. I'm a full time freelancer and run the business, if you want to freelance you are running a business. If you're a staff photographer you do as told, they usually own the copyrights, you get paid a salary and get benefits. Simple as that.

Biomedical photographer, forensic photographer, military photographer are some avenues you can pursue.

realmike15 wrote in post #11639504
I'm mostly interested in Freelance work or to be on someone's Payroll. I work for a small company right now and am very much uninterested in running a small business

Any chance of you getting a decent non-photography related job? I ask because having a decent paying job to pay the bills may allow you to keep photography as a fun hobby. Sounds like you like photography but not the business side.

I'd never have half the gear I do if I didn't have a good paying job and/or if I had to justify these purchases from a business sense. ROI? ummm... financially zero.

Some universities hire staff photographers. The D-2 school I attend has a staffer that makes $50-65,000, they bought/buy all of his gear, and he covers all major events. Seems like a nice job to me.

Has anyone ever worked for a hospital in the newborn section. I'm just curious how much they make and how's the job like?

duck60d wrote in post #11642279
Has anyone ever worked for a hospital in the newborn section. I'm just curious how much they make and how's the job like?

Based on my nephews' newborn pics, I'd hazard a guess that it's just a nurse with a P&S doing those.

cdifoto wrote in post #11643503
Based on my nephews' newborn pics, I'd hazard a guess that it's just a nurse with a P&S doing those.

Pretty much and theres no real $$$ in it. IN some hospitals the nurses just do it as part of their job. In some they have large outside companies do it and give the nurses that shoot it a lil sump'm, sump'm.

Most of those hospital staff photography positions in the state of Illinois require at least B/A in photography, several years of professional experience, a strong portfolio and an extensive interview process.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #11643675
Most of those hospital staff photography positions in the state of Illinois require at least B/A in photography, several years of professional experience, a strong portfolio and an extensive interview process.

... but we all know that photography only requires internet forums and a business class to learn properly! Oh snap, I went there!
[kidding]

madhatter04 wrote in post #11644526
... but we all know that photography only requires internet forums and a business class to learn properly! Oh snap, I went there!
[kidding]

That's how I learned. Except I didn't even have a business class.