Hot answers tagged professional
45
I'm going to be a bit blunt here: your photography isn't the kinds of stuff clients who buy stock/microstock go for. In 2011, the vast majority of stock photography is used to sell business products to business people. And if it's not that, it's used as a source of images to be composited with other images.
I've worked in interactive and print advertising ...
36
in fact I'd say that if you love photography and want to continue loving it, you might want to NOT go pro.
The few pros I know spend so much time on their business rather than photography, they don't do as much of it as when they were amateurs.
And a lot of them have come to HATE photography after going pro, as they no longer can choose what and when to ...
33
Yes and no.
I'm a professional event photographer and I run into this fairly frequently. I don't work a lot of weddings but I do many conferences and other less formal events where there are often other amateur/attendee photographers during an event.
A skilled professional will be able to maneuver amongst a crowd including a crowd that involves other ...
25
My tips:
Don't assume you're good because friends and family say your are.
Don't start with weddings. Wait until you've done a few simpler things first (christenings / babies etc). You may be a great photographer when snapping flowers but how are your people skills / planning skills etc.?
Try to sell some stock photos or prints in a market.
Go for it! Just ...
25
What you're seeking: "an easy way where I would just upload my pictures somewhere and let it go" doesn't exist. If you want to make money, you'll need to invest time and work in making that happen. Let's look at a couple options you mentioned:
Stock Photography
The stock photo market is flood with pros and amateurs seeking revenue. What sells in stock ...
24
I think, in general, you are considered a professional photographer if your primary source of income comes from your photographic work. For example, if you are a wedding photographer by trade, your job is to photograph weddings. You are a "professional" wedding photographer. The same would be true if you were a sports photographer, and sold your work to ...
23
Two reasons:
They don't have the time/patience to deal with amateurs/brides.
They don't want to get in the middle of any copyright issues by dealing with images from someone who may not actually own the rights to have the assembled into a book.
I honestly suspect #1 is the prime reason. They price their services with the assumption that they have a very ...
19
Professional cameras such as the Canon 1D Mark IV have dual memory card slots for a variety of professional use cases. I will break them down into three main groupings:
Mirroring of the image across multiple cards for redundancy
Automatic switching to a second card after the first one reaches capacity
Ability to write different file formats to different ...
19
Yes, professionals do use auto mode.
Professional paparazzi use auto mode almost exclusively and will sometimes even tape up the controls on the camera to prevent any settings being accidentally altered. You don't have to know how to shoot manual to make money out of photography, if for example you know which restaurants which celebrities go to...
Other ...
18
That may well be their photos on the website. Even people who are not that good will produce one really good photo per wedding. If people have been doing weddings for a long time they can usually produce a great portfolio whilst each wedding is not so good. This is the biggest problem with looking for photographers on the web but there are a few tips:
Ask ...
18
I am not a pro ... and I suspect I never will become one.
The main reason is: I really enjoy taking photos ... but I don't enjoy HAVING to take photos.
I learned this when I was taking photography classes at a local botanical garden. When I was just taking pictures of flowers, I loved it. But when I had to take pictures of flowers for the class, it ...
17
Ask your tax officials. They will have a very clear definition as to which category your activities and earnings belong. I have met amateurs that are some of the most accomplished photographers I know. I have met professionals that are inept.
"Let me here call attention to one of the most universally popular mistakes that have to do with photography - ...
14
I make extra money through photography by developing personal relationships with potential clients, and using the internet as more of a portfolio guiding people rather than as a primary money maker by itself.
Most of my photography money comes from shooting events (weddings, etc), or from one-off gigs where people want something photographed more nicely ...
14
There are several reasons:
For media in particular, this prevents a logo from appearing in media. Events are often covered by multiple photographers and filmed which means that some people working may end up in the media too. Think of a making of video for example.
Logos and brands are usually avoided because they may be misinterpreted as en endorsement ...
13
Don't do it.
The photography business is insanely competitive and it's extremely difficult to make a living. The hours are very long and the pay is bad.
Laurence Kim, a pro wedding photographer, on the necessary gear ($4k recommended minimum): http://laurencekimblog.com/index.php?link=140
Ken Rockwell on going pro: ...
12
There is a separate issue that cabbey didn't touch on, and it is a common one in services to business -- hiding prices from consumers helps their business customers in a big way.
If Company X will create an album for me at price Y, then why are you charging me so damned many Ws for the album?
All your customer can see is the cost to have the album ...
11
Well, making money on photography is something alot of us wish we did, but its a tough field it seems, especially for landscape and macro work.
So, I'll tackle the easy piece of your question first, selling/storefront.
Two options come to mind here, but there are certainly more:
Roll your own website and use something like Google Checkout to generate the ...
11
I've not needed to do this yet (despite pressure from a would-be-mother-in-law) but I would suggest asking the photographer if you can see the full set of photos (s)he took on their most recent shoot.
You have to bear in mind that a photographer's portfolio only shows you their best shots which could just be luck and offers no indication of how consistent ...
11
Wow, are you hosed. You tell them the price before you start. Its too late now.
Traditionally, wedding photographers made all their money off prints. If you give them soft copies, you cut yourself out of that profit stream.
Bay Area, NYC, Chicago, etc. I wouldn't consider doing a shoot unless I got at least $100 per hour for my time. Plus I'd want more to ...
10
This is a pretty complicated question, with a number of answers. First of all, I think you should be at the point where you are already making money from hobby photography - either through small product shoots, architectural stuff from craigslist, shooting friends small weddings, etc.
Second, if you already have a job, and you are looking to replace it, ...
10
If you think you've got the stuff, you could try gaining exposure through a juried site like Onexposure (pronounced "one exposure"). It's not a point of sale per se, but it is a place where you can get a relatively wide exposure to a discerning audience.
You will receive good critique if there's any real merit to your work (snapshots are simply dismissed ...
10
Yes, it's "good enough" for someone getting started in portrait photography. Almost everything you'll need to learn is camera-agnostic. The one technical limitation that comes to mind with the D3000 is that the body doesn't have an autofocus motor, so you'll need to be using lenses that have AF motors in order to get autofocus.
From a lighting ...
10
First, your not going to notice much of a difference in IQ, AF, or dynamic range. The 5D MK II does amazing for wedding photographers in low-light and large prints, and the MK III only improves on that.
With that aside, it may be more beneficial to consider the other items that will impact you as the primary user of the camera.
Build The 1D has more ...
10
"Auto" can mean a wide range of things.
Most DSLRs offer a "full auto" facility that tends to manage shutter speed, aperture, ISO and more. But most of the modes on a DSLR that are other than absolute manual mode offer a substantial automated component. And even "Manual" may have auto features lurking in the shadows (literally in some cases).
Your friends ...
9
The problem with stock sites these days is that they are utterly saturated with photos. Your photos are just a few amongst thousands; the chances of them being picked up are therefore small. Type 'sunset' into Getty Images and you get over 50,000 hits on more than 800 pages. If your photos appear on any page over about 10, you can probably forget about ...
9
Yes it is. In fact, I've seen many photographer contracts for a wedding explicitly call out whether or not the photographer will be getting a meal.
I've read on some forums that some photographers require a meal, but I think it's in better to taste to make it an "option" on the contract.
If the client said it was okay, then it's okay. Now, of course you ...
9
You may notice that all professionals do not use the same camera and lens. There are different models for different reasons and that means you have to get clear as to the type of professional photography you are going towards.
Any medium-to-high end model will certainly last for a few years. Good lenses last much longer and the good news is that you do not ...
8
Extremely important for professionals. Most magazines publish photographs, not excuses. So if your camera gets attacked by a bear, falls into a lake, gets stolen, you still have to be able to bring back photos. Many events are once in a lifetime or occur extremely infrequently, which gives you only one chance to capture them.
For amateurs there is ...
8
The choice is probably going to boil down to the 5D (Mk II or III) or the D800 (or D800E).
The 1Dx is a lovely camera, but the resolution is lower than the 5D2/3. It will do just about everything you want, and do it well, except that you'd really notice the missing pixels printing at 30x40. Even the 21.1MP of the 5D is going to be cutting it close in terms ...
7
The thing is there are loads of people who want to make money with their photography, however it can often boil down to who is the best marketing/sales person, rather than who is the best photographer.
A few possible approaches are:
Alamy (or other reputable stock agencies, not microstock) if your images are technically good, you may be able to license ...
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