Tips on starting a part time "business" TIPS PLS!

[Biomech]

can YOU go out this afternoon, visit with friends, waste a couple of hours and come home with $300??

No not tonight, it's Sunday and I have nothing booked for tonight. Had I have had something booked I may well have been going out to a celebrity featured party with all my food and drink paid for and bringing in $320 an hour.

I am just saying that there is a degree of snobbery with so many photographers

Not at all, what you believe to be snobbery is in fact realism.

There is room for a beginning photographer or someone that just wants to dabble in the art

There is room for beginners. The is not room for people who "dabble" in the art. Would you let a bloke who likes cars fix your breaks? Or an electrician who liked to "dabble" rewire your house?

the knee jerk reaction seems to be 'oh you can't because you HAVE to have fifteen of this and double of that and thousands of dollars of this';

Actually, the knee jerk reaction from everyone here in the know is to be prepared. If you want to go out an shoot a church wedding on a compact by all means do so, but know that the camera will not be up to the job, you won't make much money on "part time rates" - if any, and if it goes tits up you're liable to be sued for thousands which could well see you bankrupt.

What we tell people is that if you do want to go out charging people, you need to think it through, think about backups and backup scenarios and cover your ass otherwise you can damage your reputation before you have even begun.

Newlyweds win court battle with £1,500 wedding photographer after shoddy pictures include missing heads and car close-ups | Mail Online

Couple sue wedding photographer - Telegraph

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | How hard is it to photograph a wedding?

Can I sue a wedding photographer who did a lousy job? - Photo.net Wedding and social event photography Forum

Photographer Sued For Bad Wedding Photography tutorial

'World's worst' wedding photographer sued over 'wonky' shots of big day


When I first came to DPS, I asked the same question. I was thinking about packing my job in and starting my own photography business. I got the same responses as this guy. I listened to what the pro's told me, put it into action and I now have a successful photography business.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by etexjess

I am just saying that there is a degree of snobbery with so many photographers, I think because there IS so much competition out there, and that most of the average customers couldn't care less if you used a ISO of 200 instead of 400.

Yeah, we should all just accommodate the lowest common denominator right? What a ridiculous thing to say. There isnt a single person out there wouldnt want to be better and provide better images to their clients.What you're proposing is laziness and pretty appalling.

Originally Posted by etexjess

Is there a difference between snapshots and formal artistic photography? Of course! but there is no need to denigrate beginners or hold yourself superior because you have a $1000 camera.

It's not about denigrating beginners, it's a matter of trying to explain that there is much more to this than they think. The problem is, they come into the conversation with a preconceived notion based on ignorance of the industry and what's all involved with it. When they have this perception corrected, they get upset.

Have you ever noticed how no one ever refutes the advice of the veterans? They simply take issue with their delivery. There's an interesting truth in that.

Originally Posted by etexjess

There is room for a beginning photographer or someone that just wants to dabble in the art. The simple fact of the matter is that a lot of 'photographers' have priced themselves out of the market. With the advancement of post production software (a lot of it free) and cameras, literally everywhere, that take great quality photos, the market is shrinking up and those of you that charge thousands of dollars are finding it hard to make ends meet.

Firstly, I don't know that any of the pros here are finding it hard to make ends meet.

Secondly, that statement proves the importance of what we're saying, so thank you! The harder it is to make money in your hypothetical situation, the better you need to be to be successful and separate yourself from the soccer mom hobbyist. If you go in half-assed, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Rah-Rah cheerleaders with little to no experience telling people it will be alright are simply doing them a huge disservice by encouraging them to go off half-cocked. While the posts here may graze their confidence it's nothing to the abject horror they're going to feel when they balls up someones wedding because they weren't prepared... all for the sake of working and waiting until they can handle te situation that will sink their burgeoning career.. even as a weekend warrior.

Originally Posted by etexjess

All the snobbery and holier than thou attitudes in the world isn't going to change the fact that people just don't see the need to spend on photos like they once did. Technology is making up for the expensive equipment. Time, willingness to go where the high dollar snobs won't bother, and keeping an eye out for opportunity will make money for the enterprising photographer that can take a decent, in focus, well composed photograph (or as the snooty say, looking down their noses "snapshots")

It's really hard to take you seriously with that huge chip on your shoulder. All the compositional skills in the world, and 'artists eye' won't help you if your gear can't handle extreme conditions.

While you can maybe point to handful of great shots taken with low-end gear, we can flip that around and show you literally BILLIONS of crappy pictures taken by low-end gear.

The disparity between the two is simply he exception that proves the rule.

Originally Posted by etexjess

Point goes back to...I am making money with my camera whenever I want to...can YOU go out this afternoon, visit with friends, waste a couple of hours and come home with $300??

I can.

No, but 40 weeks of the year I can work one day and make 10 times that much in 8 hours and spend the other 6 days doing whatever the hell I want, precisely because I listened to the folks here.

[Biomech]

I really wish I could get away with not having 2-3 million pounds of liability insurance

Bloody amateurs.... ours is up to £10 million ;P

[andyw]

Originally Posted by Biomech

Bloody amateurs.... ours is up to £10 million ;P

hahaha - I am a cheapskate though and as I am only likely to break "things" and not people then I keep mine to the minimum required.

[nickbedford]

I dunno if it's just me, but I gauge whether I should do something on whether I know I can do it, regardless if I think it will still be a challenge or not. Knowing that you can do something, and knowing when you can't, even if it's just because you don't have the gear needed to pull it off, is a pretty important skill to have when it comes to the business side of things, especially when it's a couple's most important day of their lives.

I think if you've been shooting for several years and you still think you're "just ok" and some people think that maybe you should charge some money, you're not ready. Four years with a DSLR is a looong time to get only to the point of being "ok", at least according my personal definition of ok.

My 2c.

[wingflapp]

Wow... Well, quite a nice read there. I was gonna read the first few chapters of war and peace, but....this became interesting.


How about someone put together a "So you wanna offer your skills because you're getting kinda good at this" sticky.


Nip the issue right in the bud, while offering the wealth of info shown in this thread.

[Biomech]

How about someone put together a "So you wanna offer your skills because you're getting kinda good at this" sticky.

I was thinking about that

[andyw]

Originally Posted by wingflapp

Wow... Well, quite a nice read there. I was gonna read the first few chapters of war and peace, but....this became interesting.


How about someone put together a "So you wanna offer your skills because you're getting kinda good at this" sticky.


Nip the issue right in the bud, while offering the wealth of info shown in this thread.

Where would the fun be in that then??