Do you really want to go "pro"?

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Phillydog1958

Senior Member
During my newspaper days, we had a full photography staff. It was made up of approximately 5-7 photojournalist, who were well paid. They also had a department manager, who was also a photojournalist. Some of the larger metro papers had even larger photo departments. They all had a minimum of a bachelor's degree in photojournalism, from an accredited university. I think that if one is concerned about making money and pursuing a career in photography, then consider working as a photojournalist for one of the larger newspaper chains such as Gannet (Publishers of USA Today and multiple other daily newspapers across the nation), McClatchey Newspapers Inc., etc. . . I previously worked in marketing for the now defunct Knight-Ridder Newspapers Inc. They owned over 30 daily newspapers. I'm writing this because I don't want to see some young person who might be considering a career in photography, be discouraged by this thread. There are options . . . The only concern that I have is that I got out of newspapers in the late 90's. That's when the internet was just starting to take a stronghold on our media habits. Times are a changing. Some say that newspapers will be gone in 20 years. If that proves to be true, higher-paying, photojournalists opportunities will be even more limited.
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
Alan said:
My daughter has the best of both worlds. She works for an educational company as an eLearing Developer. She gets paid to do graphic design and photography for the learning programs they develop. Then for fun she will shot weddings, family and baby portraits, mostly for friends and friends of friends. With that she doesn't usually need to put up with the stuff you get from a client you don't know. Will she ever be rich and famous, most likely no but she enjoys what she does and likes to go to work everyday. And she uses a Nikon to do all of that. "I done learnt her good!"
​You can see some of her work here....KristinSavko
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She is very talented. Guess it runs in the family.
 
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aZuMi

Senior Member
RockyNH said:
I am a numbers guy too... and smart enough to know that the hobby will never "pay for itself" other then in pleasure and satisfaction with my learning and (hopefully) improvement!

Pat in NH
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So far, I've been fortunate enough to get photography work outside my profession which pays for my gear. I admit, I have put in more money in photography in total, but I also made enough to pay off my camera bodies/lenses. I also like the fact of making people happy because of my work.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
I think it is definitely a great side-job for anyone looking to make some extra bucks. However, I only hope that people who make a side-job out of it, are open and honest about how "good" they are. I am sure that many people turned to photography as a source of income when they lost their jobs in the last 4-5 years. I know my neighbour did when he lost his job at Aveos. I never saw his work, but apparently he was always busy. I suppose if I were on my last dollars, I would consider it as well. But for now, I am happy making it a hobby and maybe I could sell a few pics here and there. Hey, I have one of my airplane photos hanging up in the house of an Air Transat First Officer ;)
 
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aZuMi

Senior Member
AC016 said:
I think it is definitely a great side-job for anyone looking to make some extra bucks. However, I only hope that people who make a side-job out of it, are open and honest about how "good" they are. I am sure that many people turned to photography as a source of income when they lost their jobs in the last 4-5 years. I know my neighbour did when he lost his job at Aveos. I never saw his work, but apparently he was always busy. I suppose if I were on my last dollars, I would consider it as well. But for now, I am happy making it a hobby and maybe I could sell a few pics here and there. Hey, I have one of my airplane photos hanging up in the house of an Air Transat First Officer ;)
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It's easy to turn to photography as a part time work. But connections are definitely necessary to start. You can't say that you do excellent work when you've never really worked in a professional setting. The best way to gain that experience is to work with a studio who are well established in the business. And it's never easy to get these connections because you also need to earn their trust as your work becomes their work as well. Once you've earned your hours and the main photographer acknowledges your work and skill, that's when you get the confidence of getting your own clients.
 
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Phillydog1958

Senior Member
I'm not a Ken Rockwell basher, but after reading his piece that the OP posted, I have to admit that he's somewhat offensive and truly does rub people the wrong way. I ask myself why? What about him bothers me? Because what he writes, he portrays to be the one and only, true gospel. He comes across as if his point of view is the only view.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
Phillydog1958 said:
I'm not a Ken Rockwell basher, but after reading his piece that the OP posted, I have to admit that he's somewhat offensive and truly does rub people the wrong way. I ask myself why? What about him bothers me? Because what he writes, he portrays to be the one and only, true gospel. He comes across as if his point of view is the only view.
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The whole thread is about going pro and everyone has stuck to that. Let's keep it that way please. Thanks so much :)
 
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aZuMi

Senior Member
Phillydog1958 said:
I'm not a Ken Rockwell basher, but after reading his piece that the OP posted, I have to admit that he's somewhat offensive and truly does rub people the wrong way. I ask myself why? What about him bothers me? Because what he writes, he portrays to be the one and only, true gospel. He comes across as if his point of view is the only view.
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I agree. I actually know quite a few photographers who make a lot and does 20-40 weddings per year - charging $3,000-5,000. That would equate to $60k to $200k!
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
aZuMi said:
I agree. I actually know quite a few photographers who make a lot and does 20-40 weddings per year - charging $3,000-5,000. That would equate to $60k to $200k!
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Keep in mind that stats from the labor dept in the USA were used. Those stats are MEDIAN figures. Just like with anything else, you are going to have people making top dollar and those making the statistical median/average salary.
I agree with you about the connections. It is all about networking and getting to know the people who are in the game already. From there, you have to earn their respect. More or less the same way any other business circle works. I do enough of it in my day to day work. Funny enough, one of my neighbours told me that I should get together with my other neighbour who likes photography, in order to make some money, lol
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I went Pro many years ago when shooting was not done by everyone. To be a real pro then you had to have a medium format camera and good set of mobile lights. I started as a hobby to pay for the equipment and then went full time. I stayed in photography in one form or another for 20 years. I would never do it again. Now that I am retired and really don't need the money I am going to go back to shooting for money but this time it will be on my terms and will only be what I want to shoot and when.
 
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KWJams

Senior Member
I guess what needs to be addressed is what does it mean to you by turning pro? (each of us individually)

A payday shooting weddings or graduation photos is just another form of employment and not what I would consider professional photography.

Getting a call from some magazine to fly to some corner of the planet and capture history would be a professional gig in my opinion.

Phillydog brought up some great points of photo journalism. Working on staff for a news publication and being dispatched to a crime scene or a community happening is a professional gig because your job would be to capture a story with a single photograph and the average hack would have to be more lucky than skilled.

​Having your name on a gallery that people gather at to sip wine and rave over the latest creation, is more of a form of art than photography in my opinion.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
Even possessing the knowledge and skill to go "pro" for me, is years away. If I were to choose that career path, I would not want to be a wedding photographer or any sort of photographer that takes pics of people. I would rather get into wildlife photography or aircraft photography. When was the last time you had a duck bitch about how they looked in a photo? lol:)
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
KWJams said:
I guess what needs to be addressed is what does it mean to you by turning pro? (each of us individually)

A payday shooting weddings or graduation photos is just another form of employment and not what I would consider professional photography.

Getting a call from some magazine to fly to some corner of the planet and capture history would be a professional gig in my opinion.

Phillydog brought up some great points of photo journalism. Working on staff for a news publication and being dispatched to a crime scene or a community happening is a professional gig because your job would be to capture a story with a single photograph and the average hack would have to be more lucky than skilled.

​Having your name on a gallery that people gather at to sip wine and rave over the latest creation, is more of a form of art than photography in my opinion.
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The term professional means to be getting paid to do something.

I agree with you though. You can be "A professional" without being "Professional". I see those all the time. I also know some photographers who do not get paid but are very "Professional"

I the strictest sense though a pro is one who gets paid to do a job.
 
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KWJams

Senior Member
Would Ansel Adams be as famous if he just got paid for taking wedding photos? He was an artist that created his art with a camera.

Would Robert Capa be known as a great photo journalist from WWII, if he used his skills (eye for the story shot) taking family portraits?

I can't think (edit sic):rolleyes: of anyone famous for being a professional (paid) wedding photographer.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Interesting view points.
For me, i would like to go professional if i do reach that 'level' with my photography.
Not only cos i love photography so much, but mainly due to the fact that having a regular 10hr job really takes the life out of me..
and i struggle to make time for my passion.
at times, i stay awake the whole night after work & go back to work the next day without any sleep.
no one forces me to do this, but i love it so much, i really do not mind.

if i am able to make this a profession, i would love to dedicate 24 hours a day to shoot, learn & improve my skill, passion whatever...

and at the same time if i can support my family & this expensive obsession, what more would i want?
unfortunately for me, i ain't in the class D or class A/B so i certainly need help!

For sure, there is a difference between getting paid for a job & getting paid for doing something you love
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
WhiteLight said:
Interesting view points.
For me, i would like to go professional if i do reach that 'level' with my photography.
Not only cos i love photography so much, but mainly due to the fact that having a regular 10hr job really takes the life out of me..
and i struggle to make time for my passion.
at times, i stay awake the whole night after work & go back to work the next day without any sleep.
no one forces me to do this, but i love it so much, i really do not mind.

if i am able to make this a profession, i would love to dedicate 24 hours a day to shoot, learn & improve my skill, passion whatever...

and at the same time if i can support my family & this expensive obsession, what more would i want?
unfortunately for me, i ain't in the class D or class A/B so i certainly need help!

For sure, there is a difference between getting paid for a job & getting paid for doing something you love
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I had a number of people working for me that were in India and I know that they worked 10 hour days 6 days a week. That was hard on them but they were some of the nicest people I had ever worked with.
 
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