Photographer: Best Get Rich Fast Job?

How much does he clear for those amounts?

It can't be that expensive. You get something like 200 prints in one of the packages.

How expensive is it to make a high quality print photo per print? I'm pretty sure his process is more thorough than wal-mart's.

markschultz25 wrote:

How expensive is it to make a high quality print photo per print? I'm pretty sure his process is more thorough than wal-mart's.

Don't be so sure. I know a few "professional photographers" (zero training, of course) who get their prints from Walgreens. I know certain packages that don't even get prints- just digital copies. The overhead is almost nonexistent once the equipment is paid for. It's almost a scam, how easy it is. If they work hard, which is unlikely, they finish the editing process in less than an 8-hour work day. Instead, they do an hour here and an hour there and spread it out over a couple weeks to make it look like it takes that long. Unless they have assistants and employees, they're probably netting around 95% of the price.

I wouldn't call it a scam. It takes a special kind of eye to get that perfect shot.

This guy is consistent.

It used to take a lot more skill. Now, with digital cameras and digital editing, you can take a million shots, find the best ones, then edit them even better, all without ever developing a thing.

So I do a little photography, not weddings and not really for-hire, but here's the thing with wedding photography:

It has to be perfect. There have been studies on calling vendors (photo, catering, DJ, etc) for a "corporate party" and "wedding" with the exact specifications and the wedding is always way higher. Why? Brides and their parents who expect perfection.

Also with photography in general:

EVERYONE thinks that they're a photographer. Everyone's got a friend or friend's kid or cousin or someone with a nice camera and copy of Lightroom. Competition and the proliferation of nice gear mean that to actually get gigs you either have to be good or good at networking.

haha photography as a get rich quick job? And you're not joking?

Do you have any idea how many "photographers" there are in any given area? A quick search on The Knot - 700 photographers/companies listed for New Haven, CT!

You're either going to have to spend a TON of time and/or money marketing or be a good enough that your work stands out among your MANY competitors.

So yeah, it's a good get rich fast job in the same way that being a professional runner is a good get rich fast job - if you're really talented you can make decent money very quickly, but there's a lot working against you in both cases.

a) how many weddings do you think this guy is going to shoot in a week?

b) how many hours of post processing and editing go into an 8-hour shoot?

c) what's the overhead on Pro-camera gear and processing (computers, HDs, etc)?

d) he shoots weddings. How many of those is the average person going to have in their life?

e) do you have any idea how painfully boringly awful it is to sit through a wedding/reception of someone you don't know?

f) how is your bride gunna feel when you save some cash having your buddy shoot your wedding and he loses half the files, they're out of focus, he didn't have a card in, etc, etc, etc? What's that feeling worth?

You don't even own an SLR do you?

Most weddings are in the summer. 24 weddings a year would be a lot. That's not great income if you multiply that out.

The reality is photographer is a very poor get rich fast job. One of the worst.

markschultz25 wrote:

What other relatively low overhead job pays those kinds of returns in a single day?

Low overhead? Are you an f'ing idiot? Yes, yes you are.

markschultz25 wrote:

I have a friend who does wedding photography, drone photography and video shoots. His wedding packages start at $2500 for an 8-hour shoot and $3000 for a 10-hour shoot.

What other relatively low overhead job pays those kinds of returns in a single day?

I was a full-time professional photographer with a commercial studio for over 10 years. Firstly, you have no clue if you think it's a low overhead job.

Secondly, the "single day" idea you have is a misnomer. You don't just take a bunch of photos and hand over the raw images at the end of the night. There's going to be around a week of culling, editing, and so on.

Finally, there are two short, distinct wedding seasons in which the money is pretty good. However, it's not a year-round cash cow. I might make $12,000 - $15,000 in June or August, but make under $1000 in January or February.

markschultz25 wrote:How expensive is it to make a high quality print photo per print? I'm pretty sure his process is more thorough than wal-mart's.

Pro pigment-based printer ink and paper is not cheap. It cost me about $1400 to change the cartridges in mine and I can go through it all in a couple weeks. The printer I have was about $5500, about 12 years ago. It adds up.

markschultz25 wrote:

I have a friend who does wedding photography, drone photography and video shoots. His wedding packages start at $2500 for an 8-hour shoot and $3000 for a 10-hour shoot.

What other relatively low overhead job pays those kinds of returns in a single day?

- First, he isn't getting those jobs every day. Ask him how often he is booked in a month, and what his overhead is.

- Photography is initially high overhead if you buy the right equipment. You need the right equipment to get good results and to be taken seriously.

- Not everyone can become a good photographer. It really is a skill requiring certain traits and is also rather technical. There is a bunch of stuff you will have to learn before you can become proficient.

- The market is flooded with photographers. Part of the problem is an abundance of affordable, reasonably high quality cameras. You can take a $2,000 Nikon or Canon, put it in Program mode, point and shoot and you will get decent photos; not great photos, not artistically inspired photos, but decent photos. So over the past few years a bunch of middle aged guys going through mid life crises decided to become photographers and now the market is flooded with average photographers willing to work cheap, all cutting each others throats (figuratively speaking).

- A current trend in wedding photography is rather than hire a photographer, the bride and groom buy a decent camera and have Uncle Harry take the photos in Program (Auto) mode. So rather than pay a photographer they get photos and a camera they can use for honeymoon photos, baby photos, graduation photos. They aren't getting great photos they would get hiring a seasoned professional, but they are content with glorified snapshots.

- It takes a lot of time and effort to build a client base and reputation. Just like any other profession.

- Want to do high end commercial, product or fashion photography? Plan to shell out around $200,000 for the proper equipment. You will need a medium format digital camera system that will set you back ~ $70,000 and clients will get nervous if you don't have at least two of them (one as a backup). Giuliano Bekor has around 8 medium format digital cameras and a collection of lenses; he shoots with either PhaseOne or Hasselblad. Visit his website at giulianobekor.com to view some excellent videos of life behind the scenes of a high end photographer. Oh, and just having all that expensive equipment and knowledge of how to use it won't get you into that world, you will need the proper connections (hint: can you say "Liberal Elite"? And it also seems to help if you are gay, most of the high end photographers are gay).

- The last part of the photographic process is Post-Production. You will either have to learn to do this yourself or pay others to do it for you. The going rates for high end post production people start at $100/hour. There are several software packages you will want in your toolkit if you do this yourself: PhotoShop, CaptureOne Pro, and On1 are the main ones. You will need to master at least two of these programs to get professional results.

If you are well known and liked in your local community and smart enough to learn photography fundamentals and some basic post-production skills, then you may be able to get a steady stream of work. But be prepared to get undercut by other hungry local photographers. Good luck.

Track and Field News pays it's sportsshooters $500,000 year. Of course you have to have published combat pictures in Vietnam and Afghanistan to even be considered for Track and Field News.

Good luck with that wrote:

- The market is flooded with photographers. Part of the problem is an abundance of affordable, reasonably high quality cameras. You can take a $2,000 Nikon or Canon, put it in Program mode, point and shoot and you will get decent photos; not great photos, not artistically inspired photos, but decent photos. So over the past few years a bunch of middle aged guys going through mid life crises decided to become photographers and now the market is flooded with average photographers willing to work cheap, all cutting each others throats (figuratively speaking).

Boy this is the truth. I'm strictly an amateur photographer but I travel to some really interesting places. I get photos others can't or won't get. I sold ~125 photos last year, most framed print, but a few for publicity and one book cover.

Prices I can get for this stuff has been incredibly de-valued over the last decade or so. I could only get $600 for a book cover that will have 50,000 copies initial run, and was written by a Pulitzer Price author. The publishers basically say "we can get something on iStock for $600, take it or leave it."

Of course I take it, it's free money, so I'm no better than anyone else.

Ad agencies, magazines, etc, don't even want to pay anymore. They say "we'll give you credit" -- no thanks. Credit doesn't pay for me to take photos on the Bolivian Salt Flats. Hard to get to. Expensive. Etc. But someone else will give it to them -- won't be good work, but it will be free. We (photographers) have all undercut ourselves to the point where publishers don't even value our work. Sucks, but that's the environment.

sportshooter.com wrote:

Track and Field News pays it's sportsshooters $500,000 year. Of course you have to have published combat pictures in Vietnam and Afghanistan to even be considered for Track and Field News.

Giuliano earns $2-$5 Million per year depending on how busy he is.

Wtfunny wrote:

a) how many weddings do you think this guy is going to shoot in a week?

He could theoretically shoot 7 a week with ease. His job doesn't confine him to one location. That's the beauty of photography. you can travel where the money is and get your name out on a regional level.

The overhead of setting up the shoot is virtually non-existent with today's camera technology. No expensive lighting needed.

He does mor than just weddings:

1) Senior pictures

2) family/group portraits

3)drone pictures

4)videography