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Originally Posted by R3b
So I got a pretty vague question but how many of you guys shoot for a living or at least to freelance work? Im kinda over my job and want to focus on school more, I've saved more than enough to keep me going till my degree is up but I still want to make money on the side.
I built my PC years ago to do a bit of music/sound design and going to be going over it soon because the partion on my HD that had all my music and editing programs is destroyed. So will be doing a freshen up and start my OS from scratch. Had mac osx lion and using windows 8 now.
So now how do I go about getting into freelance work, I have a buddy who just opened his own studio to do off the street portraits for family, holidays pictures, and head shots. Going to see if I can maybe work for him to help him out. Other than that I was going to go out and just in general shoot more and brush up on my lightroom/PS. Do some work with friends for free and eventually start up a website for inquires. Figured I just need to invest in a good tripod, more batteries bc sony lol, maybe lights and another two lens since all I have is my old nikon 50mm 1.2 and 24mm 2.4. Probably get a lens adapter so I can use my canon lens and invest in a proper 50mm and some type of tele from sony.
Also want to get a cheap medium format camea because I think it be cool to eventually do studio work with film. My nikon f3 with something like fuji neopan is so clean but on medium format and scanned will be crystal clear.
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I’ve been 100% freelance for 6 years now. I’ve been shooting for about 12 years. The money is in advertising/commercial work. I turn down weddings/babies/family/event shit. It’s pennies. It’s a good way to cut your teeth, play with lighting, learn to direct people but ultimately you have to move away from that stuff if you want to be taken serious. Not that there aren’t wedding photographers out there making money, but that’s a hard grind (working every weekend? Fuck that) for clients who give zero shits about you, only themselves.
Here’s a couple pieces of advice:
Assist good photographers. Good as in good work, but also good as in they are willing to let you learn. Be up front and let them know what your plans are. You’ll learn more from veterans than anything else other than doing it yourself. I can pretty much set up any lighting set up (from any brand), camera, grip, etc etc that is out there and that’s because I’ve assisted. I still assist, but only two photographers.
Get your feet’s in the door with Art Directors at agencies. Ad agency work is where it’s at. Here’s an example. That Wahl shoot I mentioned, that shoot cost over $330,000. I got my day rate, plus usage that is more than what some people make in a year. ONE SHOOT.
That brings me to the next point. Don’t charge hourly (sorry Jo_Galezo). It’s fine for starting of but eventually you have to know your worth and you should be charging your Day Rate, Usage, Equipment, Storage, Travel, etc etc. It’s fine to underbid stuff early on to ge the job, but at some point you have to pay for shit. I had a client ask fro some crazy shit. It’s was a 6 month long shoot that I KNEW was crazy and they only way I’d do it is if the money was there. The estimate was like $100k. They didn’t have the budget for that BUT if I would have bid it less to get the job I would have LOST money. Not good business.
Avoid fashion. Unless that’s your thing. It’s HARSH. Especially in Manhattan and LA. A friend of mine is a semi famous fashion photographer in NY and the shit he tells me about fashion is depressing.
I still have a long way to go in my career, but its rolling at this point. Most big photographers will tell you it takes 10 years to build a brand well. It certainly happens overnight or some people but be in it for the long haul.