Summer vacation is only three weeks away and it can not come soon enough. (I’m heading for the east coast of Brazil the last day of school, which I’m pretty stoked about). A little over two years ago I began using photography again as a hobby after a ten year absence from it. Now I am starting to get a little overwhelmed with the business side of photography.
In the past month I just cannot seem to get caught up on all of my printing that needs to be done to fill orders. I teach middle school science from 8-3, Monday through Friday. Weekends are usually consumed by a backpacking trip or some sort of travel. That leaves me with weekday evenings. Of course I also like to go out shooting a few times a week, so when does one have time to do the actual business side of photography?
Financially I should probably take a break from teaching, but then again I really enjoy photography as a hobby. I’m afraid if I were to make it my full time job I would lose some of the passion. (Now I have the freedom to shoot exactly what I want)
I guess what I’m asking is if there are others who feel that they neglect their field time due to working in the office either printing, making submissions or anything else that pertains to their photography business?
Of course--unless you are one of the very few who can afford office help (in which case, you have to work and market all the harder in order to pay for the help).
I have seen many people comment that they shoot far less after going fulltime then when they were pressing hard as an amateur.
Josh - some business advice, and it is meant with the best of intentions. Get all of your print orders out BEFORE doing more shooting or trips. This may mean cancelling a weekend trip if you need to. Right now, you are at a stage when time is an issue and you are building your business through word of mouth and a good reputation. This is not a point in time where you want to mess with that.
Right with you Joshua. Sounds as though you have reached the point that time devoted to printing is a sincere issue. We studied long and hard the issue of printing our own shots from the studio. We might or might not save a few nickles in the long run, but at such a tremendous cost in our already-precious time. Final decision was to have the printing done by a lab, and we've never regretted it. We just pass the printing costs along to our customers within our rate structure, and no one has ever complained about the slight bump in our prices that resulted. Meanwhile we aren't spending hours a day over the printers, updating printer drivers, buying ink, replacing or troubleshooting printers, etc. It has yielded great benefits timewise and meanwhile not cost us any extra or lost business for us.
Give it serious thought, meanwhile beginning to search for just the right lab for your needs. It's one thing to print on speculation and have to suck up the costs. It's another altogether to hire out your printing for orders already placed with you.
I also abandoned printing for clients in my own office, adopting lab printing instead. I'm one month away from my last day at my full-time job, and will be turning much more of my attention to the marketing/publicity side of the business as I transition away from the steady workplace paycheck. I'll need all the time I can get, so to eliminate all the hours spent slaving over printing is a tremendous boon.
To make anything work successfully there's lots of sacrifices. I bet well, without exception are going through what you are.
You and I have had this discussion many times. All of the advice given here so far is true, There's a lot to be said for the day job. I did it for 27 years before I decided I had it. I have a 401K, etc as a result. As you now I still take consulting jobs in my field that take up a few days a week. Teaching, though a pain in the ass at times offers a lot of vacation time, tenure, retirement, and stability, MEDICAL!!!! ( just in case you & Cristy want to start a family some day!). Id stay with it as long as you can. Many of us have stories of guys who quite good jobs to become full time nature photographers and went broke. It costs $ to travel, buy equipment etc. remember profit is whats left after ALL your expenses are paid.
You are right that photography as a full time job takes away some of the fun. You need to shoot differently at times as well as spend MUCH more time in your office and marketing your work than shooting. For me , I at the point in my life that I did the corporate world thing and can afford to do what I am doing. My time in the photographic office" beats time dealing with business travel in the corporate works, and sitting in a corporate office kissing other folks you know what.
You are young, talented and as Yogi said "Your future's ahead of you".
If you haven't already, read John Shaw's book on the Business of Nature photography.
I have no doubt you will be successful.
Doing photography as a full time business is much more work than doing it as a hobby. You have to balance creating new work and being an artist in business. There are ways to increase the time you spend shooting and minimize the time you spend running your business, but these ways take a lot of time to implement - and a lot of work as well- to become successful.
It's very easy to spend all your time selling your work and virtually no time creating new work or being in the field. I have been there. I was making so much money I didn't have any time to take photographs. I had to hire a marketing expert to get me out of this situation. I describe this in detail in my book, "Mastering Landscape Photography. " It nearly killed me, and I am not exagerating. I nearly developed RMS cutting thousands and thousands of mats. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else.
It's one of the strangest ironies I have ever experienced.
Jack's advice couldn't be any better. I have been getting by barely on various freelance income since October. I quit my job due to some important issues I had to deal with at home. I haven't traveled since November because I can't afford to. It sounds like a good fantasy to have freedom from white collar but the handcuffs lie no further than your savings account. I've needed a replacement tripod for the past four months, and just finally got it the other day. If I had my job still, I woudln't have even considered not getting the tripod. Creating your own opportunities to get paid is fun when you do get paid, but then reality hits you when car insurance, health insurance, income tax, and student loans are all due in the same month...
Yay, good brother, let me come forward and offer witness and testimony. say; "Hallelujah."
People are under such illusions that being a professional photographer is such an easy, glamorous way to make a living. It ain't. Pure and simple; it's work. I never know where or when my next check will come from.
Making a business out of photography will certainly steal much of the passion enjoyed by the pure hobbiest. First and foremost, you need to be clear on what type of photography business you want to do. Second, you need to learn about all the things needed to "be a professional".
Can you quote a price for a 50% wrap cover on a trade retail hardcover book w/ a press run of 25k, three languages, North American, European, and Austrailian, non-exclusive rights? How much extra for ancillaries and collateral? Do you have your cost of doing business calculated along with your cost of goods when pricing your prints? When do you need a property release? How much offsite liability insurance is covered with your business insurance plan? Would you license an image as Rights Managed, Royalty Free, Rights Ready, Microstock, and what about PLUS Paks?
I shoot much less now that my income is dependant on my photography. I find I have to make fiscal viability decisions regarding what and when to shoot. I've shot several projects that at first thought would be perfect and easy, and right in line with my personal interest areas. Yet after a few shoots, they quickly felt like going to work. When I travel specifically for photography, I usually return home utterly exhausted and need days to recover.
I spend most of my behind a computer. A hobbiest may travel for 10 days, take a few hundred shots, and over the course of available free time may process a couple dozen shots. On my last 10 day trip to Utah, I shot thousands of frames (much editorial travel) that needed to be edited, and eventually processed, sized, spotted, cleaned, keyworded, and did multiple DVD and external HD backups on almost 700 frames. Developing and learning about workflows for building that kind of inventory means lots of time invested.
I balance this with trying to go to the gym, and being the parent of an 8 & 5 yo B/G, and responsible for getting them up and off to school, pick-up, homework done, dinner made, and shooting lots of pool.
May the universe grant me strength. say; "Hallelujuah."
No one tells me what to do, or when to do it. (Unless they're a client.) say; "Hallelujuah."
I make a decent living that beats cooking for a living. say; "Hallelujuah."
Some weeks I may work as little as 12 hours; Sometimes that's by choice. say; "Hallelujuah." Sometimes that's all the available time I have. say; "Universe grant me strength."
I have no commute. say; "Hallelujuah." say; "Hallelujuah." say; "Hallelujuah."
Sometimes I get to witness the glory of a sunrise at mother earths most visibly stunning locations, all alone, at one with the universe, and able to record that moment for posterity; and it's what I do for a living. say; "Hallelujuah."
Discussion
16 repliesIn the past month I just cannot seem to get caught up on all of my printing that needs to be done to fill orders. I teach middle school science from 8-3, Monday through Friday. Weekends are usually consumed by a backpacking trip or some sort of travel. That leaves me with weekday evenings. Of course I also like to go out shooting a few times a week, so when does one have time to do the actual business side of photography?
Financially I should probably take a break from teaching, but then again I really enjoy photography as a hobby. I’m afraid if I were to make it my full time job I would lose some of the passion. (Now I have the freedom to shoot exactly what I want)
I guess what I’m asking is if there are others who feel that they neglect their field time due to working in the office either printing, making submissions or anything else that pertains to their photography business?
Guy
Josh - some business advice, and it is meant with the best of intentions. Get all of your print orders out BEFORE doing more shooting or trips. This may mean cancelling a weekend trip if you need to. Right now, you are at a stage when time is an issue and you are building your business through word of mouth and a good reputation. This is not a point in time where you want to mess with that.
How did Magee go this weekend?
Dan, I didn't make it to Magee, I was trying to catch up on filling orders and I opened my mother's pool for her.
Give it serious thought, meanwhile beginning to search for just the right lab for your needs. It's one thing to print on speculation and have to suck up the costs. It's another altogether to hire out your printing for orders already placed with you.
To make anything work successfully there's lots of sacrifices. I bet well, without exception are going through what you are.
You and I have had this discussion many times. All of the advice given here so far is true, There's a lot to be said for the day job. I did it for 27 years before I decided I had it. I have a 401K, etc as a result. As you now I still take consulting jobs in my field that take up a few days a week. Teaching, though a pain in the ass at times offers a lot of vacation time, tenure, retirement, and stability, MEDICAL!!!! ( just in case you & Cristy want to start a family some day!). Id stay with it as long as you can. Many of us have stories of guys who quite good jobs to become full time nature photographers and went broke. It costs $ to travel, buy equipment etc. remember profit is whats left after ALL your expenses are paid.
You are right that photography as a full time job takes away some of the fun. You need to shoot differently at times as well as spend MUCH more time in your office and marketing your work than shooting. For me , I at the point in my life that I did the corporate world thing and can afford to do what I am doing. My time in the photographic office" beats time dealing with business travel in the corporate works, and sitting in a corporate office kissing other folks you know what.
You are young, talented and as Yogi said "Your future's ahead of you".
If you haven't already, read John Shaw's book on the Business of Nature photography.
I have no doubt you will be successful.
Doing photography as a full time business is much more work than doing it as a hobby. You have to balance creating new work and being an artist in business. There are ways to increase the time you spend shooting and minimize the time you spend running your business, but these ways take a lot of time to implement - and a lot of work as well- to become successful.
It's very easy to spend all your time selling your work and virtually no time creating new work or being in the field. I have been there. I was making so much money I didn't have any time to take photographs. I had to hire a marketing expert to get me out of this situation. I describe this in detail in my book, "Mastering Landscape Photography. " It nearly killed me, and I am not exagerating. I nearly developed RMS cutting thousands and thousands of mats. I wouldn't wish it on anyone else.
It's one of the strangest ironies I have ever experienced.
People are under such illusions that being a professional photographer is such an easy, glamorous way to make a living. It ain't. Pure and simple; it's work. I never know where or when my next check will come from.
Making a business out of photography will certainly steal much of the passion enjoyed by the pure hobbiest. First and foremost, you need to be clear on what type of photography business you want to do. Second, you need to learn about all the things needed to "be a professional".
Can you quote a price for a 50% wrap cover on a trade retail hardcover book w/ a press run of 25k, three languages, North American, European, and Austrailian, non-exclusive rights? How much extra for ancillaries and collateral? Do you have your cost of doing business calculated along with your cost of goods when pricing your prints? When do you need a property release? How much offsite liability insurance is covered with your business insurance plan? Would you license an image as Rights Managed, Royalty Free, Rights Ready, Microstock, and what about PLUS Paks?
I shoot much less now that my income is dependant on my photography. I find I have to make fiscal viability decisions regarding what and when to shoot. I've shot several projects that at first thought would be perfect and easy, and right in line with my personal interest areas. Yet after a few shoots, they quickly felt like going to work. When I travel specifically for photography, I usually return home utterly exhausted and need days to recover.
I spend most of my behind a computer. A hobbiest may travel for 10 days, take a few hundred shots, and over the course of available free time may process a couple dozen shots. On my last 10 day trip to Utah, I shot thousands of frames (much editorial travel) that needed to be edited, and eventually processed, sized, spotted, cleaned, keyworded, and did multiple DVD and external HD backups on almost 700 frames. Developing and learning about workflows for building that kind of inventory means lots of time invested.
I balance this with trying to go to the gym, and being the parent of an 8 & 5 yo B/G, and responsible for getting them up and off to school, pick-up, homework done, dinner made, and shooting lots of pool.
May the universe grant me strength. say; "Hallelujuah."
No one tells me what to do, or when to do it. (Unless they're a client.) say; "Hallelujuah."
I make a decent living that beats cooking for a living. say; "Hallelujuah."
Some weeks I may work as little as 12 hours; Sometimes that's by choice. say; "Hallelujuah." Sometimes that's all the available time I have. say; "Universe grant me strength."
I have no commute. say; "Hallelujuah." say; "Hallelujuah." say; "Hallelujuah."
Sometimes I get to witness the glory of a sunrise at mother earths most visibly stunning locations, all alone, at one with the universe, and able to record that moment for posterity; and it's what I do for a living. say; "Hallelujuah."
Thanks for all the great replies.
And I agree with you Gary. Some people do not realize everything that goes into a photography business. Its not always rainbows and butterflies is it?
But on the other hand if you love it, go for it. Just make sure you realize what you are getting yourself into.
And thanks again for all the participation. This is great.