Well I got my issue or PhotoLife and I got to a great article about nature photography and the facts about making money with it by Wayne Lynch.
What a great read, Mr. Lynch basically gives you a account of a few outings he's been on, how much it cost him out of pocket for these trips and how long it took him to recoupe the expence.
I found it a nice eye opener for any aspiring stock nature photographer, the ever so ending of "Don't quit your day job" says it all
Hi David,
personally, I don't agree at 100% with that ending statement...while keeping your day job is the most safe thing to do, it is not always the best...sometimes (IMHO) it is necessary take risks, if you want to accomplish your goals.
Last year I quitted a job as programmer...the first months were quite difficult, I had nearly zero earnings...but now, after one year, I work as professional protographer, I publish my photos on three national (Italian) magazines (some examples) and I regularly keep workshops. I still have a lot of goals to accomplish (I want to travel and explore exotic countries, I want to improve many aspects of my photograpy, I want to spend less time writing articles and more time travelling, etc...), but overall I'm 100% happy of my choice.
Although I do agree you have to take risks in life to accomplish your dreams, in this article Wayne Lynch was refurring to starting out in stock nature photography. I am not a pro so I can verify his accounting but he stated that his trips would come in at around $2500-$8000 and it would take him 5-10 years to make that money back in the sale of his shots.
Now there are other ways to make money in photography while you wait for that money to come in, but I think when he stated "Dont quit your day job" he was saying that you will need another source of income other then stock photography at the beginning.
Jim:
Thanks for the kind words! If now I am a pro, I owe a lot to NPN...I have learnt - and I contintue to learn - *a lot* from this fantastic community!
David: Thanks for the clarification. Indeed, stock photography is not very remunerative - at least in my experience; the 90% of my income is from editorial and workshops.
Thanks for the heads-up, David. We (US subscribers) seem to get the magazine a bit later than our friends across the border. I'm looking forward to reading it.
Guy
Posted by Scott Buckel on June 27, 2006 at 11:34 AM
David - thanks for the heads up. I have always lilked Wayne's articles.
Posted by David Redding on June 27, 2006 at 10:47 PM
PhotoLife has to be one of the best rags out there.....its just to bad it only comes out every 3 months
Discussion
8 repliesWhat a great read, Mr. Lynch basically gives you a account of a few outings he's been on, how much it cost him out of pocket for these trips and how long it took him to recoupe the expence.
I found it a nice eye opener for any aspiring stock nature photographer, the ever so ending of "Don't quit your day job" says it all
personally, I don't agree at 100% with that ending statement...while keeping your day job is the most safe thing to do, it is not always the best...sometimes (IMHO) it is necessary take risks, if you want to accomplish your goals.
Last year I quitted a job as programmer...the first months were quite difficult, I had nearly zero earnings...but now, after one year, I work as professional protographer, I publish my photos on three national (Italian) magazines (some examples) and I regularly keep workshops.
It gives the rest of us hope...
Although I do agree you have to take risks in life to accomplish your dreams, in this article Wayne Lynch was refurring to starting out in stock nature photography. I am not a pro so I can verify his accounting but he stated that his trips would come in at around $2500-$8000 and it would take him 5-10 years to make that money back in the sale of his shots.
Now there are other ways to make money in photography while you wait for that money to come in, but I think when he stated "Dont quit your day job" he was saying that you will need another source of income other then stock photography at the beginning.
Thanks for the kind words! If now I am a pro, I owe a lot to NPN...I have learnt - and I contintue to learn - *a lot* from this fantastic community!
David: Thanks for the clarification. Indeed, stock photography is not very remunerative - at least in my experience; the 90% of my income is from editorial and workshops.
Guy