Wow, I Never Knew It Was So Easy To Make Money At Photography

is this for real? or is it just a “troll” to piss off real photographers?

its a troll right?

either you deserve a standing ovation for how much this will piss off real photographers…

or if this is actually real… i dont even know what to say…

quit while youre WAY behind or get a video crew to record everything you do because it will be the most painful sitcom to watch you do – literally everything – the wrong way.

Either way… kudos on getting a bunch of photographers to read this and repost it as “really? WTF!” haha

J

I’m thinking you have been following the “sprayandpray” debates recently?

Funny story. Actually I shot my first wedding ever. I’ have never been even assistant in such important event. It was my friend who asked me to do it. His wife asked for some wedding photo portfolio, but I didn’t have one, except a few formal events not related to wedding. I told the couple, that this would be my first time, but they were fine with that. I cooperate with bridal company and see photographers taking wedding photos, but never had a chance to work with them. So, I had some idea. At least I was honest with my friend. Anyway, I agree with your story , it’s very hard work. I really enjoyed after all, but next day morning I barly moved after 10h running around I took about 1000s shots. My first time was also with adventure. I had my Nikon cam with my lens and SB-900. Wedding is very important and 2 bodies must have it. I rented D700 (good for high ISO in dark Church) with wide lens and flash. Motning after taking about 80 shots SD card for no reason showed me error message,that it may be damaged. Damn! I thought. Good I have another cam. Anyway, I decided to replace SD card and it worked. Lucky me, but I was worry about those 80 pictures. Then, in the Church, rented strobe had failed (SB-900). Good I had another one and could keep going. At the end, late afternoon at the reception, D700 died (mirror locked itself and zoom stooped working too). I was left with one camera, one flash and hope that next SD won’t fail. When everything was over and I returned home, the good news was that SD which gave me error in my D90 was fine when ai inserted to card reader and all 80 pics were there. D700 died after 329 photos were taken. As a first timer to do the wedding, it was quite stressful situation. What would be if another SD card didn’t work and another camera have died? I was really lucky.
Now there is some work to do in Lightroom

Yeah I can understand what you’re trying to do. Maybe it’s just bad timing because every time I’ve seen an article in my feed from you guys lately it’s been this or “what a pro captures vs what an amateur shoots” or “3 Reasons You Should Give Up Your Dreams Of Being A Photographer”. Not to mention the same type of thing I see from so many other “Pro’s” or similar blogs as of late.

My issue is that whether they are meant seriously, as a joke or just for pure shock value, the articles themselves and the volume at which they’ve been coming lately just comes off a bit elitist. And if I were you I’d be concerned about scaring off or offending those same amateurs. The very caricature of the person you describe here is someone on a budget, with a full time job trying to make some extra cash with a hobby they like, which describes a lot of people fairly.

I’m not sure that means every soccer mom is running around calling themselves a professional or even thinking that. Those are the people that are probably grasping at straws to learn and improve, not be lectured on what they aren’t doing right. There may be a better way in our eyes, but that option isn’t always open to everyone. And if they’re making their 500 bucks and are happy, then so what? Another wise photographer once said to me that in this business, like in many others, there is a niche for everyone. The amateur who loves their hobby and maybe only has a single lens and is charging peanuts for the service might fit the budget of the person who cannot afford the $6,000 pro. And they might both end up very happy with the results.

The other thing that bugs me about this mentality is that term “pro” is so broad. I consider myself a pro because I run a full time photography business and as you say, know my equipment inside and out. But I am still always learning, and there are “pro’s” I’ve met that have worked in the field for decades and truly are “pro’s” that I one day aspire to be like. I’ve also seen a lot of pro’s decades in that have work that the somewhat talented or lucky soccer mom can put to shame. It’s really subjective.

Not everyone has to be a pro and an artist to enjoy what they do. If someone is unhappy with what they’re doing, they are going to make the change on their own (or not). I don’t think an article (or three) mocking everything they may or may not be doing right is going to be the big game changer that makes them drop everything they’re doing and shoves them into a career in photography.

I guess what I’m saying is something more inspirational, at least in my mind, gives more fuel than a laundry list of negatives. An article of, “You may be an amateur now, but look at what you can accomplish if you…” might get people more excited to try new things. You know, the sports stars and leaders of the world don’t inspire the next generation by listing all the thing’s you are doing wrong, they try to inspire by what they have done or overcome and lead by an example so that others might follow. Just my opinion.

And just as a P.S., I don’t mean this as an attack or to say you’re wrong or anything, I just don’t love the direction of this thought process in general.

I just want to reply to Pete L.

It is true that we should be encouraging new photographers to follow their dreams and such, but I believe that it is OUR responsibility who’s already in the business to lay down the facts that it’s not as glamorous as they think. they should know how much money, time and effort just to get 1 wedding.

i agree that this article is a bit parodic, but the message doesn’t change. that being a wedding photographer is NOT an easy job

And this is why 1. I don’t do weddings, even though I am asked about twice a month, and 2. won’t take on an assignment I know I can’t under promise and over deliver on. Sure, it’s playing it safe, but I’m not doing it for the money now anyway. Also, it’s nice to be choosy because of that

I learned the same lesson when shooting a 30th birthday party. I did it mostly for building up some portfolio material. $60 for about 4 – 5 hours of shooting, and then another 4 -5 hours for post production. Bottom line – $5 – $6 per hour.

Hey Pete you are absolutely right – we all can’t be great photographers just as all artists are not great artists or successful artists. This happens in all life’s endeavours – everyone can’t be a success – otherwise “success” will have no real meaning or value.

I can see the point Lori is making also. It does not matter which ever way the argument goes, some people need to hear what she had to say but not everyone needs to take heed I guess. I would advise that people with whom it resonates take heed and act now, those with whom it does not can ignore it.

Don’t let’s drag it out needlessly – in my view it is a matter of “to whom it may concern”

I happened upon this site quite by accident. At first I was a little excited to find it. What photographer doesn’t enjoy reading articles on their favorite subject? So far all I have found are articles that belittle anyone who doesn’t measure up to your standard. Shame on you! You clearly have a God-given talent not only in photography but in writing as well and instead of building up potentially great photographers you are tearing them down. Do you think they are not aware of how hard it is? Trust me, they are! I should know. I have been where they are. Thankfully I had someone who encouraged me rather than mocked me. Instead of making a parody of all the things I wasn’t aware of before going into business, they gave guidance.

I forgot to touch base on the overall message about helping to educate new pros on the time and financial dedication in your efforts to help eliminate any unrealistic expectations about what it takes to be a pro. I appreciate this message, yet find it both unnecessary and over emphasized by seasoned professionals.

Here is something I think pro photogs often forget: owning and growing any business requires the same level if time and dedication photographers commit to their craft. Yet this is the only field that actively attempts to educate and discourage other photographers from beginning .

I own my own childcare business and learned the financial and time dedication through experience, not before. I had a vague understanding of the efforts needed but only became truly enlightened after I began. And honestly; I could have practiced and prepared indefinitely as seems to be the suggestions of many pro photogs; but nothing can prepare a business like real life experiences.

Hi,
I love this article.. I’ve read everyone’s comments…. i think whoever said that “so far all I have found are articles that belittle anyone who doesn’t measure up to your standard” or the likewise have never actually read your other articles.. and not positive enough to look the article in a right perspective..

When i read the article, it hit me that if we want to be serious in business, we have to really mean it…be serious with it.. because i believe that a lot of people can take a great photos but not all of them can be great entrepreneurs..so it’s back to the importance of many aspects in developing the business like licensing, marketing, setting up a website or social media, insurance and etc. ..unless we just want to be stuck and not planning to upgrade our business. To me i agree with Lori that said “think business from the start” even if we do it part time… that’s ok if you choose not to be an entrepreneur, and satisfied with what you have..it’s up to you..but i choose to be wealthy and successful with photography…

this article is actually an eye opener for me…. made me think how i should be more focus into my business.. i believe the importance of branding and marketing in business …. i love all of Lori’s article.

Thanks Lori..for sharing your knowledge and wisdom..really appreciate them

*Sorry for all the typos! I wrote this comment on my iPhone. Here it is revised and revamped*

Great post, Lori! I laughed when reading it. I have been there, done that!

Three years ago my husband and I decided to become “pros”, so we purchased a Nikon D5000 (woohoo!), not rven knowing anything about DX or FX formats. We thought we were in business! Llike if just having that camera and snap it in automatic mode would turn out great pictures and make us “legit.”

We had no idea of the business side of photography; we didn’t even really care. Business goals? Marketing? Branding? Whi needs those! We were passionate about photography. We thought it was just about snapping pictures with the big camera, and having some free business cards printed. But results were not good. It was frustrating not to be able to recreate all those beautiful images we found on the internet from reknown wedding photographers (Yervant, Joe Bussinik, Jerry Ghionis). So we started reading books, blogs on the subject, participatin in CreativeLIVE workshops, learning, and learning some more to improve our craft, we upgraded our cameras, bought prime lenses; but the business side was too overwhelming, so we decided to quit. I’m sorry to say that we engrossed the statistics of small business that failed within the first two years of being in business.

On June 2, of this year, 2 years after keeping our cameras in the bags, just taking them few times to calture our nephews and nice, we felt the emptiness inside, nostalgia of our dreams. Hubby and I had a heart-to-heart talk, and we realized that this is what we love to do, and that to be professional wedding photographers takes more than having a stack of cheap cards with your name on it, go to an event and just click that camera like crazy, hoping to salvage some shots with poor Photoshop post-processing. Not really knowing your craft well, and what it costs in time and resources to be a photographer, can kill a photography business right there. We know it from
our own experience.

Our craft has improved, we know our cameras, we know how to get the images we imagine in our heads, but in order to go beyond, we needed to embrace also the business side of photography.

We created our business plan (mission statement, vision, values, goal, marketing plan for 1 and 5 years, and where do we want to be in 10 and 15 years). We asked for additional advice to the SCORE group at our local business chamber, where we met with a group of volunteer retired business men that reviewed our business plan and asked us a lot of questions to help us fine tune it. We also talked to our State Farm agent and purchased a liability insurance.

Reading your posts and putting into practice what we have learned has been invaluable, and we have no words to thank you and all those photographers that by email, facebook, and Twitter have provided help.

Keep up writing great posts like this!

Sincerely,
Veronica