Do people really make good money in Photo/Video?

[johnee]

I've noticed a lot of people indicate they need their machines for photo/video editing. I'm an engineer, so by definition I have no real creativity and it's hard for me to understand how people can make money from producing videos, editing photos, or other general graphical design work.

If you are one of these people, let me ask you this:
What type of work do you do?

What clientel do you usually attract?

Do your clients come to you or do you have to approach them?

Do you have work all the time?

it's questions like these that make reality tv a hit ))

Thanks!

 

[JNB]

I've noticed a lot of people indicate they need their machines for photo/video editing. I'm an engineer, so by definition I have no real creativity and it's hard for me to understand how people can make money from producing videos, editing photos, or other general graphical design work.

Neither do I, nor 90% of the rest of us.

That's how creatives make money, providing a service that the talent-challenged are willing to pay for.

 

[johnee]

Neither do I, nor 90% of the rest of us.

That's how creatives make money, providing a service that the talent-challenged are willing to pay for.

You really think most people don't have any creativity? I guess you're right after I give it some thought, but it came as a shock to me to see people making their livelyhood off it. I think I have the concept of the starving artist in my head...

 

[grum]

Think a lot of ppl in that field work freelance/self-employed doing contract work. The money for that kind of thing can be pretty damn good, providing you can do all the work yourself and do it efficiently.

The problem of course is having a reliable income.

 

[JNB]

You really think most people don't have any creativity?

That may be too broad. Let's just say that most of us either have not had the training to properly employ our inherent creativity, or that we are preoccupied with other pursuits more important to ourselves and/or society.

Yeah, I can rationalize with the best of 'em!

 

[johnee]

That may be too broad. Let's just say that most of us either have not had the training to properly employ our inherent creativity, or that we are preoccupied with other pursuits more important to ourselves and/or society.

Yeah, I can rationalize with the best of 'em!

I know what you meant. I have a small creative bone in me, but I certainly couldn't support myself via a job which relied on it. I would be that starving artist in my mind.

Probably the most creative thing creative people do is turn talent into money!

 

[shecky]

I'm an engineer, so by definition I have no real creativity and it's hard for me to understand how people can make money from producing videos, editing photos, or other general graphical design work.

i am not sure what you mean by "how"? do you mean, how do creatives get paid/make an income? or how does a creative work at being creative? i am not exactly sure what you are asking.

If you are one of these people, let me ask you this:
What type of work do you do?

graphic design

What clientel do you usually attract?

the kind who pay me to do graphic design work. what do you mean "what kind"? my projects are 85% print, 15% motion/web, and vary between institutions, small businesses, and large companies.

Do your clients come to you or do you have to approach them?

virtually all of my clients find me. i have gotten a few clients from interviewing for a job that instead resulted in freelance work.

Do you have work all the time?

i am on a long-term temporary full-time freelance contract with an institution, so between that and all the other projects i do, yes.


and yes. people really do make good money by being designers.

 

[shecky]

You really think most people don't have any creativity?

i think everyone has creativity. i think very few people have the kind of specific creativity required to make a living at being creative.

 

[johnee]

Probably the most creative thing creative people do is turn talent into money!

i think everyone has creativity. i think very few people have the kind of specific creativity required to make a living at being creative.

yeah, see my post above thanks for the info. I'm just so focused on technical stuff that I've never looked up to see the world around me.

 

[kekejoe]

If I don't channel the creativity, it ends up pouring into my dayjob (as an engineer). And I don't think other engineers would appreciate creativity implemented into our products/research. So through mutual contact I came in contact with some skaters (the inline kind) in San Diego. They were just starting up their skate company and needed some editing done. I had personal experience, and so my friend offered my services. They send me tapes every few months or so, whenever they have enough footage to make a dvd, then I edit it for about $1000 per raw hour of footage and I have 2 weeks to edit per hour of raw footage. It's a nice little extra income, and I suppose if I tried harder I could talk to lots of other companies and try the same thing, although I'd have to do 8 hours of raw footage editing per month to get close to my engineering income, and I don't think I could do that much without tiring of it. Usually though if you get in the door of one company it propels to other companies (I do a little wedding video editing on the side for much much cheaper than the skate videos), and I bet you could be put on a retainer that pays wells if you're good at what you do. One big advantage to doing this on the side is that I get to write off the purchases of my computers as business expenses. Yay!

 

[leekohler]

i am not sure what you mean by "how"? do you mean, how do creatives get paid/make an income? or how does a creative work at being creative? i am not exactly sure what you are asking.


graphic design



the kind who pay me to do graphic design work. what do you mean "what kind"? my projects are 85% print, 15% motion/web, and vary between institutions, small businesses, and large companies.


virtually all of my clients find me. i have gotten a few clients from interviewing for a job that instead resulted in freelance work.


i am on a long-term temporary full-time freelance contract with an institution, so between that and all the other projects i do, yes.


and yes. people really do make good money by being designers.

Same for me- my entire income comes from being creative. I do mostly print, but I'm starting to get into video editing. Yeah, we do make OK money. I mean, I live in Chicago in a nice neighborhood and a nice apartment. Am I going to be a millionaire from it? No. But I'm relatively comfortable.

Oh and yes, I work almost all the time.

 

[wongulous]

Maybe asking the Occupational Outlook Handbook would answer some of these questions in addition to the personal testimonials.

 

[solvs]

Depends. I support Disney studios, and we all make a ton of money here. I made some when I was freelancing, but didn't really make an effort or build a client list. Mostly it what something to do for friends and family and a few smaller clients to make some side money when I was unemployed. There are people who work really hard at it, some working for a company, some freelancing with their own. Some making a lot, some a little. Depends on what you do, how much you do, how good you are, and who you're doing it for.

I myself prefer support as a living and media as a hobby/side business, but that's just me.

 

[Lyle]

i think everyone has creativity. i think very few people have the kind of specific creativity required to make a living at being creative.

One of my resolutions for this year was to become more educated about web design and developing web applications. I knew that there would be a bit of a learning curve for the web applications aspect of it, but as for the web design part -- how hard could it be? I mean, it's just slapping together some HTML and CSS, and bam, you've got a web site, right?

What I have learned is that while it's easy to put together a crappy-looking, amateurish web site, it takes a lot of work and focus to do it right. As I go through this learning process, I've gained a whole new level of respect for you guys (and gals) who do this for a living, and who do it well.