Tips on Beginning Photography as a Part Time Job?

[I AM THE MAN]

What part of the country are you in?

Given you're in High School (and as such, I'm assuming you don't need a full time, bill paying job right now), doing the grip or assistant thing would probably help you.

These types of jobs would not only let you get the basics of photography down, but also build contacts in the industry.

If you go in, show a good work ethic and a willingness to learn, good things will happen for you.

Good luck.

Thank you

 

[Designer Dale]

^^^ I did a photo shoot with my GF recently-we were the customers. The photographer said he had an intern from High School working with his social media efforts. Maybe something along this line would be a start. He said she went on field shoots and held reflectors and such. Sounded interesting to me.

Dale

 

[CrackedButter]

A lot of the advice above is pretty good. I don't have much to add. But if you're going to spend time and money studying something, forget studying photography. Studying business - as others have said - is more valuable. You don't even need to do that, but it won't hurt.

As for the photography: have you considered volunteering? Perhaps for a local theatre company or charity or whatever. Get a decent portfolio under your belt of course, but while shooting for free you'll be building up valuable, real-world experience. That beats taking classes any day. YMMV.

If you shoot for free you devalue photography for the rest of us.

 

[Ruahrc]

If you shoot for free you devalue photography for the rest of us.

"us" being professional photographers? What about "if you shoot for free, you force everyone else to give "us" (here used in the sense of the consumer) a better value for our money".

While it may be a noble sentiment, just become some people make money from photography doesn't mean everyone has (or even wants) to. Or that money is the only profit one may derive from photography.

Ruahrc

 

[snberk103]

"us" being professional photographers? What about "if you shoot for free, you force everyone else to give "us" (here used in the sense of the consumer) a better value for our money".

While it may be a noble sentiment, just become some people make money from photography doesn't mean everyone has (or even wants) to. Or that money is the only profit one may derive from photography.

Ruahrc

To be fair, the OP did say he wanted to do this as a "job". Either he wants to get into the business, or he doesn't.

I've been known to do the occasional "free" job for a worthy cause. For a well place photo credit and/or "Thanks to ......". In essence, I've done the job for the price of placing an ad. And I've done the occasional uncredited free job for a worthy cause where the alternative was to join the Board and sit through monthly meetings.

 

[Designer Dale]

Every profession has a fringe of people who are interested and talented enough to do it for cash but just don't want to open a business. They generally do it for a minimal charge to cover cost of labor and materials. Think about the guy with a garage full of tools who is really good at fixing cars. He doesn't have the cash or desire to open a shop full time, but he still loves to get his hands dirty. He doesn't threaten or degrade the profession of auto repair by doing this. He enhances it by keeping the pros on their game. People who can't afford the professional shop still get their needs met.

Dale

 

[Pikemann Urge]

If you shoot for free you devalue photography for the rest of us.

Nonsense. In fact I look forward to building up a portfolio of free stock images. Free stock is hopefully going to kill microstock - exactly what microstock did to traditional stock. Commissions is where the money is, anyway. Stock is just to keep our skills sharpened.

To be fair, the OP did say he wanted to do this as a "job". Either he wants to get into the business, or he doesn't.

I believe that he might want some additional experience. If that is the case, then volunteering is a good place to get it. Some organizations can't afford a photographer anyway, so it's a win-win.

He enhances it by keeping the pros on their game. People who can't afford the professional shop still get their needs met.

Now, that is common sense!

 

[I AM THE MAN]

Nonsense. In fact I look forward to building up a portfolio of free stock images. Free stock is hopefully going to kill microstock - exactly what microstock did to traditional stock. Commissions is where the money is, anyway. Stock is just to keep our skills sharpened.



I believe that he might want some additional experience. If that is the case, then volunteering is a good place to get it. Some organizations can't afford a photographer anyway, so it's a win-win.



Now, that is common sense!

Thank you. I am really just in the process to just learn photography in any case. I think many people did misunderstand me (I do think that I made the subject unclear) but I really am just wanting to be a part-time photographer taking photos at events, parties etc more as a hobby, and I am wondering If a beginner photographer can do this (keeping in mind I know how to edit photos to fix simple mistakes, and how to work with RAW files). Would it be possible for me to make a "few bucks" from doing this?

 

[MattSepeta]

I was never one to be bothered by weekend warrior "I'll shoot for free!" people...

Anyone considering hiring a real pro is not considering the craigslist free guy.

 

[Ruahrc]

Thank you. I am really just in the process to just learn photography in any case. I think many people did misunderstand me (I do think that I made the subject unclear) but I really am just wanting to be a part-time photographer taking photos at events, parties etc more as a hobby, and I am wondering If a beginner photographer can do this (keeping in mind I know how to edit photos to fix simple mistakes, and how to work with RAW files). Would it be possible for me to make a "few bucks" from doing this?

IMHO,

Even though you're just looking to be a part-time photographer, I still don't think starting up a freelance photo "business" is a smart move. Offering to do some jobs for free is one thing, and even offering to shoot for free for a stranger, there is a whole new level of expectation vs. volunteering to shoot friends/family events. Past that, once you step up to the point where money is exchanged, you enter yet a whole new arena. The level of expectation (from both a technical standpoint as well as a professionalism standpoint) rises dramatically once you accept a job for pay, whether it is $5 or $5000 it's the same.

Given the recent threads you have made, it doesn't seem like you're ready to take on photography for pay. The suggestions made here about working for a local photographer or volunteering for one are still valid, and would give you the technical/business/professional experience you need in order to start going it on your own. You don't "learn photography" by charging people and shooting part-time, you learn photography first, then shoot part-time for pay to help fund new toys/gear or because you enjoy it.

 

[I AM THE MAN]

IMHO,

Even though you're just looking to be a part-time photographer, I still don't think starting up a freelance photo "business" is a smart move. Offering to do some jobs for free is one thing, and even offering to shoot for free for a stranger, there is a whole new level of expectation vs. volunteering to shoot friends/family events. Past that, once you step up to the point where money is exchanged, you enter yet a whole new arena. The level of expectation (from both a technical standpoint as well as a professionalism standpoint) rises dramatically once you accept a job for pay, whether it is $5 or $5000 it's the same.

Given the recent threads you have made, it doesn't seem like you're ready to take on photography for pay. The suggestions made here about working for a local photographer or volunteering for one are still valid, and would give you the technical/business/professional experience you need in order to start going it on your own. You don't "learn photography" by charging people and shooting part-time, you learn photography first, then shoot part-time for pay to help fund new toys/gear or because you enjoy it.

Yeah I understand. I'm in the process of contacting a nearby Portrait Studio and ask if I can help them out for free.

 

[mtbdudex]

Yeah I understand. I'm in the process of contacting a nearby Portrait Studio and ask if I can help them out for free.

Back "in the day", late 1970's many kids who wanted to learn drafting started out in the print room running blue prints, a needed function in the business, and got 10-15% of their time as "board time" to learn.

Seems a portrait studio can have same approach, some "low skill" task needs to be done and you get paid min wage, then 10% of time you'd learn some of the many photography related skills.

Good luck, from looking over your other posts I almost guessed you were making a FAQ related to all thing photography.

 

[avro707]

Probably the best way is to get involved as an assistant for an already established photographer, then you can pick their brains and pick up their knowledge.

It's not just taking the photos, but it's the managing people too - there is a mindset and a way that some people have, and other people don't have.

I did a bit of that as well for a time, holding the light reflectors, etc. You learn a lot of stuff quickly.

 

[Fast Shadow]

Photography skills aside, and they are important of course, you also need to think about the business aspects.

Pricing. Set your prices too high, you don't get the business. Set your prices too low, you lose money and go out of business. Once you've set your prices, it's hard to raise them. So do your research first. Photographers can be very generous with a new member of the profession, if you aren't undercutting them on price.... which devalues everyone's value.

Are you going to invoice people? Are you going to accept deposits for future work? How are you going to handle situations where your client demands their money back because they expected an Annie Liebovitz style shot, but only had a budget for a 2 hour session?

Copyright. Do you have at least a basic knowledge of who owns the copyright, and what you can do with images after taking them. Do you have a basic knowledge of privacy laws, and who you can photograph, and under what conditions you can or can not "publish" the images?

Do need a business license? If so, are you going to fly under the radar for a bit? Most beginners do - but there are risks - so you know what they are?

Are you going to collect and pay taxes? (sales and income). If not (many beginners don't) do you know what benefits you are giving up? Because there are some benefits not being in the black-market.

Do you need insurance? For loss of your equipment, accidental or otherwise. Liability - in case you knock someone or something over while you have a camera pressed to your face. The most common photographic insurance claim is from wedding/event photographers who have knocked someone/something over while backing up.

You don't need to be an expert in all of this stuff to get started, but the more you know, the better off you will be and the more professional you will appear. And less risk you run bad and expensive things happening to you.

Good Luck.

And yes, budget for an external flash. Shoot in RAW. Budget for getting Lightroom or Aperture. Get business cards made professionally. Budget for buying at least two more lenses and back up camera body in the next year or so. And lots and lots of HDD storage, plus a way to organize your client info and the images.

I will share my own experience with this for anyone who may wonder where to go to get these things done.

1. Set up a corporation. I used a popular legal services company (they advertise all over the place) to create an LLC. It is important to incorporate for many reasons - tax, liability, etc. Once your corporation is formed and you have an EIN you'll be able to establish business accounts with vendors. In some states or counties there are tax breaks for businesses. Because part of what I do is post production (video editing) there is a pretty big sales tax break for business purchases made in the state of California.

2. I use Freshbooks for invoicing.

3. I have web hosting of my own plus I make heavy use of the social media features built into Flickr. In fact, my domain name currently takes you to my Flickr page rather than my actual site. I make sure to keep my contact info displayed all over the place. I pay close attention to the analytics. If I see a spike in views for a particular image coming from a forum, I might register on that forum and comment on the photo. Anything to generate interest without coming across as being pushy about selling stuff.

4. Pricing is really fluid. I mostly shoot motorsports. I go to an event, set up, and shoot cars/bikes as they come and go. After I edit the photos I post them on Flickr. If someone wants to purchase a photo I offer a non-commercial license for fairly cheap, with the intent of generating interest in a true photo shoot.

5. I use Lightroom for tagging and catalogging my RAW files. I use a cloud based backup service to keep the images and my Lightroom catalogs safe.

6. I am currently looking at a few different insurance packages. I took a bad fall a couple of months ago that could have wiped out $4,000 in gear in one shot. Fortunately the gear came away with just a few superficial scratches. But it was a wake up call. Besides equipment insurance you will also need general liability insurance to be able to work as a photographer at quite a few types of venues.

7. Most of all you need to get out there and shoot. Every day. At the very least every weekend. No excuses. I've shot probably 100k frames since November. And you always have to be learning.

 

[sim667]

Learn to shoot film. Learn to set up lighting. Learn the difference between camera right and camera left.

Give photographers a call when you've done that, build up a portfolio to show them. Call them, dont email them, you'll get nowhere by emailing. Take your portfolio to shoot them and tell them you're wanting to assist. Dont assist for free, otherwise there'll be an expectation for you to always work for free. Work harder than you've ever worked before, photographers know each other and if word gets round you're rubbish, you wont work in that town again. Stipulate you're assisting fee is for an 8 hour day, otherwise they'll have you working 15 hour days.