I need some info on the career of Professional Photography...perferrably from on

Question:I saw the advice for charging $25/hr and I had to jump in. Not saying that the advice was bad, it sounded really well thought out and appropriate, but in my opinion, t you should not be charging, if you have zero experience. First thing to try before dumping a crap load of money into gear.... GO ASSIST A PRO! I did it and have yet to regret it. All too often you can learn via real life experience and develop an understanding about a particular genre, business strategy, lighting scheme, etc

www.deaftoneimaging.com
Darrin

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I saw the advice for charging $25/hr and I had to jump in. Not saying that the advice was bad, it sounded really well thought out and appropriate, but in my opinion, t you should not be charging, if you have zero experience. First thing to try before dumping a crap load of money into gear.... GO ASSIST A PRO! I did it and have yet to regret it. All too often you can learn via real life experience and develop an understanding about a particular genre, business strategy, lighting scheme, etc

www.deaftoneimaging.com
Darrin

There's lots of competition, and challenging to earn a living. The best way to go about it is to separate yourself from all the other photographers by establishing your own "niche". Be the best at it, and market yourself aggressively.

To begin, start a company called (your name) Photography, this will keep you legal with the State and IRS. It is called a sole proprietorship. You can open a checking account in this name without any hassle.

Have some business cards made up, these are your main source of advertising yourself. Be free with them... give out as many as you can. The law of averages will guarantee that you get some business.

To start, charge $25 and hour, $350 for 1/2 day and $500 for a full 8 hour day. Your day rate will help you bid weddings and events when the amount of time is unpredictable.

In return for your services you will give the the client a CD with copies of the images in PDF format (or JPG). They will be free to print from the CD, but offer reprints as part of your package. For instance, offer free 50 4x6 photos of the same image, that they can pass out to friends and family.

If they want more have a standard pricelist of enlargments and copies. Research your competition to come up with your pricing.

Remember that every picture you take belongs to you even if you are paid to take it. You own the copyright and must give permission for reprints to be made. You will need to watermark your proofs on the CD so if they do print them your copyright will be on the reprint.

You also need a good imaging software such as Photoshop. If cost is an issue then I suggest you use one of the FREE one offered on the web. Google "Picassa" and "Gimp". Either one will do for needs right now, but you will need a way to correct the shots that are good except for color balance or exposure.

Gimp is a Photoshop knock off and has a steep learning curve, but will do most of what Photoshop will. Picassa is great for organizing and cataloging your shoots. You will need to do this to make images easy to find, provided they are named appropriately.

I hope this little bit of info helps... There is a lot more to being a Pro than just charging for what you do... Hey, don't forget about "stock" photographs... keep your camera with you at all times, you never know when you might see just the right shot.

Good Luck and call on me anytime..

beauxPatrick

Being a photographer is very expesnisve! It has to be something that you are willing to eat, breath and sleep. If you don't, you'll never make it because your are most likely to not make very much money, if any, when you first start out.