Professional Photography

[cc8]

I was just wondering if there are any EYO members around that are actually professional photographers of like the landscape, or of sport etc.? i am curious to know how much pro photographers earn.

[snapper]

Im not a pro (no where near it in fact) but i've heard its a hard business to get into.
Also, go into a place that sells photographs from pros and you will know how much they make.

I saw a very nice night shot of sydney harbour, the 2.5M photo was $1600 AUD with frame $2500. It was limited to around 1000 releases (for each size). Other sizes were available. I forget the photographers name though but it was his gallary in sydney.

thanks

[cc8]

it is quite extraordinary how much they sell some of their photos for - mind you some are just out of this world.

[snapper]

Yeah but dont forget they may need to fly to all sorts of places in the world and sit in the one place for hours on end waiting for the right moment. They also may takes hundreds if not thousands of shots during their trip and may only get a handfull of sellable ones.

There is alot of work involved and alot of risk involved (what if it doesnt sell? ect...)

Night shots require more expensive equipment as well. Some lens' are very expensive ive seen ones for I think it was $2000 but im sure more expensive ones exist.

But if you love photography and have other passions I would suggest you keep this as a hobbie, perhaps work as a freelancer for magazines they will buy any ones pic so long as the pic is good and you have the negative (they may also want that im not 100% sure on their rules)

thanks

[redbears]

There are certainly more expensive lens' available. Most of the good Canon ones start at $3k and go to about $20k, then there is the 1200mm f/5.6 which is special order only and costs about $250k. I am sure Nikon have some similarly priced items in their lens line up.

As for photos, I am only an amatuer photographer, but I reckon the real keepers are b/w 1~5% of all shots taken. Film can be a bit higher, but there is more risk, that is one of the reasons why digital has become so popular, if you don't like it, delete it ;)

[nsu]

Don't forget about the investment before you become a professional shooter (photo that is). As the digital cameras become so popular, more and more people can take good photos. To be outstanding, not only you need to have the better than average equipment, you also need to spend much more time to learn the skills that normal people do not have. Then the talent will come into play.

There are professionals sell their photos for only $50 each, some even consider that lucky when people want to buy. I don't know the going rate for wedding photographers, but I don't think that will be higher than $1000~$2000 each wedding. There are many new comers armed with digital cameras taking the job away from the traditional wedding photographers.

[cc8]

Yeh, I'm sure that as all of this new photography technology such as digital cameras and printers progresses, the profits made being a professional photographer will just get less and less.

[dvdude]

Plenty of people are still paying around 3-4k for wedding photos. My cousin did so not too long ago. I find it's not just the photo quality, its the subject matter. Getting the right angles, organising all the people for photos (e.g. his family, her family, work colleagues etc etc).

I had a look through their album (included in the cost), and the shots were not only high quality, but they were shot with fanastic framing, angles you would not think of. Anyone can take a 5-6mp camera and take a photo you could blow up to poster size. But taking a photo where people go "WOW" is a whole 'nother ballgame.

I find with my photos, lots of non-photo people say "wow" - but compared to the guys who make me go "wow" - my photos are nothing special.

With the same equipment, I would not come up with half the angles, or compositions that they come up with. But then, I'm not a terribly arty guy, I just like taking pics of fast cars :dD

[cc8]

Plenty of people are still paying around 3-4k for wedding photos. My cousin did so not too long ago. I find it's not just the photo quality, its the subject matter. Getting the right angles, organising all the people for photos (e.g. his family, her family, work colleagues etc etc).

I had a look through their album (included in the cost), and the shots were not only high quality, but they were shot with fanastic framing, angles you would not think of. Anyone can take a 5-6mp camera and take a photo you could blow up to poster size. But taking a photo where people go "WOW" is a whole 'nother ballgame.

I find with my photos, lots of non-photo people say "wow" - but compared to the guys who make me go "wow" - my photos are nothing special.

With the same equipment, I would not come up with half the angles, or compositions that they come up with. But then, I'm not a terribly arty guy, I just like taking pics of fast cars :dD

True, there is a great deal of natural skill involved with photography - to know how to get the best effect through camera angles. But i think that less people are interested in buying great photos (other than weddings), because they feel that they can take their own photos and print them themselves. OK the quality isn't as good but its costing you very little to do so.

[dvdude]

I know plenty of people who are like that. Those are also the sort of people who think that printing photos off the Net are good quality! :)

But there are also plenty of people willing to buy good photos out there.
I've bought photos from pros before simply because the cost was far outweighed by the quality of photos I received....

[cc8]

We have our own digital camera, and photo printer which we do use quite regurlarly. Don't get me wrong, the quality isn't too shabby, but there is no comparison to photos taken by professionals.

[sally]

my b/f just got a job working freelance for a few papers and mags, though he was meant to just be doing work experience... so his rate of pay is pretty shitty atm, hopefully it'll improve shortly :)

but yey im so happy for him :)

[dvdude]

Don't know if his rate will improve that much unless he starts getting some real exclusives etc.

I'm hoping to make a little money on the side next year - already sorted the Media Access, now to sort the equipment out ;)