# Any photographers on the board?



## zuren (Feb 13, 2015)

Just curious if there is anyone who does professional photography to bring money into their homestead? My wife went to school for digital photography and has built a small portfolio. She has found some limited success booking individuals for portraits but has been struggling lately. 

She recently incorporated a contract for clients to sign prior to booking a session. It lays out expectations both both her and the client. She immediately lost the next 2 clients once they saw it (1 gave no reason, 1 said they had scheduling conflict and offered no other availability). It makes us wonder if the contract is a turn-off. 

If you do photography, do you use a contract or is it all the honor system? I do not know photography or business so I'm trying to her establish some best practices.

Thanks!


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## NC_minifarm (Jan 7, 2015)

Contracts. Contracts. Contracts. I wouldn't use a service provider without one. I want to know what I'm getting, what the photographer is providing, etc. (I'm not a photographer, but a graphic designer)


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Does your wife do commercial photography?


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I'm not a photographer but a friend is. She doesn't use a written contract but does provide a paper stating how many pictures she will take and how many are in the package the customer receives depending on cost. She does require a sitting fee up front that is non-refundable if the person doesn't show for an appointment. Before she did that, she had a lot of no-shows. She works out of her house and apparently people didn't see her as a professional but a hobbyist, so treated her as such. She has much fewer no-shows now.


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## Ed Mashburn (Jun 24, 2013)

Good morning- I read with great interest your post. It is possible to make money with a camera, but it is not easy. 
First, is your wife absolutely tied to doing portraits? I hate shooting portraits, by the way- second hardest kind of photo work. what's the hardest? Shooting weddings. Lord, that is a madhouse.
Anyway, if she is willing to go out and shoot for the local newspaper, she can make a little money. Also, working for writers and other folks in the publishing business can pay some. this kind of photo work means shooting football games, parades, things like that.
If you live in the country and if there are outdoor writers in the area, she might be able to sell some photos that way. does she have any special interests and knowledge like gardening, kayaking, fishing, pets, wildlife, etc- these are all fields in which publications have a constant need of super-high quality digital photos.
Good luck to her- you can make some money with a camera, but it usually takes a while to get it rolling- Ed Mashburn


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## zuren (Feb 13, 2015)

sisterpine said:


> Does your wife do commercial photography?


She doesn't but it is something I have asked her to consider, as well as real estate. Many of the photos you see of real estate online are not good. The postings that used a photographer with the right equipment and know-how look great. I've spoken with realtors who either formally contract photographers to shoot their listings or slide a few dollars under the table for a few shots. 



Ed Mashburn said:


> Good morning- I read with great interest your post. It is possible to make money with a camera, but it is not easy.
> First, is your wife absolutely tied to doing portraits? I hate shooting portraits, by the way- second hardest kind of photo work. what's the hardest? Shooting weddings. Lord, that is a madhouse.
> Anyway, if she is willing to go out and shoot for the local newspaper, she can make a little money. Also, working for writers and other folks in the publishing business can pay some. this kind of photo work means shooting football games, parades, things like that.
> If you live in the country and if there are outdoor writers in the area, she might be able to sell some photos that way. does she have any special interests and knowledge like gardening, kayaking, fishing, pets, wildlife, etc- these are all fields in which publications have a constant need of super-high quality digital photos.
> Good luck to her- you can make some money with a camera, but it usually takes a while to get it rolling- Ed Mashburn


Here is the funny thing that my wife and her classmate from photography school have learned about weddings; they are MUCH easier to book! A wedding is a single event in time where the moment is gone if it isn't captured. There is no, "we'll do it later". If you plan to have a photographer, you better get one booked. You have the stress of delivering a high quality product at the end but getting people to throw money down is easy. The struggle with portraits is that it is ultimately an unnecessary luxury item that can be pushed off. Even in our home, if we want something that we know is a luxury but it is not in the budget, we don't buy it or wait until we have the money. So the true economics of the situation isn't lost on us. We just need to find the value/expense balance point.

She has said she doesn't like shooting people; too many complications, emotions, personalities, logistics, etc. that really make it hard and stressful. Her instructors at school also told her to pick 1 niche, a message I don't necessarily agree with. That is similar to saying only put your retirement savings in one place or only have 1 type of lure in your tackle box. Its great if that investment does well or the fish like that lure but you are going to go hungry if your choice doesn't work out.

She does like farms, food and animals (farm, companion, wildlife, etc.) and we are in a semi-rural setting. She has also discussed newborn photography but again, it is a bit of a luxury. She is going to run a photography workshop at the local organic farm (they put on classes/seminars for the community) so that will be good.

Despite the advise from her instructors to pick a niche, I think she needs to diversify, try a little bit of everything and see what works.

Thanks for the contract advise. I feel contracts are like fences - boundaries are clearly defined so expectations can be met.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

"Despite the advise from her instructors to pick a niche, I think she needs to diversify, try a little bit of everything and see what works."

I understand where they are coming from. In the fine art world people get pegged to a style and subject matter. That style becomes a calling card that demands big bucks and improves name recognition. Think "Ansel Adams" and you immediately think of landscape photography. He did other work, but that was his niche (along with his exposure system). The field is just too broad to do everything well.


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## Redwolf897 (Oct 2, 2014)

with photography, like any art, the photographer needs to figure out what area they are good at. I never as good at taking shots of people. i prefered animals and landscapes, with some odd stuff throw in once in a while ( like closeups of dew on a leaf or spider webs) I never got into digital photography ( not yet no money for a decent camera) and when i was doing 35mm i would shoot at least one roll for 1 decent photograph. at the time i had friends that worked for fotomat so processing was cheaper then most, and sold a few photos to a professor i had that was writing a book about local writer ( birthplace shots and shots of old abandoned buildings etc) i would have loved to be the 90's version of ansel adams but marriage and ids came so a decent income was necessary. As with any form of art if you are good you get famous after you die and that was not going to work for me


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## TheKingsTable (Jan 13, 2016)

I have no experience or advice when it comes to contracts, but one off-beat place to consider selling photos is TeachersPayTeachers.com. It's a site for selling educational curriculum (typically teachers selling to teachers, but not always). More and more teachers are requesting to buy photos for their classroom products that can also be sold on the site. But it's hard to find quality photos at a reasonable price that can be used in commercial products, so it's a little niche with few sellers at the moment. I've got a couple of products of photos that I have turned in to clip art. Some of the others simply sell photos.

Good luck to your wife! Smartphones and photo apps have made it so much more difficult to be a working photographer nowadays.


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## frenchriver (Feb 3, 2017)

I realize this is an old thread but I thought I would give my two cents in case others are still reading. 

I actually STOPPED my photography business within the last year to have more time with my family and on the homestead, but prior to that it was lucrative to me as a side business. 

I started my business from scratch and built it up over seven years to include portraits, weddings, engagements, and newborns. 

Getting started is hard, but once you build customers instead of clients, you'll spread like wild fire. The difference between the two is that customers do repeat business with you. Think engagements, then weddings, then newborns, then greeting cards and family portraits. I would entice clients to become customers by providing the best customer service I could offer as well as giving a 10% discount to future bookings. 

I also offered a 10% discount to people who were referred to me by last clients, and always included this information when I delivered the final product. 

Pricing is hard to figure out in the beginning, but after building a customer base I was able to raise prices every year and still stay competitive. Also, contracts are a MUST. Without them you are liable if you fail to deliver in the event of a hurricane or anything else that's out of your hands. 

If your wife still needs more info PM me and I can share my old sample contract, pricing strategies, or any other relevant info you're looking for.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

I was for some time. Contracts yes and Copy rights.

I had a Photo, happen to have Copy Right on it. Went into a Studio seen my Photo right up front.

Lets say it cost them.

big rockpile


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## R-Farm (Aug 18, 2016)

I have been doing commercial photography for 3 years now focused primarily on auto dealership new and used inventory. I get paid per unit and can shoot as many units as I want. I usually will work on the lots for about 5 hours then head home to upload the photos. I try to do about 20-25 cars a day and get paid $6 to $8 each. I work 3 to 4 days a week and it is pretty stress free. Since I am self employed, the deductions mount up, making this a nice supplemental gig.


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