The Business of Photography

[gdogg16]

I don't do weddings or portraiture, but I do know quite a few people that do.

Lenses you would want to have in your bag: 24-70 f/2.8, 85L, 135L, 70-200 f/2.8L. Also you'll want to have a 580exii if you don't have one already.

To get on as a second shooter shouldn't be that difficult and is by far the best way to get started. It takes the pressure off and let's you get acquainted with shooting weddings. To get on as one, you'd need to 1) find a photographer that you really respect, or at least one that produces some quality work, 2) build a portfolio using your friends as models, and 3) try to set up a meeting with the photographer to show them your work. If you're willing to work for free to start with just to help prove yourself you'll probably have better luck.


I mostly do commercial work for local marketing companies. I like it better because I get to treat it as a hobby, and then occasionally I'll get a call with an offer for a gig to make some cash on the side. Win win.

I've found that as soon as I try to turn a hobby into a job it stops being fun, so for me photography will always be primarily a hobby unless I lose my full-time job.

For what it's worth, I have second shooters and assistants. They are not the same thing. If you want to second shoot for me and get paid, you have to have a solid body of work that you can show me so I can get a feel for your skill level. My second shooters are almost always established wedding photographers. I too second shoot for same photographers that second shoot for me.

If you want to learn how to shoot weddings, it starts with an assistant role where you carry gear, hold lights, and help out where ever you're needed. I'll hand my assistant a camera every now and then and let them shoot. I'll reivew the images and give them feedback later on.

My advice, find a photographer that you admire, and ask to be an assistant FOR FREE. You probably admire them because they're very talented, and very talented photographers have a list of people wanting to assist them to learn for free. Most photographers will not pay assistants until they have assisted them several times. They do this for several reasons, every photographer has their own work flow and if the assistant doesn't know this work flow, they're saving the photographer much time since we have to explain everything and it usually takes a few gigs for the assistant to get into sync with the photographer.

[Withers]

Yeah like I said, I'm not into that kind of photography personally. Most of the wedding photographers I know just have themselves and one or two second shooters with them. No assistants or anything.

To be honest, it sounds like a nightmare. I both admire and feel bad for people that do that kind of work, lol.

[donovan772]

-Be an assistant. Do it for free if you have to.
-Have a good portfolio
-NETWORK

[Kielan]

-Be an assistant. Do it for free if you have to.
-Have a good portfolio
-NETWORK

Good cliffs.

Now for you automotive guys, where did you find your start?

[dav3design]

Kielan,

Automotive wise I am still on the up and up.

I pretty much blagged my way into my first drift event a year ago. I networked like a bitch at the event to know all of the other photographers and who the shot for. At the end of the day I had impressed one team enough to let me join them. I got sent to the next event, shooting for them.
At the beginning of this year, I shot my first solo photoshoot, we are now shooting more drift events and I am now shooting in part for Monster Energy.

My advice in getting this far is:

Be nice;
Be humble;
Work hard;
Network;
Make friends;
work harder!

I am not an accomplished photographer, I am a hobbyist. I shoot because I like to, I upgrade when I get paid.

[JVC]

For what it's worth, I have second shooters and assistants. They are not the same thing. If you want to second shoot for me and get paid, you have to have a solid body of work that you can show me so I can get a feel for your skill level. My second shooters are almost always established wedding photographers. I too second shoot for same photographers that second shoot for me.

If you want to learn how to shoot weddings, it starts with an assistant role where you carry gear, hold lights, and help out where ever you're needed. I'll hand my assistant a camera every now and then and let them shoot. I'll reivew the images and give them feedback later on.

My advice, find a photographer that you admire, and ask to be an assistant FOR FREE. You probably admire them because they're very talented, and very talented photographers have a list of people wanting to assist them to learn for free. Most photographers will not pay assistants until they have assisted them several times. They do this for several reasons, every photographer has their own work flow and if the assistant doesn't know this work flow, they're saving the photographer much time since we have to explain everything and it usually takes a few gigs for the assistant to get into sync with the photographer.

Can I be your assistant for free?

[e36rjbmw]

Good cliffs.

Now for you automotive guys, where did you find your start?

For me. It honestly started out on forums. Since Ive owned a car, Ive owned a camera. I learned literally by taking pictures of my own cars and posting them on forums/facebook for criticism. Networking is huge and eventually I was being asked to shoot peoples cars. That gave me a good basis and I expanded from there to carrying a camera all time and I built a portfolio for college. Now, I dropped out of college, but I have a job as a marketing manager for an automotive company, and Im the main photographer. When I interviewed with them, I showed them my portfolio and a lot of my work for this website and it seemed like a good fit, I've been here for a year.

My work Flickr for anyone interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/protectivesolutions/