Chuck,
Around where I live and knowing several local full-time "pros" the bread
and butter is in weddings, portraiture and K-12 sports.
Weddings are a well-known entity. These can be grueling but are very
efficient revenue generators. IOW there's a lot of film burned in about
6-7 hours. I've seen two major business models for this. One delivers a
proof book of 150-300 proofs (4x6, 4x5 or 5x5) the bride/groom keep with
re-orders and enlargements at additional (and profitable) cost. The other
presents proofs that cannot be kept, but from which set numbers of 4x6 (or
4x5 or 5x5), 5x7 and 8x10 prints can be selected to build a completed album
which is then delivered; total number of prints of all sizes is typically
75-100. Also possible are family reunion portraits which are similar but
entail keeping records of individuals and specific families so proofs can
be presented to each one separately (more post-shoot work). I would not do
weddings without portable monlights, umbrellas (or softboxes) and stands,
and strongly recommend also having portable backdrop(s) with stand. I also
recommend considering a minimal medium format SLR system for the formal
portraiture. Although nothing usually gets made much larger than an 8x10,
there will be few 11x14's, and occasional 16x20's of formal
portraiture. Doing the formal portraiture that's most likely to result in
requests for "big stuff" using medium format makes the outcome much less
risky. The other downside? A successful one works exhausting weekends 9
months a year during the Spring, Summer and Autumn.
Portraiture requires some form of studio unless it is all done on-location
(outdoors or otherwise). Within portraiture the largest demand is H.S.
seniors with some junior/senior prom and similar products for family
groupings, usually around Christmas. There are also opportunities to do
on-location portraiture during K-12 father-daughter and/or mother-son
dinners at schools. Schools also contract for annual student portraits,
and many also contract for group shots of the "Honor Roll" members each
semester. Larger companies sometimes need portraits of staff; an example
here is a hospital that puts out an annual calendar for the hospital
employees that's given to them every Christmas (for the following calendar
year). People always need passport photographs, but as I understand it
this is not all that profitable. As with weddings I would not do these
without portable lights, stands, etc., and a suitable large room to use
solely as a studio facility. One friend owns a large, old Victorian house
with tall ceilings on the first floor. What used to be the "parlor" just
inside the front door is now his studio.
For K-12 sports this entails on-location action shots of junior or
juniorette involved in the favorite sports activity. The parent(s) hire
you to do this. Opportunities arise to do team photographs if you can get
invited to do non-school league sports for K-12 age groups. This entails
doing on-location shoots of teams and individual team members with the
parent(s) paying for team and individual prints. It can be nearly as
efficient as a wedding in doing a shoot, but with many, many more
individual customers to deliver the prints to. Collect the money for a
"print package" when doing the shoot, not afterward when delivering prints.
Around here I have not seen much demand for commercial, industrial or stock
work. It's not that it doesn't exist, but it isn't requested much. Most
very large corporations that would have a routine demand for some
commercial or industrial work have their own full-time salaried phtographer.
All the full-time staff photojournalists around here are young guys willing
to work wierd hours, holidays and weekends for relatively low pay. The job
is whenever anything newsworthy occurs.
Fine art is another category that requires work, willingness to invest
first without much immediate return, and great patience to break
into. It's totally different from other work and exists in a different
world outside the other stuff listed.
With most of what I've described, there's also time consumed solely with
conducting the business end with filing and organizing negatives, prints,
assembling proof books and conducting interviews before a shoot to
establish what will be expected plus signing contracts for the work. An
independent self-employed pro is a small business with all the attendant
business licenses, tax paperwork, etc.
My $.02 (plus) based on observation and opine. Don't want to scare you
off; it might be just what you're looking for. Do a thorough business
case to understand what (and how long) it takes to start making a profit
and keep it from being a losing one.
-- John
At 04:30 9/13/02, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
Hi gang,
[snip]
I'd like to try my hand at making the OM's pay for themselves. I could
see myself doing almost any kind of photograpy except shooting
weddings. My "day job" is pretty stressful but probably less stressful
than that.
Anyhow, I haven't much of a clue as to where the market is or how to get
started. Fortunately, I'm only looking for a small, supplementary
income. It doesn't need to support me.
Any advice out there from those of you actually managing to turn a dollar
or two from your OM's?
Chuck Norcutt
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