Going Professional - Article

[dlbdata]

To all,

Ken Rockwell has a great, relistic writeup on becoming a professional.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/go-pro.htm

Dave
Murphy,TX

[Wes]

Ken Rockwell rocks. I know that there are several around here who won't agree with this sentiment, but I've learned a ton from his web site.

[ShaneKislack]

Those of us who do it as a profession do it because we can't not do it. It has nothing to do with what Ken is saying.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by ShaneKislack

Those of us who do it as a profession do it because we can't not do it. It has nothing to do with what Ken is saying.

Since I'm interested in going full-time at some point, can you be more specific about what Ken is off-the-mark on.

[ShaneKislack]

Originally Posted by JohnT

Since I'm interested in going full-time at some point, can you be more specific about what Ken is off-the-mark on.

It's not so much that he's 'off the mark'...it just a pessamistic view that could be attributed to any one of hundreds of jobs.

[PeteQ]

Here's just one specific point I disagree with Ken on. The point he makes about having a second job is the only way to make it. If you have a second job you will have to pass up many opportunities because their schedules clash. I made the jump and yes, you take a big hit in income for a while. To think otherwise is foolish. But today I landed three very nice jobs. Two because I had time to go and meet and talk to the people who needed the services. Do you think the people hiring you are working part-time or only on weekends? Maybe bride-to-be's but not commercial clients. No, they want people who have a regular schedule. It can be feast or famine, but if you can't go out and meet people and network daily you will never grow your business. You can have a side business in photography and it can be rewarding both financially and emotionally, but to be full-time you have to be available full time. How may folks could have gotten a call at 10:30 this morning and picked up their gear and started shooting at 11:30 to cover an event because the other photographer failed to show? Those are the money makers and they happen.

There are all kind of photgraphy and Ken is talking about landscape and nature with a smattering of wedding (which he doesn't shoot, kind of like the lenses her reviews but has never used) photography. Nature and landscape are probably two of the most heavily pressured areas of photography because the mountains don't move and everyone can shoot them. But you know what? The guys that are making the money have days to camp out waiting for the perfect light and the perfect clouds to get the shot that will sell. And they can do that because they don't have to go to a second job.

[jeffkohn]

I do think his perspective is skewed toward landscape/nature photography which is a very different situation from wedding/portrait/commercial photography. There's just not much money in nature photography, that's why I have no intention of quitting my day job. Truth is there's so much competition in this area that even if I were willing to quit my day job and camp out for days on end waiting for the magic combination of light and weather, I still probably wouldn't be able to make a decent living at it. There's just too many people taking great nature pics, and the market for actually selling htem is pretty small compared to other genres of photography (particularly product, lifestyle, or anything with people in them).

[PeteQ]

Exactly Jeff. I mean how many sunsets can you sell? Don't get me wrong, I would still like to have a "perfect" one one for my wall, but there are just too many folks willing to trade their image for a credit line.

[ShaneKislack]

I read the article again along with some of his other stuff and I've lightened up on my position. Maybe I was in a bad mood or something, but the satire didn't sit with me. Today it does and if you asked me today...I'd say it's a decent article.