Whats the best way to go about making money in photography?

[jondraperr]

Hey, I am a photographer in Keller, Texas.. and i'm only a junior in high school, but i'd like to start maybe making some money in photography.. and I have been taking some friends around to take pictures lately.. and I just figured maybe I could make some money by taking people out.. but I have no idea what the best way to do that is.. Any suggestions? Here's some of my shots from a shoot about a week ago.


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[boldimagery]

Well, dood! For being in Jr. High you have a good eye.

A couple of things you may want to give a whirl. Hit your friends up for MySpace photos for their profile. Set up a little session for an hour some place get people to show up for 10 minute photo shoots for $10.

Another would be is to start blogging and adding Google AdWords advertising to your blog. Talk about photography on the blog, and show off your work. I would say you could show a photographer your work and start assisting a photographer, but you may be a little young for that yet.

Those are a few. Keep in touch. Great eye!

[jondraperr]

Awesome, thank you very much... and i'm 17.. almost 18.. A junior in high school as in 11th grade. But yeah, thanks for the ideas man

[jondraperr]

And what blog is a good blog site? Any suggestions on that?

[boldimagery]

Wordpress... it is the best

Hmmmm... you are old enough then to get a J-O-B in the biz. I thought you meant like the 8th grade. LOL! I guess I should slow down to read the entire post. I am sorry about that. Just the three shots I saw I would let you start helping out around the studio if I had one. I am an on location shooter myself.

Knowing your age I would say double the price on the whole MySpace comment then. I was thinking 13-year-olds having $25 would be a stretch. Find out who the photographer are in your area. Most of them will be willing to check out your portfolio.

Simply ask them to give you a critique. Then at then end of the meeting ask them if they ever need help to give you a call. That is what I did at your age.

[jondraperr]

Alright, well awesome.. Thanks for your input. I appreciate anything I can get.. i'm just kinda peeking into the photography world I guess you might say

[jondraperr]

anyone got any more suggestions for getting started?

[CaptainTom]

The absolute easiest and best way to make money in photography is to sell every bit of equipment you have.

No, I'm not kidding.

[jondraperr]

haha yeah, well... thats not really an option. Although I can see how that would make me more money than i'd ever think i'd make. Haha

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

The absolute easiest and best way to make money in photography is to sell every bit of equipment you have.

No, I'm not kidding.

Why Tom? I have made $16.81 in a little over a year but the kicker is my online printing company won't send the money until it gets up to $25. I hope there is no time limit. Spend thousands to make $25. What is wrong with that?

[ldelacruz]

Your shots look good. Run a special in your school paper every month for Senior Portraits and like someone else said license some shots for myspace with your website address on it. You are in High School so you have hundreds of potential clients all around you.

[jondraperr]

Good point, thanks.. and when you say license some shots.. what exactly would that involve

[toverman]

The best way is to spend years taking photos and not making any money at all! It's unfortunately still working for me for the most part (more or less). Or go to college and study fine art photography, photojournalism, etc., and then get a job at Starbucks. Kidding! Sort of.

You're off to a great start with the portraits. If you are interested at all in shooting sports or journalism, I'd recommend submitting work or being available for assignments with the school paper. That lends instant legitimacy to your work, although few people would actually notice your photo credit in the paper (besides you and your mom).

I can tell you a few secrets about The Keller Citizen (but not in open forum), as I was editor there from December 2003 until this past May.

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by jondraperr

Good point, thanks.. and when you say license some shots.. what exactly would that involve

Not much to it just a contract between you and the person that you will allow them to use the photos on their personal webpages as long as your logo is displayed intact. People see their photos on MySpace and your logo is on it, they like your photos and hopefully go to your site and contact you. Again you are in High School so you have tons of friends. Don't give your work away get something in return.

[csa]

My daughter got her start in high school shooting senior portraits. Charge $50-$75 for an hour. Put your name or website on the edited photos and burn them a cd of the edited pics. Myspace and Facebook will help you along from there. You'll still be underpricing the studio's prints and giving them the digital pics everyone wants. They can print what they want-mainly wallets from there. Might even crop a wallet and drop in their name and '09 in a corner. Nice eyes btw.