What was your first "paying" photoshoot?

[SCone]

For all the Pros out there, what was your first shoot like? What type of event was it? How many hours? How many shots? How much did it pay? And most important, what went wrong?

[Wes]

It was a senior session a few years ago. I clicked off about 200 images over a 5-6 hour period that ranged over 3 locations (Falls at Prairie Creek, Fort Worth Stockyeards, and Fort Worth Botanical Gardens). Don't remember what I got paid, and not much really went wrong. I've just learned a ton since then.

[123canon]

mine was a baby session, it actually went good once i got over the shock of the mom wanting white outfit white background and white teddybear and a really really pale baby! i think i cleared about $200 after the dust cleared took about 60 shots in a little over an hour more or less. looking back i realize how little i knew...

[JohnT]

My first paid shoot was a huge Christmas production/event at my church three years ago, which paid around $200 I think. I had intended on doing it for free simply because I worship there, but they insisted on paying me so I let them. I've done several other church events since then, which has expanded to non-church related stuff via word-of-mouth advertising.

[sldi]

Photographing the winner at stock car races. I was paid a small retainer by the track and then prints could be bought by the drivers and fans. Bggest problem was trying to hand the checkered flag to the winner, photograph him making victory lap and then getting a good headshot with a Yashicamat 124g....

At least I did get some good early shots of Darrel Waltrip b4 he became big.

[Breezy]

My first was a newborn baby. It lasted a total of about 2 hours but mom nursed her etc... too. I shot about 100 photos and I think I made 125 once all was said and done.
Don't think anything went wrong but I have definately improved since then.

[Nikolai]

Engagement set.

[C!LLY]

I worked for Sears Portrait studio and that would have been my "first paying job" but since then I only took some Christmas pictures for a friend and she payed me $35 for gas. What went wrong was her 3 year old daughter. HA HA! It took about 45 minutes and I took about 20 pictures and came out with only about 6 good pictures.

[studiocygnet]

Some old timers around here may remember the funny car drag races in the 70's between the Snake and the Mongoose. My first paying gig was as a second shooter, shooting Don Prudhomme's Snake for the Army at a drag strip in Los Angeles. My friend and roommate at the time, Milt, got the job from the Army. They were sponsoring The Snake at the time, and wanted promotional photos, as well as a possible photo for the box of the Revelle plastic model for the Snake.
I remember he rented a 600mm lens, and was out in the stands, meanwhile, I was using a 200mm up close in the pits. And I didn't know that earplugs were a requirement of the second shooter Maybe that's why he gave me that position.
Milt drove to the dragstrip, provided all the film (if I remember, I shot about 6 rolls of 36) payed me a $200 flat fee, and so he took all the negatives. I was just happy to be there. But I sure wish I had those negatives now. I do remember the Army liked one of my photos as the best one. I remember it being circled in red on the proofsheet.
I don't remember anything going wrong, except we barely left enough time to get there. it took forever to drive from our house in central LA (Olympic and La Cienega) out to Orange County somewhere in LA traffic, even in 1974.

[SaSha]

First one was a lot of work and scary, scary because you never know what can go wrong with film. A product shoot for Legare Furniture. A good full day Sat. and Sunday about 5 years ago. Probably 80 shots, I still have the B/W polaroids with notes on them. Around 1,400. Nothing went wrong that weekend but I learned to watch DOF on the mamiya and make sure the edges of the shot are in the DOF.

All and all it was gratifying, especially knowing the images are still being used
to this day, here is this years catalog, the lava lamp shot was one of my favorites.

[Daniel Bates]

I second-shot for a wedding photographer I met here on TPF. It was exhausting, but a lot of fun. I learned a lot about how little I knew about flash photography.

[HotHolly]

First solo gig was a HS senior. Total sales were around $500. In all honestly, I was painting commissioned works prior to this, so there was some overlap in the actual session, but the photography pay was worse. lol. My mistake was assuming I would be less meticulous with photography than with painting. Perfectionists are always perfectionists, no matter what they are doing. :o)

[toverman]

I was a daily newspaper reporter/photographer and made $6 an hour. That wasn't all that long ago, and I had just earned my bachelor's in journalism. After all I learned about people, reporting and photography (we rolled film, shot it, developed it and printed our stuff in a closet), I should have been paying them.