How much do photographers make?

[Squishypig]

And honestly, it's great that you think $1500 is a deal. Many people don't. When I did my first wedding as a primary shooter last year, it was for an acquaintance of a friend. It was around 12 hours of coverage, I had a second shooter, and they got a disc with the edited images which was ready within 2 weeks of the wedding. Being that it was my first wedding with the full responsibility, even though I was already in business doing portrait and other event work, I didn't feel comfortable charging much, so I quoted them $500. (Plus it was a very portfolio worthy location.) The bride initially told me that was more than she wanted to pay, they were looking for around $300. So I wished her well because no way was I willing to put in that much work for that little and never expected to hear from her again. I guess she got a reality check because she called me back within a couple of days and was very content with my pricing.

I don't know what that bride was smoking but I want some of that! :lol: Geez, I've gotten quotes of more than $300 just for the officiant! And while it's a very important part of the wedding, photographers do a heck of a lot more work!

 

[tjl1388]

I have always just worked for a living at my real job and entertained a few local sports teams on the weekends and evenings. I have kids that I have been shooting for 8+ years. It pays for moderate equipment and it is no where near the stress of actually trying to make money at it.

I have recently started renting equipment for special events. I finally got to play with a D300 and a 14-24 2.8 my last trip.

These was worth every penny of the rental cost.

By far my favorite...

Plus, this is a photography forum...it needed some pics.

 

[DVCRon]

Interesting thread and very interesting education into the oil market Mark.

As far as the original question. I'm the owner of a youth sports and event photography business..

Two things I can tell you.

1) The best way to ruin a hobby that you love is by turning it into a business.

2) A successful photography business is 10% making photos, 90% business.

 

[Nikel]

I don't know what that bride was smoking but I want some of that! :lol: Geez, I've gotten quotes of more than $300 just for the officiant! And while it's a very important part of the wedding, photographers do a heck of a lot more work!

Yeah, I don't know what they were smoking either. Photography wasn't very high on their list of priorities though. From talking to them, they've never gotten anything other than prints from Walgreen 1 hour done. I even offered some really stellar deals on an album or canvases, since I wanted to order samples. I even offered a canvas at cost (so I could get a second copy for 50% off, which was a better sale than the sample price), and they didn't want one. Go figure. It was totally worth it though. The sample album from their wedding has booked me several weddings, including some album presales.

 

[Miss Kelly]

Interesting thread and very interesting education into the oil market Mark.

As far as the original question. I'm the owner of a youth sports and event photography business..

Two things I can tell you.

1) The best way to ruin a hobby that you love is by turning it into a business.

2) A successful photography business is 10% making photos, 90% business.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[fitzperry]

Two things I can tell you.

1) The best way to ruin a hobby that you love is by turning it into a business.

2) A successful photography business is 10% making photos, 90% business.

That's what I was trying to say back on page 1, but you put it much more succinctly.

 

[jann1033]

i was just looking over a book at barnes and noble today on the photo business...he had a good imo comment as far as pricing...according to him( forget his name, ? harrington) if you are the cheapest you are to cheap..he liken it to my archenemy( ) Wallymart. he doesn't want to be the "low low price photographer", he wants to be the "Saks photographer" and tells people when they mention they are shopping for prices, he isn't the cheapest but then goes on to explain why he's the best for the job ...i just thought what a good attitude..if you sell yourself short so will everyone else. end of janet's second hand tip of the day

 

[kmadams]

I have always just worked for a living at my real job and entertained a few local sports teams on the weekends and evenings. I have kids that I have been shooting for 8+ years. It pays for moderate equipment and it is no where near the stress of actually trying to make money at it.

I have recently started renting equipment for special events. I finally got to play with a D300 and a 14-24 2.8 my last trip.

These was worth every penny of the rental cost.

By far my favorite...

Plus, this is a photography forum...it needed some pics.

Wow, these are great! I really enjoyed looking at them, thanks for posting! And if I could be sure to get these type of shots I'd upgrade today from my D70 to the D300

 

[Rojoyinc]

From miminum wage to several million a year. Depending on if you're a employee with no skills "they say there is the background here is the button". vs owning a studio or working out of your home as a studio owner where you'll make 20k to 300,000.00 + Mult studio owners (those that have more than one location) do 250+ per location. I worked for a studio that had 3 locations back in the 70's and the owner did about 700,000 a year.

I started my own studio in 1980, out of my basement... did 30k a year starting, quickly rose to 70k a year, moved out of the house to a commercial studio we had built jumped to 200k a year - later rose to 300k a year.

Not great - but when you consider I don't get up until 9-10am, stroll in shoot a few pictures, and only work in the summer/fall - not all that bad of a gig. We get virtually no work in the winter here (Michigan - snowed in and cold - who wants picture then? well the occational new born).

So you could say at best (wife and I - I shoot she does the work) did 300k a year for several years working really only 6 months for the year, taking the other 6 months off. So depend on how hard you want to work. I could have opened up more locations - but it's more stress, more employee's more hours and well - I wasn't driven to work my life away. I wanted to enjoy life.

So where does a photographer then end up? Well out net worth is over 2 million, we have a wonderful home a lake and no debt. At 50 I now work 3 afternoons a week in the summer only. I now spend more time at home on computer teaching photographers who (are lesser skilled or know nothing folks) want to do top notch work and be paid top notch dollars. I have over 1000 students located all around the world.

The problem is this - There are a lot of unskilled upstarts that think they're pro's. They offer up so called "professional pictures" for dirt cheap prices. This hurts the market for skilled pro's. However there are always people out there that REQUIRE quality work and are willing and able to pay for it. This is our clientele. NOT those that are looking for discount work - as those are the same types of people who will scan, copy and eventually will steal/rip off the photographers work. (you know who you are - and it IS stealing) same as breaking into someone's home or office or store and stealing.

With the skills and knowledge to do quality work - some marketing advice and a good personality - any photographer should be able to do 50-100k a year EASY with very few hours invested.

When I am asked what I make - (well the tax return says usually around 250k a year) but I look at it as 300 to 3000 per hour. 300 is the minimum I'd do a job for. (Meaning - if I shoot an hour I better net 300) I've made as much as 3000.00 per hour. Quite often. It takes 20 minutes to shoot a family picture, another 30-40 minutes - in sales, processing time... for a net print order of 3000-3500 (quite common). Which works out on average to 3000 per hour. So - what do I make a photographer - I tell friends and students... 300 to 3000 per hour.

Hope this helps.
Ron - houseofphotography.com

 

[WVDisGeek]

Well, I must say this has been one of the most interesting threads I have read in a long time. Both on and off topic!

From the original photographer question, there have been some interesting (and I am sure, valid) points about turning a hobby into a JOB and about how much time and effort it takes to build a truly profitable business. I think I will continue to take photographs when they make ME happy. Plus, given the fact that right now, I am not sure I would pay me for anything I have taken, I think I will keep my day job. Which leads me to the off topic part of the thread....

Mark, I work in the health care industry, specifically, I am in charge of the budget and insurance for an 850 bed not-for-profit hospital. If you think people complain about the cost of filling their gas tank, wait until you hear one complain about the bill for their open heart surgery!

I thought your explanation was very good (and I did read it all the way to the end!) but you left out one crucial part. The cost of the GASOLINE is, in no small part, effected by the cost of refining the barrel of oil that Mark's company has found, drilled and produced. Unfortunately, there are not any new refineries being built. The refineries we do have are concentrated in an area of the country that is vulnerable to Mother Nature and they too are driven to make profits for shareholders. The sad reality of the situation is that they are not making any more dead dinosaurs. The supply of oil is finite and eventually it will run out. With China, India and other industrialized nations taking a larger portion of the available oil, it will continue to be an expensive proposition to find, produce and refine what remains.

As one of the other posters said, this is friendly board and I do not care what anyone's political views are. Everyone has a right to their opinion, and heros. I just want to make sure there is enough oil, hydrogen, electricity or unobtainium to allow me to afford my next trip to Disney!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Welcome to the board, Ron. It's great to hear that a photographer has done so well. The pictures on your website are nice. I'm looking forward to seeing Disney shots from you.

I have to admit that, as a cynic, my first reaction was that someone, in their first and only posting, revived an old posting about how much photographers earn was trying to sell something. Hopefully you are here for reasons other than promoting your training.

 

[PebblesMK]

I just sold a print for $12.

Since it only took me 1/250th of a second to take the shot per the EXIF data I am going out on a limb and saying I make $180,000 per hour.

But I think I will keep my day job just the same.

Haha...this cracks me up! My employer charges about a hundred dollars a print. Imagine the money he is making an hour!!!! I think I'll ask for a raise.

 

[zackiedawg]

I fit into the category of hobbyist earning a buck on the side from photography - my main job is in the financial/insurance industry for the past 16 years. Other than having an online gallery up, and prints on the walls of my office, I don't actively market my photography. I pick up some sales at the office from people browsing - often clients or service personnel visiting the office for other reasons. I've picked up a few stock sales and a few publisher sales from the website, unsolicited. And I've done 5 or 6 hired shoots, also unsolicited, from people who admired my work and asked if I do shoots. My total income from photography? Probably in the range of $6,000. Over 3 years since my first sales...that makes it...$2,000 per year! Not much of a living, that's for sure. But I don't actively market as a photographer, and am quite happy if my hobby can essentially pay for itself. It has bought my last two cameras and 2 lenses, bag, and tripod...so no complaints so far.

I have a friend who has been a lifelong photographer/videographer - mostly wedding/event photography, but he has had to supplement his income with video, television, and commercial video work at times. In a good year, he brings in the vicinity of $45,000 - working all weekends and one day a week shooting, and in the vicinity of 4-6 hours a day editing, post-processing, cropping, printing, burning CDs, duplicating, etc. In a bad year (economy crunch has hurt his business lately as many consider photography a cuttable expense) he might struggle to bring in $20,000. Consider that he must commute a lot, pay for very expensive video and photography gear (including lighting set ups, filter sets, professional quality video cameras, editing software and memory/video intensive computer systems, and maintenance & supplies...he is close to breaking even in a bad year. He's done this for 20 years now.

Of course, there are others in the business who earn many times more. Wedding/event photographers who are very successful usually tend to earn more when they branch off into owning a company or studio and hiring others to do the photography for them - I don't know how much you can consider that 'earning a living from photography' at least from the standpoint of being the photographer anymore. But it is certainly something that you built up to from photography. Others who get into the hired-gun world, especially working for a publication as a staff photographer, can earn a much more comfortable living. And that doesn't even include the lucrative world of photography talks, walks, websites, lessons, books, etc that can come with being a published and established photographer.

Sadly, it's true - professional photographers can earn anywhere from $100 a year to millions. There's really no way to tell someone a precise number to expect from photography. I know I enjoy making some money from photography on the side, and I'd love if it was 5-figures or more a year - but at the same time I am very happy I have another, stable career to earn a living from.

 

[jann1033]

Haha...this cracks me up! My employer charges about a hundred dollars a print. Imagine the money he is making an hour!!!! I think I'll ask for a raise.

i have a friend who is a relative "unknown"( has a very small local following, one of whom is a local postmaster in a town of a couple hundred but happens to put on shows for him occasionally) and charges over $400 per print( 11x14 i think)...so your boss may be more of a "budget" print guy

 

[DisneyFairytale]

Great replies so far. It really depends what it is you focus on. Most of the photos I take and make money on, is sport equestrian photography. Tho there is some good money to be made, it's also a big word of mouth industry.

There are a lot of groups on the web that will try to sell your photos. Not big money to be made there, but if your work is decent you can start by selling smaller pieces.

Take a look at local magazine covers.

 

[lizet313]

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