Photographers wages?

[Reyes]

I'm looking to do photography part time after i've studied at college whilst working my full time job.
Just wandering what photographers get paid in here? Any USEFUL comments will be highly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Pettsi]

I'm looking to do photography part time after i've studied at college whilst working my full time job.
Just wandering what photographers get paid in here? Any USEFUL comments will be highly appreciated. Thanks

If you are good at what you do, and can get some events; weddings etc. i'm sure you can make a mint.

 

[GaryS]

Depends what you mean by "do photography"... pro-photographer's assistant? working for a newspaper? doing weddings etc as a freelance?

 

[MaLicE]

depends what area you work in... i do it freelance and manage to earn a fairly good wage doing a couple days a week/month, i get what i would earn working a fulltime job in an office doing boring s**t lol...

hopefully will be earning more soon! when i start working propperly as much as i can atleast.

 

[Reyes]

Thanks Pettsi

Sorry, i meant freelance. I would love to do motorsport photography, im just like a quarter way into it all at the moment, so im abit unsure on which path to take.

 

[Reyes]

depends what area you work in... i do it freelance and manage to earn a fairly good wage doing a couple days a week/month, i get what i would earn working a fulltime job in an office doing boring s**t lol...

hopefully will be earning more soon! when i start working propperly as much as i can atleast.

Generally a good wage then?

 

[Pettsi]

Thanks Pettsi

Sorry, i meant freelance. I would love to do motorsport photography, im just like a quarter way into it all at the moment, so im abit unsure on which path to take.

The problem with motorsport photography is everyone does it. If it's just a hobby you want to do then great. But if you want to earn some £££ out of it freelance is the way forward imo.

 

[Reyes]

Thanks Pettsi

Sorry, i meant freelance. I would love to do motorsport photography, im just like a quarter way into it all at the moment, so im abit unsure on which path to take.

The problem with motorsport photography is everyone does it. If it's just a hobby you want to do then great. But if you want to earn some £££ out of it freelance is the way forward imo.

Ta pal!
I was talking to a collegue about it, and she was telling me that i should start doing things that nobody else does. Apparently the studio photographers now dont allow children and dogs on the shoot at the same time?

 

[MaLicE]

if u wanna do studio stuff... u need insurance and it aint cheep! i will do shoots for people if they sign a release form etc... but its sketchy still, pm me if u like.

 

[GaryS]

Sorry, i meant freelance. I would love to do motorsport photography

I don't know about circuit stuff but there's no chance of making a living at rally photography. A few years ago before everyone had DSLRs then maybe but not now. Drivers are reluctant to pay anything anyway, especially with most folk being willing to give them freebies. The only way to make anything is to get regular work with a magazine but even the magazine market is getting full of freebie boys now - editors seemingly prefer free crap to paid for good shots :dapprove:

 

[Reyes]

PM'd

 

[Reyes]

Sorry, i meant freelance. I would love to do motorsport photography

I don't know about circuit stuff but there's no chance of making a living at rally photography. A few years ago before everyone had DSLRs then maybe but not now. Drivers are reluctant to pay anything anyway, especially with most folk being willing to give them freebies. The only way to make anything is to get regular work with a magazine but even the magazine market is getting full of freebie boys now - editors seemingly prefer free crap to paid for good shots :dapprove:

Ah, i'd still like to do it as a hobby from time to time though

 

[dunganick]

Nearly impossible, I am currently trying to do exactly this. I am having massive trouble to even cover costs.

I wouldn't consider it any more seriously than a hobby where you may get lucky occasionally.

I havent met a full time motorsport photographer yet. Some more serious than others, but no-one seems to earn enough to use it as their main income.

 

[Andy.]

i have seen the cars that the pros travel in at my local circuit and it does not look like there is much money to be made in motorsport TBH. There are a couple of people here who make a living with their camera so i am sure somebody can give you some guidance. Good luck with it.

 

[ukaskew]

Thanks Pettsi

Sorry, i meant freelance. I would love to do motorsport photography, im just like a quarter way into it all at the moment, so im abit unsure on which path to take.

Avoid at all costs, imo. There are hundreds who happily give their work away for free (I'm one of them) which has squeezed the market into almost non-existence.

Without a commercial license you can't sell your images to drivers, teams or sponsors (although many people do), which means the only realistic outlet is the media (which is all that media accreditation actually covers), however even many of these get their pictures cheaply/free, and the competition is fierce for anything else. Considering your equipment is likely to cost at least £2k (although most carry lens worth more than that alone), the chances of ever making a profit are extremely slim. For reference, commercial rights to British Superbikes costs in the region of £4k, remember that's just for one race series, go off to the BTCC the next weekend and you would probably be needing to pay at least that again.

I've been shooting from behind the fences for two years, I'm at the stage where I could easily cover costs (petrol, ticket, food etc) as I always get a good 3-6 requests from drivers, sponsors etc after each event, but I choose to give all my photos away, a) because technically I can't sell them anyway, and b) most importantly because I love it too much to turn into a job. The moment I go searching for money is the moment it would all dry up anyway, as my photos usually get picked up for being a bit different, if I HAD to get a shot, I wouldn't experiment.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that you don't actually need to be a fantastic photographer. Look at the published images from club level all the way up to F1, they are rarely if ever the best photos you will see from that event. Considering at something like the British GP, only 12 UK photographers could sign on, then look at the sort of images the BBC and others buy, I've honestly seen better images from spectators in the stands.

 

[Rasclart]

I was going to say your motorsport photos are amazing and if you do not charge then well..... not many people will be making money if they are at your standard