Dec 28, 2012, 10:11
Any of you planning on going pro in the new year? If so, what kind of work will you do and how will you make it happen?
Dec 29, 2012, 08:12
While I mostly treated photography as a hobby, I did shoot events and portraits on the side. This year I'm planning to to take 360 panoramas for promoting local businesses, and will have my very own, Ministry of Education approved photography course.
Jan 2, 2013, 06:43
Even tho going pro sounds awesome, I'm keeping photography on hobby level for a next few years for sure...until I'll be able to spend a fortune on a brand new camera capable to make quality photos
Jan 3, 2013, 10:41
Korry, don't worry about buying new gear when you first start out, pro level digital gear that's a few years old will still give pro level results.
Find a job as an assistant and do that till you are confident in yourself and then go for it!
Jan 13, 2013, 05:38
Thank you for kind words, photokev. Unfortunately, here, where I am, assistants aren't popular category and most of pro photographers prefer to work alone or with friends.
Jan 14, 2013, 13:10
If having an arts diploma and working online counts, then I'm already a pro....and, even if it's hard for me to admit: I enjoyed photography better when it was just a hobby
Jan 16, 2013, 02:00
I plan on keeping photography solely as a hobby. Also, I'm going to break the laziness cycle and take more photos this year!
Jan 16, 2013, 13:04
I shoot family portraits and senior portraits on the weekends. I just started doing this in October and now that it's cold things have come to a screetching halt. I see it picking up again in the spring. I have a Facebook page, and people have found me locally that way. A lot of my customers are from word of mouth.
Jan 16, 2013, 13:36
I agree with those of you who say photography is more fun as a hobby... Being able to shoot what you want, how you want and as creatively as you want can be tremendously gratifying and just flat out fun!
With that said, once I moved past the "terrified" stage (am I good enough, can I do this shot, can I make the client happy) in my career it actually became fun again (for the most part). Being paid really well plus the attaboys from clients and the creative challenge of bringing the clients vision to a finished image is both exciting and fun!
Jan 18, 2013, 09:07
It does matter very much if youțre doing retouching or photography. I'm currently doing how-to images for a website which is really fun to do, but the retouching work is a real deal breaker for me mainly because most clients aren't a least bit respectful when it comes to the work retouchers do and they believe that paying someone 50 cents for an image you spend 30 mins of your life it's more than enough...
Jan 20, 2013, 01:43
Yes, 50 cents an image... Very sad and a product of the internet and countries where extremely cheap labor exist. If you go to sites like odesk you'll see lots of listings where that's what clients are offering. Sucks for those of us trying to make a living here
Jan 20, 2013, 04:27
Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. It's impossible to get a good deal for what I know and I'm not a fan of selling myself short either...
Jan 20, 2013, 12:04
People selling themselves short is kind of what's killing photography as a vocation. When someone advertises they'll do a product shot for 5 dollars or a portrait or wedding for 50 bucks or worse yet, free, they ruin it for anyone trying to do this for a living.
When I see ads like this on craigslist "photographer will work for free" I always email them and ask them to charge whatever the fair rate is for their work because they're damaging the industry. If you're good enough to be paid for your work then charge the going rate. If you aren't good enough then don't try and find clients until you are, then charge as a professional.
Jan 25, 2013, 06:21
What you're talking about is a huge problem, not only for photographers. It's the problem with almost every 'creative' or IT occupation. Competition is way too strong, prices are low, job terms are impossible and clients are hard both to get and to work with.
It's definitely hard to compete with 'I want to be creative and can read online tutorials' kids that are working for free or almost for free, but I'm comforting myself - if nothing else, they're collecting all those clients from hell and in the end most of their clients are disappointed due to the lack of quality. 
Feb 4, 2013, 12:31
Great topic here.
Speaking of myself, I am not pro enough to go pro. Strictly a hobby for now. I love it though. I have been in the arts my entire life (drawing, painting, crafts and now photography). I am not tech savvy enough to go pro, but I know I have an eye. I come from a family that has always encouraged creativity and art in any form (music, performing arts, painting/drawing, crafts, you get the picture). To make a long story short, I am soon to be 27 years old. I woke up about two years ago and realized I have had all of these art dreams my whole life and never followed through with any of them. I was tired of factory jobs, flipping burgers, etc. I take care of the elderly/disabled for a living now, which has its rewards but, my point is that I was just sick of loving art and knowing I am good at it and doing nothing with it. Also, I am a complete lunatic and have issues working in jobs I hate (where I am not being challenged or encouraged to be creative). All I know is that I love art, especially photography (sewing is almost as therapeutic and fun as photography to me), and to wake up at 25 years old and realize that everyone I knew in high school is now in their careers, married and some of them rich from their trades (but most of them unhappy), and then to think "I need to go to college for something, but what? I don't want to go to med school, my father's side of the family are all doctors, etc., education not for me either, which would be my mother's side, all college professors, etc., I hate cooking, so a culinary is out of the question, and then after all that thinking, there lies this love of photography that just lingers and, when working 50-60 hour weeks to barely make ends meet. Driving myself crazy because I have no time to be creative (my therapy). I finally realized, "You know what? I don't care if photography stays a hobby for the rest of my life. Oh well if I will be in dept for deciding to get a bachelors degree in it at a very expensive school. I am sure as heck gonna try my butt off to one day make it my career (not until I at least get my degree first). I know I can make SOME money with it, right? And what life am I TRULY living if I am working jobs I hate and can barely make ends meet anyways, right?" So, here I am. I take pictures when I want, of what I want and I looooove the school I am attending, I loooove this forum, even though it is only my second day, and I loooove that, even if I never make it in the photography biz, at least I wont spend the rest of my life wondering "What if?" Right? I already love everyone on this forum and I just wanted to get that off my chest (thinking maybe some of you have had similar thought/feelings?). Thank you for the topic, Photokev, and thank you all for responding. I have learned a lot here already  So, for me, not going pro this year or next, but one day... yep, one day! P.S. I have friends on Facebook that have "Photography" pages too and they have not idea how to set their cameras to anything but "auto" and they advertise cheap work, so I know what you are all saying. It erks me too. "Having a nice camera makes you a photographer no more than having a hammer and nails makes you a carpenter."
Feb 5, 2013, 11:38
(Jan 25, 2013, 06:21)Korry Wrote: What you're talking about is a huge problem, not only for photographers. It's the problem with almost every 'creative' or IT occupation. Competition is way too strong, prices are low, job terms are impossible and clients are hard both to get and to work with. Well said, Korry! Come to think about it, I was a "designer" myself, during highschool. Then I suddently became a "pro photographer", some months after I bought my first dslr. Now I only consider myself a photographer, and that's because I love photography. If someone likes my work, and wants to pay me for it, that's great.
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