My plan to turn Pro - Wedding and Portrait

Vaughn T.Winfree · Sep 12, 2004

My problem with colleges these days is that half the courses that are mandatory to get that degree have nothing to do with real life. A lot of professors are just filling our kids heads with their biased opinions and are not teaching factual information.. Kids are coming out of college thinking they have the world in their hands and after a few years out of college they get deprogrammed by having to live in real life situations and later realizing how much the professor was so full of c#@p.... In some respects, vocational training is better as it teaches exactly what is required to produce in that trade. Colleges should do the same. This is just my humble off topic opinion.
Regards,

Vaughn

RDKirk said:
Lew said:

This is definitely OT, so I'll just make a few comments and leave
it at that.

You cannot take the statement that only 20% complete a four-year
degree and draw the conclusion that 80% don't go on to college.

Click to expand...

I was very careful NOT to do that. But a college prep curriculum
is designed to prepare a student for a 4-year libearal arts degree,
which is not what any any associate's degree is. I suspect that if
US schools didn't push "everybody has to get a college degree" and
provided a real alternative, there would be even fewer college
dropouts--and fewer high school dropouts, for that matter.

RDKirk said:

Even if that 20% figure is correct (with no citation it is
impossible to evaluate its authenticity), that does not accout for
the number of students who go on to college aiming for and
completing a two year, nor does it account for the number of
students who attempt a four year degree and do not succeed.

Click to expand...

The reason community colleges and associates degrees are booming
these days is because we waste two or three years of most students'
lives. What is being taught in community colleges OUGHT to be
taught in high school (the US Navy taught thousands of high school
graduates how to program computers, and a heck of a lot of
programmers now in their 40s are "alumni" of the Navy's enlisted
program).

Doesn't mean a person can't decide to get that liberal arts degree
later. But it's absurd that after 12 years of schooling, a kid
STILL can't do anything worth paying a salary for.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

--
Vaughn T. Winfree
Friends Don't Let Friends Shoot Film

pBase supporter http://www.pBase.com/vaughn

riokid · Sep 12, 2004

have you met aspiring MCSE and ECNE telling you they are going to school and will be making loads of money within the next 2 years when the complete their course? I remember calling them paper CNE, who breaks down on the first real world problems.

Photography is about the same. Weddings in particular can throw a curve ball at you and ruin your day or worse, your entire career.

I am not saying you can not do it. I am merely suggesting that you allow yourself some leeway for the ineventualities that may come along the way.

Some other poster(s) have suggested adding time to learn marketing skills. I agree with that wholeheatedly.

My best wishes on your quest.

dan

elwood said:
Photography has been a part of my life since I was a kid. It is
this love of Photography and how I can capture a moment that has
led me to the decision to change careers. I got into IT mostly by
accident. I built my first PC from scratch, h liked it, went to
Computer School. It is easy for me, and even though I am somewhat
successful, it may be time to begin the next chapter before I get
too high up the ladder or get a pink slip like a lot of other
people in IT.

My plan to go into Photography starts with "don't quit your day
job". I have a family and need to continue to provide for them. I
am also the sole provider. Here is my plan to make this transition.
I should note that I am in the Northern NJ area where wedding
photography is rather expensive.

Sept - Continue learning portrait with Family/Friends
Oct - Attend a Photography class in NYC, or take the NYIP course
Nov - Continue with classes and taking portraits
Dec - Hire a model for 1 or 2 portrait sessions. Tough on family to
sit for a long time with the lights always going off. This should
give me solid time taking portraits
Jan - Same as Dec
Feb - Start taking TFP jobs, as well as other portraits
Mar - Same as Feb
Apr - Same as Mar but with more model sessions
May - Attend a week long Wedding workshop here in NJ
June - Assemble a portfolio
July - Look for work with other Photographers. I may have an in, so
to speak.
Aug - Working as a second Photographer for Wedding.

What do you think of this Plan? The goal is to be independent and
out of IT within 3 years if possible. I do not want to do el-cheapo
weddings, but rather strive to make the best memories for the
customer. My place to shine for the customer will be first with the
engagement portrait, then with the Pre-Wedding portraits, then the
in-between portraits after the wedding and before the reception.

Currently, the rate for a wedding package in this area is easily
over $1500. More likely $2500 - $5000.

Thanks for your time. I want to do this right.

excal · Sep 12, 2004

elwood said:
Photography has been a part of my life since I was a kid.

Which makes you exactly the type of person who will fail doing it for a career. You might make it, but photography is just the bricks to the bricky. How does that bricky get jobs? He has to sell himself. He has to manage cash flows, time, profit, clients, etc. 90% of the job, is not the thing you love.

Exca

Russ Jennings · Sep 13, 2004

I meet lots of people online who love taking pictures. That has NOTHING to do with running a successful photography business.

I interview a lot of college students and graduates who have photography degrees, and they want to work for me. One girl wanted a summer job between her sophomore and junior years in college. Turns out, in two years of photography school, she had less then 10 credit hours actually using a camera. She had taken B&W photography, but had never heard of the zone system!

Keep in mind, the more successful you get, the harder it will get to actually take pictures. Ask any fighter pilot what the worst thing that happened to them was; they'll tell you "getting promoted." As you get better, your responsibilities change. Those guys became fighter pilots to fly fighter jets. As they got promoted, they spent less and less time in the cockpit and more time doing boring administrative work. I think it's a perfect analogy to the pro photography world. Being successful means tons of paperwork and planning, dealing with taxes, etc. Taxes will kill you; you'll start asking where are all those tax loopholes politicians keep talking about.

Do you have a financial plan? Having too much money is just as much a problem as having not enough. If you're any good, you'll reach a point where you spend more on taxes then you're making. For example, if you make 20,000 a quarter, you might only pay $3,000 in taxes. But it you make $60,000 a quarter, you might pay $25,000 in taxes. That's one problem I am having in my studio; as we make more money, we pay MUCH more in taxes. I had a month where we sold $40,000 be more profitable then a month where we sold $60,000, due to taxes.

Patrick H Lockwood · Sep 13, 2004

I went from being an assistant, to being full time self-employed in only eight months. But I used to work in sales, and know what it takes to get business rolling, quicklly, on a shoestring. I used to have an autodetailing business, and I did that on a shoestring, and was full time in less than three days.

Your plan is nice, but you could probably get there sooner, if you put your mind to it.

Patrick

Ben Lovejoy · Sep 14, 2004

Russ Jennings said:
That's one problem I am having in my studio; as
we make more money, we pay MUCH more in taxes. I had a month where
we sold $40,000 be more profitable then a month where we sold
$60,000, due to taxes.

How does that work?

In the UK, taxes are a rising percentage. Ignoring the two bottom levels that are below any workable income, you essentially pay 25% on the first X pounds and then 40% on anything over that. However, you never pay 40% on the lot, so you can never pay more tax just by earning more money.

Ben

--
Photo section: http://www.benlovejoy.com/photography/
Photo gallery: http://www.benlovejoy.com/photography/photos/

jdk2man · Sep 14, 2004

I agree with one of the post above that your plan is too slow.
Just go for it.

I've been doing wedding videos and started out by just shooting one for free. Had no idea really what I was doing, but just needed some experience and demo material.
Then just started marketing. marketing and more marketing.

If you go to church, start asking parents if you can do their senior portraits for cost or a very little amount. Get experience.

Just do one or two cheap and then start making money. Once you start making some decent money, its a lot easier to do more.
Taking classes is good but wont prepare you for what you'll actually run in to.

I've never taken a video class but have done many weddings, commercials, etc...and I've actually taught a class on video editing at the local community college.
Just be confident, get out there and market.

Mark

jdk2man · Sep 14, 2004

Is that top photo touched up with PS?

Also, do you take the 1500+ photos at a wedding like a lot of digital wedding photographers do?

I plan on only taking at a max around 500.

Mark

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My plan to turn Pro - Wedding and Portrait

Vaughn T.Winfree

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riokid

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excal

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Russ Jennings

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Patrick H Lockwood

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