anyone else made the transition from hobbyist to /p/ro? I'm

>>3055177
seems to me that you need to be more efficient. This will decrease time spend on editing invoicing etc. then when you get better/faster you can do more and maybe hire someone to fix some stuff for you.

Also, why diid you transition?

>>3055178
I was doing conceptual documentary, 6x6 and 4x5 for years trying to put a book together then a few years ago someone asked me to shoot something

was never planned and it seemed like a few quick bucks while I finished my degree

getting more and more people calling and have problems saying no if people are paying, problem is I don't feel confident to charge much more than other people in town.
I hate doing real estate so I charge double what the other guys do and still cant get rid of those clients

The entirety of my income comes from photography as a freelancer. Granted, I don't spend much time on invoicing since I have 3 steady gigs throughout the year and I fill in the gaps with random jobs as they come, which is usually by word of mouth. I hate post-processing though - so tedious and mind-numbingly boring.

>>3055217
How long do you spend on each photos?

thats how the industry is, I spend 10% of my time actually shooting and the rest on marketing.

>>3055177
outsource your editing and you get to take on 2x as many jobs

>>3055188
Do you have any photos from your conceptual documentary days? I'd be keen to see them

What sort of work do you do these days btw?

>>3055177
Havent seen your work but sounds like you've made the leap; you're a pro. 1% shooting, 99% billing, editing, marketing and worrying. Yup, that's about it.

I went full time photo after getting fired from my shitty food job that was making 1/3 of what I was making doing photography at the same time. The decision was made for me, lol. I tried to get a normal job for a month then just said "WTF, do photography" avg monthly is roughly 2800 but sometimes more or less. best month was right at 6k. I freelance at a high volume studio, which was super luck on my part so its working out.

>>3055219
Between batch processing the RAWS and making final edits in Lightroom/Photoshop, probably a minute or less. I do mainly photojournalism, sports and events, so I just worry about the basics (adjusting exposure, white balance, contrast, cropping, etc).

File: 1473944939034.png (184KB, 600x642px) Image search: [Google]

184KB, 600x642px

How do you even make money with photography?

>>3061016
Marketing. Telling people what they need and why they want to spend so much. Get good at social interaction and learn to lie convincingly. Lie lie lie, smile smile nod nod, lie some more.

I personally find my electronics design engineering job much easier.

Is there a stockphoto company that buys photos from users?
I don't care if I don't make much, but if I could at least sell my snapshits for some gain I'd feel better about spending this much on this hobby.

I'm trying OP, the ball is very slowly rolling. i just keep getting one off shoots for everything from weddings to food (and for v.small amounts of money). Hate weddings, pretty good at food, want to do editorial portraiture but my portfolio is nowhere near where it should be for that. I had an idea about how to get it up to scratch, it's just a lot of work and having a bar job as my full time gig isn't that helpful

>>3055177
why dont you hire someone to edit it for you? it'll free up like 50% of your time. so you can worry 50% more. or get more done. either is fine.

>>3058557
Oh boy. This is so true. I'm not going to take more customers but then again my biggest (only? Niche market) competitor has quit?

Oh well, I have to take their market otherwise somebody else will :/

Any advice for someone looking to make the jump? I have a lot of experience with editing already, and I've taken plenty of good shots that don't have any people in them. Other than the obvious equipment like a flash and and a softbox kit, what should I invest in and what should I be doing to market myself?