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friendship waffle posted:do you report your current income from your business? Do you want to draw attention to a business that spends money but magically has no income through a series of deductions? I work as a contractor for my day job, so I'm considered self employed already. I'm familiar with the process of filing as a self employer; though not with deductions. e: To clarify, I'm looking to take deductions on income coming from photography only. Obviously, I'd report all income from weddings, etc, but can gear be included in deductions? That's really all I'm asking. RiSK fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Oct 10, 2008 |
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Oct 10, 2008 11:35
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You can deduct equipment, even books, education expenses, all kinds of crap. Keep records is the best advice though, you don't want to get in trouble if they do audit you. You'll also need to determine percentages of use that is personal versus business, etc. Taxes can get fairly complex.
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Oct 10, 2008 13:57
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You can deduct pretty much anything, get an accountant to help you.
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Oct 10, 2008 20:47
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Anyone know how the job market is fairing for commercial studios? One of my relatives runs a studio in Dallas and told me that he is on his second round of lay-offs and that it was like that all over the country. He said that meant that a lot of larger studios are expanding to pick up business from smaller, failing studios so I might be able to get a job with them. I am graduating in December, my portfolio is product photography so I am now getting nervous about being able to get a job. Any insight on this? Should I not worry about it? -Thanks brad industry for starting this thread and all the info, it has been very helpful. By the way I really like my Moab Chinle Presentation portfolio, I dont think you mentioned that one. https://www.moabpaper.com
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Oct 11, 2008 18:40
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lovely economy = ad budgets get cut, so yeah some photographers are feeling it. I guess it depends on what exactly you want to do in a commercial studio and what kind of 'commercial' we are talking about, most don't really have much of a staff to begin with. I doubt you would be able to get a staff position as an assistant or studio manager without having a lot of freelance experience anyways. Also John Harrington made a good post about assistants today: http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008/10/photographers-assistant.html ShutteredIn's advice is good. Do not loving talk to the talent or the clients, if you do you can pretty much guarantee you are never going to get hired again. Don't hover around the catering all day, don't check your email on your phone every 15 minutes, and if you are a second or third don't ask the photographer what to do, ask the first assistant. Also do not talk poo poo about anyone, the photo world is small.
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Oct 11, 2008 21:44
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I just moved up to Portland from San Diego and I forgot how much of a pain in the rear end it is to get started assisting somewhere new. I've gotta make sure to follow my own advice about contacting photographers even though I can expect about a 10% success rate on getting work. Most of the photographers I worked for down there obviously aren't known up here, but I worked on shoots for big name clients. Not sure what the protocol is for namedropping any clients. Granted I wasn't working for them, but photographers repeatedly hired me for big budget jobs.
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Oct 12, 2008 00:10
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A client wants to use one of my photos for his small business, how much should I charge him? Edit, what questions should I ask?
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Oct 16, 2008 19:36
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What is he using them for, what time period, how big of a print run, etc.
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Oct 16, 2008 19:46
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brad industry posted:What is he using them for, what time period, how big of a print run, etc. Thank you! I got a reply back, and it is going to be used for a montlhy newsletter. Edit: I am assuming one run
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Oct 16, 2008 21:05
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I'm assuming external (not in-house) newsletter? Fotoquote says for a print run of 1000 at 1/4 page - $160 - 225
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Oct 16, 2008 21:22
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brad industry posted:I'm assuming external (not in-house) newsletter? You are awesome, thanks! I may have to get that software!
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Oct 16, 2008 21:34
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Totally worth it, it gives you a market rate for pretty much any usage you can think of. Also has a database of every magazine ever and what their circulation is, how much a page of adspace costs, and what their rates are, etc. I highly recommend it, it pays for itself pretty quickly.
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Oct 16, 2008 21:46
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I'm looking for some photo/business/lighting related podcasts, do they exist?
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Oct 16, 2008 22:05
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Hey Brad, maybe you can help me out. I'm broke and I need to start working again. I have lots of prior experience making websites, programming, working with databases, and also doing quite a lot of graphic design. And while all that is good, my programming knowledge is waning and my desire to keep up with the latest and greatest no longer exists. I'd like to be a professional photographer. In truth, I'd really like to work for National Geographic. (Who wouldn't?) What would you recommend for someone like me, who's almost 29 years old and has no real experience doing this professionally? My biggest concern is that if it turns out to be a giant flop in say, one year's time, my resume will suffer. I'd like to have an excuse to do something I love everyday which will afford me new lenses every so often, but not at the expense of my career. Do I have a shot at this, (assuming I'm good enough), or should I tuck my tail between my legs and go back to Corporate America?
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Oct 16, 2008 22:09
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Nondo posted:I'm looking for some photo/business/lighting related podcasts, do they exist? LightSource is one of the best I've heard. It's mostly about professional lighting, but it also covers a bit of news and the business angle of things. I've picked up more than a few tips from it.
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Oct 17, 2008 12:52
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Mannequin posted:I'd like to be a professional photographer. In truth, I'd really like to work for National Geographic. (Who wouldn't?) What would you recommend for someone like me, who's almost 29 years old and has no real experience doing this professionally? Assist and join ASMP, that is the best way to get involved in the professional world and learn how things work. Move to a larger city if there's not enough work where you are. The best part about the photo industry is that it's all about your work, no one has ever asked me for a resume, how old I was (and I'm pretty young), or what kind of training I have. Figure out what kind of work you want to do and put together a portfolio, find clients who buy or commission that kind of stuff, and that's pretty much it. If your stuff is good you will get jobs. Assisting is good because you get to see how real jobs are done and see how other pros run their business (so you can copy the good and avoid their fuckups). It's basically a paid apprenticeship, I always ask questions when I work for someone else (how did they find this client? what marketing do they do to get that kind of work? how did they get started in photography? how did they handle production challenge X?). It's also nice because it teaches you to be a freelancer, you have to do marketing, invoicing, keeping track of expenses, etc. just like you do when you're shooting. Someone told me that becoming a photographer is a step by step process, you don't just get "discovered" one day and they were right. Every time I do a job it leads to another, larger job but it's a slow, incremental process. I mean I am making most of my income from shooting, but I still assist between jobs. I don't really know much about National Geographic, but everyone wants to shoot for them. Set smaller goals and work your way toward them with your portfolio and marketing. Like when I was in school I wanted to have editorial work published before I graduated (so I shot small jobs for a regional magazine). Then I wanted to do larger editorial work, which I got based off the smaller jobs I had done. Then I wanted to do advertising for a decent sized agency (did that early this past summer). Then I wanted to shoot a cover for a larger magazine (did that last week). Now I am working toward larger magazines (500k circulation instead of 250k), larger ad campaigns (national instead of regional), larger record labels (major instead of indie), etc. it all builds off what you've done before.
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Oct 17, 2008 19:34
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Adding to brad's great information I'm going to give you a sobering truth; you just need to know the right people. That Nylon shoot I did? I'm friends with quite a few of the staff. I said I wanted to shoot for them and the next week I had a gig. They're in with a whole bunch of other magazines, PR companies and fashion labels which can open up to all kinds of work. Am I ready to be doing this? Honestly, probably not. I should be assisting first and I'd like to assist on the side, however my visa doesn't allow that until I change it next year. I'd recommend you learn how to network. Everyone in NYC gives out their business cards. I know you live in Jersey but you're going to be in NYC a lot if you take this seriously. When you get one you should follow up with a courteous email saying it was nice to meet them.
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Oct 18, 2008 14:33
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Great, great, great advice! Thanks Brad! I am taking all that to heart. I actually just got a very small photography gig. It's actually part photography, part answering the phones  , but I get paid and I hope it will lead to something a little better.Lance/Bored, thanks also! I'm fairly good at networking. I'm not too worried about making an impression in terms of my personality. I know I can market myself, (once I get going); I think the only thing holding me back right now is a better portfolio. I'll be working on this in the next several months. Thanks again for all your help guys. Really appreciate it!
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Oct 19, 2008 00:00
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Mannequin posted:I'd like to be a professional photographer. In truth, I'd really like to work for National Geographic. (Who wouldn't?) What would you recommend for someone like me, who's almost 29 years old and has no real experience doing this professionally? Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that National Geographic has completely removed the position of "Staff Photographer" from their organization. However, my understanding is that a lot of the National Geographic photographers are aging and slowing down (just look at Bill Allard, for example; he's like fuckin' 80 years old and still doing location assignments). So opportunities to pick up where they left off. . . etc. The other things I would suggest is to take workshops. Find National Geographic photographers who teach workshops (a few do Sante Fe's workshops, there are a bunch of Nat. Geo. photogs in the Virginia area as well). You will generally get a private portfolio review with them too and the opportunity to ask questions and get some direction/advice. Also, attend the Look3: Festival of the Photograph in Charlettesville, VA next June. It's sort of turned into a gathering of the National Geographic photographers and acts as a mecca-like pilgrimage for all of us who want to pick their brains and look at their work and maybe ask questions. http://www.festivalofthephotograph.org/2008/index.html
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Oct 20, 2008 06:25
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Being in ASMP just got me a (mostly) full-time pretty decently paying job here in Portland. Once again, I can't recommend highly enough going to the meetings and volunteering for everything.
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Oct 22, 2008 07:54
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I'm in need of a generic release form, because hey why not, I like covering my rear end legally. I'm a little leery of just Googling for that, where's a good place to start?
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Oct 27, 2008 18:12
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Z posted:I'm in need of a generic release form, because hey why not, I like covering my rear end legally. Why? http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=photography+model+release+form&btnG=Google+Search&aq=4&oq=photography+mo #1 yields a pretty good search result... INYL so YMMV! If you aren't consulting a lawyer you may not have a bulletproof release, but if it was that important you would consult one.
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Oct 27, 2008 18:26
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Good point. But the one you linked to looks pretty good so I'll give it a shot.
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Oct 27, 2008 18:30
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I've been in photography for a while now and I've found what I really enjoy. I shoot a lot of high school and university sports, both portraits and game time. I've been published in a few local magazines, used quite a bit in a major university's promotional materials, etc. etc. I have some good contacts, but I wanted to openly ask: How do I make the next step? Shooting is about 50% of my job now. I otherwise work as the manager of a medium sized photo company. My goal is to derive my primary income from shooting sports of all sorts, anywhere, anytime and step away from the management side. I'm not interested in freelance photography. I know it's an important step for most people, and I was there for a short period, but my position now affords me the same experience with a steady income and many more inroads. I don't know what it's like working for the AP, Getty, or a specific publication. Can anyone tell me what that's like? Where it starts?
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Nov 1, 2008 01:40
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Interrupting Moss posted:I've been in photography for a while now and I've found what I really enjoy. I shoot a lot of high school and university sports, both portraits and game time. I've been published in a few local magazines, used quite a bit in a major university's promotional materials, etc. etc. Friend of mine works for AP and New York Times as a free lance photographer. He says he likes it better than his previous job at the Boston Herald because they give him lots of time to do the work rather than absolute deadlines. Of course the problem with that is you don't make money unless you actually submit work on a weekly basis that they can use. Also, I don't know if you've heard but staff positions are actually disappearing and most publications are hiring free lance. In my opinion, you're severely limiting yourself for sports if you don't do free lance. Contacts are a good thing to have and I would suggest asking them to help you branch out. There should be nothing stopping you from attending various sporting events so you can familiarize yourself with the lighting of each sport (swimming is one of the worst along with anything in a stadium). Submit your work and just sit and wait for a phone call/e-mail. Best of luck to you.
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Nov 1, 2008 02:07
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germskr posted:Friend of mine works for AP and New York Times as a free lance photographer. He says he likes it better than his previous job at the Boston Herald because they give him lots of time to do the work rather than absolute deadlines. Of course the problem with that is you don't make money unless you actually submit work on a weekly basis that they can use. Also, I don't know if you've heard but staff positions are actually disappearing and most publications are hiring free lance. In my opinion, you're severely limiting yourself for sports if you don't do free lance. The discomfort sets in when I think about resigning from my current job to work without guaranteed pay. I'm hoping to prove to myself it's possible without resigning, but sounds like I may have to just make the leap. And move to a bigger city, likely (in OKC now). Swimming is one of the few things I don't have much experience with (except obscure stuff like equine sports or whatever). It's too bad, too, because some of the best photos I've seen are from swimming. Thanks for the information. Anyone have any other experiences? e: you wouldn't happen to know if your friend (or anyone working freelance under those circumstances) has access to pool equipment? I'm on the verge of dropping money on the big guns (400 2.8 and the like), but keep hesitating on the hope that my next gig that requires such glass provides it. I rent now. JAY ZERO SUM GAME fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Nov 1, 2008 |
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Nov 1, 2008 02:39
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I work for an advertising production company and we have a rather impressive photo studio. I talked to the woman that manages the studio and told her that I was interested in assisting. I work monday, tuesday and friday, 13 hours a day so I have wednesday and thursday off. She warned me that it will be grunt work but I told her that I was prepared for that. It's slow now but hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get in and start to learn the ropes.
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Nov 1, 2008 02:54
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Interrupting Moss posted:Interesting. I associate freelance work with the "shoot stuff and hope someone buys" angle, not effectively being contracted out. I don't have a problem with that at all. Sounds like I should do exactly what you mentioned, start submitting my work to publications and asking if they would like to use me. It is a huge leap- the guy working at the Herald had a very comfortable job but he hated how they piled back to back assignments on him- like 3 in one day. He said he felt like a machine just regurgitating pictures so that's part of the reason he moved. It took him awhile to get his foot in the door but once he did, it was smooth sailing for him. In this business, I feel money shouldn't matter nearly as much as the excitement of getting to do something you enjoy everyday. That said, you can't live on happiness with your job alone so I would suggest saving every penny you earn from your other job if you want to make that leap. Save up enough money so that you could at least limp by for 3-4 months. Again, that's just my suggestion in terms of monetary things, personally I would just go all out and quit right away, move and start up new. One more piece of advice from the guy who moved to NYC was to annoy the editors. You don't actually interview with the people- usually you just submit your prints/cd at their office at like 9AM and they will get back to you if they want you. Sometimes harassing them is a good thing, and sometimes they won't hire you because you wouldn't leave them alone so good luck figuring out the fine line there. In terms of shooting aquatic events, fastest lens possible with really decent results at higher ISO (think D700 for ISO, 1D Mk III for speed). No flash for obvious reasons. Below is a picture of me from my swimming days in college- the photographer was on the deck (almost never allowed anywhere else except I think the college hosting this meet was actually getting a cut of his profits). The metadata for this shot is ISO 1250, f/3.2, 1/400 and focal length of 115mm using a 70-200mm lens on a Canon 1D MkII.  As far as loaning equipment, some papers have their own equipment but for the most part you have to supply your own. There was a guy at some college who actually put strobes up into the ceiling for basketball court and hockey rink but he was their athletics staff photographer. Just find a local high school/college meet and try it out. edit: try shooting, not rigging lights in the ceiling although if they let you do that, that would be pretty sweet. germskr fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Nov 1, 2008 |
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Nov 1, 2008 03:23
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germskr posted:It is a huge leap- the guy working at the Herald had a very comfortable job but he hated how they piled back to back assignments on him- like 3 in one day. He said he felt like a machine just regurgitating pictures so that's part of the reason he moved. It took him awhile to get his foot in the door but once he did, it was smooth sailing for him. In this business, I feel money shouldn't matter nearly as much as the excitement of getting to do something you enjoy everyday. That said, you can't live on happiness with your job alone so I would suggest saving every penny you earn from your other job if you want to make that leap. Save up enough money so that you could at least limp by for 3-4 months. Again, that's just my suggestion in terms of monetary things, personally I would just go all out and quit right away, move and start up new. One more piece of advice from the guy who moved to NYC was to annoy the editors. You don't actually interview with the people- usually you just submit your prints/cd at their office at like 9AM and they will get back to you if they want you. Sometimes harassing them is a good thing, and sometimes they won't hire you because you wouldn't leave them alone so good luck figuring out the fine line there. Speaking of mounting srobtes, I have a basketball tournament in January; I was at the school shooting the team today and scouting where to mount 4 lights in the ceiling. Exciting times. As long as I can get in well with athletic directors, I find I can do whatever I want:  bung posted:work for an advertising production company and we have a rather impressive photo studio. I talked to the woman that manages the studio and told her that I was interested in assisting. I work monday, tuesday and friday, 13 hours a day so I have wednesday and thursday off. She warned me that it will be grunt work but I told her that I was prepared for that. It's slow now but hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get in and start to learn the ropes.
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Nov 1, 2008 03:50
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I'm contemplating moving to Toronto in the future in the hopes of getting better assistant work, but I don't really know anyone there at the moment, for obvious reasons. People have mentioned joining professional associations to network - other than that, am I pretty much limited to cold calls?
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Nov 1, 2008 18:28
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^ I have gotten pretty much every assisting job either through ASMP or someone else I worked with. Cold calls work too, but it's a lot easier to just go to all the meetings and hand out cards. I have a question for the journalists here, how do you guys normally quote jobs? My friend wants me to bid on a job for his work but the person hiring is in Argentina and doesn't speak English well so I'm having a hard time getting information out of them. Do you do a day rate + expenses or what? I have always shot assignments where there was a budget already outlined or I quoted based on usage.
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Nov 6, 2008 01:00
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Interrupting Moss posted:the halo on that screams "bad hdr" or really poor dodging and burning.
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Nov 6, 2008 01:19
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friendship waffle posted:the halo on that screams "bad hdr" or really poor dodging and burning. how do I fix that?
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Nov 6, 2008 01:28
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use layer masks and either wacom brush or pen tool. You have to make a decision at some point as to whether to keep the mask extremely tight on what you're modifying or really wide and gradual. Tight is better but it's a far harder mask to make. Some schools of thought frown on that kind of modification for journalistic work. In that case you can still sometimes modify colorwise, which is not as effective but will still get the job done. Push greens and blues to dark, punch the brightness and contrast on browns and reds. In your photo that's equivalent to keying off chroma, and there's strong color separation between the subject and everything else, so it would work well. edit: the photo isn't technically bad, the post work is just myspace-style. I would have composed it more to show the entire "2" and perhaps a bit more of the bleachers, moving the player to the right of the frame but still including the field goal. Aside from that it's a very strong sports photo. what is this fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Nov 6, 2008 |
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Nov 6, 2008 01:53
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A friend of mine is talking to an agency and they say they are looking for "hard copies of the photos" Do they mean 8x10s? Should she ask?
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Nov 10, 2008 22:58
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they mean 8x10s. That's the standard for headshots. I wouldn't go overboard on the paper or ink longevity, this is something they'll look at, maybe file for a bit and look at again, but the decision is fundamentally short term. Don't print out some poo poo obviously, but we're not talking archival grade here either.
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Nov 11, 2008 00:32
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brad industry posted:Totally worth it, it gives you a market rate for pretty much any usage you can think of. Also has a database of every magazine ever and what their circulation is, how much a page of adspace costs, and what their rates are, etc. If for some reason I make a sale for usage rights, where can I find a contract that I can have the client sign so I could safely expect payment? I just got contacted by someone in CT asking for use of one of my photos, and I will like to protect my self if this deal happens.
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Nov 17, 2008 22:26
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There's an example estimate/invoice sheet in the OP. There are a lot more forms and examples in the "Business and Legal Forms" book.
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Nov 17, 2008 23:56
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Bump with this excellent article on freelancing: http://www.editorialphoto.com/articles/doug_menuez/
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Dec 2, 2008 05:52
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I've been doing some stuff with panoramic/360 VR rigs at work lately (not my primary job responsibility, but I get to shoot once or twice a month) and was curious if you guys think it'd be a viable standalone business. I imagine realtors or people selling or looking to rent out homes/condos would find them useful for web-based ads, and I could do standard real-estate type shots as well. If you're selling a high ticket item like a house, a couple hundred dollars for some nice pictures/VR stuff to catch the attention of more potential buyers is probably worth it, no? I know the market is rather hosed at the moment, but at the same time, at least there are a lot of houses people can't afford being unloaded. I've got a 5D, 12-24 and 24-70L, and some external flashes as well. I was thinking of starting off with just a pano head, and maybe moving up to something like the 0-360 setup I use at work for interiors if things picked up or it made more sense. A PC lens might be worth it for exterior shots, or food photography if I was doing restaurants. I do have a couple potential ins, two of my friends worked at a sizable real estate company (one in IT, one as a low-level realtor) and could probably arrange some introductions. The IT guy said the realtors are generally pretty incompetent when it comes to technology, and paid him quite well to overhaul their crappy sales sites they've been using since 1997. The low-level realtor guy is out of it now, but actually wanted me to start doing some photo stuff for them back in the day (at the time I had an XT and didn't really feel qualified). I read an article on real estate photography a year or two ago that said some individual realtors were learning a bit about photography to help sell their stuff (and found it paid good dividends), but I think the VR stuff is beyond the realm of what most people are willing to delve in to, and by that point it's cheaper to just hire someone else to do it. My dad also works for a yacht broker on the side, and seemed pretty interested in having me use my ultrawide to get interior shots he couldn't get with his P&S. I was thinking I could put together a portfolio/website over the next few months thing to show potential clients. I'm also lucky in that my day job is really flexible; I usually work 25 hours a week or so (still studying), but I set my own hours and have 24/7 access to the building. Does this sound like it could work? I'm in a metropolitan area of about 3.7 million (Tampa, FL), for what it's worth. It's not something I'd plan on jumping in to overnight, I'd like to sound it out a bit more over the next couple of months as I get closer to graduation, as well as get more experience using the pano stuff at work. As far as start-up costs I know it'd be thousands; on top of the usual I've also got to get a vehicle, as I'm bicycle-only right now. Another potential hang-up is that I'm likely going to move away for work sometime in the next three years, which would make sinking a lot of money on the photo business potentially prohibitive, unless I was looking to sell it to someone else when I was done (something I've considered). I know with most of the equipment I'd get back a lot of what I spent, but intangibles like marketing/promotion etc, not so much. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Dec 3, 2008 |
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Dec 3, 2008 01:58
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