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(sigh) I wish this was full time...
Posted 70 months ago.
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wish i was full time too! I havent been in school, learn by doing it... and im doing it all, freelance, magazines and websites! :)
Posted 70 months ago.
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i think if i did it full-time, it would become too serious.
i'm enjoying doing it for the fun of it.
Posted 70 months ago.
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I do it full-time. No school. Work for a bunch of different people.
My advice, though? Don't do it...it's very, very tough to make a living from it! I definitely don't want to be discouraging or anything, but if you want to live comfortably (ie. travel, buy new toys, etc.) keep another job, too, at least until you're well-established!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Carrie Musgrave | Livebabylive.com edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Part-time, self taught, freelance, fitting it in around f/t work and a degree course.
Posted 70 months ago.
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i wish i could do it full time, but i don't even have credentials to be getting passes yet! i'm working on it... and seeing as to how hard it is, i'm thinking i'll be keeping my job in retail (sigh, terrible) a whole lot longer than i want to. no school for me, although i am thinking about it.
Posted 70 months ago.
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Full time in the evenings ;-)
Posted 70 months ago.
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i think if you want to shoot full-time, exclusively focusing on performing arts stuff is the wrong choice, at least if you want make some decent coin.
shooting fashion or advert stuff is different, there's definitely some $ in there, as are weddings. those fields don't have the same financial pressures or flood of amateurs w/ pro gear (of which i am part of) to contend with either.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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tinnitus photography edited this topic 70 months ago.
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full timer here, 98% self taught, and I freelance to whoever I can, and like Carrie said, I dont reccomend it, money is in shooting weddings lol
Posted 70 months ago.
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Full time, self taught, shooting for mags of note but still not very well paid..i think most people, apart from a select few can do solely live music photography and make a full living from it.
Posted 70 months ago.
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Shooting weddings blows. I'd rather live on ramen noodles shooting only concerts than doing weddings! :P
Posted 70 months ago.
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Full time, Art institute grad, staffer...being on staff at a publication is a good way to go if you can get it. Benefits, expenses, retirement and consistent pay.
Posted 70 months ago.
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Art degree,self taught photographer, full time photo teacher as the day job...there's no way i could live on just doing this. if you wanna make coin and enjoy it weddings are the way to go.
love of music first keeps me in this biz!
Posted 70 months ago.
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yup. that is why i dont do weddings lol.. but there is money in it haha
Posted 70 months ago.
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I have no idea how you could "enjoy it" doing weddings. Weddings are painful.
On topic: Not a full timer here. Not even using up much "part time" really. I already had a semi-established career when photography found me, and at this point in life I'm not prepared to throw that all away for the chance to shoot for some high feeling publicist or art director. I gave up wanting to shoot for media after a publication--one I would consider close to Spin and Rolling Stone level (national company's advertising full page, etc.), offered to let me shoot a concert for nothing, and then couldn't secure me a press pass anyway. If I'm working for nothing or next to nothing, I'd rather it was on my terms.
Forgive me, I'm ranting.
Posted 70 months ago.
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Carrie: hahaha there is no way in hell I would ever shoot weddings. I come from Saskatoon, a city with 300+ wedding photographers. I would also rather live on ramen noodles then shoot weddings.
Posted 70 months ago.
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art/photo degree....BFA....full time photographer. Music is my first love...but can NOT be done full time. Musicians have NO money. I am also a wedding, event, camp, and festival photographer.
Posted 70 months ago.
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I do music photography part time. I'm self taught. My gigs are a mixture of freelance and assignments for a few websites/publications.
I've been shooting shows for less than a year and my music photography has just started to make money. Most of my cash for toys comes from shooting weddings which, unlike everyone else here, I actually love doing.
Done right, weddings can pay really well. You also get to eat sushi from time to time instead of just ramen.
Posted 70 months ago.
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There may be money in weddings, but I know a really good wedding photographer who now HATES her clients. Bridezillas and Momzillas one and all.
I've retired from aspiring to be a music photographer for now, am aiming to do an MA in a year or two.
It's depressing that so much shit gets published and that certain folks make a living with their heads in the darkness that is the butts of the stars. We know who that is... ;-)
Oh, and both Trudi and Carrie ROCK big style!
Posted 70 months ago.
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I actually enjoy shooting weddings too. I do it in addition to the staff work, so It doesn't support me, and I can pick and choose my clients...avoiding the bridezillas. I also make sure they know that I approach it like a news assignment and how much I hate the standard portraits.
They aren't like getting in a pit at a show, but to make a living it can't all be glamorous. Some of my teachers would shoot a Bud Light poster one week and 1,000 articles of folded clothes for catalogs the next.
(edited type-o)
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Peter Heacox edited this topic 70 months ago.
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the last wedding i shot was a redneck biker wedding that was at a trashy bar. the only reason i agreed to it was a free bar tab, and the promise was the first photos will come out ok and the rest will probably suck. lol.
Posted 70 months ago.
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See, now that's a wedding I'd actually shoot, mostly because I'm sure it would be an interesting experience!
I'm asked to shoot weddings all the time and I'll do the very, very odd one, but I don't even like going to weddings to watch them, so following a bride and groom around all day is torture to me.
Posted 70 months ago.
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I think what Peter is saying about being able to pick and choose your clients is key for a lot of creative professions (not just photography and not just weddings).
You get to avoid all of the nasty folks and get to pick the fun ones.
I shot one recently where the entire groom's party dressed up as pirates and rode a ferry across the Hudson River to the church. It was hilarious.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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chris | onelouderphoto.com edited this topic 70 months ago.
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charlie.satt [deleted] says:
For those of you that didnt go to school how do you get press credentials? Do you just have to know the right people?
Posted 70 months ago.
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School has nothing to do with getting credentials...working for publications does, though. To be honest, other than learning the basics of photography, school is pretty useless for concert photography...it's the kind of thing that you just need to get out there and experiment with.
To get to the point of working for publications, I started by practicing on friends' bands. I must have a few 1000 photos of one band in particular, under a bunch of different lighting conditions, then also started shooting shows where accreditation wasn't necessary. I posted them online and was contacted to shoot for a publication and it just went from there.
Sometimes it's who you know and sometimes it's working really hard and getting a bit lucky...and after that you've earned "who you know"!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Carrie Musgrave | Livebabylive.com edited this topic 70 months ago.
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I'm in school now but not for photography. In fact our school has a music industry program, but I think I've gotten to a fairly good spot without the help of some class. It's a matter of luck, being in the right place at the right time, and having friends/connections. Once you build up a decent portfolio with lots of bands, i've found that people will find your work and get in touch with you. That's how I have gotten one or two jobs and it's always nice when people say that they a) like your work and b) will pay you to take photos for them.
Posted 70 months ago.
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Part time, freelance self taught masochist. Weddings are scary, at least if you balls up a gig they'll be another (well usually). Still on the plus side at weddings you've got more than the first 3 songs, flash, not having to shoot from the organ, not falling over 12 other people trying to occupy exactly the same spot. Oh yeah and the money :).
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Litost. edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Carrie's description of how she started is much like my own. No professional training, lots of time spent practicing on smaller bands in little venues.
I've only just started doing photography fulltime, which is thankfully with the security of being an in-house photographer at a publication.
I worked for several years doing lots of concert photography in my spare time, but i never made much more than pocket money. I've no idea how you'd make a living just shooting live music.
Posted 70 months ago.
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Still probably only constitutes a hobby, I'm only 20 after all
In school, for journalism, though honestly I was all self taught, and just happened to meet the right person at a show, who introduced me to a friend who was starting up a zine, stuck through the early days of shooting shitty bars, and now I have a semi-respectable publication behind me and I have a lot of freedom to choose, and do what I want for them.
I'd love to do this for a living though, and I know its a pretty far off dream
Posted 67 months ago.
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I'm full time.. x
edit.. it takes time to get to the stage where you can work full time in music photography.. by that I mean press shots and live...
Originally posted 57 months ago.
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karen_e_mcbride edited this topic 57 months ago.
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I work three days/week in PR/Marketing (non music related) - I dedicate much of my other time to (paid) music photography.
Posted 57 months ago.
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I'm a part time photographer with a day job, but I work in music full time which affords me great access. Concert photography is like a drug habit I can't kick, but I actually enjoy other genres more. And I love weddings... I suppose if I had to rely on it to make my mortgage payments I might hate them. I agree with Chris, the ability to pick and choose what I shoot, when and where and for whom (which having a day job lets me do) is the key to enjoying what I do.
Posted 57 months ago.
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LOL @ Carries comment on how shootings weddings 'blows' I've never shot a weeding, but it really is of very little interest to me.
Yes, I have a day job. Like everyone else in here, I would love to do concert photography full-time. Luckly, I get paid, but not nearly enough to live on, even if I were to eat Ramen all day, every day.
As far as how I got started, I requested a photopass for the SoCo music festival just as a 'let's see what happens' type deal and they responded with the 'ok' to shoot the show. Shortly after that, I started my website/blog to host the photos and to be a resource for concert photography. After that, I used that as my 'credential' for a few shows before being contacted by a street press magazine here in the Denver area. I also shoot for a live music blog, but I contacted them and asked if I could contribute. I basically jumped right into it all - never shot small bands in small bars. Would have been a good experience, but for me, just didn't work out that way.
Chad
Originally posted 57 months ago.
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-Chad Fahnestock Fotography- edited this topic 57 months ago.
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im an accounts payable clerk during the day...shooter by night. i've only had a camera for ten months and im really happy with how far ive come and what ive been able to shoot (coldplay and jay-z being highlights).
i am seriously considering taking up photog as a fulltime profession, but i would probably do wedding/stock/commercial photog as a dayjob, and concert photog for a fun change of pace.
i've yet to make a dime with my concert photos, but i have not been marketting myself at all.
Originally posted 57 months ago.
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Ami.Sanyal edited this topic 57 months ago.
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Self taught with some high-level classes from Academy of Art.
Favorite texts include:
L*A*B* Color and the Canyon Conundrum (Margulis)
Photoshop RAW (Schewe)
Light, Science, & Magic
Lenswork (bimonthly periodical)
Counsel to a very large internet/media company during the day, Dad at night, and photog in between.
Originally posted 57 months ago.
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Margaret-10 Images edited this topic 57 months ago.
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I'm an IT Project Manager by day, and I shoot weddings and concerts inwhat little time I have evenings and weekends.
I actually like shooting weddings in addition to concerts (I do about 10-12 a year) and I really do think the skills required for one translate well to the other. Good wedding photographers, just like good concert photographers, are all about 'capturing the moment' in difficult and often quickly changing lighting conditions. The only difference is weddings pay much better.
I'd love to do photography full time and ditch the day job, but I can't see it happening anytime soon. To earn the same kind of income I currently enjoy I'd have to do 40-50 weddings a year, which would turn it into a production line and become much less enjoyable. Concert photography doesn't pay anywhere near as much even as weddings plus I'd no longer have the luxury of picking and choosing which concerts I shoot and which bands I work with.
Marty
Originally posted 57 months ago.
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MartyMoffatt edited this topic 57 months ago.
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I have a full time job - I have no intention of shooting ugly peoples weddings
Posted 57 months ago.
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Hobby! This is where I have an advantage over most of you, sorry to say. I am a full time sound engineer. So, I can get back stage, side of stage, and FOH without any photo credentials. The only thing I have to do is just ask the band if they mind. Never had any of them say no. The only place the I was asked to not enter from time to time was the photo pit. That is mostly reserved for you guys. But, when you are not there, they don't have a problem with me being there.
Posted 57 months ago.
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Have regularly attended (~ once/week-fortnight) gigs since the 90's, and so finally decided to bring the compact along and try my hand about 18 months ago. It became somewhat of a hobby.
Posted 57 months ago.
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Full time: Technology Analyst with an Australian electricity distribution company. No one gets what I'm on about when I say that though...
Posted 57 months ago.
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Oh, I don't know ju:femaiz. I was a electrical engineer, before I was a sound engineer. That's how I got in to sound:)
Posted 57 months ago.
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Full time photographer. Music gigs are my staple income. I am mostly self-taught.
Posted 57 months ago.
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Wish I was full-time. Still in high school. And happily shooting bands in small dingy places. Hopefully someday I can go full-time. And I'd do fashion, but no wedding or children photography. Please. I'd rather live on bread.
Originally posted 49 months ago.
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kerashadowe edited this topic 49 months ago.
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Part-time photographer. I work full time for the University System of Georgia doing IT work. My regular job pays my mortgage and my photography pays for new photography toys.
I am self-taught and started out shooting local bands (I live in Athens, GA so we have plenty to choose from). Eventually started shooting bigger and reached out to publications and pitched shows to them and showed them my portfolio. Have also had some contact me based on some of my work they saw somewhere else. I have shot a few weddings, but they were for my friends, and were held at music venues so I am not sure if you count those :)
Posted 49 months ago.
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I like that this thread got bumped from the past. I'm technically a full-time student. I then have two jobs that pay the bills. One is working as the photographer in a Blackbox Theater, the other is ushering at a venue on campus. On top of all that I find time to do concert photography. So, if you split those four into equal measures, I'm a half-fulltime photographer.
Posted 49 months ago.
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Yeah this is a great thread. I'm part time, finishing up college now. I also work 2 jobs (wireless broadband tech support and grocery store lol), and do 2-3 shows a week. I'm the house photog for an itty bitty venue here in town, so that makes things easy. Shoot for 2 overseas websites (www.planet-loud.com and www.stalker.cd) doing concert reviews/galleries. I'm doing my first CD review this coming week! And also my first band interview (through email, but still)! Pretty exciting.
My 2 jobs pay the bills and...I'm debt for my $1000 worth of camera gear lol.
Its a blast so far though - I've loved every minute of it!
Posted 49 months ago.
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I am doing it as a hobby, but a real time consuming one ;-) My new day job from March 1 is being reponsible for IP rights for the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, and as I was the Music Director for our main radio station for 16 years before that, I have had (and still have) great oportunities to shoot at many festivals and concerts in Norway. I let www.nrk.no use all my concert pictures (usually at www.nrk.no/musikk), but I keep the ownership to them, and post them here at Flickr and on my own site, www.artist-pictures.com. The site hasn't been updated for a year, waiting for a full redesign.
Originally posted 49 months ago.
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perole edited this topic 49 months ago.
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I would never be a full-time photographer. Doing anything on a deadline sucks. Also, I don't think photography, in general, is really that meaningful...but on the other hand, I'm a biller at a trama hospital.
Originally posted 49 months ago.
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nakeddork edited this topic 49 months ago.
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