Monday, 19 April 2010

Paying the Bills




Being a professional photographer isn't easy. There's a lot of hard work involved, and it's not as glamourous as people think... especially in a recession, when there's less work around and more and more people picking up their digital cameras and trying to make money.
A lot of people quote the 80:20 rule... that is, 80% of your work is what pays, and 20% of the work is the fun stuff you actually want to be doing. This is so true. I love taking photos, it's the best part of my job. I get to meet cool people, and hear great stories while I shoot them. I can't stand retouching! I don't mind doing a single image, but when it comes to retouching several sets, I can't think of anything more tedious, and unfortunately, that's the bit that takes the most time!
The other aspect to the 80:20 rule is that especially when first starting out, you can't be too picky about who you work for and what you're shooting. Chase Jarvis once said to me "shoot what pays, but market the work you want to be doing". I want to shoot fashion, advertising, celebrities and high end editorial content, and whilst I do shoot some, it's not enough to pay all my bills. So as Chase says, you need to shoot what pays.
Over the past couple of months I've shot all sorts of things from products shots for footwear manufacturers, to PR images for multinational companies and childrens book authors, and even events for automotive magazines. I generally don't include these images in my portfolio, because it's not the work I want to attract, but it's always important to pay the bills!
Of course there is still work I turn down. I don't shoot weddings or family portraits. I also don't take on any work from the adult industry, despite being offered a lot of money to do so. It's important set limits to the work you're prepared to do. It's never good to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Ultimately, the more you work, the better you get, and eventually the ratio of work you do will hopefully change from 80:20 as you raise your profile and build on your portfolio, provided you keep showing people the great work you're doing! There are photographers out there doing close to 100% of the work they want to be doing... they didn't get there overnight, and these things take time and effort, but if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it! ;)




4 comments:

joeri said...

Hi JM,

Although I have not posted many comments, I do follow your work. You are absolutely right that a diversity of assignments pays your bills, and there is nothing to be ashamed of as long as you provide the right quality.

I think your editorial work, especially on cars, is very good work and high quality. When I look at the 'paying the bills" work, I see the same quality. So good for you that you can challenge yourself in doing other assignments.

regards,

joeri

Jay McLaughlin said...

Thanks for your comment

It's important to maintain a standard in any work you take on. I personally won't take on any job I don't think I can complete satisfactorily. That's not to say I don't challenge myself, I do, but you're only as good as your last job, and if you do a bad one, word can travel fast!

RVDS said...

Very true and more people should see life like this! To many people think photography is all about shooting pretty girls and once the shoot is done the job is finished! lol if they only knew!

Nice blog post dude, keep it up!

Karen Strunks said...

Hi Jay,

Sound words and great advice.

Sometimes it can be a fine balance between the work you want to do and get noticed for and the work you need to do to keep things ticking over.

I've certainly become a bit more selective in the jobs I take on, and not just say 'yes' to everything as I did when I started out.

A lot of it, for me anyway, is trusting my instincts.

Thanks for the great post! :)

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