DOUGLASFOTOS wrote:

We can't see your face or hear your tone when you write...HEADS UP...This is Tongue and Cheek heading at the beginning...wow the magic of letting people know..what is what.

Oh Douglas... go back to your photography and making your fortune...

Greg Kolack wrote:

Oh Douglas... go back to your photography and making your fortune...

The Love I Give and Receive from IB and MMERS is my Fortune.

DOUGLASFOTOS wrote:

The Love I Give and Receive from IB and MMERS is my Fortune.

OK - now that me laugh...

Giacomo Cirrincioni wrote:
I've seen one former, well-known member here make that in a week shooting pharmaceutical advertising...

We both know the person... but wasn't that 3.5 days, 4 if you count drinking and dinner?! 

Giacomo Cirrincioni wrote:
I've seen one former, well-known member here make that in a week shooting pharmaceutical advertising...

udor wrote:
We both know the person... but wasn't that 3.5 days, 4 if you count dinking and dinner?! 

How many days do you work a week??

And to be fair, there were days of work before ever landing in NYC.

I won't shoot the FSI until November, I, along with a storyboard artist, already have a good three days into this and I, and others, will do a full week before I ever shoot a frame.

udor wrote:

We both know the person... but wasn't that 3.5 days, 4 if you count dinking and dinner?! 

Define dinking?

Greg Kolack wrote:
Please explain this great mystery to me...

Because of the power of being part of the internet... Never in the history of mankind has anyone been more so powerful to project themselves as being "somebody" or in other words: "Anybody can be anybody on the Internet".



.

Greg Kolack wrote:

Ah, but I don't claim to work full time in the business, or to make much money at all from it...

I know - just having fun. Sometimes my sense of humor is like that.

Giacomo Cirrincioni wrote:
Please explain this great mystery to me...
I don't make hundreds of thousands shooting, but I make enough to live well on it alone if I choose to.  But it's not by being busy.

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Giacomo, great post. Some in here have probably assumed that you are just boasting, but that really isn't the case. Instead, I view your post as sort of a quiet statement of the facts and a refreshingly humble view of things, by someone who has figured out to make professional photography work in a time when its pretty hard to do that.

Best wishes for the next campaign - buy more boats!

Raoul Isidro Images wrote:

Internet Dating Site Profile: "Top male model, lover of expensive wine, fast cars and beautiful women. Looking for an exceptional woman to share my wealth. Must like guys who are slightly stocky."

MerrillMedia wrote:
Giacomo, great post. Some in here have probably assumed that you are just boasting, but that really isn't the case. Instead, I view your post as sort of a quiet statement of the facts and a refreshingly humble view of things, by someone who has figured out to make professional photography work in a time when its pretty hard to do that.

Best wishes for the next campaign - buy more boats!

Dude, if you saw the work that paid me the most, you would shake your head and hate the world.  That's what I do.  Trust me when I tell you that there is nothing to boast about.  There are many, many, many enthusiasts on here who produce FAR more interesting work than that.

I've actually stopped doing most of it, keeping a few choice clients so that I can fund an entire new portfolio build which, when all three books are done, will cost me between $25K and $35K to produce.  It's a gamble, but so far, based on initial marketing work, it looks like it will pay off, get me shooting work I actually enjoy and, hopefully, put me in a higher pay bracket. 

People on here keep asking how to get work and the answer is usually social media.  Ok, I'm sure many do well doing that.  I don't know how to do that.  To me, people don't pay a lot for photos, corporations, on the other hand, often will if the feel the images are important to their brand or to drive sales.  Hell, even most of my fine art work was not purchased by individuals (much of it was, but not most).  My biggest buyers were Restaurants and a hotel that bought the work through a designer/decorator and architect.  Honestly, in one case, the owners didn't even like the work, but they bought ten pieces at a decent price. 

I'm a whore.

MerrillMedia wrote:

I know - just having fun. Sometimes my sense of humor is like that.

Its all good - the point of this thread was to have fun...

Giacomo Cirrincioni wrote:
I don't make hundreds of thousands shooting, but I make enough to live well on it alone if I choose to.  But it's not by being busy.

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MerrillMedia wrote:
Giacomo, great post. Some in here have probably assumed that you are just boasting, but that really isn't the case. Instead, I view your post as sort of a quiet statement of the facts and a refreshingly humble view of things, by someone who has figured out to make professional photography work in a time when its pretty hard to do that.

Best wishes for the next campaign - buy more boats!

I agree...what seems to separate the legit folks from the fakes, is the legits feel no need to talk about their successes. Whereas those who tend to make shit up tend to be the ones who like to constantly bring it up...

Greg Kolack wrote:

Giacomo Cirrincioni wrote:
I don't make hundreds of thousands shooting, but I make enough to live well on it alone if I choose to.  But it's not by being busy.

(MORE)

I agree...what seems to separate the legit folks from the fakes, is the legits feel no need to talk about their successes. Whereas those who tend to make shit up tend to be the ones who like to constantly bring it up...

+1

Greg Kolack wrote:
what seems to separate the legit folks from the fakes, is the legits feel no need to talk about their successes. Whereas those who tend to make shit up tend to be the ones who like to constantly bring it up...

My wife has an awesome aphorism that I love, which we now simply shorthand as "DTM" for "desperation to matter", which is the kernel of the full statement: "what makes humans so entertaining is their desperation to matter in the face of overwhelming irrelevance". She'll subtly nod her head in the direction of someone who is constantly interjecting themselves in conversation by bringing up their achievements or their possessions or their lifestyle or some other variation of tacky, tedious bragging and just go "DTM". Bottom line, doesn't matter how awesome someone thinks they are and/or how amazing they think their life is... if they find it necessary to advertise about it at every opportunity, they're doing it wrong.

In other words, Kristen Wiig's Penelope.

kickfight wrote:
In other words, Kristen Wiig's Penelope.

That is so incredibly fitting...

Abbitt Photography wrote:
This is how it works for me:

Today, as usual, I was charging $300/hour for my photography services.  Three, four-hour shoots per week for 50 weeks equates to 180K/year.  This rate clearly demonstrates the value I bring to a shoot as well as my success as a photographer.

However, as often happens, today I shot zero hours at that rate, leaving me a lot of time to post in the forums. I should mention that my rate is negotiable, so on the days I do shoot models, I often discount the above rate by about $300/hour as well as provide images.    I find if I discount the rate even further, the demand for my services really starts to increase, and can become overwhelming, so I rarely do that anymore


I feel fortunate to have a full-time job outside of photography which allows me to provide models such a generous discount off my usual $300/hour rate.

I like this...