How much do you make from Photography : per annum

[farquar]

More than double the highest option.

My studio needs at least 200K in income to remain a viable business, so, me too.

[Speedway]

I probably take $2-300.00 per year so that puts me about $9000.00 in the red and getting deeper when I finally get my 70-200 f2.8L IS. I thought I was getting close but blew the gearbox in the Patrol -about $2000.00 from the budget.
Keith.

[JM Tran]

More than double the highest option.

hmmm really?

[Charmed]

More then last year

[farquar]

hmmm really?

Why would you doubt that? The poll was for total income from photography. In my case I personally don't take home that amount but my business brings it in. I don't think there would be many photographers out there taking home in excess of 200K per year but the reality of a successful/prosperous business, with a couple of staff, is that you need to.

[JM Tran]

Why would you doubt that? The poll was for total income from photography. In my case I personally don't take home that amount but my business brings it in. I don't think there would be many photographers out there taking home in excess of 200K per year but the reality of a successful/prosperous business, with a couple of staff, is that you need to.

but you just answered your own question there - 'I dont think there would be many photographers out there taking home in excess of 200k per year' - I am not doubting Zeke, just curious thats all. I know he operates a studio of some sort, so would be interested to see more work posted or website link of some sort.

[Pup]

Me I'm in the zero club. I've had photo printed in the local news paper even had to write what happened and got zero $$$. The worst thing is that I even had to buy my own paper......###!!.

My question is what do you charge per photo?

I'm yet to see a single cent for any of my work.

[Dan Cripps]

I am not doubting Zeke, just curious thats all. I know he operates a studio of some sort, so would be interested to see more work posted or website link of some sort.

So you're not doubting me, you'd just like to see some proof?

$200K is a very modest turnover. In fact, it's probably scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of annual cash flow required to sustain a studio.

Our goal is a quarter of a million in print sales this year, at that level we might just scrape up a couple of average Australian salaries and ensure the studio is sustainable going forward. Wish us luck!

[peterb666]

On a good day I make somewhere between zero and nothing. On a great day I make zilch. Then there are the bad days when I buy more gear.

[farmer_rob]

So you're not doubting me, you'd just like to see some proof?

$200K is a very modest turnover. In fact, it's probably scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of annual cash flow required to sustain a studio.

Our goal is a quarter of a million in print sales this year, at that level we might just scrape up a couple of average Australian salaries and ensure the studio is sustainable going forward. Wish us luck!

Good luck! I think $200k is a very modest turnover if you are maintaining commercial premises and staff (and it is a lot of prints out the door.) You are managing two salaries though if things go well (and the poll is not able to be clear about the number of people supported by a photography business - in fact it seems to assume sole practitioner).

Any small businessman (or woman) who makes a living has my admiration - it's damn hard and tough, and I think the photography business has additional pressures.

[Daniel S]

Interesting info LongShots thanks!

[Longshots]

Good luck! I think $200k is a very modest turnover if you are maintaining commercial premises and staff (and it is a lot of prints out the door.) You are managing two salaries though if things go well (and the poll is not able to be clear about the number of people supported by a photography business - in fact it seems to assume sole practitioner).

Any small businessman (or woman) who makes a living has my admiration - it's damn hard and tough, and I think the photography business has additional pressures.

I'd just like to thank Rob and repeat what he's said. All very true.

[TonySlattery]

Seems most people posting to this thread are like me, usually get nothing out of it but you can sell prints occasionally and get a few hundred per year if you are lucky. Given that most members have pretty standard kit from the big 3 manufacturers of DSLR's, the average camera bag would contain between $3000 and $4000 worth of gear (ie:Camera body, mid-range lens, mid-range flash, cards etc), a lot of "silver" really I have no idea what McDonalds pay their adult workers but it would have to be more than $22 per hour????how much is it worth for a non-professional, given the above figures, per hour if someone wants to hire you.
I remember this type of thread about 12 months ago on AP, but we never got any difinitive answer to the question. Is $50-00 per hour too much or not enough, given you provide the gear, the transport to get to the venue, the selection of prints (but not the negatives) and get yourself home again?
Richard

I've seen adverts looking for photogs for $30- ph.

[Geoff79]

Yeah, nothing for me either. Just doing it for the love of it. I also know I'm nowhere near good enough to expect to make money either, but it is funny when you go to markets (for example) and see big prints / canvases / posters of images that you know aren't as good as images you've taken. But I guess it's all about getting out there.

Like everything in life, I assume there's also a solid degree of luck involved with a lot (not all, of course) success stories. And for the record, "success" to me means I would be more than happy with making a few hundred or even a thousand dollars from a couple of poster / print / canvas sales in a year. I imagine it would be an amazing feeling to have someone fork over their hard earned dollars for a photo you took. Ah, to dream. Maybe one day...

[Milbs1]

I have "earnt" a hamper of chocolate, a bottle of wine, and a $200 donation for doing newborn photography. All were very much appreciated, as I was doing the shots for friends to gain experience.

I have also won a DSLR, a camera bag and last week a $20 voucher through entering numerous comps.

I'm not in it for the money, but small "payments" gifts or prizes make it a bit easier for me to convince the other half that investing in new gear is a good idea

[mikew09]

In 2.5 yrs I have managed to acheive a pitify sum of almost $600 from shooting at a few horse events and this is mostly by accident when someone asks me if I am the official photography for the day - I answer and the normally followed by Oh, we have not had one before and I was just wondering.
In most cases the conversation goes from there to "if you get some shots of me can I buy them off you.

At $8 a photo no one seems to have any complaints (or none they have voiced to me) and did have quite a few come back for another round. The last 12 months due to the commitment of training and competing 2 new young fillies I have not been able to do any real photography at events. May get back into it next yr now the girls are up and running - so to speak.

It is easy enough to get some side cash at the horse association events if you just shoot in the hope someone wants photos from that day. Most associations are pretty tight cash wise and only engage photographers for a major event such as a state show. Same goes for a lot of competitors but, not a great deal of cash for them to through around.

Not sure I would ever have the skills to try and crack a full time income roll in photography and my hat goes off to those that do - albeit enjoyable work it would be a tough gig I reckon.

[JBuz]

Mic, given the voluntary nature of the poll, and the high hobbyist proportion of member, I don't think you can infer too much. However, taking into account I@M's other poll "who earns their livelihood photographing", and looking at some percentages gives:


23.5% of those who indicated they earn something indicate that their livelihood is earned as a photographer (I@M's poll)
25.9% of those who earn something indicate that they earn $5000 or more (Ricktas' poll), and 44% of those who voted have been paid something ($1 or more) for photography.
11.8% of those who earn something indicate they earned more than $40k.

Either there are (i) voting differences between the two (likely) or (ii) photographers settle for a livelihood of "not very much" (possible, but I think (i) is more likely.) I do, however think you can infer that not many people at AP earn a decent living from photography IF they earn money from photography (< 25% - I@M poll, < 12% Ricktas' poll with $40k as cutoff).

I think it is a big step to move to fulltime photography, and as others have repeatedly pointed out, it needs a lot of business skills and hard work.

I see the comments above (from other people) and think it's interesting looking at these stats. Business skills can be learned easily enough, but not sure what your referring to with the "hard work".

Is it "hard work" to do the shoots and then process? Or is it "hard work" to "find" someone to buy the photos?

[ricktas]

Is it "hard work" to do the shoots and then process? Or is it "hard work" to "find" someone to buy the photos?

it is hard work to do it over and over again to make an income that you can live on, save (super), pay all the costs associated with running the business and do it month in, month out, year in, year out. Yeah people can make a bit here and there, but to do so as a full time professional photographer is not easy. Mainly, these days cause of the casual, part time, experienced amateur who dabbles in paid work on weekends etc. There is less work to go around, and more people doing photography than ever before, often doing it for free 'for the experience', or cheaply and no considering insurance, and other ongoing business costs due to having another full-time job.

Being a full time professional photographer is harder than it has ever been!

[farmer_rob]

Like any other business, you have an ongoing requirement to find new customers, and to keep the ones you have. You will have competitors who will do it more cheaply, and so you have to ensure you are price competitive and have the edge in quality. And you have to take the photos, process them, do it quickly, and try to have a life. That is where the hard work comes in.

There are a number of Fulltime photographers on this forum, but I doubt any of them would claim it all just fell in their lap and they *never* had to work hard to get to the level of success they now have, even if it is easier for them now than when they started. (And some of them maintain a workload that they appear not to consider hard, but would kill me!)

Also, I would dispute that business skills are easily learned - the mechanics may be, but the skill to keep the business running is not.

[geoffsta]

Me. A couple of boxes of chocolates, some flowers, and a $50 gift voucher.
My favourite payment is the one I get from comments that members make on the photos I post on here.