FruitBooTeR
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Registered: 18th Jan 07
Location: Wolverhampton Drives: S15
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Im sure all of you on here with a dslr and brain have ever wondered if you could make a little money from photography..
Now the other day after reading Will's thread about buisness cards it got me thinking, although it can get expensive and I know he got help from a trust to fund him, you can sort of start off small with what youve got.
I dont see myself as a professional photographer by any means but I really enjoy doing it so would like to take it further in my spare time away from work etc.
I have made a free website, nothing special -
www.jaywhitehousephotography.webs.com
Please let me know what you think of it and anythign I can do to make it better...
Now that was quite simple to do and what it allows me to do is share my work with others and put me in a position to be able to accept requests off people and see how it goes...you never know if you start getting more and more requests and the feedback is good you could praps start charging..
Has anyone got any tips or thoughts, are even any ideas of what they have in mind..or how to get to the next step.
Online visibiility is another thing, its getting yur name out there, I doubt people are going to search the web for Jay Whitehouse Photography so im relying on word of mouth, and mabi business cards or something.
It is no doubt an expensive game to get into but the money you could make when your there would be quite rewarding...oh and obviously there is other things that would hold you back and they are things like university degreees in photography etc..but sill you have to make do with what youve got.
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FruitBooTeR
Member
Registered: 18th Jan 07
Location: Wolverhampton Drives: S15
User status: Offline
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And even the photos you take, some of them would be excellent in a frame on a wall or as little postcards etc..who knows, but there may be a way of opening like an ebay shop and selling the photos?
Liek this person -
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/art-on-canvas-direct-2-you/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340
But obviosuly those printers they use are expensive etc and even the photos they are selling are top notch and couldnt compare to any I could take.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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I'm in the process of going pro now.
Got my website set up (see sig) and really going to push it hard and see how I get on.
Basically though, I think you really need to either put your all into it, or not bother at all. Selling prints on ebay isn't going to make you much considering that:
1. People on ebay want a bargain so won't pay that much
2. Decent quality prints and frames are expensive.
To make real (worthwhile) money you need to find clients who are willing to pay you to employ them. You need good kit (not necessarily the best or most expensive, but more than your average snapper) and you need experience.
My business plan at the moment consists of dramatically expanding my portfolio, building up contacts and getting my name out there. I'm not thinking I'll get people banging on the door for work, but the more high quality and original stuff I have to show people the more likely they will remember me in the future.
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FruitBooTeR
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Registered: 18th Jan 07
Location: Wolverhampton Drives: S15
User status: Offline
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Nice site how did you make that? Did you just buy the domain name then use an online site to make it?
Any pointers would be great.
Also its hard to put your all into it when you work full time as im not going to risk my current job on the chance of making it as a photographer, need to see if I can do it part time, even once in a while it doesnt bother me yet as im still earing money so the occasional shoot or whatever to make a few ££ is great as I love doing it.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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Made it myself with a little help from a work colleague on the floral design, and JonnyJ off here did the logo design for me. Domain was cheap enough and hosting off a friend of a friend. All in all cost me about £75.
I don't mean you should quit your day job - I won't be - but you really want to put some effort into going for it else it'll just dry up. I mean, if you only manage to do a shoot every couple of months the money is ok but you won't really be 'going anywhere'. Just filling time.
If you really want to go pro you need to be pulling in work several times a month. Whether you really want to take it that seriously is another question!
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Butler
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Registered: 2nd Jun 05
Location: London
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Its a bit sketchy going between the about me and services pages Andy
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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How do you mean sketchy?
Not entirely finished tbh, but should transition ok.
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Rab
Member
Registered: 10th Jun 07
Location: Alloa, Scotland Drives: Subaru Hawkeye STi
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by AndyKent
How do you mean sketchy?
Not entirely finished tbh, but should transition ok.
The page overlaps for me in Firefox.
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Ben G
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
User status: Offline
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i'm on firefox and it works fine for me.
pics don't get bigger when you click on them though. comes up with a not found text on screen.
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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Rab - I tried it on my up-to-date firefox and its ok. Have you got an older version? If so which, I'll see what I can do.
Ben - yeah, I know. Still to do. Got an idea drafted but not had a chance to code it yet.
Sorry though, seemed to have dragged this off topic.
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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Id love to make money off mine but its around here there are loads of people like me and very few people (that i have found anyway) who want to pay for stuff and there are quite a few pro's around too.
advice that i was given was to do some tfcd work to get a portfolio going + word of mouth going, sort out a site (mine still needs sorting tbh bin a year or so now of not showing pics or so it feels  but the person making the site is busy and im in no great rush ), possibly get a facebook page too and just get your name out there, only problem with tfcd work is models are unreliable and new to the game so arent the best to learn with but does get you some grounding and plus they all seem to assume that all future stuff you do for them is free 
dont charge a fortune either but again dont sell yourself short.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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I'm tempted to just pay for a model or two. I'm about to order a studio lighting set up and need a few people to try it out on and hone my skills.
Considered female friends, but not reliable enough, wouldn't know what to do in front of a camera and would be embarrasing for the pair of us.
At least if you pay someone £50 or whatever for a morning one of you knows what they're doing = less to worry about.
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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yeah id be half tempted to do that tbh, like you mentioned on tp possibly share the cost with people too.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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Especially since I'm planning on spending several hundred quid on lighting, another ton on people who know what they're doing doesn't seem so bad!
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
User status: Offline
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fook ill stick to my flash guns
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Simon
Member
Registered: 24th Apr 03
Location: Oxfordshire
User status: Offline
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Andy, same problem as Rab looking at your site. Firefox as well
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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Overlaps in the latest version of Opera for me as well
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bubble
Member
Registered: 24th Jan 04
Location: Darwin, NT Australia.
User status: Offline
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i recently got back into photography, someone saw some shots on facebook and wants to buy an image off me!
LOL
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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FFS. Every browser I've tried comes out fine. First load occasionally overlaps temporarily but sorts itself out once the page finishes loading.
I'll look into it.....
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