How Much Does A (This Person) Nature Photographer Actually Make?

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RikWriter said:
Even that is getting harder. There are too many people advertising rates that undercut professional wedding photographers and doing a crappy job of it.
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We are seeing similar issues of strong competition on prices in wedding photography but mostly in the lower end to mainstream client base - high end high profile weddings are not concerned about the cheapest price as much as they are concerned about the right service.

Proven creative Videography services with higher profile weddings is defining more often who wins a job.

Many services are providing all video with some stills presented on complimentary I Pads.

The guy i bought a D5 from is a high profile wedding photographer, books in weddings domestically and is a shooter internationally at weddings with colleagues,
domestically he brings in a couple of colleagues who are established international wedding photographers in their own country mostly from Europe,
he lets them stay in his apartment with him for 3 months in Oz till their visa runs out, they do the shoots and holiday in between, then they reciprocate when he then travels to Europe for 1 to 3 months at a time, also doing shoots with them and with free accommodation, it works out he can spend up 3 - 6 months of the year in 1 to 2 month stints at a time, all the time still booking jobs domestically.

His profile shows international high profile wedding shoots defining him as different, like wise for his colleagues..........his calendar is booked out 18 months on average in Oz.

He uses some really creative videographers mostly using all Sony Gear.

Collectively he works from memory around 9 months of the year integrated with well-known experienced colleagues overseas
and he makes a very good living with his creative shared business model that mostly targets the upper end weddings.

Its something different clever actually..........

Only an opinion
 
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dkleinsmith said:
The thought of being responsible for someones wedding photos is pretty scary. I was asked once to take photos of a friends wedding and it was a big nope!
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I had a friend ask me to take photos of his wedding. He also paid a professional wedding photographer. The pro took conventional images, straight-on, eye level, the usual. I took stuff from low angles, from different vantage points, everything I could think of that I'd learned as a wildlife photographer. Everyone liked mine better. ;)
 
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RikWriter said:
I had a friend ask me to take photos of his wedding. He also paid a professional wedding photographer. The pro took conventional images, straight-on, eye level, the usual. I took stuff from low angles, from different vantage points, everything I could think of that I'd learned as a wildlife photographer. Everyone liked mine better. ;)
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Maybe right a book
“The wildlife photographer”
A story of a photographer out in the wild, getting attacked by aliens. The photographer was testing a new camera with future software that could be programmed on the field to lock on custom targets. He got the logs onto his tablet, and wrote a script to use the cameras detection to trigger his rifle onto the alien. Syncing the camera and the rifle.
His battery started running low, without knowing the cause.
-
Should I go on?!
 
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JoelKlein said:
Maybe right a book
“The wildlife photographer”
A story of a photographer out in the wild, getting attacked by aliens. The photographer was testing a new camera with future software that could be programmed on the field to lock on custom targets. He got the logs onto his tablet, and wrote a script to use the cameras detection to trigger his rifle onto the alien. Syncing the camera and the rifle.
His battery started running low, without knowing the cause.
-
Should I go on?!
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Please! I have to know how this ends....;)
 
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JoelKlein said:
Maybe right a book
“The wildlife photographer”
A story of a photographer out in the wild, getting attacked by aliens. The photographer was testing a new camera with future software that could be programmed on the field to lock on custom targets. He got the logs onto his tablet, and wrote a script to use the cameras detection to trigger his rifle onto the alien. Syncing the camera and the rifle.
His battery started running low, without knowing the cause.
-
Should I go on?!
Click to expand...


And he couldn't recharge it because it didn't come from the factory with a charger?
 
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Some things come to you even at times you least expect it. I have been blessed to be a farmer. You could say it is in my genetics as I am a 5th generation farmer. I have loved working the land and watching ag industry evolve in my 30 years of farming and the 20 years of helping my dad before that. It has always been a joy to see the wildlife while working on the farm and thats why I picked up a camera. Sure I delved in photography over the years before that but it was only a hobby.

Once I began photographing the wildlife, weather and other things on the farm it became a passion. A passion that became even more once my wife started a facebook page of my photography. That generated a lot of interest in my photography. At first people just wanted to buy prints then i got calls to shoot artwork for banks, then ads for ag businesses and finally for ranch real estate.

At first the money I made paid to upgrade my equipment from bodies to lenses. Then it became something more as I have been able to generate enough income to put money into savings for my eventual retirement.

I am a believer that we all have a talent of some sort that we just have to find. it could be and engineer who likes to rebuild a classic cars, or it could be and accountant who become a good writer. I think i was lucky enough to find my talent.

I have never wanted to photograph people. When I was in college i shot a couple of weddings but in never really interested me just as taking portraits never interested me.

I have been lucky in life as I have had the opportunity to find things in my life many only dream of, from and awesome career to a passion and hobby that continues to drive me today. A passion that works side by side with my career. It is separate but yet the same. Believe me when I say that the friends and photographers I have met are totally different than the lifelong friends and colleagues from my farming career.

Pic 1, A burrowing owl sits atop cotton plants near his burrow which. was beside and irrigation well.

Pic 2, A moonrise over my farm headquarters and barn

Pic 3, Cotton ready for harvest at sunset.
 

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RikWriter said:
I had a friend ask me to take photos of his wedding. He also paid a professional wedding photographer. The pro took conventional images, straight-on, eye level, the usual. I took stuff from low angles, from different vantage points, everything I could think of that I'd learned as a wildlife photographer. Everyone liked mine better. ;)
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Excellent, often SOME Pros doing Weddings or studio portraiture can become clinical, but if you can do wild life sports action WELL you can do almost everything well.
 
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Like most things it's all about supply and demand. Too much supply or too easy to get for the number of buyers = low prices. Low supply or hard to get for the number of buyers = high prices.
 
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Lance B said:
Like most things it's all about supply and demand. Too much supply or too easy to get for the number of buyers = low prices. Low supply or hard to get for the number of buyers = high prices.
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Agree with your logic totally, but then their is the other option of Niche, volume = insanity margin = sanity, how do you create a niche product or service, creativity, being different, while this area is lower in volume the margins make up for the lack of volume. Not everyone can do this but the creative and skill full can.
If i would ring around for wedding photographers who are really different i would measure things by their availability dates.........

Only an opinion
 
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O said:
Agree with your logic totally, but then their is the other option of Niche, volume = insanity margin = sanity, how do you create a niche product or service, creativity, being different, while this area is lower in volume the margins make up for the lack of volume. Not everyone can do this but the creative and skill full can.
If i would ring around for wedding photographers who are really different i would measure things by their availability dates.........

Only an opinion
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Again, whatever the product/niche is, it is supply and demand. If they have eked out that product/niche and people like it and it is rare that anyone can do it, then that is a higher demand on a lower production product. Once people get the hang of that technique/niche then there will be higher supply thus lowering the price.
 
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Lance B said:
Again, whatever the product/niche is, it is supply and demand. If they have eked out that product/niche and people like it and it is rare that anyone can do it, then that is a higher demand on a lower production product. Once people get the hang of that technique/niche then there will be higher supply thus lowering the price.
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I hear where your coming from.
 
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RikWriter said:
I had a friend ask me to take photos of his wedding. He also paid a professional wedding photographer. The pro took conventional images, straight-on, eye level, the usual. I took stuff from low angles, from different vantage points, everything I could think of that I'd learned as a wildlife photographer. Everyone liked mine better. ;)
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My comment is based on the two lines you wrote - If I have the facts wrong - it's because of limited info shared.

How incredibly disrespectful of your friend towards the hired photographer.
The bride and groom CHOSE the paid photographer - then ask someone else to take photos too. WHY? It puts an immense amount of pressure on a wedding photographer. I would be livid if I was hired and the bride/groom said - oh btw Jonny X is going to take photos (incase you miss something) - and then the second guy runs around telling people his photos are better :rolleyes: You didn't mentioned his name here - but sure as hell is hot and the pope is catholic - all the wedding guests know.

It simply doesn't sound very nice and respectful towards the pro. Just like it would be rude of me to respond on this thread - "oh i also write science fiction but my friends like my stuff better than Rik's". Unnecessary and achieves NOTHING except help sink the pro's business.
 
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Here’s my take. I watched this fellow’s video. It was hard to watch, the video presentation could've been better, the wide angle lens drove me nuts. Anyway, I recommend to anyone who wants to get into photography to make money is this: First, do not quit your day job. Second, explore the money making aspects of photography’s genre from the hobbyist setting, pick a category and start taking photos. Third, be realistic, if it was easy, everyone would do it, meaning if, those pictures that you took, show them to friends, family, and if you get that “WOW” factor from them, that you expected…then you are on the right track. If you don’t get the expected reaction, then work on technique, editing, etc until you get that feedback equaling your expectations. Just don’t quit the day job.
 
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O said:
Excellent, often SOME Pros doing Weddings or studio portraiture can become clinical, but if you can do wild life sports action WELL you can do almost everything well.
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While I agree that wildlife photography skills can certainly help you develop good skills with wedding photography, to be a successful wedding photographer I’d say your soft skills in working with people are most important.
 
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Creativity in both wildlife and sports photography is important and difficult. For example you have several different photographers shooting a D-1 college football game. Time and time again I have seen myself getting the same picture as others. More often than not it is the touchdown celebration shots. For that reason I don't shoot the celebrations by the player or players as much. I try and find something else like a coach or the failure of a defender. Also I try to get pivotal point of the play that scores the TD like the hole the running back runs through or the catch or the broken tackle. Other times I might focus on the fans to get their reaction to a successful play or TD. Logo shots are another thing I look for. This past saturday i saw several helmets together where you could see the logo on the side while also seeing the same logo as a reflection on the helmet or another view with the stadium and fans in the reflection.

Wildlife is the same. You can get the same animal or bird but what can i get that sets apart the photo. A reflection in the water or the background. Wildlife and birds a more difficult to get your own unique view.

While I have made money with my photography the majority has been made by taking pictures of what I frow as well as farm pictures. It is a limited audience but if you can a scene that is really unique then there are lots of potential buyers. I have sold to cotton gins for artwork, to banks for artwork and advertising to get farm loans, individuals for home artwork and even farm stores for artwork to sell. Wildlife photoss are harder to sell but it can be done. I am about to sell three photos to be printed at 40x40 and hung in and open space in a department store that is selling outdoor clothing for hikers, hunters and fishermen. Also I have sold some wildlife photos to represent sustainable agriculture in ads. Apparently, wildlife with young in farm fields sells the idea of sustainable agriculture .

Sports photography doesnt do much for sales. Since i am considered a photo journalist I can't sell photos of D-1 sports. However, I have tried motorcycle enduros, kids sports and others and barely made any money. I shoot sports now just for the fun of it.
 
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