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Dawoud Bey | 2017 MacArthur Fellow

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Dawoud Bey | 2017 MacArthur Fellow

Posted on October 11, 2017
By rhaggart
In Blog News

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I am a studio product photographer shooting remote

I am a studio product photographer shooting remotely. I shoot mostly outdoor clothing along with bags, shoes, hats, belts, and other accessories. Clients send me the product via FedEx ground, and I photograph it in my home. I have two rooms dedicated to studio / office space. I shoot most items on white and then do all the postproduction myself. I deliver the images to my client via Dropbox and then send the product back. In the past I have had a variety of clients but for the last 5 years I have only been working primarily with one client, a national clothing company.

I used to also shoot outdoor lifestyle images but since having kids 12 years ago my focus has been studio images.

I coordinate with the local high school and hire students with learning challenges to work a couple hours a week during the school year. The school pays the kids minimum wage which is currently $15 an hour in California.

I write off a portion of my home expanses for the studio space I have in my house. My house is paid off, but I have done a lot of renovations in the last 3 years. I also have accumulated a lot of studio and camera equipment over the years and try to upgrade when I have had a profitable year. I also use cleaning companies, and contract photo assistants / photoshop tech when I am busy with tight deadlines. My cleaning service is $350 a month for a few hours of work 2 days a month. I pay my photoshop tech who is currently a college student and works remotely $24 an hour.

I would like to add that Health Insurance has always been a big expense for our family. I don’t think I could still be in business today if it wasn’t for the implantations of the Affordable Care Act. Expanding the income levels has also been helpful. When my husband was still alive, and we were both self-employed, we weren’t always able to qualify for subsidies depending on how profitable were in a given year.

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@megsmithphotographs promo #matchsticks 🤩🤩🤩 awesome ✨✨✨

I am primarily an architectural photographer but m

2019 - 100% assisting 2020 - 85% assisting 15% Edi

Only the last 4 years my income was solely from ph

I manage a team of other photo editors and we work

I manage a team of other photo editors and we work with editors to produce food, interior, lifestyle, and style content for a few brands.

I was promoted a few years ago to Director which came with a decent salary bump.

I work full time (5 days per week) and often work weekends as well.

I have a 401k and the company matches up to 6% and I contribute 6%. I have about 100k in there right now.

If you are interested in my line of work: it’s a tough industry right now, but anything you can do to get your foot in the door; internship, contract work, etc. helps a lot.

Best Advice: Treat every shoot with the same stamina, whether it's a product shot in the studio or cover image with lifestyle.

I want photographer to reach out to me via Email or Linkedin.

I find photographer in competitor magazines, regional magazines, portfolio introduction emails. I also use Instagram. Word of mouth in this industry goes a long way.

I (or someone from team) try to meet with all photographers who send me their portfolio so that I can provide feedback.

My "day job" is with a very large holding company

@amyrothphoto promo 😍😍😍😍 love these so

@amyrothphoto promo 😍😍😍😍 love these so much 👏👏👏👏

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I currently work for a company (150+ mostly full t

I work a standard 5 day work week with additional $I work a standard 5 day work week with additional hours needed around shoots. I have a company 401k for retirement. I recently received a slight 3% or 4% raise only after asking several times for years. My average work day is a mix of constant email correspondence, searching for affordable shoot locations, processing vendor paperwork, excel spreadsheet budgets, making payments for shoot production, editing images, overseeing retouching, putting together call sheets, trying to find ways to stretch out an already low budget that's been cut yet again, and production meetings. My advice for people who want a job like mine: Don’t. Your job will eventually get cut and the number of years experience you have in this industry only makes you less employable :\ Best/Worst Advice: It’s way more important to know how to take a picture than use a camera. I want to be approacehed by photographers through email. You can DM through Instagram to ask for my work email. Then send a promo or a new project drop every few months or so. Don't email again and again if I don't reply. Just because I follow you on Instagram, doesn't mean I want to hire you. I find photographers through Instagram, other publications, Diversify Photo, and Women Photograph. Any photographers reading this, please stop putting people in the middle in every single frame it's so boring and I am sick of it. That is all.$

This is my salary + additional freelance photo wor

This is my salary + additional freelance photo work (per year) over the last few years.

I am a former full time freelance photographer who is now a salaried photo editor. I was making $45-60K gross when I was a full time freelancer for the first several years of my career.

I work for a mid-to-large size publication and it is mostly remote. We have enough work to hire a handful of photographers every month and can pay between $1-2K per day for shoots.

I understand that it's easier said than done, but leaving full-time freelance work and getting a salaried job within the industry was probably the smartest thing I did financially but, more importantly, emotionally. I was not built to be a full-time freelance photographer. It's a hard life and is very difficult to maintain relationships, have kids etc. The up and downs are too great and it's hard to live off of the $450 day rate that the New York Times, or other publications, would occasionally send my way. It was the absolute worst not getting work for a few weeks. It made me jealous of people who were getting consistent work and big advertising jobs and I did not like who I was becoming. I was always anxious and my work suffered. Being able to rely on a salary allowed me to become a better photographer since I was able to focus on my craft and get better, rather than having to constantly try to get hired and paid.

Between full-time job and freelance, I probably work 250-300 days each year.

Since getting my current job I have been able to max out my company matched 401(k) every year. I have $100K+ in savings, vast majority of which has come in the last few years.

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I have rep who takes 20% on Commercial jobs and 10

I have rep who takes 20% on Commercial jobs and 10% on Editorial jobs. May business is structured as a sole proprietorship.

My clients are companies of all sizes. Most of my work is on the East Coast working as a local or driving a few hours and staying for the length of the shoot. I fly for some jobs but these days I’m finding that many clients are hiring locals so it’s usually only for large Fortune 500 clients. They will sometimes hire me as a "local" even though they know I am not and I have to eat those expenses.

I hire my assistants on an as need basis. Ideally I would pay them at least $400 per day but many clients balk at that rate. Editorial clients pay in the $250- $300 range which I think is ridiculous given the fact that their rate has not changed in many years.

I am able to keep my expenses low. I have a home office and a kit which I charge a kit fee of $65. per day on set for. Other then a computer and printer there is not any real overhead.

I I have a 401k and put the max in each year.

Last year I worked 110 days this year so far 56 (as of 8/7/2023).

The last few years have definitely gotten harder. So many clients hold multiple days and then cancel at the last minute or ghost. Budgets have gotten tighter. Less time to prep, less of a prop budget. During the shut down I was able to shoot solely with a photographer near me and props I had for clients ( mostly editorial) who needed content when their studios were shut down. It was not much income but it kept things going and brought on some new clients. Last year was one of my best years but this year has been much slower as it seems to be for many people.

I have a decent collection of props that are stored in a building on my property which I rent out to clients and when I can other stylists. Luckily because of that I don't have storage cost and can deduct the space on my taxes. I rent out my house for locations when possible and when I can shoot Upstate and the space allows I rent my house as a studio space.

I also have several rental properties that generate a small amount of income but will be paid off by the time I might want to retire.

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I typically work as an “owner-operator” On a t

I typically work as an “owner-operator” On a typical job I bill labor as a Gaffer or Photo Assistant. But I will also typically rent out the entire lighting package for the job.

As a lighting tech I feel like I have a somewhat unique skill set. Besides being fluent with strobe photography, I have a deep working knowledge of motion picture lighting instruments, techniques, and photometrics. In addition I am well-versed in electrical theory and best practices for safe and efficient power generation and electrical distribution as it relates to a motion picture environment.

When it comes to style, I really try to let my clients dictate what that should be and work to help them achieve that in the best way possible.

The only type of photography that I can think of that I haven’t worked on at some point would be long form documentary. These days I do mostly advertising, with most of that work falling broadly under lifestyle or table-top.

I’ve been working as a lighting technician for 17 years. I have been a photo assistant for sure, but also have worked as a set lighting technician, best boy electric, and gaffer on major motion picture and episodic television.

Overhead is ~$1200/month storage and misc expenses. CapEx for lighting equipment is sizable and ongoing.

I have a SEP IRA and a ROTH IRA. It’s all self-directed. I didn’t start saving until late in life and have a lot of catching up left to do.

I would estimate I work 250 days a year. I’m pretty busy. A workday for me is typically 10+ hours “on set” or maintaining or preparing equipment. It adds up to a lot of hours. On the other hand, I don’t spend any time doing things like marketing, client relationship management, etc. that photographers must do for business development.

Transitioning to renting out large amounts of equipment has greatly increased my income.

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😘 Fuck Gatekeeping

😘
Fuck Gatekeeping

Large retail/product clients, Photographers and Mu

Large retail/product clients, Photographers and Music Labels.

My overhead is my imac for $2,500, wacom tablet $300, electric, and internet bills.

I work 5 days a week on average. Hardly ever for a full 8 hours a day.

My income has changed drastically in the last few years. I got in touch with another retoucher who shared their rates and was able to increase mine to match theirs since our work and skills were similar.

I sell photo prints, but probably make less than $300 a year off that.

Average project really ranges. Some projects are a month long from receiving files to final delivery and multiple rounds in between. Some take less than 24 hours with rush fees. I don't really have any expenses, so what I make is what I make. My average price per image is $100-$300 without rush fees.

My best paid shoot was probably with a money transfer service. Worked 12 days for $775 a day and only about 4-8 hours a day depending. The work was of high caliber, but the company was very organized and adjusted the schedule and pay accordingly. Another notable job was for a clothing company that paid $500 an image for 2 rounds of work and then final delivery. The workload was realistic and the company was very easy to work with.

Worst paying was probably the job I did for free for a very well known magazine. The photographer and producer also didn't get paid. It was well worth it at the time, but I would never do it again. I am an artist and creative at heart, so I really enjoy the work even if its low paid at times.

The worst is low pay with a difficult or disrespectful client. That tends to leave me feeling burnt out.

I have gotten a majority of my work through word of mouth or instagram. I am forever grateful when clients have referred me to other clients. It's also super helpful when photographers tag me as the retoucher! Half of my clients find me on instagram and if a photographer tags me I almost always get high traffic on my account which leads to other photographers finding me and hiring me.

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@patkanephoto #hereiswhereweshallstay 👏👏👏

@patkanephoto #hereiswhereweshallstay 👏👏👏👏👏 so great ✨✨✨✨✨

@patkanephoto #hereiswhereweshallstay 👏👏👏

@patkanephoto #hereiswhereweshallstay 👏👏👏👏👏 so great ✨✨✨✨✨

@local.exposure.magazine by @rp_analog #hikertrash

@local.exposure.magazine by @rp_analog #hikertrash 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👍👍👍👍👍

My clients are 20% local and 80% International (UK

My clients are 20% local and 80% International (UK, US, EU).

I work around 120 days a year.

Average shoot is 12+ hours.

My best paying shoot was $300.00 day rate + $400.00 gear for a full week.

My worst paying shoot was $150 for a 16 hr+ day back to back for a full week no turnaround times long travel times and no overtime.

I pay my assistants $280/day.

I use email and social media to market myself.

Would love to hear from more people to get a bette

Would love to hear from more people to get a better understanding of how this industry works.

I worked in a creative design role at an ad agency

I worked in a creative design role at an ad agency for 20 years, all while honing my photography skills outside of the day job. My job became a hybrid for the last 5-10 years where I was also incorporating photography into my role. I left that position about midway through 2021 to jump into freelance full-time.

2021: Freelance $128,000 Net on $140,700 Gross + Q1&Q2 W2 job - Net - $30,000
2020: Freelance $9,000 Net on $11,000 Gross + Full Year W2 job - Net - $65,000

My income is:
60% Portrait & Lifestyle
25% Commercial & Product
15% Commercial Retouching

My clients range from small local companies to Fortune 500 companies, most with a home base in the Midwest. Retouching jobs range from random small/medium sized brands based all over the United States, to larger Fortune 500 companies with an International footprint.

Overhead is typical stuff - gear upgrades as needed, advertising/photography source books, software, etc. Anywhere from $3,000-$5,000/yr

I have money already in a 401k from my previous life at an agency, and currently max out a Roth IRA every year. I'm smart with my money and pay myself the same modest amount every month no matter how much I make on any bigger jobs. The plan is to invest more once I can see how much I make during these first few years as a full-time freelancer.

In 2022 I logged a total of around 125 days worked. Those are definitely not all full shoot/edit days. I'd say about half of those are 1/2 days with smaller shoots or editing time. Of course emails and phone calls are all peppered in beyond that, but don't take up a ton of my time.

I do not have any other sources of income, but have been thinking about building out some type of passive income business related to photography in my free time.

An average shoot for me would consist of 2 travel days (4-6hrs each), 1 location scout day (4-6hrs), 1 shoot day (8-10hrs), and 2 days of retouching (12-16hrs). Take home pay after expenses is about $8,500. Licensing would be in perpetuity on the entire library from the 1 day shoot.

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I worked as an artist and stock photographer, trav

I worked as an artist and stock photographer, travel and lifestyle for many years. Although if I’m being honest, I mainly worked in photography labs for 15 years before deciding to go full on freelance in 2010.

I started photographing weddings in 2018 and it’s the best work I’ve ever had as a photographer.

I have a full time photography partner for weddings. I don’t call them a 2nd shooter per se, as they are incredibly talented. I have an in house culler and I outsource my CC based off usually around 100 anchor images. I also invested substantially in automating emails and such last year.

My income is Stock 10%, weddings & couples 90%

My clients are kind, eclectic, diverse, middle to upper class who love the city of New Orleans!

I have 2 part time employees.

Overhead:
The Knot $350 per month
VA $900 per month
Bookkeeper $200 per month
Marketing / SEO / Web etc $400 per month
Mentoring $2000 per year
I spend a lot on equipment too. $5000 per year.
$5000 outsourcing
$40,000 assistants etc.

I work daily, I’m kinda a workaholic, I do love it and I know how to let go and relax too!

My income went from 35k to 100k in the last 3 years.

I have an Airbnb in the back of my house that covers my mortgage payment of $1800 a month.

Average wedding is $3800-8000. I pay anywhere from $1000-2000 in outsourcing or to my assistants.

I pay assistants $150-20 per hour depending on the work.

My best paying shoot was a $13,000 commercial job, 1 day shooting, 3 days editing and communication. $8000 take home.

My worst paying job was $150 just not worth it .

I shoot video. 15% currently…building it up.

Instagram, Google, Facebook and word of mouth are my highest returning marketing.

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Been working since around 2002 when I did my first

Been working since around 2002 when I did my first real push to get into the action sports scene. Since around 2012 I transitioned into general advertising, doing quite varied types of work. Been directing as well now for about 5 years and enjoying that more and more.

I have a rep for the European market but decided to go without on my home market since last year. Felt like I had enough work coming in without the rep doing much, often via people I’ve worked with before. At the time of me leaving my last rep the turnover was almost enough to pay for my own full time rep and I just was not feeling that I got my moneys worth with most of the work being returning clients.

Since I'm only in commercial I’ll break down the categories within that. For 2022 I’d say my inconme was perhaps 20% Automotive, 50% Sports and 30% Lifestyle.

I have doubled my income and profit in 2022 vs 2021 and 2000.

My clients are a mix of global F-500esque companies to smaller more national business in my home country.

I’ve had full time photo assistants on and off for the last 6-7 years, but last year I decided to hire a guy that had more of a film background which had a big impact on my turnover for last year. Dropping the rep and hiring my own freelance producers helped here a bunch too, I was then able to host the productions and snag the whole budget. Definitely more work on my side, but with a good producer I’d act more as exec producer and oversee his/her work. Hiring the "film" guy also allowed me to bill for a DOP and the post work on a few of the productions, resulting in way better margins vs if I’d only roll in and shoot the stills or direct. I rarely DOP myself.

If I don't take general production expenses into account here I try to keep my overhead fairly slim apart from my employee, a car, some basic lighting/photo EQ, I have a big office space that I rent out desks in for break even. Stopped paying for insurance on EQ a few years ago since I felt like it was money down the drain. If I loose all my stuff once in a lifetime It'll still be cheaper than paying 1400 a year (USD) for insurance.

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@_chris_sorensen promo #wifeduringquarantine 🙌🙌✨✨🌟🌟⚡️⚡️👏👏👍👍

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I have been a photo assistant full-time for 2 year

I have been a photo assistant full-time for 2 years (plus very part-time for 7-8 years prior to that while going to school for photography and working a 9-5 job). The majority of my jobs are as 1st assistant on architecture shoots and sports/product shoots. Those 2 styles are my main source of work while things like food, editorial and lifestyle make up the rest.

My income is 50% Architecture, 30% sports/product, and 20% lifestyle/editorial/food.

For architecture shoots its about 15% local interior designers and 85% hotel brands that are international companies but I haven't traveled internationally for them. For sports/products it ranges from smaller local start ups to big brands like Nike. Overall I work on shoots that range from very small companies to large international brands.I really try to take any job I can, big and small.

I work about 100 days a year.

My days average somewhere around 8-10 hours a day and are usually 1-3 days. My day rate is $400 and I have recently found out that I am on the lower end for day rates.

I worked on an architecture shoot that was for a new hotel. It was a 2 week shoot split into 2 shoots - the first week of the month and the last week of the month. Almost everyday was 12-14 hours. The hotel wasn't as ready as they said they were so it involved a lot of extra work to get the place ready for the shoot. Take home pay was just over $6K.

I worked on a job that was booked as a full day with my full day rate. The job ended earlier than expected and as I was leaving the photographer changed it to a half day day rate. I was still a little green and it caught me off guard and I said ok. He was a photographer thats been around for decades so I deferred to him. He also tried to get me to just leave him a sticky note instead of any kind of invoice (I told him no and that I would send him an invoice through my invoice system). Now I know a little better.

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@laurencrew promo 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 fantastic 👏👏👏👏 with @forthebirdstrappedinairports @jigisha_bouverat

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No overhead, I don't hire anyone and I rarely need

No overhead, I don't hire anyone and I rarely need to buy equipment.

For the first 3 years I worked food service jobs to supplement income. I've been assisting full-time since late 2020. I'll do headshots or one-off shoots here and there but nothing that significantly increases my income.

My income is 85% architectural photography assisting, 15% other assisting (lifestyle, product, video).

I plan to open an IRA before the end of the year.

I work roughly 100 days a year.

Winter is usually slow for me. In 2022 I had a big job at the end of the year that gave me a needed bump in income. This year has been slow though. Most of my jobs are dependent on weather, and the weather has been tough. Rain, wildfire smoke, unexpectedly cloudy days. Lot of shoots have been cancelled or rescheduled. I'm on track to make what I did in 2021, probably 32-35k.

I know a bit of web design so sometimes I'll make some extra money helping photographers revamp their websites. This is something I've done solely through word of mouth after helping one photographer redesign their site a few years ago.

When I'm really strapped for cash I'll work gig jobs like food delivery.

I charge $400/day. If a day goes over 10hrs, I charge $35/hr overtime for the extra hours worked. Jobs usually only last one day. Sometimes two but not usually more than that. I don't have expenses aside from gas if I have to drive far.

In late 2022 I signed on for an assisting gig that was 9-5 M-F shooting inventory for a restaurant supply retailer, in total I was paid ~$12,000 for around 36 days of work over 2.5 months.

I don't tend to negotiate my rates so fortunately I haven't had too much trouble with low paying jobs.

I assist for one videographer a handful of times per year.

I am an ASMP member and have gotten a decent number of assisting jobs that way. Otherwise mostly word of mouth from photographers I've worked with or other assistants I know.

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@argo_collective #inplainsight 👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟

@argo_collective #inplainsight 👍👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟

@rebecca.langlands promo 🙌 ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

I'm a freelance filmmaker with my business setup a

I'm a freelance filmmaker with my business setup as an S-Corp. I'm a W2 employee of my company.

Mostly documentary and corporate filmmaker with occasional jobs in live events, reality and true crime TV, and commercials. About a third of my revenue comes from stock footage sales/licensing.

Based in Oklahoma, but work all over the U.S. as well as internationally.

During 2020-2022, the majority of my revenue came from my roles as a Director of Photography (DP) and Camera Op (30%), Stock Footage Licensing (33%), and my combined roles as a Producer/Director/DP/editor as a Production Company (29%). The other 9% of my revenue during that time came from odd jobs as a still photographer, video editor, and misc. gear rentals.

My clients are a mix of everything. I've done work for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, TV networks and streaming services, event production companies, even a magician.

I try and keep my overhead as low as possible. When I'm home, I work out of a home office or a coffee shop and keep my gear in a closet; modest car payment; monthly phone, internet, health and disability insurance bills; yearly production insurance and life insurance bills. I keep a business line of credit to use as needed and I've had a couple different small business loans for larger gear purchases, but everything has been paid off. On average, I'll be on the road about 50-70 days/yr and those travel expenses are covered by clients unless it's a personal project. I used to be based in NYC, so from time to time I'll still work in the area as a local just to maintain those client relationships as well as have an opportunity to visit friends in the area.

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My day rate starts at $1000 a day. My assistants m

My day rate starts at $1000 a day. My assistants make between $500-600 a day.

I have a wide range of clients from large grocery chains, growing to national fast casual food brands, editorial and cookbooks.

I work 150-160 days a year.

Honestly I think my busiest years have been 2019 through now. I think that it's hard to get clients to realize the value in a food stylist (they always act like they have sticker shock when they see our rates) but once I work with someone once, I tend to get invited back.

I work based on a 10 hour day. There is always at least one prep day. For larger shoots - like a cookbook shoot for example - there is tons of invisible work that goes unpaid: grocery lists for a 7 day shoot, after work trips to the grocery store, cooking in my airbnb the night before a shoot, the recipe reading and formatting.

Food styling for video is honestly not my favorite and - unless its with an existing client and I know what I'm getting into - is usually not worth the pay or the logistical nightmares that comes with it.

I am not sure i've ever gotten great advise, tbh. One thing I can say that I have learned from my own experience is to go with my gut and follow my instincts about whether to take a job or pass on it. I firmly believe not every stylist is right for every job and I'd rather turn down work that Isn't well suited for me or not be passionate about whatever the job is and burn a potential bridge. there will always be a next thing, whether it feels like it in the moment or not.

A 31 year old Asian Gender Nonconforming Digital T

@annabelle_breakey promo is super 😍😍😍😍

@annabelle_breakey promo is super 😍😍😍😍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

I am structured as a single-member LLC with S Corp

I am structured as a single-member LLC with S Corp taxation. I pay myself a [taxed] salary on payroll and supplement with quarterly bonuses. Salary expense (incl. payroll tax): $73,362 (2022) $65,073 (2021).

I am Asian & Hispanic (mom's side) and Caucasian (dad's side).

Since 2014 I have worked as a full-time freelance photo assistant and digital tech. I started a serious transition to shooting in 2019, but got thrown off by the pandemic and went back to assisting and digi tech jobs. I started shooting again in 2021 and am pushing to make the transition this year. I am doing about 50% digital tech jobs and 50% shooting jobs.

I am currently "in development" with a rep.

Within shooting specifically, I'm booking about 90% of my jobs still life, and 10% food & lifestyle (often shot together).

My clients are national retailers you might see in a mall to a small trade magazine with not much in between at the moment. They are all over US, but my jobs are local to and I have not traveled outside California for a shooting job yet.

I generally can hire 1 assistant for most jobs and on a good job also a digital tech.

I don't have a lot of overhead. I expense my home office, car usage and home internet. I pay for my domain name and squarespace. I also pay for the relevant adobe products and capture one monthly. I have a general liability and equipment insurance policy. Over the course of the year it probably breaks down to roughly $700 per month.

I have an IRA, ROTH IRA and just started a SEP IRA. I used to just contribute to the traditional and the Roth once a quarter but I plan to begin contributing to the SEP bi-monthly.

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Instagram post 18013815352801244

Instagram post 18013815352801244

Instagram post 18290778316193437

Instagram post 18290778316193437

It's well known that the advertising industry is i

It's well known that the advertising industry is in a major downturn with tech companies (and others) reducing their marketing budgets and ad spend. Omnicom, Publicis, WPP etc all having very down years for earnings. It's the same on the agency side - slashed budgets, layoffs, not hiring freelancers etc.

A reputable photo agent in New York said "this is the worst this industry has been since 2008." Feels like a combination of recession fears, investment in Tik-Tok and UGC over traditional media, on top of impending election and AI uncertainty. That said, we've seen a slight uptick in potential advertising jobs as we head toward the fall.

The truth is, in any single year, there is often a very thin line between having a good year and a bad year. A small series of events can seemingly take you to great highs or great lows. You look back on it and think, “holy shit, if those few key projects hadn’t cone thru, I’d be screwed.” It’s often not always in your control. Try and come to peace with it.

Apparently, the advertising budget 2023 got a lot smaller, to numbers only seen in 2020 and the 2008 financial crisis.

Probably the biggest factor to a slow 2023 is the collective trauma of society as a whole. We just went through the most genuinely scary time in living memory. A pandemic, social unrest, political unrest, and a full-scale land war in Europe. Couple that with inflation, and talk of recession from everyone in any position of power, and it functionally doesn't matter what the actual economic situation is or isn't.

Veteran Rep- with many years of experience... worst market i have ever seen worse than covid!!

I have multiple messages from photographer asking

I have multiple messages from photographer asking me “if you’re hearing anything about how quiet or busy things are in general” and if I know why?

Most of what I have been posting is from April of this year (and referencing 2022) so it can be misleading to read that people are doing well.

“Seems to be a major shift or pause on work...everything going less frequent and to cheaper options, if at all.”

If you want to submit an anonymous response go here:
https://forms.gle/Ki8sytzMALWJ9tFq5

I shot about 75% commercial/corporate work in 2022

I shot about 75% commercial/corporate work in 2022 and had the most profitable year I've had, by far than any other year in my 20+ years of freelancing. The rest of my income last year came from editorial assignments, stock sales, and relicensing images. This series of posts you've been featuring about photographers income has been EYE OPENING! Who ARE all you photographers making over $100k year in and year out?! Seriously?! What the hell have I been doing wrong the last 20 years. On average, I net around $30k a year, after expenses, as a full time freelance photographer.

My clients range from large news agencies: Washington Post/New York Times, to
locally based Fortune 500 companies and a lot of others in between. I don't shoot as many well known editorial and trade magazine assignments as I used to simply because so many of those clients have disappeared permanently.

I have two "pseudo reps" (my personal term): Wonderful Machine and Found Artists.

I have no employees but I hire freelance assistants whenever I have the budget. I have LOW overhead, and that has been a main goal of mine ever since I started as a freelance photographer. 98% of my work is done on location, so it never seemed economical to rent a studio. I've always had a home office. On and off over the years, my office was in my bedroom, due to the lack of space where I lived at the time. I currently have a dedicated home office, and equipment is stored in the basement. My partner (life partner, not business partner) is also a freelancer in the same industry, and during Covid we decided to go all in on sharing camera gear. We already shared grip/lighting gear. Also, I do not have kids, and I have always considered this part of my life as part of my low business overhead. I do not know how female freelancers who are also moms, survive financially OR logistically. I could never do it. I give them all the credit in the world.

I started a Roth IRA about five years ago. Will that enable me to retire at "retirement" age? I doubt it. I hope to keep working for as long as I possibly can anyway!

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

My income is 70% actor headshots, 20% live theatre

I have a wide range of clients from Fortune 500 an

I have a wide range of clients from Fortune 500 and international commercial/advertising campaigns to celebrity/key art work and editorial. With the slowdown of the industry and influx of newer digital techs to the industry, the ability to work and mesh well into varying types of shoots and clients is more than necessary.

I’m structured as a Sole Prop LLC. Digital kit and gear is my main overhead. I typically replace my laptops (2x 16" Macbook Pros at around $5000 each) every 3 years and a high end desktop computer (think Mac Pro or Studio $6-8k) every 5-7 years. Monitors are replaced typically every 5ish years but due to the aftermath of COVID, I've increased the number of monitors and iPads I have in my arsenal quite a bit. What used to be 2-3 monitors and maybe an iPad or two, has grown to 3+ iPads, mobile high lumen monitors and several Eizos or Apple Studio Displays. All my gear is also insured.

I personally don't have rental camera kits (unless its a system I own and use personally) since most photographers these days have their own setup. Otherwise I'm happy to subrent camera systems and accessories from the multitude of other digital techs and digital houses around LA.

I have 2 retirement funds I've been diligently putting money into as well as some long term investments in the forms of mutual funds and stocks. Ideally I'd be retired from set life by my mid 50's but that'll remain to be seen as I've also been wanting to transition into a shooting career myself. During my busiest years I would work anywhere from 240-280 days a year but these days average 10-15 days a month.

I was fortunate enough to have maintained an income of 120k gross during the lockdown period of COVID due to some clients shooting during the lockdown and went back up by 2021 to my peak of $190k gross prior to COVID.

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

My main client pays us thru a third party which gi

My main client pays us thru a third party which gives me the option to bill as either an employee or independent contractor. For smaller jobs I bill W4 and larger jobs I bill W9. This way I can write off most of my W9 income but still have taxes going on thru the year.

My main client is Target but I do jobs for medical companies and a large campaign for Madison Reed a couple times a year.

I’m a homeowner and wrote off both an office space and a sewing studio space. I contribute the max to a traditional IRA every year.

I work 150-160 days a year.

Covid was a huge hit but things seem to be slightly back to normal.

I used to make roller derby uniforms as my side business but it got too challenging to manage both careers.

An average shoot is 4/5 days on set with 4 days prep/wrap. We bill based on a 10 hr day but usually work 8:30-4:30.

My day rate increases significantly when I am a set seamstress, from $400 to $550. Last year I was able to get all the prep and wrap time as an assistant and billed my set days as a seamstress. It ended up being an almost 5 week job so it was a pretty nice check.

I took a pay cut to work on a movie last spring when the photo industry was dead. My rate for props master was $300 a day but after overtime I ended up making around $8000 for the month which would be how much I’d make in the photo industry at $400 a day.

Video is probably 15-20 percent. It’s a pretty split thing here in Minneapolis but sometimes we cross over.

If a hold falls thru I usually post something to my instagram story and am able to fill in part of the time.

Always file your taxes, keep every receipt and make sure to take the deduction for the IRA.

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I’m structured as an S-Corp, I pay myself a smal

I’m structured as an S-Corp, I pay myself a small salary to help with health benefits etc.

My income is 90% Commercial 10% Editorial (rough guess).

My clients are National and International brands and magazines.

I rent a small amount of equipment out to my clients, overhead would be equipment purchases and storage unit for said equipment.

As of now for retirement I have just a savings account. I need to open an IRA of some sort.

2022: 106 shoot days + prep days for equipment.

I have brought up my rates to work less days so my income has stayed pretty similar but I have a better work life balance.

I am also an artist, I design, build and make lighting fixtures. I am basically obsessed with light and this is a continuation of my interest in photography.

As a crew member I am based on a 10 hour day generally, there is usually some prep work involved in creating an equipment list to design the light around the specific project I will be working on. A lot of the time this prep work goes unpaid (clients unwilling to pay prep fees even though it is hours worked) For advertising work as a 1st assistant or lighting director the take home pay goes from $750-$1000/10hrs.

With the ever increasing stills and motion combination shoots I have clients who like to have one lighting director for both assets to streamline the shoot day. If I am hired to light both I will generally try and double my day rate as my workload is doubled so these types of shoots range from $1500-$2000/10.

There are still clients asking for sub $400/10 rates which is insulting to most working photo assistants these days. I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I can simply turn down these jobs.

I do also grip/gaff motion shoots and I am actively trying to make this a larger portion of my work but I would say the split is about 65-35 stills/motion.

I have been lighting for 10-11 years now so a lot of my “marketing” is simply networking with other people in my department, all of my work over the years has come from one on one networking or recommendations from other assistants.

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

Editorial shots are taken at a separate studio sho

Editorial shots are taken at a separate studio shot by dedicated staff or on location with hired Fashion Editorial Photographers.

All freelancers are repped by local agencies. Models are repped by various national agencies based in LA, Dallas, NYC.

Photo editors were transitioned from in-house to… cheaper options.

The majority of the staff have been in the company for less than 3 years and will usually move on for more money. The people that stay have been there for 10+ years.

Horrible health benefits package. 6% roth ira matching fulfilled after 2 years.

Mon-Fri. 5-6 paid holidays in the studio.

Salary gets 3 weeks vacation +1 week sick pay +2 personal days.
Hourly gets 1 week vacation +1 week sick pay +2 personal days.

30% of RTW will get video on figure. Most of product gets rotating video.

About 70% of my income is Commercial and Beauty wo

About 70% of my income is Commercial and Beauty work the rest is odds and ends projects. Majority are non-union small commercials. I work for Fortune 500, Major brands, and some startups. Since the pandemic it's mostly shooting around the US but previously was doing a decent amount of international work too.

My business is structured as LLC / Sole prop.

Personally I try to live pretty modestly but comfortably - I think my living expenses are low for the area. Most months I have about $2000 in basic business overhead including, insurance, software, hardware, travel etc. Beyond that I put most of my gross income into equipment purchases and tax advantaged retirement accounts. On a slower year like this it works out well because I can dial back my equipment purchasing to maintain lifestyle.

For retirement I have self employed 401k & IRA. I save pretty aggressively especially with the 401k to get my taxable income as low as possible each year.

About 40-70 days are on set each year including passion projects and editorials.

Before the pandemic started I was grossing about $120k since then years have been between $250k-$320k. This year has at times been down about 30% but I'm actually pretty optimistic it will finish out well and in keeping with other years based on how things are going.

I’ve put about $300k into equipment purchases recently (camera, lenses, monitoring, etc). Most projects I'll make about 50-60% of my money on rate and 40-50% on supplying camera eq. Owning equipment has allowed me to put a lot of resources into lower budget projects and passion pieces and also allows me to make more money on projects where the rate is not so good. I do not rent the equipment outside of my jobs except occasionally to friends. I also only rent when it makes sense for the project. My last two camera bodies made 3x and 5x returns, not all of my gear purchases are as successful but it's been a pretty low maintenance way to bring more value to productions and the directors I work with.

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

I'm a full time freelance retoucher working fully

I'm a full time freelance retoucher working fully remote since 2020.

The majority of my work is commercial and editorial Fashion and Beauty. Mostly on model (about 70%) with the rest being still life. I used to do ecom more when I first started retouching but that has fallen off the more advanced work I receive. My income is 50% - Fashion, 20% - Beauty, 30% - Still life (beauty brands but also drinks, shoes, handbags etc).

My clients range all over. I have a handful of Fortune 500 companies all over the country. The majority of my work are independent freelance photographers who then shoot for larger companies and budget my work into the shoot.

I find it surprising that there aren't reps for retouchers. A lot of photographers have told me that finding a retoucher is difficult

I don't have any employees. The majority of my overhead goes to hiring out contractors to help me when I need it. Then lots of subscriptions! Dropbox, wetransfer, Google Drive - so many endless fire sharing services because everyone uses something different. I like to update and back up my hard drives every year. I also have started video editing to expand my skills and spend a decent amount on education.

I have a RothIRA that I try to contribute to as often as I can. I really love my job and am fairly young so retirement isn't something that crosses my mind too much (yet).

I work most weeks M-F, however every day isn't a full day. I’d say I average 200 days a year.

2020 was an odd year for me and actually one of my best. With removing people from offices, companies started looking for outside remote workers to finish shoots that had started before the pandemic. That led to a lot of work that year which has led to more people passing my name onto other photographers and brands. In the last 2 years people are wanting to stick to in house so my income has dropped. I don't plan to return to being an in house retoucher anytime soon.

I do pay other retouchers to help me out when I'm crazy busy. I give them the same rate I take, or 80-90% if I need to QC the images.

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

From today’s post. 🔥🔥🔥

From today’s post. 🔥🔥🔥

I earn my primary income as a lighting designer/ph

I earn my primary income as a lighting designer/photo assistant, drone operator and photographer. My primary photo income as a shooter comes from actor headshots as well as corporate headshots and portraiture.

My Income is 80% lighting designer/photo assistant - 18% personal photography - 2% drone op.

Primarily working with entertainment industry corporations as a lighting designer/photo assistant: Disney, Amazon, Apple, NBC/Universal, Netflix, etc...

My overhead is nothing crazy or unusual - mostly standard business expenses. I run most costs through the business since I structured it as an LLC/S-Corp in order to more easily allow for that. Quickbooks, gear maintenance/repair and acquisition, website, accountant, payroll, shared studio space, rental EQ for certain jobs.

I contribute 25% of my salary directly from my business to a 401K as an employer contribution. And then I aggressively save everything I can to try and hit my personal 401K limit annually (which is $22,500 for 2023). I'm 45 and didn't really have enough extra money to start saving for retirement until I was about 35...so I'm playing catch up. I also have a ROTH IRA that I was contributing to when I was a sole prop before converting to an LLC/S-Corp 3 years ago.

I work 200 - 250 days a year.

Its been a doozy between Covid, recession fears and now the SAG/WGA strike. Its been very unpredictable. The most painful part is that as inflation has skyrocketed - wages have stagnated. I was earning $350/10 - $550/10 as an assistant for years. I finally felt confident to work mainly as a first and raise my rates and was getting $650/10 as a first assistant from about 2017 - 2020. After 2020 - I pushed for $750/10...and have been struggling to get clients/agents to accept anything higher than that despite that $750 these days approximates to something closer to the $650 I was getting 3 years ago pre-inflation in terms of actual current living expenses. Per diem on travel jobs is usually $75 and that hasn't budged at all over the years either.

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

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My business is structured as a single member LLC.

My business is structured as a single member LLC.

My income is 100% food styling. I used to make a magazine which sold well but I made no profit on it, still working on alternative venues of income, dabbling in more recipe development and art direction/concepting/design.

My clients are global brands, US based, and national publications and cookbooks.

I don’t have any overhead, don’t pay for storage or studio nor do I have expensive equipment, just my styling kit which is worth about $2000.

I saved about $12k into my 401k when I was in house but aside from that I don’t have retirement.

I work 100-120 days a year.

I went from being in house to freelance a year ago so my net income has decreased by about $20k.

Average commercial shoot is 2-4 days plus a prep day, average editorial could be 1-2 weeks if it’s a cookbook. My day rate for cookbooks is as low as $850 and my day rate for commercial clients usually ranges from $1000-2000.

My best recent job was $1500 day rate, $5100 take-home for 3 days, 10-hr days. No licensing sadly since I’m a stylist!

My lowest paying recent job was $500/day for Bon Appetit. 2 days total. Plus I paid my assistant an extra $100/day so my take home was $800.

I pay my assistants $325-$400 day rate depending on client.

Sometimes there is video but usually no more than 10-15%.

My marketing is really just instagram and word-of-mouth so far! Getting connected with others in the industry and doing test shoots really helps.

Best advice I’ve received was to learn proper set etiquette and assist as much as you possibly can before you go solo.

65% of my income is photo assisting, 35% is from s

Would love to hear from more people and get a bett

Would love to hear from more people and get a better picture of this industry.

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I'm a full-time staff photographer for a quasi gov

I'm a full-time staff photographer for a quasi governmental institution. I shoot mostly corporate portraiture, events, and reportage. I started out shooting live music, portraits, and weddings. Eventually I found success doing food and beverage work for editorial and commercial clients, and did a lot of corporate portraiture for private clients as well as trade publications. In 2015, I took a full-time job doing in-house illustrative product photography and started learning video on the job while still freelancing. In 2021 I parlayed that experience into a new job with my current employer.

It's a pretty even 33/33/33 split between portraits/events/reportage now that the "day job" is my only work. Since 2015 I've been slowly transitioning away from freelance work as my salary as a staff photographer has increased. This year I shut down my freelance website and sold half my gear since I no longer actively market myself for freelance jobs.

I bought my first camera in 2008 while touring with my band and went "full-time" in 2009 when my day job in the construction biz tanked after the housing crisis.

Most of my freelance clients were small to medium-sized companies based in the Midwest, but my editorial work involved a lot of travel all over North America.

I rented a dingy studio space for $1000/month in 2014-2015 but got rid of it when I took a staff job. Other than that, I've never had much overhead aside from the essentials: liability insurance, web hosting, software subscriptions etc. which total about $200/month. I don't buy equipment often, and when I do I keep it for a long time. Since I don't shoot video as a freelancer, I don't need to invest in the latest gear. A 3-light setup, Nikon D850, and a few lenses can go a long way if you have good technique and are good with people.

As a full time freelancer, I would shoot about 200 days a year, but I was always "working". As a staffer, it's a 40-hour week most weeks, so 250-ish days a year.

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS

Here are the anonymous responses to the post on cl

Here are the anonymous responses to the post on clients ghosting.

I received the following DM from a photographer:

I received the following DM from a photographer:

Can you talk about how in addition to the rejection, its sadly becoming more common to be completely ghosted by clients. I would say 5/10 people who request full treatments, bids, multiple estimates from producers with full crews on hold etc, completely ghost you. I don’t understand how this has become okay and normal but it's so unbelievably sad. Hearing "hey thanks for your time, sorry this isn't going to work out because of budget or change of scope etc." would be enough and takes a few seconds of their time.

Rejection is expected and normal but it's just destructive to our mental health and capacity to give our all to bids when you can't remove holds and have to follow up patiently for weeks to get an answer.

Do you want to submit a comment anonymously on this topic? Go here to do it:

https://forms.gle/gtC7FFVwdRZxBjkq5

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A Photo Editor (APE) is edited by Rob Haggart, the former Director of Photography for Men's Journal and Outside Magazine. Contributors include fine art photographer Jonathan Blaustein (@jblauphoto), Creative Director Heidi Volpe, photography consultant Suzanne Sease and Executive Producer Craig Oppenheimer of Wonderful Machine.

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