Ex Professional - last took a photo for payment in 1968!!!! In the days of B&W
and a wet room & nasty smelly chemicals & time & grumpy staff & grumpy wife & grumpy me.....
Now a hobbyist with some darn good kit...Canon 20D & 5D2 + 70~200 L and a 28~300 L
(Wife is still grumpy when I buy some pieces of kit like $$$$$ on a full spherical pano head and leveller ... But I'm no longer grumpy )
A lot of hobbyist earn some money by selling pics to fund their gear purchases. Either though commercial stock agencies or shooting weddings for friends/family, etc. If you have the chance or feel like it, go for it. It can be fun. As long as you stay out of my way when I am doing my work
Donald Gray wrote:
Ex Professional - last took a photo for payment in 1968!!!! In the days of B&W
and a wet room & nasty smelly chemicals & time & grumpy staff & grumpy wife & grumpy me.....
Now a hobbyist with some darn good kit...Canon 20D & 5D2 + 70~200 L and a 28~300 L
(Wife is still grumpy when I buy some pieces of kit like $$$$$ on a full spherical pano head and leveller ... But I'm no longer grumpy )
Ahahahahaaha....I saw a license plate that many of us can relate to, it said " Sometimes I wake up grumpy, most times I let her sleep".
Thank you to everyone for responding to my query. I was curious as to how many did use their cameras as a sideline business and it seems quite a few. While using them to help defray equipment costs is appealing, I don't think i will be doing so any time soon. I am retired and intend to remain so even though equipment costs are escalating. Thank you again, everyone.
I've sold a few images (and have allowed a UK wildlife artist the rights to use some of my images as "models" for her paintings, in return for prints of the paintings), but only when I've been approached by someone - I don't actively market them.
Bob Loundagin wrote:
A job is where you go to work. No one I know of gets up in the morning and says "Honey I'm off to fun!"
How sad. Until I retired my work was the most wonderful part of my life - 10 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year (and I often went to my office on Christmas Day).
I have only ever sold one image - a photo of a Black-tailed Godwit which was seen on the net and I was contacted by one of the editorial board of a magazine requesting permission to use the image as a front cover photo. My wife (owning an advertising business for food photography) said ask for £350 - I got that sum without question and felt awful about it ever since. I normally give them away for publication as long as I get a credit.
I suppose I am an "enthusiast" as well, however, as someone who travels and hopes to be doing humanitarian work overseas professionally (currently finishing up my masters, had done this prior to going back to school), I consider the ability to take high quality photos of the places I go, the people I meet, and the situations I come across important, and some of these have been used for publication before. Now, when it's needed, organizations can hire professional photographers, but I like to throw my bunch in the mix.
On top of that, with some of the amazing places I've been, I like to self publish from time to time.
I am most certainly an amateur who just likes taking pictures. That's not to say that people don't ask me for the photographs after the fact, but I've never charged for them.
It's like building websites. I've built them for years and built a few for other people, but never charged.
stanj wrote:
Do hobbyist boaters have to justify their spending?
A great point. At work we have hunters, fisherman, motorcycle enthusiasts, sail boaters, and none of them ever have to answer 'you spent how much on xxx?', however I do every time I get something new.
stanj wrote:
Do hobbyist boaters have to justify their spending?
No kidding. Price a boat or a Harley or Beemer GS. Or membership at a golf club. Or a motorhome. Or a pilot's license. Or . . .
The hobbyist-pro almost 99% of the time is a concept that comes up when someone who isn't busy enough pro'ing it, whatever that means, gets a button pushed.
Colin Key wrote:
How sad. Until I retired my work was the most wonderful part of my life - 10 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year (and I often went to my office on Christmas Day).
Colin
Perception is everything my friend, I wouldn't be so quick to call it sad, some people think fun is with the family.
helimat wrote:
A great point. At work we have hunters, fisherman, motorcycle enthusiasts, sail boaters, and none of them ever have to answer 'you spent how much on xxx?', however I do every time I get something new.
Are sure about that? Most guys I know with an expensive hobby at least gets "the look" from his wife for a new hobby purchase. Many suffer verbal abuse and threats. Many hide what they're doing. My father collected, restored and flew antique airplanes and suffered endless ribbing and sarcastic remarks about wasting money from his OS. I've heard endless horror stories of guitar collectors suffering the same. I don't think photography is any different in this regard from other enthusiasts with expensive hobbies.
Actually photography is one of the cheaper hobbies. Pales in comparison to vintage and luthier grade guitar collector/players.
Definitely enthusiast, with bigger aspirations. I've sold a couple of my prints, but I'm considering eventually selling them online and making some more money.
I like my day job OK, but I wouldn't consider what I do really fun, so therefore I call it like it is--I'm going to work. I'm one of the ones who wishes she could get up and go have fun 5 days & 40 hours per week. Heck, if I was having that much fun, it would gladly be willing to spend more time having "fun". For me to tell my husband that I'm going off to fun, the job I'm doing would have to be a passion for me; my day job (librarian) is not a passion for me. Photography is that passion. Even though my day job is necessary to pay the bills, photography is what keeps me going when things at the day job get really boring or crazy.
Colin Key wrote:
How sad. Until I retired my work was the most wonderful part of my life - 10 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year (and I often went to my office on Christmas Day).
Colin
You obviously had a job doing what you loved. Not too many among us were fortunate enough, or smart enough, to train in a professional close to his/her heart. But, yeah, I also love what I do (music professor) and look forward to work most days. Long holidays are a bit of a bore and hence the hobbies. I recall working jobs I hated--paper mill, sheetrock pounder, dinner music--so it helped drive me to a profession I truly enjoyed.
... But I'm no longer grumpy 
)