petersm59
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 p.1 #8 · Pursuing a career in wildlife photography | |
I've been incredibly lucky to have made my living with my cameras since 1979. Back then, there were many ways to do this. Magazines paid real money, corporations paid a lot more money, and advertising paid stupid money. Photography was also very difficult to do at a high level. You really needed to have your technique down, and know how to light anything and everything because iso 100 was the top end of acceptable quality film for reproduction. Also, most high end shoots were done on medium and large format color transparency film, with zero latitude and dynamic range in the single digits.
Wildlife photography was done well by very few people who knew wildlife as well as they knew their way around a camera. Manual focus, 5 fps, iso 400 tops, stabilization was a tripod, and birds in flight that turned out well were as rare as an honest politician. Hence, good wildlife photos had value. Now, just look at the photos on this site, and it's not so rare anymore. And even the most pedestrian is probably better than anything from the film era. Unless you make photos that no one else can, that are so fantastic that they will stop people in their tracks, it's an uphill battle.
With Ai, the market for original photos is dwindling fast. Most run of the mill still life shooters are being completely replaced by computer generated illustrations. I'm sure there's even ai generated wildlife photos that are incredible.
Also, sports photographers face the same dilemma as wildlife. Everyone wants to do it, and with the right camera and lens, almost anyone can make pro level images. Problem is, there are true superstars in this field, few spots available to grant you the access you need, and a horde of people who are beating on the gates to get in and are willing to work for nothing, or close to it. It's an impossible way to make a living unless you are extremely lucky, or stupendously amazing.
There are a few avenues that may not be able to be replaced by ai, and that's documentary and event photography. But in the future, who knows.
I currently make my living shooting for a university on staff. Been here 25 years and it's still a great job. I love what I do. And being here and documenting what goes on with real faces in real spaces, again, cannot be easily replaced by an algorithm. At least not yet. And by then, I'll be retired or dead.
The best way to go, is find a lane where you can really stand out, and then find as many different income streams as possible. Become an influencer, expert, ambassador, teacher, mentor, videographer, ai wrangler, and keep reinventing yourself as the world changes. It can be done, but you really have to be absolutely dedicated, and it helps to have an enormous trust fund and/or a well paid spouse.
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