Photography is definitely a hobby which cost a lot of $... equipments, processing etc etc

I'm just wondering what are the avenues available to earn some $ out of this hobby. I have been very keen in setting up a side business to take wedding photography or even freelance photo journalism. But that requires a lot of skills.

So what are the courses available (in Australia)?
Tips to those who wants to make a living out of taking photos?

Yeah my uncle has a side business doing wedding photography

Check out his site Grant Corban Photography

Hey lemangoholic I've thought about this quite a bit as well...

I've always dreamed about putting my two hobbies of cooking and photography together and doing photograhy for cooking magazines or something like that... Unfortunately when you start talking about wedding photograhy, photo journalism and the like, then it changes from a hobby into a full time career.

I terms of photography courses, I met someone doing a course in a photography school on City Rd Southbank (Melbourne)... can't remember the name though - might be Agfa School of Photography or something like that.


Other ideas I can think of:
- Stock photograhy - commercial clients can buy the rights to use your photos if they're good / if they like them. There are some sites on the internet which allow you to do so, and also have different payment models.

- Some wedding photographers also get hired on a job by job basis. With the company that did my wedding - they hired a photographer to take the photos, but then did the album, processing, etc. themselves. So I guess if you could hook yourself up with a photography gig like that, you could just get paid to shoot and not worry about the other headaches of managing the client, etc.


If you're interested, look at www.photoimaging.com.au - they send out a weekly newsletter with classifieds and employment opportunities...

If I were to try to seriously break into the photography field, I'd probably start off by canvassing any contacts I may have, and start doing what ST did: offer your services for friends' weddings for free and get them to recommend you. I think it has a lot to do with who you know rather than what you know (although if you don't know much about photography, then no one's going to make use of you anyway).

Given that we've all got bills to pay and can't afford to quit our day jobs (yet), it would also involve a lot of after-hours work, although if you find it satisfying and fun, it may not seem like work. If you're married though, you're also gonna have to juggle all that with maintaining your marriage.

I would love to quit my job to fix guitars and do sound recording all day, but unfortunately, my extravagant lifestyle won't allow me to do so, hehehehe....

Oooh I also forgot to add that running your own photography business will allow you to claim all that lovely photography hardware as tax deductions!

de_axeman Wrote:Oooh I also forgot to add that running your own photography business will allow you to claim all that lovely photography hardware as tax deductions!

Cha-ching!

Thanks for all the tips... I'm slowly slowly getting my acts together.

Being a beanie, I have heaps of contact with tax accountants and read up on the tax laws...

Generally you can't claim tax deduction unless you prove that you have an intention to set up a proper business.

Even if you register your wedding photo business, the costs will only be tax deductable against your wedding photos revenue... assuming you make a loss on this business, this loss is quarantined and not allowed to be used to off-set personal income unless you satisfy other requirements (such as
turnover of $40,000, $100,000 worth of assets etc ie. very strict!). ATO don't just hired pretty faces to write all the tax laws.

Agree axeman... definitely not quitting... I lurve my extravagant lifestyle too much.
Fine dining... nice wine... lovely gadgets... too many to mention...
Life is good...

Ah crud... the ATO are such killjoys...

They are indeed... blood suckers...

I was taking pictures of the tax office...

I don't get it... why are you taking picture of ATO? WHY???

Oh by the way, for our non-Australian friends - ATO = Australian Tax Office

lemangoholic Wrote:ATO don't just hired pretty faces to write all the tax laws.

Does this mean I have a chance at a job some where?

adam Wrote: I was taking pictures of the tax office...

Preparing to go to jail for Tax evasion and wan't pictures of those who you hate the most?

Reminds me of in year 12, teacher was giving out brochures to join some Tax Cadets thing or something, to go work with ATO, and theyll pay for your education, then I asked "will we learn how to evade tax?" gahhhhhhhaha

Tax ~

LMAO, did a guy in blue with shiny silver bracelets walk in?

Yes, he offered me to try them on. ahhhh! so much banal talk coming from me, I think that's enough for tonight before I go far too off-topic

MmmM shinyYYYy
hey adam .. so r u getting the 75-300 USM ?

Super cheap ey ...
i be so jeualous of it if u get it ..
better rance then my 90 - 300 mm

My dad said not to, just in case it's in not good condition (even though the person said 8.9/10),then I can't return; he said that he prefer to pay for a new one, or buy a second hand one we can try and inspect first.

At the moment, dreaming of Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM IS. Don't think my parents will sponsor me for the total cost of it, but I'll get a job, save, negotiate; it's much cheaper to order from US than here. but ordering over internet; might not be good as don't get to inspect the lens first, but usually the new things should have any big problems or defects.

YEah . but id save my money rather then spend so much for now ..
i wouldnt buy a lens like that unless photography was generating me income.. for one .. my parents would kill me ...

Hey... just to revive this topic, I found this page about photography business ideas:
http://holcombephotography.8m.com/

Check out the other links as well on the page - some good resources/ideas.