Doing Stuff

A few weeks ago I did a photo shoot. It was a free gig, sort of a charity case. Cats and dogs for adoption. I wondered if there is any money in photographing pets? I'm sure there is, but man I hate that hustle of trying to be a salesman and pleasing clients.

Sometimes I wonder if I could have been a good porn photographer, or if there is really any money in it. Do you get paid more for shooting porn photos, or less? I'm guessing less because, let's be real; most people who pay for porn photos aren't appreciating the lighting and angles.

These days most everyone I see has an SLR. When I went to the botanical gardens 4 years ago almost no one had one. Today almost every other person has one. And they all want to do weddings and portraits. That leads me to believe that the market will soon be saturated with wedding and portrait semi-pros. Good for consumers, but that means I will forget about moonlighting as a wedding photographer. Not that I really wanted to anyways, but it was always in the back of my head. Let me tell you it is stressful shooting that sort of gig. If you miss a photo or something gets screwed up, there is no re-shooting. Also, without hard deadlines I procrastinate.

I suspect being profitable is all about finding your niche, and being lucky enough that it is something people are willing to purchase. I mean if your niche is taking pictures of poop then that is good for you but I doubt you will make any money selling those prints. When I first started getting into photography I had this idea to do a coffee table book of artsy pictures of guitars. All different guitars - Fender, Ibanez, Jackson, Gibson, you name it. I don't know if it has been done, but similar things have been tried. Maybe I should make a coffee table book of things collectors are into, like model trains or old Star Wars action figures. You know collectors would have to buy that book. Or maybe a book of 40s; all different ones like King Cobra and Colt 45. All the college kids would buy that, I'm sure. What do you think?