just read this on msn : and it got me thinking ...

 the average pro  photographers 

** income  is

---->   : $26,170**

  only   79,491 hours
9,935 days, and
38 years  to make a million dollars !! 

 hehe good thing i am not in it for the money ... (hehe... well i couldnt be anyways dont have the proper equipment at the moment  ...sigh still waiting on that till the braces and glasses and all the stuff it takes to raise kids are past ... ( i can wait am patient ) ....)))

but  i thought it was interesting.... lol you can make a million it said in 38 years LOL..

  SO question of the DAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> ( may i ask? )

             How many of you actually get paid?... 
 
  who just does it for the love of it ..

the passion of getting that magical compo or shot .... 
the dream of the ultimate shot =perfect light or capture

heck, 79 491  hours  yep   i would just do it for the luv of it!!!....

 what drives you ??

.... just curious here today ....  !
 

it would be great to make a bit of money out of doing what i love ,but i think realistically i`ll just stick to taking pics for the fun of it :o)

mick

I have sold a couple in the past not for big money, only £250.  My photography club are going to help me sell more.  They have an exhibbition twice a year, many photos get sold that way.

Just not the photography you have to concentrate on , Unless you deleve into other avenues for selling your prints:

.TableMats
.Calendars
Coasters
.T-Shirts
.GiftBoxe's
.Birthday Card's

You get the idea Hint just sitting back deciding my market , atm yeah it's just a hobby , But best of luck to you all , It doesn't happen overnight n 1 more hint if you attempt most activities its best to haggle with a qualified printer , Ink is more expensive than gold ;)

Kimmers, You depress me!  ROFL  Oh, but what's money anyway.  I just love to have FUN!  Why else would I have boughten a Nikon!  :-)

for the love of it

Camera's are like weapons: it are not the ones that shoot or get shot that make the money, but the ones who make the guns (camera's).

i do it for passion.. but sometimes i do 'on-demand' projects like :

wedding, advertising, portraits + my own exhibitions where i sold pictures.

I get paid.... but not for photography. I'm a software engineer and photography/3D graphics are just a hobby. My income is quite a bit more than the average pro photo income I see. But that may only be a US figure.

Never made any money with photography...
and my income (after taxes) is less than your average photographer's income ;o(

My company pay me around £30,000 a year and to be honest I do very little work for that.  So I think I will stay where I am and keep doing photography as a hobby.

 On my own lol with out trying i made around 700 bucks this year for weddings and photoshoots not much .... hehe.... i am supported by my girls Father ( a high school teacher ) who tells me to start getting / making more money from it lol i tell him  yeah right -then i need a good camera ( catch 22 )  how am i supposed to do weddings without an slr ? ( my slr is defective error 99 and shuts off instantly ) ...  i used to make over a 100 an hour as i was top  in the nation in 3 companys in sales ...( used to be the person who stands up and modivates 1000's at the sales meetings hehe ). before that i was an art teacher at the school Mike was a principal at .... all the politics and craziness.... my Dad died and i quit it all ( promised him on his deathbed i would put my girls first ).... and went out and bought my first Digital camera .... now i just do photography for the love of it ... i have a family and am a full time Mom .  have to be home to drive them everywhere cook and clean ....my photo art keeps me sane LOL!!!
 Even if i didnt though i am so in love with photography ( have to postwork my images so they are decent cause of my cam quality now)  

 i would rather be witout riches and have my photoshoots it's what i live for other than my girls...

 so  yeah  i am not lazy  BUT  nope i dont want to go back to a normal job ,LOL!!! 

if i am to think about really someday getting the equipment and making money is it a pipedream ?   and sometimes if you make money at it then the job aspect of it might bring ( i am afraid) a faded watered down desire for it.  ...( know what I am talking about ...?? ) 

 but my question was really
do you make money as a photographer and what drives you to do it ???....
 habbit or passion ..... money or love of it ...

 wondered what makes other photographers go after that shot they dream of.....

For me it's simple, both.

I have fun because I wouldn't want it to be a source of drudgery!

It is reputed that the tourist who took a snap of Concorde coming down in flames at CDG Paris received $50,000 for one picture.  I am sure the guy with the video camera made a lot more.

Get the content right and your million will soon be in the bank  

Perhaps a peruse through this list could provide some inspiration
http://most-expensive.net/photograph-world

As for me I received a reasonable fee and expenses doing a commercial shoot for a company that wanted publicity photos for their catalogues and web site.  I am not a professional photographer and did it out of interest and a challenge.  To get those jobs regularly enough to pay the bills would be hard work, the photography is the easy bit. 

Best follow Gregory Crewsdon's example he makes 6 prints of each image he does and sells them for around $60,000 a piece. He has a waiting list of prospective buyers I am told . 

I do it for the love of it, if there is any monetary gain it's an added bonus.
I'd happily do some photographic work were it offered to me :)

Picture postcards are not a bad way to promote yourself...but if they only buy poscards, well, not much income.

I do it for the love of it.   There is a creative and also a technical nature in me needing freedom and activity and photography does that.

The "professional photographer" my non-photog friends envision is the person with a studio shooting portraits all day long and perhaps school graduation shots..not my cup of tea.

I do it for a love of it. When I am realy tied I grab my camera bag and go to the forest and shoot myself silly...come back and face a reality with full streight again.
Never sold any picture...wonder who would want to buy anyway from me...lol.

seeya  Tunde

It would be nice to sell a print or two, but for now it has to be for the love of it. I like doing anything even remotely creative - painting, sketching, woodworking,  but photography is the thing that I really have the bug for.

Even though I'm a 'pro' gardener I don't count gardening among my hobbies, it's my job and love it but at the end of the day it's just my job. I guess if I turned into a pro photographer I'd stop shooting images for fun and take up gardening. :)

Andy

The love of it eventually brought the money - it's my job. I shoot for 4 catalogs, and a boatload of media ads - all product photography. Mostly jewelry and watches, with some pampering products (creams, oils, pills, drinks, etc.) mixed in as well. The occasional clothing comes into the mix.

I also have a small clientelle that I do Photoshop for - they just wanna shoot, not sit in front of a computer, so I handle the back end for them.

I just love making inanimate objects look interesting. I love scenics, mixing lighting techniques, experimenting with unusual light sources, etc.

I SUCK at people - weddings, portraits, etc. I could make more money if I were good at it, but I'm not - and I'm totally fine with that because I don't LIKE taking pictures of people. I never have to get that perfect smile from a watch.

There are little ego perks - a bit sideways, though - on a Rolling Stone cover, Keith Richards was wearing a watch I photographed. While that's not saying much, I'm the sole photographer that company uses, so it means he liked the shot enough to read further about the product and buy it.
-Lew ;-)

Lew, glad it worked out both ways for you.  Fortunate man, indeed.     Tom.

You can make money?  LOL.  I love to take pictures, and learn more in doing so (amateur that I am).