I had a paid gig!

[shots worth sharing]

<p>The mother of one of Clara's Basketball teammates asked me to shoot one of her daughter's club team games. She offered to pay and I figured I had to charge out of respect for real pros. I didn't charge nearly enough though--it worked out to about $2.50/ hr. It might have worked out to twice that rate if my pp workflow were properly efficient. On the other hand, it was about right for what she got in terms of quality. It was a dim-gym situation and the action was pretty helter-skelter but the photos were ok for web posting and the small-format brochure they're preparing. The client was pleased but I warned her that nobody should order any prints over 5x7".</p>

<p>It was an interesting and fairly pleasant experience--it's a mode of shooting I'm now comfortable and without the "once-in-a-lifetime" pressure of a wedding or some such. I did get a jolt when they told me they needed the photos the next day--that sort of underlined the fact that this really was a <em>job</em>. It also had the beneficial effect of forcing me to get the processing done quickly (or as quickly as possible given my skill level.) </p>

<p>All in all, I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime but it's not something I want to pursue with any vigor. I'd certainly charge more and pay more attention while I shoot to things that eat up time in processing. Production processing is certainly very different than my usual trial & error creative processing. </p>

<p>I liked this one:<br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1248360561_VD3UK-XL.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[hagar]

<p>Congrats Dave :-) Does this mean you are 'unretired' now? lol<br>

And, I agree with you.. definitely charge more! <br>

The pic you posted looks pretty good, it has a bit of a yellow/blue color cast on my laptop screen, but otherwise looks fine.</p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>Sounds like a good experience. The photo looks fine for what I assume was a typical high school dungeon with horrendous lighting. </p>

<p>I ended up with the same conclusion for sports. Lots of work, little pay. Ended up saying no thanks to all but a few outdoor (daylight) sports tournaments a year. Shooting at mid day at ISO 200-400 with daylight white balance is not too taxing workflow, but most other things left me wondering if I wasn't better off working a few hours a week at Walmart or something, if it was money I was interested in. </p>

<p>Once you start questioning if you'd make more per hour at Walmart, you've reached a point where you realize it's not worth the time. </p>

<p>That said, if you are having fun with it why not do it? Seems like you shoot the games anyway for fun, add a little extra income on the side for some of those rare Pentax lenses you seem to acquire! </p>

<p> </p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>I had to charge out of respect for real pros. I didn't charge nearly enough though--it worked out to about $2.50/ hr.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You didn't owe anyone any duty to charge money for something you wanted to enjoy doing. If you did, it was essentially defeated by the $2.50 an hour anyway. But, as Justin said, if you enjoy doing it, go for it. Feel free to charge as high or low little or not at all as desired.</p>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>It was the "old gym" at a local university but, yeah, dim and a white-balance nightmare (one of the reasons pp took so long.) The deal btw was a charge for the shoot with down-sized photos posted to SmugMug and, from there available for prints or posting to Facebook etc. I advised that anyone who wanted a decent quality large print would need to contact me directly and be prepared to pay a premium for custom processing and finished product. There are only a handful of photos from this shoot which might yield an acceptable 8x10, though.</p>

<p>Bottom line: I'm not going to quit my day job, which consists of wandering the countryside taking photos with rare old Pentax lenses between chauffeuring duties.</p>

<p> </p>

[davidmantilla]

<blockquote>

<p>I'm not going to quit my day job, which consists of wandering the countryside taking photos with rare old Pentax lenses between chauffeuring duties.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You get paid to wander the countryside?!?!?!? ;-) CONGRATS on the gig!!! I've taken photos at soccer games (solo) before, and found it necessary to run and up down the field, to get the shot I had in mind.. (mid field dribbling, shots on goals, penalty kicks, etc.). I imagine it's the same thing photographing basketball games... would be easier with multiple people (stationed at different places). Anyway, sounds like a good experience regardless... If you were interested, maybe you could get some additional photographers to help you out and get more "keepers", may be worth it pitching your services to the school or PTA... maybe a bunch of them would be willing to pay a larger fee. Anyway, just a thought... I have yet to get paid for my stuff, and am hesitant too, given how it's mostly a labor of love right now for me...</p>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>Oh, no, I don't get paid for wandering the countryside shooting photos--it's just what I do ;~)</p>

<p>I generally change position during the course of the game--splitting my time between mid-court and close to the line at the offensive end. When I shoot my daughter's games, I pretty much follow the action: 0ver the course of the season, I'm sure to have some passable shots of all the team members. For this event, I made sure to get a couple of shots of each player even if they were just standing around or running the floor. </p>

 

[miserere_mei]

<blockquote>

<p>Justin Serpico wrote:<br>

Once you start questioning if you'd make more per hour at Walmart, you've reached a point where you realize it's not worth the time.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Words of Wisdom for the week :-)</p>