This is probably the advice I get from almost all established photographers out there. Its crazy, cause in school I used my student loans to invest in equipment (camera bodies, strobes, PWs, etc.) and after checking up on most people I graduated from, most of them don’t seem to be shooting cause they never invested into the business.
Whenever I talk to people wanting to get into photography on a local level, I always send them in the “strobist” direction, since it is the cheaper way to get started in this business.
I also mention the Chase Jarvis idea of Create, Share, and Sustain. Probably the best advice you can give someone just starting out.
Kalen says:
January 30, 2010 at 12:13 am
Your optimism is contagious. Thanks.
greg says:
January 30, 2010 at 7:54 am
Morgan: If you live in a big market, you can rent gear when you need it, but that depends upon what type of photography you do. And I agree, it is amazing what you can do with 2 Canon 580EX II flashes.
Are you saying you regret buying gear before you left school?
Morgan Eddington says:
January 30, 2010 at 3:35 pm
No. I am actually glad I spent the student loan money I had to get the gear I have now. I meant, that I know a lot of students that regret wasting their money on other things, rather than on gear. Most of them, whom I’ve been coaching on trying to get the gear with a zero budget, which you can do with $1500-$2000 and this includes one flash with adapters and ways to tigger off camera (PWs and the camera being the most expensive part). When I was in Atlanta, I understood the idea of renting gear but if your shoot doesn’t allow you to rent gear (which is the problem with young photographers), then it is good to have your own cause over time, even if its a small paying shoot, your paying it off over time and I knew tons of assistants in Atlanta who didn’t even own a camera body! So when a shoot came up for them, I would offer myself as an assistant as well as letting them use the equipment I had on hand…probably a good tactic at the time to get into becoming a known assistant in the area. Even though I had a travellite kit, you can still produce a good image. Now I don’t think I would ever invest into a profoto or broncolor kit, only because of the cost and also future repair cost. But I wouldn’t imagine small town clients knowing the difference between using a pair of alienbees over the top of the line strobes. Heck, even the locals here in Hilton Head don’t see the difference between using a Nikon-SB900 and a strobe head. But since moving to Hilton Head, I’ve been using about 5 different nikon flashes to produce what I am doing. This has been really helpful for me because if you find older flashes (Nikon SB-20 or 24..which I bought both for $75 dollars), you have the ability to produce decent images without hurting your pockets. If i bought an old flash for $50 bucks…paying it off would happen over 2 family shoots. Now there are some upsides and downsides to this approach, but I only wipe out my strobes when the shoot calls for it. If its inside or in the morning or evening, I’ll use my speedlights but if I’m having to worry about the sunlight or producing a image with everything in focus, I use my strobes. The other great thing about speedlights, is they can fit I think is the ability to shoot on location…even if it is only a fill light.
But heck, my senior year of college, if I had to shoot on location, I used nothing but reflectors. I remember when I use to assist Colin Douglas Gray, he would use about 3-5 reflectors on a shoot. He would carry strobes with him just in case, but most of my time was laying under models and making sure the sun hit their face. I guess another good piece of advice to tell young photographers wanting to move somewhere and make some money in a smaller industry like Atlanta, Nashville, etc…is don’t move there during the winter time/end of the year. Probably another bad thing I did…I moved there during the fall and at that time, everyone is hiring photographers is having to tighten up their budgets because of what they spent earlier in the year. On top of that, winter is probably the worse time to find jobs. And the other most important thing, don’t give up…I mean I know I have not been in this for long, but like you stated in the first bullet point, I have already noticed a big decline in the people I graduated with that are still shooting.
greg says:
February 1, 2010 at 9:48 am
Good information Morgan! Buying used gear is something that I did early in my career. I have paid the used gear off many times over the years, just as you are doing: shooting jobs. So it is a great idea to get basic gear and add used pieces as you need them. Just make sure you have enough reliable gear to get a job done.
Dmitry Gudkov says:
January 29, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Thanks for the advice!
Morgan Eddington says:
January 29, 2010 at 8:12 pm
This is probably the advice I get from almost all established photographers out there. Its crazy, cause in school I used my student loans to invest in equipment (camera bodies, strobes, PWs, etc.) and after checking up on most people I graduated from, most of them don’t seem to be shooting cause they never invested into the business.
Whenever I talk to people wanting to get into photography on a local level, I always send them in the “strobist” direction, since it is the cheaper way to get started in this business.
I also mention the Chase Jarvis idea of Create, Share, and Sustain. Probably the best advice you can give someone just starting out.
Kalen says:
January 30, 2010 at 12:13 am
Your optimism is contagious. Thanks.
greg says:
January 30, 2010 at 7:54 am
Morgan: If you live in a big market, you can rent gear when you need it, but that depends upon what type of photography you do. And I agree, it is amazing what you can do with 2 Canon 580EX II flashes.
Are you saying you regret buying gear before you left school?
Morgan Eddington says:
January 30, 2010 at 3:35 pm
No. I am actually glad I spent the student loan money I had to get the gear I have now. I meant, that I know a lot of students that regret wasting their money on other things, rather than on gear. Most of them, whom I’ve been coaching on trying to get the gear with a zero budget, which you can do with $1500-$2000 and this includes one flash with adapters and ways to tigger off camera (PWs and the camera being the most expensive part). When I was in Atlanta, I understood the idea of renting gear but if your shoot doesn’t allow you to rent gear (which is the problem with young photographers), then it is good to have your own cause over time, even if its a small paying shoot, your paying it off over time and I knew tons of assistants in Atlanta who didn’t even own a camera body! So when a shoot came up for them, I would offer myself as an assistant as well as letting them use the equipment I had on hand…probably a good tactic at the time to get into becoming a known assistant in the area. Even though I had a travellite kit, you can still produce a good image. Now I don’t think I would ever invest into a profoto or broncolor kit, only because of the cost and also future repair cost. But I wouldn’t imagine small town clients knowing the difference between using a pair of alienbees over the top of the line strobes. Heck, even the locals here in Hilton Head don’t see the difference between using a Nikon-SB900 and a strobe head. But since moving to Hilton Head, I’ve been using about 5 different nikon flashes to produce what I am doing. This has been really helpful for me because if you find older flashes (Nikon SB-20 or 24..which I bought both for $75 dollars), you have the ability to produce decent images without hurting your pockets. If i bought an old flash for $50 bucks…paying it off would happen over 2 family shoots. Now there are some upsides and downsides to this approach, but I only wipe out my strobes when the shoot calls for it. If its inside or in the morning or evening, I’ll use my speedlights but if I’m having to worry about the sunlight or producing a image with everything in focus, I use my strobes. The other great thing about speedlights, is they can fit I think is the ability to shoot on location…even if it is only a fill light.
But heck, my senior year of college, if I had to shoot on location, I used nothing but reflectors. I remember when I use to assist Colin Douglas Gray, he would use about 3-5 reflectors on a shoot. He would carry strobes with him just in case, but most of my time was laying under models and making sure the sun hit their face. I guess another good piece of advice to tell young photographers wanting to move somewhere and make some money in a smaller industry like Atlanta, Nashville, etc…is don’t move there during the winter time/end of the year. Probably another bad thing I did…I moved there during the fall and at that time, everyone is hiring photographers is having to tighten up their budgets because of what they spent earlier in the year. On top of that, winter is probably the worse time to find jobs. And the other most important thing, don’t give up…I mean I know I have not been in this for long, but like you stated in the first bullet point, I have already noticed a big decline in the people I graduated with that are still shooting.
greg says:
February 1, 2010 at 9:48 am
Good information Morgan! Buying used gear is something that I did early in my career. I have paid the used gear off many times over the years, just as you are doing: shooting jobs. So it is a great idea to get basic gear and add used pieces as you need them. Just make sure you have enough reliable gear to get a job done.