THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE

Fortunately, however, commercial
photography can be a very rewarding
career or sideline. Everything from
weddings to wars seems to require a
photographic record. Most commercial
products rely on photography for
packaging and advertising. And there
is even a steadily growing market for
photographs as pure art — though it's
not likely to make you rich.
The basic categories of professional
photographic work include:
weddings and other social events,
portraiture, journalism, product
photography and fashion. Depending
on the work you choose, the time you
devote to it and your luck and skill,
you could earn from a few hundred
to over a thousand dollars a day.
In each of these categories, there
are two ways of working: staff and
freelance. A staff photographer is
just like any employee, receiving a
salary and clocking regular hours. A
freelance photographer is hired for
specific jobs and is generally paid by
the day. Freelancers tend to earn
more than staff photographers for
each day they work, but staff photographers
work more steadily. In other
words, staff photographers are less
likely either to get rich or to go broke.
Freelancers take more risks and have
a better chance of making it big.
Weddings and Portraits
Probably the largest number of professional
photographers are primarily
devoted to photographing social
events, especially weddings. The pay
can be quite good —several hundred
dollars per day. Many wedding photographers
are represented by an
agent who sets up photo assignments
for them. Many work only a couple
of days each week, generally weekends
(when weddings are most commonly
held). Wedding photographers
must be able to produce consistently
good results, since there's no chance
for re-shooting if things get messed
up. They must be especially good at
Arnold Newman, Igor Stravinsky,
1946.
flash photography, since much of
their work is done indoors on location.
In addition, they must be skilled
at interacting well with all sorts of
people. By and large, wedding
photography does not demand much
artistry —most clients don't want art.
It's a good line of work for anyone
who enjoys the technical side of
photography and who likes to
socialize.
Closely related to weddings and
social events is portraiturephotographing
a single person or
small group. Whether it's for a
passport photo or a prom portrait,
everyone needs a photographer sometime.
Virtually every town in the
country has at least one studio for
just these kinds of things. Here again,
the main requirements are technical
consistency —particularly in terms of
studio lighting —and social grace.
From Blurs to Big Business 27