How do you make a living with your Camera?

I find activities I like, and meet people through that. I'm a part of the community before I offer any type of project or service.

So I'm a bike enthusiast, and I rode with everyone before filming with them. Same with the Roller Derby league I shoot for; I went to a couple of bouts and had a great time. So I offered to shoot for them, and they hired me.

Selling wares to people I have no relationship with isn't my style. I make a living by being interested and enthusiastic about my subjects.

-a
 
Thanks IBE,
Just to clarify, I did not write that post that I reposted. Some other guy who has been doing this much longer than me did. I agree with most of it not all, I own most of my stuff but rent based on the job - I am able to do this because I have enough gigs to justify the purchase. Some people will only hire you if you have your own equipment - this can be a pain. Some people are willing to partner with you and pool resources and those are the people you want to network with.

I call it "The OC" as more of a joke - LA radio stations like KROQ refer to orange county as the OC - whatever. I was born and raised here.

IBEJohnson said:
First of all, it's not completely unthinkable to rent equipment as opposed to buying it, so let's not jump all over soarprod for his opinions.

Let's not forget that he never said that one should only rent equipment. As a matter of fact, he owns two of his own HVXs. He was quite clear about that. His point was simple... in the beginning, don't focus your time/money/energy worrying about saving for the right equipment because it's not the equipment that will ultimately make you successful. Once you've built the business and you can justify the savings of purchasing vs. renting then go buy the equipment. From a business perspective (not a filmmaker or hobbyist perspective), he is 100% correct.

If, on the other hand, you are the type of person that wants to buy the equipment for multiple uses - an indie filmmaker who decides to get into wedding videography to make up for some of the loss spent on the camera - then what he said really doesn't apply.

Ultimately, there is nothing bull**** about what soarprod said. The only thing that's bull**** is not respecting someone else's opinions and even worse, belittling them in a public forum.

Frankly, the only beef I have with soarprod is that you live in Orange County and you refer to it as "The OC". C'mon man!!! I expect more out of you than that. The OC was a television show, not a place. :)

E
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taormina said:
Tripods never go obsolete. Lights never go obsolete.
Click to expand...

i've got some pretty old obsolete Colortrans. want to buy them?? I can get 10K out of them, but they are too friggin hot and heavy to bother with. LOL
 
I have to buy gear, because where I live it is 2 hours to get to a good rental place. 2 hours my customers are not willing to pay. If you live in a city where you can rent everything all the time: RENT! If not you will have to buy at least the base of your gear (cam, tripod, mattebox) and get the special gear from rent (additionla lenses, lights, steadycam etc).
I buy the base always and then wait for good deals. I got a nice set of 3x800W lamps for 500 for example. Also buying in the US is inexpensive now for us Europeans.
 
I got an HVX200 and supporting equipment about 9 months ago. I bought it for two reasons. The first is that currently the closest rental house is several hours away so renting just isn't practical. The second, and primary reason, is that my business is an excuse so I can do what I love and make movies.

As far as the money I've made, things have been slow but promising. I'm currently in a very small town where people are used to $200 commercials shot on Beta. That's changing but slowly. My clients have all been excedingly impressed with the work I've done though that's not hard given the competition around here. In many ways these last 9 months have been a learning experience so I can put together a decent body of work before I pick up and leave for a bigger city with more action. It's nice that when I head out in a few months I'll have several training videos, recruitment DVDs, promotional DVDs, Church videos, and commercials to show possible clients.
 
this is how i did it

find someone with a businness ANYONE that could ever want a commercial
hopefully someone you already know. Do an amazing commercial for
them for really really cheap...maybe free. once you have that commercial
take it to every local tv station in your area and make a proposal $300 a commercial
and show you demo and ask them to send work your way.

If your work is better than what is on local tv they probably will.

as time goes along you will get more work coming in from other places, start to
charge more when that happens

that where Im at

peace
 
Nathan - what part of oklahoma are you in? I'm in Tulsa and was under the impression that the local stations are still providing free production with the buying of time.
 
Whoa boys, the TV stations are doing free spots here too, but that doesn't mean we gotta give it away.
Even at $300 per spot, I'd just close up shop and work for the government.

Don't ever think you get more work by being the cheapest. Some poor smuck will always beat you at that.
Beat them with "Better" work! :thumbsup: And don't forget to give the best customer service in your market. You'll do fine.
 
Yeah I dont get out of bed for $300. We stick mainly with business to business types and try to stay out of consumer marketing. Seems people either want dirt cheap commercials or really elaborate ones with giant budgets. Neither is our cup of tea.
 
Im from tulsa and your right a good chunk of the time they pretty much
do free commercials, but not always. sometimes they hire outside sources
and sometimes the client is not happy with the stations work

if you can manage to keep a good realtionship with them, you'll get a call everyone
once and a while.


I was talking about starting out for $300 and then in time charging more,
you got to start somewhere
 
Cool. Its good to know there are people around here not putting up with the usual crap work the stations are putting out. Just out of curiousity who have you done work for around here?
 
i hope to make my love into a career. i'm still a full time student in college... and i just took all my savings and baught my hvx. i know its what i love and i spend days and nights reading and shooting and livin it. i learn so much more everyday maybe one day i can get paid for it. im afraid to shoot weddings and such though because i see people start doin it and it pays decent and so they sit their... i dont want to end up like that.
 
I already am starting my career, and the HVX is more of an expensive hobby/following the dream with a partner of mine. We arent looking for the money from jobs we do, but more of just being a part of something thats fun and creative.

Like a pick up game at the park, the money is a bonus for working.
 
Renting is out of the question for me due to location.

I needed to learn how to use a camera, so I bought one. I just couldn't see myself writing a screenplay or coming up with an ad concept, then renting a camera for a day or week, without any previous experience, and obtaining successful shots.

I own my camera, and I can spend all the time in the world learning to use it and become a proficient DoP.

As far as paying for itself, I've had it nearly a year and its only earned enough to cover about 2 monthly repayments of the loan I took out to buy it!!
:violin:
Drew
 
Tales from the North...

Tales from the North...

I've owned my HVX for 8 months. I've already paid for it and my tripod (Cartoni Focus) with the work I've done with it. It's not too bad, as the production climate here in Ottawa, Canada is as variable as the weather! It's one of those places where you work like stink for 6 months of the year, and then the other half kinda gets sleepy with the occaisional gig here and there.
I love owning it. I love being able to head outside on a nice day and try a bunch of stuff. It's how I've really gotten to know the camera, and have lots of local people calling me just to figure out how to use it! =P Plus, I'm one of those trying to piece together shorts and such, so it's lovely to have it sitting around when I want it. Rental houses are decent, but stock is limited as it is a smaller market here. Often the bits you want need to be reserved a while in advance or you risk having it not being there!
I waited a few years working around town before I figured out all my contacts, and the first camera that I wanted to invest in, and I couldn't be happier with my decisions. I've been able to do a lot of cool projects that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Kevin
 
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