A lot of people dream of turning pro but few actually realise the dream.

Many reasons for this. Not least of all is the fact that it is easy to pick the best images from ones collection and get good reactions from people but to have to go out day after day, quite often at the most unsocial times, and produce the goods every time is a totally different game.

I was made redundant by my employer in March 2007 and decided to try my hand at pro photography, mainly gundogs, shooting and other country pursuits. For six months things were building up steadily but not spectacularly.

If I had been working for someone else doing the hours I was doing I would have been earning a hell of a lot more than I was.

And the idea that you can please yourself as you are your own boss is just not true. There are books to keep up to date, letters, invoices, bill chasing, the list goes on.

After 6 months I was offered out of the blue a job that I had not even applied for or knew about. It was decision time.

I took the job as I would still be able to carry on the photography in a part time basis.

Will I ever make the leap to full time. I don't know. I'd like to think so but it will be with my eyes wide open to what the actual life of a full time pro entails.

Steve

What you are saying Steve is so true of anyone who works for themselves, looks ok to those on the outside looking in but those on the inside know that for most their day they are still working for someone else ranging from the government to the suppliers, customer to accountants and all stops in-between. We always said that if 10% of the taking came to us we were doing well.

I went full time self employed 3 years ago now - I had been toying with the idea of setting up a dog training business for a while, came back to Cornwall and started - BUT worked in Tescos as a safety net....(You've still got to pay the mortgage!!) The push for me came in the form of 2 things - 1) I developed RSI in my shoulder (to this day very painful) and I had a couple of clients wanting me to have dogs on a longer time scale. I knew I had 6 months worth of money to give it a good push and luckily for me it worked.

I will mention -I am single with no kids so had no-one else to worry about - I also started renting out my house in Norfolk and Moved into a static Caravan on my Grandmother and Mothers property - there is no way I could have done it otherwise.

Don;t get me wrong - I love my job and its great I can do something - a) I'm good at and b) I enjoy - but becoming SE I swapped on freedom for another - I no longer have to worry about upsetting the boss - but I only have me to blame when it all goes wrong! I can have holidays when I want - but they aren't paid! And the big one.....I am terrified of getting sick! Although I have a couple of insurance policies in place its always a worry.

The photograpghy is just another part of the dog training for me - another way to earn a bit of money and keep living the dream! If it works - great - if not I still love taking photographs and going through them so I haven;t really lost anything!

Sorry I seem to have rambled!!

Not at all, it's great to hear peoples experiences

Steve

Know what you mean Tassel, people used to say to us "must be nice being your own boss" we always replied "far from it, true we don't have a boss, everyone of our customers is our boss and if we do not get it right we don't get paid"

I was a wedding photographer back in the late 70s. Friends started asking me to shoot their weddings and the word spread of my rresults. I sed to have a very flexible pricing list as I loved to help young couples that couldn't afford a "professional" For such situations I always presented the couple the negatives as a wedding gift. I wasn't really in it for the money but for the photography. Somehow it gives me a thrill to know my work is on walls and albums all over the world. I haven't sold a photograph in 25-30 years but continue to give away my work which is still being hung on walls. LOL