Reinvent Yourself Using Your Photo Skills

Posted on 1/1/1753 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)

If you’re a freelance photographer trying to earn a living taking pictures, and finding photo jobs few and far between during this Covid 19 pandemic, you should read this story.

Adam Pratt is one of many freelancers who has seen the demand for his services as a photographer decline. As a result he has re-invented his business. He has been able to use his photography skills and training to turn from taking pictures to organizing personal photos for families.

It may not sound as exciting as going out every day shooting in different places and covering different events, but it’s a job with huge and growing demand that can be done mostly sitting at home (in quarantine). One of the beauties is that most photographers already have most of the equipment and skills needed to launch this new career.



One of the advantages of professional photo organizing is that you won’t be depending on large businesses to hire you. You’ll be working for individual families.

There is even a trade association for this photo organizing type of work. You can contact them urer. You may also want to read a little more about the association here.



Expecting Things Will Return To Normal Soon?


If you expect the photo business you knew it to return to normal soon, think again. Waiting it out is not a strategy. It is very likely that it will not just be months, but years before businesses will be able to justify spending the kind of money they spent in the past for photographic services that are often of secondary importance to their main line of business.

There will be fewer meetings and events to cover. In the stock environment there will be lower and lower prices and more use of free images. There will be much greater competition for the little money available.



In July 2020 there were 121.2 million full-time employees in the U.S. down 10.95 million from 132.15 million in July 2019. The full-timers will be first ones to be brought back before companies start spending money on the things freelancers used to do.

In June 2020, of the salaried jobs lost, 21.4% were considered permanent. Those people won’t be finding new replacement jobs soon. Many will have heard that freelance photography is a great way to make some extra money. They will be out there competing for the few available jobs by offering lower prices.

According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study, in addition to the salaried employees out of work there are between 10.5 and 15 million independent contractors who are not counted among the unemployment or underemployment statistics. Now is no time to wait until things get back to normal. It is time to explore every opportunity that might provide some of the support needed.

A 2018 study conducted by UpWork and The Freelancers’ Union found that 56.7 million people earn some of their living from freelance activities. So if there are 15 million full time independent contractors there are almost 3 part-timers competing with each of the professionals for the available jobs -- mostly by offering their services for less.


Copyright © 2020 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Comments

Be the first to comment below.

Post Comment

Please log in or create an account to post comments.

Stay Connected

Sign up to receive email notification when new stories are posted.

Follow Us

Free Stuff

Stock Photo Pricing: The Future
In the last two years I have written a lot about stock photo pricing and its downward slide. If you have time over the holidays you may want to review some of these stories as you plan your strategy ...
Read More
Future Of Stock Photography
If you’re a photographer that counts on the licensing of stock images to provide a portion of your annual income the following are a few stories you should read. In the past decade stock photography ...
Read More
Blockchain Stories
The opening session at this year’s CEPIC Congress in Berlin on May 30, 2018 is entitled “Can Blockchain be applied to the Photo Industry?” For those who would like to know more about the existing blo...
Read More
2017 Stories Worth Reviewing
The following are links to some 2017 and early 2018 stories that might be worth reviewing as we move into the new year.
Read More
Stories Related To Stock Photo Pricing
The following are links to stories that deal with stock photo pricing trends. Probably the biggest problem the industry has faced in recent years has been the steady decline in prices for the use of ...
Read More
Stock Photo Prices: The Future
This story is FREE. Feel free to pass it along to anyone interested in licensing their work as stock photography. On October 23rd at the DMLA 2017 Conference in New York there will be a panel discuss...
Read More
Important Stock Photo Industry Issues
Here are links to recent stories that deal with three major issues for the stock photo industry – Revenue Growth Potential, Setting Bottom Line On Pricing and Future Production Sources.
Read More
Recent Stories – Summer 2016
If you’ve been shooting all summer and haven’t had time to keep up with your reading here are links to a few stories you might want to check out as we move into the fall. To begin, be sure to complet...
Read More
Corbis Acquisition by VCG/Getty Images
This story provides links to several stories that relate to the Visual China Group (VCG) acquisition of Corbis and the role Getty Images has been assigned in the transfer of Corbis assets to the Gett...
Read More
Finding The Right Image
Many think search will be solved with better Metadata. While metadata is important, there are limits to how far it can take the customer toward finding the right piece of content. This story provides...
Read More

More from Free Stuff