My First Paid work.

KIPAX said:
60 quid a day at 16.. who cares what they sell for..just dont put your name to them and dont tell anyone who your workign for.. grab the money if its your only avenue for more kit..

Dont get sucked in.. You use them for your ends.. dont let them use you..

To others..... hes 16 with no car.. his options are limited and he desperatly needs to make some money for gear... I say go for it but keep shtum... get the money for kit and move on :) I also agree wiht what chris there is saying.. 16 and giving it a go.. a part time job already and now this.. and he has a clear direction in life... wish all 16 yr olds where like this..
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You don't know many 16 year olds do you? Just what you read in the papers I'm guessing.
 
One quick question....

How many jobs are out there that 16yr olds can do will pay £10 an hour?
Give it a go, take the shots and don't think about it. what they are doing with the shots afterwards is of no concern to you. Just see it as shooting for £10 an hour without having to do any editing.

Just don't rely on it.
 
purpleclouds said:
This is the biggest load of balls I've ever heard Gary. Sure, there are bad apples out there.. but I have worked for two franchises and continue to have a good relationship (much to the point that they're lucky to get 200 images a day out of me - I am being paid a lot more though ;)) with them. Rarely do a days work for them now though as I'm working for an agency :shrug:

The two I worked for did value my abilities and paid accordingly, and I can assure you no low quality images were ever sold when I was working with them. The second of the two were new when I got in with them.. and therefore I very much trained them on the photography front 'in the field' as it were.. so I know they're only knocking out worthwhile images.

I do agree, £60 ain't great to be going with.. but after a couple of jobs if Mark has proved himself then he can either ask for more money to reflect that or move on if he isn't feeling valued. It's all part of the experience of becoming self employed, and learning to value yourself is one of the most important things I ever did.

It's all very well your friend having the use of all that gear with no outlay - but we know how insecure staff jobs are becoming.. I'd rather own my own gear than end up skint, out of a job and gear-less one day :)

I do normally respect your opinion highly, but if I'm honest there does seem to be a sounding of sour grapes or a bad personal experience somewhere? :shrug:

Edit - I've worked for a few different events companies.. and to be honest, none will make you a millionaire.. and yes, most will try and walk over you, but linking back it's all part of the learning experience :) A solely equestrian company 'demanded' at least 6 shots per horse, with upto 250 horses per day.. and paid peanuts. DE are a breath of fresh air in comparison :)
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Some decent points Phil but i bet you rather Tobers wouldn't have mentioned your name :LOL:

I did say they are franchisees and he might get lucky and work for someone who cares about him and the sort of images he produces.

Ive had no personal bad experience of them just seen them in action at various events ive attended, i once made a contribution to another post about DE where i said i was so appualed by the photographers lack of knowledge about her kit i actually pulled her up and told her how to use it, she was using a Canon 1DMKII and a Sigma 120-300mm but couldnt understand why most of her tracking shots were OOF, anyone who knows anything about Canon MKII and this particular lens knows that if during tracking a subject you also zoom in or out, tracking stops untul you stop zooming then you need to refocus.

Ive seen 2 mates had the pee taken out of them by this shower simply because they knew they were struggling financially, Jamie, my mate was about 3 weeks days from having himself evicted, they knew this and offered him £30 a day with the use of some of their kit.

Ive seen some great work on here by some togs who were working for DE, some swimming stuff springs to mind, however ive also seen some absolute tat

You only need to look in their viewing area to see some of the rubbish on show.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Some decent points Phil but i bet you rather Tobers wouldn't have mentioned your name :LOL:

I did say they are franchisees and he might get lucky and work for someone who cares about him and the sort of images he produces.

Ive had no personal bad experience of them just seen them in action at various events ive attended, i once made a contribution to another post about DE where i said i was so appualed by the photographers lack of knowledge about her kit i actually pulled her up and told her how to use it, she was using a Canon 1DMKII and a Sigma 120-300mm but couldnt understand why most of her tracking shots were OOF, anyone who knows anything about Canon MKII and this particular lens knows that if during tracking a subject you also zoom in or out, tracking stops untul you stop zooming then you need to refocus.

Ive seen 2 mates had the pee taken out of them by this shower simply because they knew they were struggling financially, Jamie, my mate was about 3 weeks days from having himself evicted, they knew this and offered him £30 a day with the use of some of their kit.

Ive seen some great work on here by some togs who were working for DE, some swimming stuff springs to mind, however ive also seen some absolute tat

You only need to look in their viewing area to see some of the rubbish on show.
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There's always one isn't there ;)

That may have been my swimming stuff :D

That's fair enough though.. like I said, there is always bad apples :) My personal experiences have been nothing but faultless.

So long as Mark is careful and doesn't let himself be pushed over then it's not a bad starting block.. how quickly he progresses onto better work is then entirely in his own hands this way! Rather that, than just trying to jump in the deep end with an agency as Andy has pointed out!
 
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purpleclouds said:
There's always one isn't there ;)

That may have been my swimming stuff :D

That's fair enough though.. like I said, there is always bad apples :) My personal experiences have been nothing but faultless.

So long as Mark is careful and doesn't let himself be pushed over then it's not a bad starting block.. how quickly he progresses onto better work is then entirely in his own hands this way! Rather that, than just trying to jump in the deep end with an agency as Andy has pointed out!
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Phil, are you the person Mark eludes to, if so is he going to be working for the franchise you personally worked for. Hope so.
 
Pieface said:
You don't know many 16 year olds do you? Just what you read in the papers I'm guessing.
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oooer :) Not very good at guessing are you? My reply stands.. well done to him for having the direction in life and actually getting off his backside and doing it...
 
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If you read between the lines.. Even from Garys first post he isnt saying dont work for them ..
 
Gary Coyle said:
Phil, are you the person Mark eludes to, if so is he going to be working for the franchise you personally worked for. Hope so.
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Unfortunately for Mark, he isn't... haven't heard anything of the Blackpool/Preston area chap so wouldn't like to comment! :)
 
Rovers_Andy said:
Agree completely with you Phil :)

Mark 60 quid might not be much but its a start so i say go for it, use it as practice to hone and perfect your workflow and find out what works best for you. The most important aspect of your progression to the level you want is practice practice and more practice.

Remember the basics of straight horizons, no missing arms or legs clean backgrounds (where possible) and the rest will fall into place.

Once you have gained the experience from a few of these jobs you will be in a far stronger position to handle the challenge and pressure of shooting for an "Agency"

Take the time to get your work to a consistently high standard with your workflow nailed and shooting for an agency won't seem such a huge step up.
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Makes sense, cheers Andy
Well I had a great today...And got paid more than I should :p
They were strict on the type of shot, and all images sold were of quality.
I really enjoyed it, and they were really nice people (His daughter springs to mind:naughty:)
I've been offered more work, and Im deinately up for doing it again.
It was a great experience.
I appreciate all your comments, Thanks
 
Money in your pocket, experience of shooting under pressure (no pic, no pay).. and a good old perv.. what more do you need on a Sunday? :p
 
I know a franchise owner of DE photo in the south and have done a days work to help him out in the past. Ok, so the quality of images that they are happy to sell isnt great and in my opinion overpriced, but people buy them so they dont really care, anyway thats a different issue and i wont go down that road now.

If it a way to gain experience and make a bit of cash at the same time then give it a go, why not?? I know someone who worked for the above mentioned franchise who now contracts with Getty, so didnt appear to do him any harm. I think the thing is IF your good, your good!! Someone will give you work (eventually). How do you get good? Practice, practice, practice.

Glad you enjoyed it Mark and good luck
 
I say well done to you. It's good experience and you're getting paid what is quite good money for a 16 year old who doesn't pay any tax. My daughter is 17 and getting less than that for a day's work in a department store which is far less fun I'm sure.

You'll gradually be able to put together a nice set of quality portfolio images (be very picky which ones you choose) which will help get the next job etc etc.

Good work!
 
I also say go for it.

My 16 year old has been doing cleaning in the school holidays to get money for car insurance.

He doesn't want to do cleaning for a career but knows that car insurance is going to cost a lot, so he got off his arse and has been working hard. Lots of kids his age wouldn't do that kind of work because it would be beneath them.

However he now has over £2k in the bank.
 
I am not a keen advocate of DE, However I think its a great way to get some live photo experience and get some cash in at the same time. Its also a great way to meet the public and interact with them.....The latter is invaluble.

Well done Mark, what type of event were you shooting?
Tug
 
Go for it, as soon as I was 16 and old enough to do more than casual
jobs I worked in a kitchen ever friday & saturday doing 12 hour shifts!

Im pretty sure I was getting about £3ph, but that was around 8 yeats ago!

Its well and good turning your nose up when your an experienced tog with all the gear you need. I think you'll do a damn site better when you go for that first serious job if you have some good quality images to back you up than you will with SFA because you didnt want to tarnish your name.

Edit: it would appear youve done the right thing...
 
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