Certainly, and I think I mentioned this earlier in this thread. I'm not a professional photographer. I made probably about $2,000 or so (edit: actually I think it was a decent bit less but I don't remember an exact figure) doing freelance Photography gigs last year and at this time I don't plan to do any more paid photography work, I didn't enjoy photography as a paid endeavor one bit.
The gigs were several weddings as a 2nd shooter, lasting from the morning to late evening, starting at the bride/grooms dressing rooms and ending at the toast/dance/eating session, forget what that's called (a note, free, tastey but incredibly unhealthy food was always provided, -note on two occasions the dinner food that was provided for contractor staff, DJ's photographers, etc., was not the same nice fancy food the guests were eating, but the appetizer portions of the events always were and we weren't expected to take pictures of people while they were eating). Also I got roped into doing some handful of photo-booth shenanigans that I had no interest in but offered as a favor to the person I was second shooting for, that was even more miserable than 2nd shooting, by a considerable degree, and after long I washed my hands of the entire debacle. The photo-booth gig had little to nothing to do with photography and more to do with testing my fractured, damaged level of patience, carting around a crummy makeshift curtain/stage and setting up a laptop, printer and camera, before the event: then babysit the software for the event: then pack it up and return the equipment the following day. I briefly considered just building up a portfolio of sample wedding photography, and then advertising for low cost for the first few gigs until I could demand more. The only other thing that came close to paid work was a website deal I was working on that fell through during pre-production and negotiations, where I took some preliminary images of the store/factories location to use in their marketing, but this project fell through and went completely unpaid.
Aside from that bit, since you are probably interested. I have a BFA (Bachelor's of Fine Art) as well as some trade schooling. Some decent knowledge of video editing and 3D animation, and have been studying and working behind applications like Photoshop for more than 14 years.
Photography for me will remain an interest and a hobby, and as well a tool to combine with my other casual art endeavors and occasional freelance gigs, like digital painting, websites, etc.. In general, I have grown to hate art/creativity as a buisiness/way of income and if I was forced to do it all over, I would probably have become a plumber who moonlit as hobbyist artist. I have however, dug my hole rather deep with student loan debt and now at least strive to live cheaply and survive on a small bit of inheritance and reluctantly but hopefully some future but limited freelance/contract creative gigs, (basically just looking to have a lot of free time and financially scrape by unless something more appealing presents itself). This topic however, interests me greatly, as I am interested in the salaries, lifestyles, work life, etc. of art related fields, so your promised input is very much appreciated, thank you very much in advance, cheers.
