An Idea...
So, tell me what you folks think of this idea as a way to make some side money when I get home:
I’ve been thinking about random ways to make money with photography when I get back to the US, either as a full time thing, as a part time thing, or as side money, and this is one I recently thought of, with the help of another foreigner here on Jindo who used to be a career counselor.
Now that the cost of digital SLR cameras (DSLRs) has been dropping into consumer range, sales of low-level cameras like the Canon Rebel are skyrocketing. However, most of these folks have only ever owned a point-and-shoot, and know next to nothing about how to use the camera they just spent $800 on. I see tons of folks who literally just leave their SLR on full-auto mode, which, frankly, generally results in pictures that aren’t all that much better than what they were getting with their point-and-shoot.
So, my plan is to offer classes in how to use your new DSLR like a professional. It would basically be a beginners class for photography, but instead of focusing on all the pretentious stuff, I’d be focusing on the nitty gritty of how to use the functions on the camera to get the best picture, some introductory talk about buying lenses and flashes, and some basic discussion of composition, etc. The class would be hands-on and would probably be a combination of indoors and outdoors.
I’m not sure how long the classes would be, but I’m sure I’ll have a better idea of that as I flesh out this idea. They could be a weekend, they could be 4 Saturdays, whatever. I’m not sure yet how long the class would need to be, and I need to balance out making sure the class is thorough without it being too long for folks to commit to. Plus, I’d have to charge more for a longer class, and that might make many folks shy away. Perhaps I could offer two lengths, or split it into two chunks which could be taken separately and would be charged separately; a beginner section and an intermediate section.
I see this as a relatively un-tapped market. People are busy these days, and they want to learn to take better pictures without having to take something like a continuing education course in photography. Also, while people are busy, there have been several studies released lately showing that people are taking advantage of being jobless as a time to pursue their hobbies more than they would have been able to, and maybe I can take advantage of that. People are also suckers for personal attention, and if the classes are small (I could run one on Sat and one on Sun, if there’s enough interest), they’ll feel it’s a much more personal experience than something like a continuing ed. class. I can even print out some kind of certificate of completion at the end, because folks eat that stuff up. I’m not sure why, but people seem to love getting papers saying they’ve completed things.
DC is also a good place to do this sort of thing. It’s an interesting city, and I’m sure that many folks who live here would love to be able to take nice pictures of where they live. There are some great photo locations; some touristy, some not - and the benefit is that DC residents are used to seeing professional photos of their hometown, so they will have something to visually compare to as they improve.
Anyway. It’s just an idea, but I’d love to hear what you think.
To make this post more interesting while remaining relevant, here are some of my own photos of DC:
Read the rest of this entry »
Originally published at Teh Blog. You can comment here or there.