Last Updated: February 15th, 2020

One of the most difficult challenges to overcome as a new professional photographer is getting enough experience to make yourself enticing to attract a good number of clients. In the early stages of running your own photography service, you may wonder if it might be a good idea to work for another studio on the side. For some, this might potentially lead to having more images to use in your portfolio or simply bring in a more stable income.

Given that we have a good amount of second shooting experience – filling in on wedding day shoots with other photographers from time to time just to get experience – we’ve come to form some opinions on this subject you might find useful given we have been there and we are currently in a better position where we attract enough clients on our own to not need this sort of work ourselves.

Let’s chat more in depth about some of the pros, cons, and general considerations you should have about shooting (or not shooting) for another photo studio.

What other studio(s) are you looking to work for?

The first thing you need to really answer is – what kind of photography studios are you considering working for? There are literal photo studios like you might find tucked into a Wal-Mart, or maybe a family run photo studio in town. These types of studios usually are far more structured environments, and focus entirely on portrait photography (think: seniors, families, etc.).

On the other end of things, other photography “studios” may entail more in the way of traveling and shooting weddings or other types of photography not necessary confined to a single brick-and-mortar venue.

For the purpose of this article, we will be viewing the term “studio” to be referring to both of these things – but it is important to keep in mind the differences, some of which can be significant that we will discuss in more depth as we go along.

Define your goals

Before you can fully answer whether or not you should even consider shooting for another photography studio, you need to plainly lay out your goals.

Your goals will cover a lot of ground – personal goals, professional and business goals, and goals as a photographer. More than likely, financial goals will also go in there too, because you know…we sometimes have to pay our bills 🙂

The importance of this is very high, and you should define your goals outside of making a decision regarding whether or not you want to shoot for another studio. We can sometimes muddy our thoughts at the sight of some quick cash, or even just the simple opportunity to take different photos.

Get to know more about the studio position

Given every photography business can potentially run in different ways, we will probably talk a bit here with some generalizations based on what we know about the photography industry in general.

Our thoughts may not apply directly to your specific situation – in which case you should consider leaving a comment at the end of this post, as we’d love to have the opportunity to hear about your specific current considerations.

We will break down three typical scenarios you might face when it comes to looking at a potential job for a photography studio. They will be in the following use cases:

1. Brick-and-Mortar Portraits (ie: mom-and-pop photography shops, Wal-Mart, etc.)

2. Certified Photographer Positions (ie: George Street Photography)

3. Contracted Photography for Other Photographers (ie: working with Hand and Arrow Photography)

We’ll discuss these in more depth below.

1). Brick-and-Mortar Portrait Positions

You may remember taking photos with your family at a young age by visiting Wal-Mart’s photography studio. As you grew up, grabbing senior portraits in a similar fashion was probably a reality, too.

In the world of photography, this type of job role is most likely to feel like a “normal” 9-5 job. You will be much more an employee of the greater store you are working for, and less a photographer capable of bringing a lot of artistic merit to the table.

As a result, studio positions like these are most likely going to be appealing to someone who needs the following:

• Steady income

• Stable work hours

• Guaranteed work

Likely, this job in the world of photography is going to pay minimum wage (or a little more). Your role will likely have to do more with posing your subjects for portraits, and doing so in a manner that is very efficient so as to be able to move through a larger volume of clients quickly. From there, you will also, more than likely, be relegated to a sales position – pushing print sales as this will be the primary way many photography shops like this actually can make money.

In general, you will not be able to use any of the photos you take in these environments for your personal portfolio. This can be a big detractor if you are trying to start your own photography business.

Our opinion on this type of job: If you need a stable income, this can be a easy job to get into if you already have good working technical knowledge of operating a camera, as well as people skills. Unfortunately, due to the likelihood of working quite a bit and with limited artistic input into your photographs, we could see this sort of position to be exhausting quickly. We do not suggest going with this sort of photography role if you are trying to start your own business, unless you are planning to commit only for a relatively short period of time as a means to make some extra cash for yourself.

2). Certified Photographer Positions

We had some difficulty giving a name to the type of role this covers, but let us explain using George Street Photography as an example.

This is a popular source for photography – particularly wedding photography. In many regards, photographers become “employed” by George Street in more of a contractor type role. By going through their application process, they look for already established photographers looking to add some additional booking on their schedule or new photographers with limited experience that have their own gear.

The result of working for a photo studio like this is having the ability to experiment with your art form and get paid to do it – at least as far as the bounds of the photography style allows. For George Street, the photography offered is all about “photojournalism,” so if you have a style that is outside of this – you may not meet the needs of the job.

On the surface, this definitely seems like an appealing option to any photographer looking to grow – but there is a catch, and it comes in the fine print. You lose the rights to your images (can’t use in your personal portfolio as a result). There are other issues, too, from low pay, poor reimbursement for mileage, and so on. Of course – different photography organizations like this may operate differently, so you’d want to look into the specifics yourself if considering something different

Our opinion on this type of job: Much like a brick-and-mortar portrait taker, this can be a great way to make some money. The problem is – the work you will get is not steady (some people reported having 1-2 weddings a YEAR), the amount of money you are compensated while okay on paper doesn’t always balance out with the amount of money you are spending to maintain your gear, travel, etc.; and the inability to use images for your own portfolio can make it seem like it conflicts with your goal of running your own person photo business. This is something you may want to consider if you are already becoming established and just want to have another option to fill a few extra days on your calendar for some quick money.

3. Contracted Photography for Other Photographers

Finally, the type of photographer role we lean most towards. It’s likely that being a contracted photographer has the most potential to mean a lot of different things, and that is exactly why there are so many more opportunities here to meet your specific goals.

There are so many photographers around – both in your local market area and outside of it. The potential to get in touch with these photographers and ask to help them out is so easy given the amount of networking done on social media.

It’s a pretty sharp memory in our mind being out in Portland, Oregon for a photography workshop, and finding ourselves picking up a model at the airport after a quick Instagram conversation the night before. The end result was pretty stellar!

Many photographers and their brands often look for assistants and second shooters. Our photography business, Hand and Arrow, regularly educates and brings along photographers looking to get their feet wet in the world of wedding photography. You can undoubtedly find similar opportunities with other photographers, for weddings and non-wedding use cases.

These types of photography opportunities often provide the most opportunity to get the best mix of results for your time and energy: some money, new portfolio shots, networking, and hands on shadowing of a pro, etc.

Using ourselves as an example, people who work with us don’t really have any negative consequences – we just expect them to act professionally and understand they represent our brand. In exchange, we welcome them to use the images they capture for their own portfolio and so on.

Our opinion on this type of job: It is here you will most likely find the most flexibility in terms of schedule and ability to use the photos you take for your portfolio (and as a result, letting you put them towards growing your own business). On the other end of things, work may not be consistent – and most likely won’t be a 9-5 gig unless you are really lucky to find a photographer hiring an assistant (and willing to choose you over everyone else interested!). Still, if you are beginning to earn some income with your own photography business, this can be an excellent way to keep active in the industry, network, and make a little cash, too.

So…should you run your own business AND do work for another studio?

There are a lot of pros and cons that come with working for other photographers or photography studios. Some are more restrictive on your time, and what you can do with the images you shoot. Other opportunities might be great, but not nearly as steady as you might like.

Based on our experience in the wedding industry, second shooting and assistant jobs are actually a great way to get more exposure to the way things work – and get paid for it. We’ve been paid upwards of $150/hr. for second shooting opportunities – but even a brand new photographer could expect around $50/hr. (at least in our area!). This is not bad for a one off thing you do a couple times a year.

We also know other photographers who actively pursue these types of gigs as well and are nearly constantly booked every wedding to work with someone else.

Ultimately, it comes down to your tolerance and what your life goals are. Some people have circumstances that force them to need a really stable second job while getting their business up and running (we know this feeling as we are both in this boat), while others are more able to just second shoot and run their photography business exclusively.

Whatever situation you are in, we hope this article helps give you some insight into the opportunities out there for you.