What kind of money part time?

[Skarn]

Hey all,

I know there are MANY variables to this question, but if possible to quantify, I'm wondering just what kind of money someone like me could make part-time...say on weekends doing AP?

I have no experience, but can fly the heck out of my TREX 450. I just got a Raptor 50 as well.

So the basic question is: If I got all the proper AP equipment, what kind of money could I make if I delved into the AP business as a part-time job/hobby? Again, I know that's a very broad question with many factors, but what about a ballpark low to high end?

Thanks!
Skarn

[portblock]

Dont know if this helps, but do a quick view of your place, and/or a shopping center and take that to a local realestate agent and see if they like it.

[txflyboys2]

I have had it explained to base a figure on around 20% - 25% of the amount you have vested in the equipment being used to take the photos on a particular shoot...............at that price, offer multiple shots or even all shots taken at one location. In most cases, that is a fraction of the price a customer would be paying to a full size bird and the full scale won't be able to get shots from the same low altitude as an RC plane, heli or polecam. Hope this helps.

Larry

[Tonystott]

You might be able to fly, but are you expecting the photography part to be easy? The point I am making is that if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it wouldn't they?

I would suggest that you need to spend a lot of time taking photos for yourself before you approach other to pay you for it.

[Skarn]

Ok, thanks for the replies, but I really aren't getting an idea of what could be made. Would someone post dollar amounts one could make in....let's say a weekend?

And no, by no means do I expect the photography part to be easy. I would certainly perfect it before asking people to pay. Right now, I'm not even at a contemplating phase yet, I'm more curious than anything...

Thanks,
Skarn

[d-bledsoe]

I will be honest. With no AP experience, no training for AP, and no photography experience. Starting out you can expect to make little to nothing. Sorry to say but its true. In fact you can actually expect to loose a good bit of money in the start, as it will cost XYZ before you can even get in the air to take photos.

Just because you can "fly the heck" out of your little 450 doesn't mean that will make you good at AP. There are a lot of variables that go into becoming successful at AP and taking it further then just a hobby.

2 things you need to be successful at AP and they are important

1) you need to be able to fly. Well duh you say.... flying for AP is not the same as flying 3d, in fact many people find flying AP harder then flying 3d. you will need to be smooth and precise, and that skill takes months even years to learn.

2) you need to be a good photographer/videographer. Yep, you need to know good photography techniques to be able to take good pictures while in the air. You need to know composition, lighting, techniques, and how to apply those while in the air. The light is vastly different on the ground then when your 100Ft up in the air. Flying and doing photography takes many months and years to learn, you can just expect to strap your little point and shoot camera to your rapter 50, and get good photographs.

So those are the 2 requirements before you can even think about making any money. If you dont have a photography background the odds are against you.

Now how much can you make? well that depends on a lot of variables, most importantly of which is your skills and pilot and photographer, as well as location and demand.

So there you go, you could expect to see anywhere from -50$ a week to thousands, depending on a lot of variables.

[Tonystott]

And without overloading you with doom and gloom, many of us ind the biggest part of the job is actually finding clients. It is so easy to assume that once you have the flying and photography ducks in a row (as above, this is not a trivial achievement itself), you will be stampeded by people clamouring for your services.

Nope, just about any business needs a marketing effort, and in the beginning, this might consume almost all your time.

Better to present the facts..

[Skarn]

Excellent info! Thanks guys. I may just try it for fun and forget about making money!

Skarn

[rotorhead58d]

i say buy a used camera, mount it, and see what happens. it almost sounds like they are discouraging you from getting into it.:mad: :thumbdown:

[Skarn]

i say buy a used camera, mount it, and see what happens. it almost sounds like they are discouraging you from getting into it.:mad: :thumbdown:

LOL I got that impression too! :)

Skarn

[WillJames]

Sounds more like they are giving good and conservative advice that is honest and realistic to me. As someone who has flow helis since 1986 off and on and shot a TON of video and tried some AP myself, I agree with them. Looks like good advice to me, definitely not an easy profession to get into without the background photography experience. It is your photos first, communications skills and ability to sell yourself second that sell your work, not how cool your AP rig looks to the potential customer.

[Skarn]

Thanks again,

Skarn

[bullaculla]

It is your photos first, communications skills and ability to sell yourself second that sell your work, not how cool your AP rig looks to the potential customer.

you talking about me? :P

I've invested thousands of dollars building a cool looking AP rig. Then before I really made any money, I built a second. But I am a professional full time photographer so I have not really tried to pursue this as a career or even part time money maker.

[Bigdipper]

B-Bledsoe....................best response I have ever heard.......

[d-bledsoe]

B-Bledsoe....................best response I have ever heard.......

Thanks, I get this question atleast one a week, so i have had lots of time to think it over:-)
I have been doing this for a while and tell it how it is. Im not trying to discourage anyone from doing this. its loads of fun.

I will say one last thing it took me a long time before i actually started to turn a profit, for the first year or so i was in the hole in a big way. This is spendy profession to enter, many things can and do go wrong on a shoot.

Let me leave you thinking with this last question. If you got right into the AP gig and got a paying shoot, what would you do if your helicopter crashed during the shoot destroying the helicopter and the camera, and possibly cause damage to the surrounding area? This has happened to me before and i was out 4k$ in one day.

I think you are thinking the right way now, i would just do it for fun for awhile and see how it goes, that is how we all started anyway.

[jwk72]

I've been a professional photographer for seven years and still struggle:arggg:. I've had ad's in national publications, shot catalogs for major RC companies and made good money when the work is there. But I will tell you this, taking photos is at most 25% of the deal. The rest of the time you are beating on doors, shaking hands and trying to sell yourself. Some of it is luck, most of it is in your photographic abilities and sales skills. I'm getting into AP because i love rc helis and I'm trying to diversify and add to the fun I have while shooting on the ground. Don't get discouraged, jusy be prepared to work your "tail rotor" off to get at the big bucks!

Jay

J.Kristensen Photography
www.jkristensenphotography.com

Vision Quest Studios
www.discovervisionquest.com

[Tonystott]

i say buy a used camera, mount it, and see what happens. it almost sounds like they are discouraging you from getting into it.:mad: :thumbdown:And unfortunately, some people are just too cynical for their own good. Sometimes the truth isn't necessarily what we were hoping to hear...
I could have done the rose-coloured-glasses thing, and raged about how lucrative it is, but that would not be truthful. There are some people who are making a good return from their work, but they are exceptional in terms of their brilliant flying and artistic flair.

The great majority of people using helis for AP are making modest returns.

For my part, I am easily covering all equipment costs plus a bit, but hope to ramp things up over time.

[Cryofix]

I forgot who said it but it was the best advice I ever got from this forum......

Its not like cocaine it wont sell itself

2 years later now for me and I have not made a dime, I have had alot of fun trying to get everything to work, and like you I was looking at it part time, however part time makes it even harder, once you start landing jobs, demands start to be made on your time and you may even have to take time off of your real job to do shoots.

One last thing, my bottom line is safety, and if I don't feel I can safely make money i don't do it, there are tons of variables and a lot to think about even before you lift off for a client shoot.

On the lighter side it is F'in awesome! and to be able to tell people you aerial photography as a second job its pretty rockin.

About $20K later this all I have to show for my efforts =)

http://www.skylineapv.com

[streetwize]

2 years for me learning how to fly helis just for AP. In that two years I've found that the customer does not care how the shot is achieved, they are only interested in the results. After spending thousands... I've sold my large heli (still have the 30 size 'cause helis are cool), Building a larger slowstick type plane, I have a 40' telescoping mast, and just about ready to order my kite for KAP (because of pending FAA regulations). Its just another tool to get the shot.

Photography should be the main focus, join a photography forum and learn what its all about.

BTW, I haven't made a dime yet, but now I'm ready to push hard.

http://www.envisioncreativeimaging.com

Troy

[Efliernz]

We are now making close to the total airborne asset value per month - part time. Still a long way to go but we have started getting "whole-day bookings" which scared the crap out of me first time they asked. I just wasn't prepared for that!!!
We did our first couple of Real-estate shoots last week. The Trex-600 looks good hovering 20' above the neighbors house :) There was no other way to shoot what they wanted and we did it flying off the lawn.

I'm trying to convince the finance manager (wife) a big 26cc gasser may be needed. Can't justify yet but it is getting closer. I continue to do my usual job - but balancing both is getting harder.

I did have contact with two aquaintences recently who have both tried (separately and together) to make this type of business work and they admitted it is just too hard to make it pay - and the flying is too hard. They then gave me a congrat's.

A long way to go but we are getting there :YeaBaby:

[Flyboy]

The best quote that I have heard to date.

"AP is a great way to make a small fortune.... you just have to start with a medium or large one."

FB

[d-bledsoe]

Travis that is an awesome quote.
I easily have double to tripple the amount of money into the business then i have made.... Oh well its all fun in the end.

[TwistedRotor]

This is my first post on the Freak but I've been hiding in the wood works here. I just ordered a AP mount for my Trex for the simple fact that I do not want to do 3D and have a "natural" skill (as I'm told) at taking pictures. So why not try it in the air. But the one thing that always rang in my ear about people wanting to make cash with AP was that if you enjoy flying, then you won't once it's a job. Just my 2 cents.

[furyphoto]

But the one thing that always rang in my ear about people wanting to make cash with AP was that if you enjoy flying, then you won't once it's a job. Just my 2 cents.

I don't know if I really buy that. I learned to fly just to shoot AP, I love it every time I shoot. But I always loved photography, and since I started doing it to make a living years ago, I have never been happier. I am thrilled to be able to make a living doing something I love. (for me, the flying is just a bonus!)

I suppose if you were doing so much AP that it consumed your entire life, so you didn't have time for anything else, you might not enjoy it anymore. But the AP business is not quite that busy, so there's not much fear of that!

Besides, things like AP, photography, full scale piloting, and other stuff like mountain guiding that some friends of mine do, aren't like "real" jobs. They're more fun, and people do it more for the love of the job, not as much for the money.

-A

[jascamera]

It all depends on your abilities as whole. Service, Ability, presentation, Product quality, artistic, Marketing.

I am a photographer. I know photographer who make $60,000 a day works everyday and have to push jobs away, some make as little as $100 TO $200 A DAY and struggle to land couple of jobs a month. I am somewhere in the middle. Therefore, your success depend on many factors, therefore if you can only fly, you have a lot of work a head of you. But there are only a handful of people can make the top rates, most are struggling, many have 10 plus years in photography.