Honestly I don't think it's worth it. But I'm prob wrong as there are people doing it and well if it was not, then I could only guess they would not do it. Price is always the issue. For me back then it was even worse. I was not under contract for those mags. I just stepped into a situation where I was offered a sure fire publish if I could find the right model. Which cost me $70 for the news paper ad $300 to the model (she was totally new so cheaper then a pro) Hair and make up was $150.00 for the day (8 hours) and I never had an assistant as I just made sure I was really orginized. Layouts were planed well ahead (poses, clothes, etc) I never shot on location as it could cause a legal problem or a permit issue. I had shot on a beach once and the girl had her top off, a park ranger came over and stopped everything cause no permits were issued. I was handed a $500 fine for public nudity. And that was just for artistic shooting, not for the mags. All that I was able to handle, but back then everything was manual so film was an issue, copies of slides and the development was costly ($10 per role and $7.50 per copy they had to be color matched, which I did myself but with only a 1/2 stop of forgiveness, needing to keep a constant chem temp and weight you had to know what you were doing or multible roles were completly wasted. a simple 1/2 degree temp shift and you are way off the original) not to mention the $11.00 role of film of which I always shot 12 roles. 4 roles per set and I always tried to get 3 sets so I could try and sell them to other mags. It was a tough business and still is today. When I see young kids wanting to shoot for a living I tell them to not waste their time. With the advent of digital they are now competeing with every tom, dick and harry with a $300 point and shoot. Digital did make the film cost go down, but the issue there is still $$$. In shooting you need lenses and well your $300 point and shoot wont cut it. But like I said Im sure it can be done. I just dont think anyone will get rich from it anytime soon, but if done right and you had a good big website who needed content all the time you might make a decent living. But finding them is a whole other story.
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