I've dabbled in professional photography a bit. I can tell you, you don't get rich as a photographer. To become a really good professional photographer you have

I've dabbled in professional photography a bit. I can tell you, you don't get rich as a photographer. To become a really good professional photographer you have to put about 5-10 years into it. There are a lot of cost, from equipments to other things. Not to mention the basic cost of doing a business. Answering 10 clients to just get one. Commuting, transportations, etc. There is a lot of cost in post-production. I occasionally shoot weddings. And I spend 3-4X as much time in post as the hours I spent shooting a wedding. So if you're charging $200/hr. You really making $40/hr. This is not does include commute cost, equipment wear and tear or rentals. The best gig I've ever gotten was for a client who flew me to Lake Como, Italy for a week. But you had to envy the view while you were shooting all day :)