Photography Side Hustle: How Much Real Photographers Make

A photography side hustle can mean very different things: weekend weddings, commercial product shoots, or teaching other photographers. The three below cover all of those, with real numbers from the first year onward.

Weddings on weekends

Katelyn Alsop started at $750 for six hours of shooting and editing from her college dorm in 2008. By 2013 she earned six figures, and after adding online courses for photographers she made her first $1 million in profit at 28.

Commercial food photography

Chef Sean Audet borrowed a camera in 2018, learned from YouTube and found clients on Fiverr. He earned $8,403 that year, $53,276 in 2020 and $133,900 in 2022, and now charges $1,000 to $17,500 per shoot.

In each case, the first year was small and the gear came later. Every story links to its original source.