Hello,

It's a slow day, and if anything, this thread just might provide a little entertainment. I have a good amount of video equipment which I don't use very much outside of the occasional wedding, quinceañera, or the seldom corporate video.

I have an average of 3 hours of freetime every day, and I want to do something productive with my equipment. Here is what I have:

• Canon 600D
• Nikon D3300
• 1.2m Slider
• 2.4m jib
• Laing P-4S Stabilizer
• Tascam DR-05
• RODE shotgun mic
• Lavalier mic
• 4 tripods (2 with fluid head)
• 3 point light kit, one is overhead.
• Reflector
• Crap loads of batteries
• Fairly good editing rig
• Probably a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember owning at the moment

I want to do something productive with my equipment, within the safety of my own home. The security situation has deteriorated to the point that I only leave my house with my equipment when I have a job. There is so much mugging going on that it's not worth risking it unless you have a paid gig.

Here are the things I've thought about doing, but discarded:

• Product reviews. I don't buy enough of any thing to be able to produce enough reviews to make any amount of money. I also tried talking to several businesses to lend me products for review (spent two months doing this), but the conditions they wanted me to agree to were very unfavorable (they wanted fake favorable reviews, a large cut of profits, or they wanted the material for re-branding as commercials, one or all of the above).
• Stock footage: Not only is there nothing interesting to see in Celaya, it's not worth risking getting mugged for making a few dollars on a shot.
• Movie reviews: not really something I'd be good at.
• Gaming videos: don't play enough to do this.
• Exercise videos: too fat.
• Porn: see above.
• Stupid podcasts talking mindlessly about whatever: no.
• Tutorials: don't consider myself an expert on anything for this.

Things that I could probably do:

• Cooking videos: I would actually like to do this, but maybe with a humorous twist. I just want to know if eventually it would become worth my time.
• Can't think of anything else

Selling this equipment won't do me any good, as I still use it for work, and renting it out is the best way for it to get stolen.

Any have any legit ideas? If it's good enough, I might even try it and let you see it to laugh at me.

Even the ideas you've discarded don't really make much money..

Book group vacations to Mexico.

porn... you may be fat but there is a market for fat dudes plugging skinny chicks

I wouldn't want to lose my anonymity. Besides, I'd need to hire a cameraman. It would be pretty boring to have nothing but static shots, or POV handheld shots. Also, I doubt any chick is gonna sign up knowing that there is no guarantee of any money. At least not any skinny chick.

I also may be mistaken, but I think you need special permits in Mexico to film porn for commercial purposes.

you'd be surprised how well POV handheld shots do with porn...

you can always opt to just be behind the scenes

Work on a demo reel. It will make you more money in the long run than any of the short-term solutions you're considering.

Also, Jim, most POV porn isn't actually shot by the dude that's receiving.

Great, there goes my "start a porn career in Mexico" plan.

I really want to get away from social events, it carries a certain stigma that scares clients. I did a gig on Friday where me and another cameraman covered a 2 hour conference. I almost lost the job when the client found out I also do social events, but they were not able to find someone else to replace us in time. Luckily, the client was pleasantly surprised by the quality of our work, then apologized and told us they would hire us again. Happy ending.

I'm located in probably in one of the worst regions for this kind of work. The guy who mentored me has now moved to Canada and urges me to do the same, citing that I'm never going to make it here. The scary thing is I'm really believing it now. Not only do you have to deal with extremely low paid jobs (I only made $1000.00 pesos, $53.16 dollars, on the conference gig, and I probably will only get a job from them once a month at best), but the type of client you get, in my experience so far, treats you like ****. They always complain that your prices are very high (knowing full well what it costs to get the exact same job done elsewhere, because in town this small I just about know everyone who does this kind of work), that your production quality isn't on par with something that costs easily 2000 to 3000 USD, talk to you in the most condescending ways imaginable, ugh. I feel like I have PTSD from dealing with these kinds of people, I never seem to catch a break and get a normal human being as a client.

I'm exhausted. I just want to use my extra time to make some money to pay off bills, save and get the **** out of here.

EDIT:
I've been thinking: I'd like to do some editing work to generate a portfolio. I want to throw my current one out, and simply start from scratch again. Can some one point me in the right direction?

Mexico is a terrible place to live and work? That's a surprise. I'm sure it varies by region, though!

(I sort of mean that seriously, because I would imagine some parts are more affected by drug trafficking related violence than others.)

Maybe he has reeeally nice pillows?

Not trying to sound like an ass, but if you dealing with real shallow people that are the same people that pay you, maybe it's best to lose weight. That way you aren't the "fat guy with the camera" and probably will allow you to take on more mobile assignments

Weren't you doing PHP for a while? You'd probably make a lot more money doing that.

Going through a dry spell of that sort of work.


It really has nothing to do with being fat, but more of how people perceive videographers. There is this tendency to believe that videographers are uneducated poor people who are too lazy to do "real work".

Work. On. A. Demo. Reel.

Hot people tend to make more money doing the same work.

Have you tried being good at something?

Comedy videos on youtube? I have no idea how many views you have to get in order to make money with any type of video though.

My son watches trampoline fails and what looks like minecraft narration...? wtf.

Do something like what Brian said, where you scream at a computer monitor in wacky voices while sucking at video games, or

Are you referring to the old "do some free work to build a portfolio" type of thing? I tried doing that, but I got nothing but "I'm not really interested" or "Our company doesn't allow us to do that". Right now I'm turning my attention to see if I can get a couple online editing gigs. Maybe I'll even make a little money.

Shoot nonspecific footage that looks beautiful. Utilize advanced editing techniques as well as your preferred motion graphics suite to combine these elements into a professional looking demo reel that can be utilized as part of your portfolio.

Or continue to complain that you cannot get actual jobs because all you do is videotape high school graduations and bar mitzvahs.

You're in a small market of discerning consumers, competing against people who don't understand the value of their own work. You will never be successful competing against the people you know. Either quit, or hustle yourself into a Veblen good. Also, get yourself professionally groomed and dress for the event you're shooting.

Also, for some odd reason there is a market for "POV chubby men masturbating" porn, so you could also take a look into that genre if everything else fails.

I don't know much about Mexico but I know photographers that make a decent living with less equipment than you have. I used to solely do IT work for an event photography company & their most lucrative gig was in partnership with an organization that held events around the U.S. Have you attempted or considered this sort of scheme? The particular event that we covered was held so often that we had both staff photographers & contractors in various cities. We did both on-site printing & had an e-store where people could purchase our products at their convenience. I could imagine a scenario where 1-2 persons could begin such a company, handling the photography, sales, & the associated IT work, & then scale as needed.

He should become the "4K King of Mexico"? Because only the well-off can afford someone who shoots with such high quality as four-kay

sell off all your gear, get new iphone, record video of someone slicing an onion, instant international success

I'm sure there's a perv out there who'd pay good money to see you degrade yourself over a webcam. Probs your best bet.

Nothing so grand.

Look, if you're getting your wedding filmed, are you going to hire the lowest bidding street urchin? Of course not, you're going to hire an expensive professional. You want it done right.

If you were a videographer, would you want the kinds of customers who'd hire the lowest bidding street urchins? Of course not, you'd be lucky if they paid you anything.

Bid high and advertise well. Chances are people will only get one or two quotes anyway, and if you set your prices right they won't be asking "why is goldg so expensive", they'll be asking "what's the other guy doing wrong".

But ofc, I'm not a videographer and I don't know the specific market he is in. ymmv

I have Paypal ready

Hey SF do you have any examples of your work online? Just want to see what we're dealing with here.

Here's another really strong example of a method that can be used while creating a demo reel in order to reach further commercial success as a camera operator: Get good.

p much the same thing

"How hard could it be? I'm just videotaping things!"

Being in a bit in the business (motion graphics) I'm exposed to a lot of trends people are pursuing in photography and videography. Since I don't have a clear idea of your background, resources, or education, I'm sure some of these wont apply to you, but it's worth a shot.

Focus your business to online distribution. China in particular is buying 4K stock footage for obscene prices right now. There are dozens of sites that will buy stock footage for a decent price. If you have a good output it can help supplement your income.

Go corporate. A lot of corporate branches will have an internal video production team. It's a pretty stable environment and the pay is enough to make a living. I know for a fact discover card produces video at all of their primary headquarters for employee compliance and policy emphasis. One of their headquarters is even in Arizona. If you have the credentials I could even put in a good word for you. That wouldn't be a guarantee that you'll get a job, but it is something.

Move. After reading your post it is apparent you aren't going to have success where you currently are. You'll work your butt off for the morsels you can get, and slowly be forced to sell your belongings to stay afloat until you have nothing left. Move somewhere with a better class distribution, where people with money will actually pay for your services.

Broaden your knowledge of creative tools. Learn After Effects, Blender, something that gives you an edge. You said you have some coding knowledge, expand on that. Spend those 3 free hours on [url]www.codeacademy.com[/url] and find online work. If you have internet access you've got everything you'll need to make yourself more profitable.

Spend time looking at Real Estate listings in your local area that don't have photos and call to see if the seller will pay you for taking photos that make the place look bigger and better than it is. It's a great way of making some long-term connections if it is a seller who regularly turns property around.

Make a Demo Reel. Show potential employers that you aren't a lazy dreamer who wants money to fall into your lap for nothing. A Demo Reel shows that you're proactive and working to improve your craft. Why would anyone hire you if you don't have any previous work to show them? Even if it's stuff you filmed on a nature hike it's better than nothing.

Get magic lantern for your Canon, take time-lapse photos of sunsets, sun rises, rivers, traffic, whatever. That stuff sells, and looks great for a portfolio.

Eat better, get into a normal sleep schedule. Your lack of confidence is disturbing, and the only way to improve that is by improving the things you hate about yourself. You often bring up how fat you are. To me that shows an insecurity, cut out sugar for a month or two and watch how fast you loose weight. It will improve your energy and outlook on life. Customers are also willing to pay more for someone with confidence, and if you're confident it will allow you to make the harder changes in your life you feel you have little control over.

Anyway, that's all I have for right now. I hope it helps, though the only way it will is if you actually try any of these avenues. Good luck!

I would recommend that you read this.

Quoting the page: "Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before."

This is the sort of inversion that's really important to get, people really do think that we all have an innate list of things that we like or are compatible with, which is just wrongheaded.

Or, as Nietzsche says, "You say it is the good cause that hallows even war? I say unto you: it is the good war that hallows any cause."