KeeperSide Hustle Index
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Creative & media

Photography

You shoot photos for clients and hand back the edited shots for a fee. Could be weddings, portraits, products, or real estate, usually booked one session at a time.

4.03 reviewsLast review 9 days ago
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Median monthly earnings
$750
Middle 50%: $750 – $1,500
Effective hourly
$25.00
Earnings over the hours people logged
Hours per week
7 hrs
Median across reviews
Startup cost
$500–1,000
To get up and running
Time to first $100
3–6 months
From starting out
Monthly expenses
$50–150
To keep it running
Schedule flexibility
Mostly flexible
Most common answer
Would recommend it
33%
1 of 3 say yes or probably yes
What people make in a month
Gross earnings people entered themselves, before expenses and taxes. 3 reviews.
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
Under $100
$100–250
$250–500
$500–1,000
$1,000–2,000
$2,000–3,500
$3,500–5,000
$5,000–10,000
$10,000+
By platform
How many reviewers use each platform. Many people work more than one.
Instagram
3 reviewers
Facebook Marketplace
2 reviewers
TikTok
1 reviewer
How it scores
Happiness8.0 / 10
Would do it again33%
Schedule flexibility4.0 / 5
Pay predictability2.8 / 5
What surprised people most
Every option reviewers could pick, most common first. 3 reviews.
How difficult it is to find customers or clients
2
Unexpected expenses
2
How competitive the market is
2
How much I could earn
1
How little I could earn
1
How much time it takes
1
How difficult it is to get started
1
Taxes — how much I owe
1
Nothing really surprised me
0
Reviews
Everyone here is anonymous. Nobody sees who wrote what.
Instagram· 5+ years in · 9 days ago
Monthly $250–500Hours 10–20 hrs/moHourly $25.00

can be fun, but getting high paying jobs is tough

Facebook Marketplace· 5+ years in · 10 days ago
Monthly $500–1,000Hours 20–40 hrs/moHourly $25.00

I love that it's fun, creative, and rewarding. I get to meet new people and take pictures of their most important days. I'd tell someone who's just starting out to take as many photos as you can every day. Learn how to edit. Learn what makes a good photo. Find photos that you like and study the photographer who took them. I'd like it to be a little more predictable income-wise and less competitive.

Instagram· 2–5 years in · 2 weeks ago
Monthly $1,000–2,000Hours 20–40 hrs/moHourly $50.00

What do you love or hate the most about your side hustle? What I love most is having a creative outlet that is completely different from nursing. I love getting to meet new people, capture such important moments in their lives, and create something that feels like my own. I also really enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with running my own business. The hardest part is definitely balancing it with my nursing schedule. There is also so much work behind the scenes—editing, emails, social media, bookkeeping, and client communication—that people don't always see. What advice would you give someone just starting out? Just start and learn as you go. You don't need the most expensive equipment or a perfect portfolio before you begin. Shoot as much as you can, figure out what style you actually enjoy, and try not to compare yourself too much to other photographers. I would also recommend learning the business side early, especially contracts, pricing, taxes, and managing your time. What would you change about your side hustle if you could? I would have created better systems and boundaries from the beginning. When I first started, I said yes to almost every opportunity because I wanted the experience and wanted to grow. Now I've learned that not every job is worth taking and that protecting my time is really important, especially while also working as a nurse. I would also outsource more of the repetitive work so I could spend more time shooting, being creative, and working with my clients.

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📷 27 Tax Write-Offs for Freelance Photographers

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