What are some of the ways I can make money with photography?

[Zapins]

I was thinking about entering some online photo contests mostly for wildlife shots of non-birds and perhaps some underwater shots of fish.

What other ways are there of making some pocket change as a photographer? How would I go about these other methods?

I want to hear the options!

[basroil]

Contests are generally a poor way of making a splash, usually they force you to give exclusive, perpetual reproduction rights. That's the easiest way for a good photo to never get you any money.

[Zapins]

What about the prize money that comes with winning those kinds of competitions?

Also how else would you get money from the same good shots?

[basroil]

It's called stock photos. Also getting your name out will help more than any contest. I won 1st 2nd and 3rd place in one college contest (about 500 entrant, including the entire photo department and all yearbook/newspaper photographers), and no-one bothered to remember me (won a total of about 1100 bucks between prizes so it was worth it), but then just leaving my site at one of the publication offices got my name out much more.

[Hikin Mike]

I go to Arts and Craft shows, but it's expensive to start up...supplies, booth, tables etc.

[Zapins]

You sell your pictures at arts and crafts fairs? I never thought of that.

Anyone else got any stories how they sold their work?

[Mike R]

I got involved in HS sports photography. Prior to starting, I had no intrest in school sports. Now I'm at a game 4-5 nights a week during the school year. As you get you name out, it will lead to other types of work. Sales are much greater than my landscape sales

[Picture North Carolina]

Originally Posted by basroil

Contests are generally a poor way of making a splash, usually they force you to give exclusive, perpetual reproduction rights. That's the easiest way for a good photo to never get you any money.

And there is one important thing people should be aware of: the arrogance and greed of the contest holders have reached new levels. Read the contest rules carefully. Many contests nowadays state that you sign away all rights of your image simply upon entering the contest. Not winning, but just by entering!

Their arrogance is unbelievable, but I guess they know that many people don't read the rules.

[Twitch1977]

Originally Posted by Hikin Mike

I go to Arts and Craft shows, but it's expensive to start up...supplies, booth, tables etc.

This is an interesting idea, do you find you generally sell enough to cover cost of entry? Are you pricing your prints in the lower end price ranges or more towards the higher end?

Cool idea.
Kurt

[amfoto1]

Originally Posted by CannedHeat

Read the contest rules carefully. Many contests nowadays state that you sign away all rights of your image simply upon entering the contest. Not winning, but just by entering!

Yep, where do you think they get fresh images for those royalty free CDs that you can buy for $10?

That's the whole idea of many of these contests today... Gathering free images for RF resale.

It's essentially a scam.

If I were to, say, ask you to enter your car in a show, and carefully hide in the fine print the fact that you were actually donating the car to me simply by entering, I suspect there'd be a lot more outrage and perhaps even criminal or civil legal action. People just don't get it!

[Zapins]

Wow, that is underhanded!

Surely there must be some photo contests out there that only get the rights if you win (not just by entering)?

Also, I'm a bit confused. How would you make any money at all from the pictures they use unless you entered a competition? I may be wrong but I don't know of any other place to get your pictures looked at or anywhere to sell them to (other than the arts and craft fairs )

It seems to me that you are either stuck with a really good photo forever that only you can admire, or you have to sell the picture into slavery and hope you win some money for it. Even if you don't win it seems like you wouldn't have been able to make money off the picture anyway - even with full rights.

Does this sound right or am I overlooking something?

[Hikin Mike]

Originally Posted by Twitch1977

This is an interesting idea, do you find you generally sell enough to cover cost of entry? Are you pricing your prints in the lower end price ranges or more towards the higher end?

Cool idea.
Kurt

I always said it's a successful show if I can cover the show and anything over that is all the better! Most shows are $40-$75. My prices are on my site. For a show, I only carry cards and both matted and matted/framed pieces.

[amfoto1]

Well, not all photo contests are rip offs. Just read the rules very carefully and be sure you aren't giving away all your rights by entering. Most reasonable contests will require you to grant them limited right to publish submitted photos in a magazine, on a website, etc. But their use is quite limited and you retain the copyright for future sales of the photo.

There are myriad ways to make money from your photography. Look around you. You'll find there are millions of photos bought and used every year. It's just a matter of figuring out how to make some of those photos yours, with you getting paid for their use.

It's time to do some research:

Step one... Go buy the book "2008 Photographers Market". Now in it's 31st year, about 600 pages with over 1400 listings of companies seeking to buy photos. There are also articles, interviews and other aids to anyone seeking to sell their work.

Step two... While at the book store, look for other books about selling your photos. There are quite a few, possibly depending upon your specialty or how you want to approach selling your work. Alternatively, you might check to see what your local library has on it's shelves.

Step three... You are thinking about becoming a business now. Take business classes and read books about running a business. It's 80 or 90% business skills, 10 or 20% photographic talent. Again, your local library might have a lot of great info on their shelves.

Step four... Take seminars from established, successful, professional photographers. Alternatively, look for "how to" books written by established, successful, professional photographers.

Step five... Learn all you can about stock photography.... Start with the differences between traditional stock and so-called micro stock.

Step six... Learn about model releases, copyright law, contract law and your rights and obligations as a photographer. The book "The Law In Plain English for Photographers" is a good starting point. "Legal Forms for Photographers", co-published by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is another very good resource.

Step seven... As necessary, research your local requirements effecting small businesses... Licenses, taxes, etc.

Regarding arts & craft "wine & cheese or whatever" fairs, personally I think most are unlikely to produce very much in the way of sales. There are probably some exceptions, but overall I think juried art shows would be a better choice.

Typical arts & crafts fairs may bring some small ticket, impulse buyers your way. But, it's mostly mom, dad and the kids out for a day of face painting, eating ethic foods and sitting on the grass watching dance troupes or medieval swordplay, while listening to a local cover band. They aren't there looking for a framed print to hang on their wall, although a few may see something that strikes them and buy on the spot.

On the other hand, an art show attracts investors and collectors who have the money to buy larger ticket items and are more than likely knowledgeable about the worth of art.

Some years ago I met a photographer who traveled the country doing juried art shows for a living. He was a retired plumber, in fact, but had a booth full of great prints to sell! As soon as he realized I was a fellow photographer and not a potential buyer, he opened up a little and told me he considered any show where he sold less than $10,000 gross a "failure" and looked for greener pastures the next year. I must say though, that his work, display, framing and everything were top-notch. Shooting film at the time, he used a kit of Hasselblads and lenses, to give you some idea. He was the first one who pointed out to me the differences between the arts & crafts fairs and juried fine art shows. He must have been a great plumber, too!

A gallery is another way to sell limited edition fine art prints. There are many who specialize in photography, some are listed in "2008 Photographer's Market". Your local Yellow Pages might help you find some to visit and check out.

The Internet is increasingly a way to sell images, both as stock photography and fine art prints. Check out www.mangelsen.com, www.billbachmann.com, www.chanan.com and many, many more. A website cannot stand on it's own. It has to be part of an overall marketing effort, with other media and promotion driving traffic to it. But, it's really becoming the central hub around with other things revolve.

But, be very, very careful about posting your images online. At this point, I'd venture to guess there are more images being ripped off than sold, from "photo sharing" sites like Flickr.

Get a subscription to Shutterbug, and possibly Photo District News (PDN), maybe some other magazines targeted more at professionals and/or your specialization. Every month, Shutterbug has one or more articles about the business of photography, often interviews with successful pros.

[Kento]

^^ Yeah the last thing you said is very true, I am sure it gets harder and harder to make it a business when so many hobby shooters are putting up their hard work on the file share websites for anybody to use free of charge.

[DDCSD]

Excellent little breakdown Alan. Great info. I'll have to bookmark it to point others to.