How is your picture taking skills? Are you the next Ansel Adams? How will you ever know if you don’t give it a shot?
Photographers are artists, just like painters, and sculptors. It takes a talented person to be able to see the world through the lens of a camera. That being said, you will never know if you possess that talent, unless you go out and shoot some shots.
Here are 10 ideas on how to make a profit from your talent.
(1)Stock Images: You probably have thousands of digital pictures stored on the hard drive of your computer right now that could be earning you money! Stock images are becoming the new thing for blogs and social news networks. People who call themselves “professional photographers” often disagree with this form of business, but that is great for you, because that means less competition.
Stock images are just what they sound like, people who need that perfect picture for their book or magazine will search through stock photography sites and purchase it. It saves businesses lots of money because they don’t need to hire a photographer, and it also creates a great stream of passive income for entrepreneurs. The picture on this post was purchased from Fotolia, as are most of the images I use on this blog.
To make any money in this business at all, you really need to be able to predict what your buyer wants. Check out this picture on Fotolia.com. It is so simple, yet it has been downloaded almost 5000 times. The photographer who took this picture is genius, and he is just sitting around collecting royalties on a picture he took a long time ago. When planning your pictures, think about who will use your photo’s and what they will use them for. Most people who buy off of stock image sites plan on adding something to the picture. They want to put their slogan or business name somewhere, so plan for that. This is the only way you can make good money. A picture of you and your drunk friends sitting at a football game probably won’t be your biggest seller!
Stock Image Sites:
(2)Event Photographer: Weddings, Bah Mitzvah’s, School Events, etc. Event photographers can make quite a bit of money, especially if your good at capturing the moment. As a event photographer, you just want to know when to take the perfect picture, and how to capture it. Most events like weddings are a once in a life time thing (okay, unless your client is Charlie Sheen or Pam Anderson) and the only great memory they will have of that day is the pictures you take!
Getting this business started won’t be the easiest thing in the world, but once you have a couple successful events under your belt, word of mouth will work its wonders for you!
Digital Wedding Photography, by Glenn Johnson: This is a great book that will help you learn the best times to take a picture, and how to set the shot up.
(3) Glamour Shots: Let’s face it, there are some very ugly people out there, and if you are good at finding the beauty in people (with a little help from Photoshop) there is some money to be made for you.
Becoming a “Glamour Photographer” requires a lot of other skills, and equipment. You will usually want to have a studio for your clients to come to you, with good specialty lighting to get the best view of a persons mug. You will also need to have some pretty strong Photoshop skills to help remove blemishes, and other flaws. There is a lot of money to be made with this business. You can be the single reason why a model becomes famous or ends up on the streets, or a aspiring actor ends up a star, or doing Pepto Bismol commercials for the rest of their career (there is nothing wrong with doing Pepto commercials, so don’t get offended)!
Once again, if you do good by one customer, word of mouth will carry you from there!
Garage Glamour: A book by famed photographer Rolando Gomez, on techniques and posing.
(4)Paparazzi: Hey, no one seems to like them, but they can make a better living of a cheap point and shoot camera than most photographers can make off thousands of dollars of equipment. See our article on : How to Make a Living as a Paparazzi.
(5)Freelancer: Being a freelance photographer is in my opinion the most enjoyable career as a photographer. You can choose what you want to shoot, and who you will want to sell your shots to. Do you love the outdoors? Then take great action, or landscape shots, and sell them to like minded magazines. You could always buy a police scanner, and listen for news worthy events and rush to the scene. Newspapers will pay anywhere from $25 to $65 per shot for pictures of recent news worthy events, i.e. house fires, car accidents, snow covered roads, weather related pictures, or anything you would read about in the newspaper. You could do just about anything you want in this category. If you play your cards right, you could even obtain press passes to get backstage at major events like concerts or sporting events. Check out this article from Suite 101 on how to obtain press credentials for events (Really cool stuff!)
(6)Art Studio: Okay, so you don’t want to sell out….you are a true artist, and you don’t want your work being tainted from anyone else. Well that’s okay too. Start your own art studio, and sell your artwork directly to your customers. Take beautiful or artsy pictures of whatever you want. I personally am not a huge fan of conventional art, I just don’t understand the flowers planted in the toilet for $10,000. I much prefer a great photo framed on my wall then a Picasso with the nose as a ear, and the ear as a mouth. I guess I am just not that sophisticated!
Think about setting up shop close to where your customers are going to be. If you like shooting great cityscapes, then don’t have your studio in the middle of the flea market in the country somewhere, and If you shoot beach photography, don’t try to sell your art in the middle of Idaho! Offer to mail out your framed photos to your customers, most of your buyers will probably be tourists, and they don’t want to take the chance of ruining it on the plane ride home.
You can market your work at local art festivals and events. Also think about hosting your own gallery viewing, advertise in local newspapers and offer small snacks and wine for your viewers. You should also have a website, and be very into social media to get your work out there!
(7)Extreme Photographer: How gutsy are you. Could you hold your Nikon steady at 20k feet in the air? If you are looking for a gig in the I am crazy and have a death wish category, then why not go after this business. People are doing crazier and crazier things every day, and without a good photographer being right next to them, no one would ever know they did it. Options include; skydiving, surfing, free jumping, skating, and just about anything else that includes almost dying!
Market yourself buy starting a website, and letting the world know you aren’t scared to die to get a good photo!
Also advertise on sites like ifreelance.com. (Don’t forget your life insurance, and if you don’t know who to make the beneficiary, you can email me and I will give you my info 
)
(8)Mapping and Plotting: Every city, state, and small town needs mapping these days, but with the great advances in satellite imagery, there is not as much of a demand for this type of photography any more. That being said, many homeowners and businesses will still pay a large fee for a professional photo of a sky view of their property. These poster size prints go anywhere from $175 to $500.
What you want to do is rent some time in a helicopter from your local airport. This will run you about $225 per hour. Once you are airborne, you just want to start shooting. Take pictures of every piece of land you can in your allotted time. Once your back on the ground, head to your computer and start indexing your shots. Add a address to everyone you got. Once you are organized, start soliciting everyone of the homeowners or business owners that you took photo’s of. You will probably get the door slammed on you 75 % of the time, but the other 25% will net you some good profits. Yeah, this might be a little aggressive, but it is the most profitable way to run this business.
You could also market yourself, and wait for orders, but this will take a lot more time, and will be less profitable.
If you ever get out to Columbus, I’ll take a print, for a big discount, of course!
(9)Photography Teacher: If taking and selling pictures is not your cup of tea, you could always start a small fee based adult class for photography. Teaching people can be very rewarding, and there is a little money to be made. It all depends on you approach. Market yourself by dropping off flyers at all of the developing, framing, and camera stores in the area. You can make the class on any topic in photography you want, and can offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses.
(10)Underwater Photographer: I am a avid scuba diver! I love the underwater world, because it is not tainted with graffiti, and in most cases pollution. The major problem is that 90% of the world never gets to experience the beauty of the world that lives under the sea!
There are many photography business opportunities available for someone who can get a underwater perspective. Large charter companies pay for underwater topography, marine biologist pay for studying coral reefs and other science related things. Here are a few other potential money making options; Oil companies, museums (shipwrecks), screen savers, tropical photography sales. You can also get small independent contracts from publishing companies, like Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.
Summary: Photography is very fun hobby, but it doesn’t just have to be a hobby. Some of the most successful businesses out there started from someones hobbies. Dust off your camera and your editing software, and go out and start making money from your passion. It will only happen if you make it happen!
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Cool. My friend is trying to figure out what to do with his love of photography:) This page was quite helpful.
Cool, I am glad you liked it Kellie! Thank you!