Selling my photos + photography services ?

[andrewt]

I would like to try and start making some money from my photos and services. But the prob. here is i'm only 15 and not so sure on what is the best way.

What is/would be the best way to sell my photos ? my ideas - market stalls/internet (not so keen on it)/mags/newspapers/etc

What is/would be the best way to start photography to make a bit of cash ? my ideas - party/birthday/function/group/etc photography.

[Antsl]

Hi Andrew,
While most people are always keen to make money out of their hobby I think it is also important for people to realise what they have to offer people. Having had a look at a few of your images my thoughts are for the moment that rather than stressing about finding a market for your images you first give thought to creating images that are marketable.
"What is a marketable image?" I hear you asking.... a marketable image is invariably an image that other people want to buy.... the better the image, the more chance you have of selling. I think your images are reasonable for a young photographer however they are not a lot different to the images that thousands of people are making about Australia every day.
If you are wanting to become a better photographer with a marketable product you should start by discovering a more unique vision of the world (in other words seeing things or creating images other people are unlikely to create. Once you have done this then you might find other people will be interested in your work and that is the point that you can look at selling your images.
My advice to you for now is rather than concentrating on selling your images, look at how you can make your images stronger. Learn about light, design, technique and camera function and then take it from there!
All the best with it .... Ants

[gstark]

What is/would be the best way to start photography to make a bit of cash ?

Start with a lot of cash.




At your age, an issue you will encounter is .... your age. You cannot legally enter into contracts, for instance, nor can you drive yourself to venues where events may be held.

Anthony's points are well made, so please pay him due heed.

What interests do you have? Do those interests lend themselves to selling images from events to participants? As an example, motorsports participants often are willing to spend on images of themselves going round a circuit, in a rally, whatever.

Think about how you can leverage your interests.

[ATJ]

One thing I have been told many times by people who are successful in making money from photography is that you have to work hard, damn hard. The hard work is not creating the images but in marketing them. As Ants says, there are already thousands of people making images every day and as such your images won't sell themselves. You have to go out there and sell them yourself.

[Yi-P]

Since you are this young still, I suggest not to be in such a hurry in making the cash out of photography, but learn some more first?

All points provided above are valid and true. Every successfull photographer out there that are making money (or not) can tell you they put in a lot of effort on it.

The main thing now for you is to get more experience. As Gary mentioned above, if you could put your other hobby into practice with photography, it will bring your more opportunity to start. Or get a part time job and get more 'connections' across with your colleagues and boss which will turn into opporunities as well.

Making money of a hobby is definitely great, but for now at your age, wouldn't education will be a more important issue for you right now?
Also, you need a lot of investment before you actually start making money back (or not).

[andrewt]

Thanks everyone for your comments, i have taken them in and pre-processed them lol

and i agree with your point about education Yi-P.

So to get rewards, you have to work hard, which in my case is working on my skills. Is that the basic message you guys are trying to convey ?

[Oz_Beachside]

the beauty of where we live, is we work within a market system, which means you can sell things for as much as people are willing to pay (and sometimes more!).

so, when people are willing to pay for your photography skills, you will know that your work has reached a standard that is saleable. regardless of what photographers say (as they can be very critical, since that's what they do), you will feel you are "there" when people say "wow, can you make pictures like that for me?" of course, different makets have different expectations and appreciation of different styles, so you may choose to work your styles towards and / or away from certain markets.

[Oz_Beachside]

What is/would be the best way to start photography to make a bit of cash ? my ideas - party/birthday/function/group/etc photography.

ask a friend or relative if you can cover an event such as this, then you have a "resume" to show others. then ask other if they would like there event covered for $x, plus prints. where the amount might be what you value for one days work (or more if you eventually spend lots of time processing.

the best advise a mate gave me was, go on, get out there!

[ATJ]

Also don't rule out competitions. While most don't have huge prizes, they may be enough to help you. Many have junior sections so you are pitted against people more your own age.

[W00DY]

the best advise a mate gave me was, go on, get out there!

Having just done that I second this advice (within reason). If you throw up an idea long enough, and then you get sick of thinking about it, it is time to do it!!!

andrewt - Just get out there and shoot everything you can in your spare time (being 15 you should have enough spare time!!!). Let everyone know you are a new up and coming photographer. Maybe even try to approach some pro's and get an assistant job, even if it is in a field you are not totally interested in it will still give you a good insight into the industry.

Most importantly though have a VERY good think about what type of photography you want to do. Just saying you want to make money from it is not going to be good enough.

Good luck mate.

Andrew

[Willy wombat]

Also don't rule out competitions. While most don't have huge prizes, they may be enough to help you. Many have junior sections so you are pitted against people more your own age.

Good point - Junior catergories often have good prizes. You might be able to further develop and show off your tallent that way.

[Yi-P]

So to get rewards, you have to work hard, which in my case is working on my skills. Is that the basic message you guys are trying to convey ?

A good professional photographer does not only mean he/she takes good pictures, but also a charismatic and cheerful person.

Ask any pros around, they will say that they spend over 60% of their time networking and talking to their clients, 20% of their time making the plans and 5-10% behind the camera. It is a lot of work to do, many others out there think that if you got a 'good camera' and you can be a professional photographer anytime.

It is a long path for most togs out there to get to the 'pro' stage. They might have spent all their time chatting to people, trying to understand what they need and how to apply all the technical basis that they have learned before into use. And this, cannot be taught, its only by matter of experience and time.

A good place to start at your age is probably take some lessons or apply for some work at a design or photography studio, either being just a receptionist, office admin or assistant for carrying the battery packs. Try to get yourself more exposed to the photography side (no puns intended). As mentioned above, junior competitions are a good place to start. I believe that there is the EUREKA Science photo competition going on still. It's open for everyone and why not take a go at it?

At the end this, I will always say, please put your education and study at priority, you still got a lot of opportunities to try different things.

[Antsl]

At the end this, I will always say, please put your education and study at priority, you still got a lot of opportunities to try different things.

I have to agree with this observation .... photography is one of the most over-saturated, under-payed industries around. There are hundreds of people studying photography around Australia every year yet most of them will never survive in the industry and end up going on to other work. You might hear about guys charging hundreds or thousands of dollars per job but you might not realise that at the end of it they may still only be making $20,000 -$35,000 from their photography each year by the time they have covered the expenses (rent, staff, materials etc). Sure, this is a lot of money when you are a 15 y.o. but wait until you turn 30 and your mates are earning three times that amount in more conventional jobs.

I believe everyone has the right to give things a go but you have to realise the photography is not an easy career option.... you have to work hard or go poor. My advice to you for now is work hard at school... do a gap year and then go to university and get a degree in anything that takes your fancy.... something that you can use to get a real job if you need to. Get some life experience too... learn how the world works. Then if you are still keen on the photography, have a go then... at least you will have a far better understanding of the world and you can apply that you your photography. You will also have something to fall back onto if it does not work out. At your age as well it is almost impossible to get any cred within this game unless you start pulling out some exceptional imagery ... and I mean exceptional. The guys and girls who do well in photography are smart, educated people... I am fortunate enough to know this for a fact because once or twice a year I am on the bench with them as we judge the APPA's. The best photographers are well educated, well read and have a good understanding of the world. Do not underestimate what is required to be a good successful photographer.

Many years ago I asked one of NZ's top photographers what made a successful photographer and she said to me "someone who has experienced everything". Its true. Taking photographs is easy, you can teach anyone to push the shutter button on a camera .... understanding how to use the medium is the hard part... the more you can learn about the world the more you can convey through your photography.