Beginning photographers often overestimate how difficult it can be to make money as a photographer. In reality, there are dozens of ways to make money through digital photography. Here are 15 great ways to help you kick start your photography career.
Method #1 – Selling Stock Photography: Stock photography is basically commissioned photography on a large scale. You submit your photos to stock photography websites and every time someone uses your photo, you get paid $1-$2 dollars.
Method #2 – Screensavers: There’s a lot more money in screensavers than people realize. Take a series of photographs along a theme and make your own screensaver. If the photos are good, they’ll do great on screensaver sites or on eBay.
Method #3 – eBay Sellers: Speaking of eBay, eBay can be a great source of business. eBay sellers often have very poor photos of images they sell over and over. Set up a local service photographing eBay items.
Method #4 – Wedding Photographer: One of the more popular ways to work as a photographer. The key to getting wedding photography business is to have a very credible website and profile.
Method #5 – Restaurant Photographer: Restaurant menus often need to have appetizing photos taken for their dishes. They also often need photos of the restaurant itself for marketing materials. Restaurants can be a great source of business for the budding photographer.
Method #6 – Real Estate Listings: Have you ever noticed how beautiful photos of listed homes are? That’s because real estate agents often hire professional photographers to photograph their listings for them. One great way to get started in this industry is to offer to shoot one listing for an agent for free. Do this for 10 agents and you may find yourself quickly booked with paying gigs.
Method #7 – Insurance Photographer: People are usually required to photograph belongings they’re insuring. Often times they don’t want to bother learning how themselves. By positioning yourself as an insurance photographer, you can do it for them.
Method #8 – Online Dating Photographer: Men and women both need good photos for their online dating profiles. By positioning yourself as an online dating photographer, you can help people find their matches while making some extra money for yourself.
Method #9 – Consignment Art: Places like Cafes and restaurants would often love to showcase your artwork. It gives them art on their walls for free. In exchange, you get exposure and potential buyers for your art.
Method #10 – Sporting Events: Smaller sporting events such as high school games or little league games often want to have their photos taken. It’s a great way for a beginning photographer to get their foot in the door.
Method #11 – Church Directories: A church directory is a booklet with photographs of all their members along with names and phone numbers. You can create these booklets for churches for a nice profit.
Method #12 – Create T Shirts: T shirts have been and will continue to be great sellers online. Taking photos, putting them on shirts and selling them on eBay or T shirt websites is a great way to make money as a photographer.
Method #13 – Craigslist: You can advertise yourself on Craigslist, a free and very popular online classifieds website. Position yourself as a photographer and you’ll be exposing yourself to thousands of people who’re looking for your services.
Method #14 – Portrait Photographer: The portrait business is a big business. You can work with a studio or set up your own practice for doing portraits.
Method #15 – Create a Photo Blog: If your photos are stylistic, it’s like you could build up a fan base by publishing your photos on a blog.
You now have 15 great ideas to get you started as a professional photographer. Just one of these ideas can keep you busy for months. Pick the one that resonates with you and run with it!