Making money with nature photography

[nadiaduchemin]

<p>Hello,<br>

I am here because I now have a portfolio and while I received many compliments about it from professionals I have met, I have no idea where to start to make money with my nature photography.<br>

Because of health issues, I am limited as the when and where I can work but I take photos in the summer and work on inside projects in the winter.<br>

I have about 50 photos I can work with, but I don't know where to go, what to do, or even how to make money with them. I was considering using sites like redbubble to sell prints, but my images would be 1 in a pool of millions or so. <br>

I just need some guidance if possible to get me started in the right direction.</p>

<p>Thank you. </p>

[dhbebb]

<p>I am a retired pro photographer but NOT a nature photographer. I would make the following points:<br>

1) 50 pix MAY be enough to get an agent or picture library interested, but it is not a lot!<br>

2) If you don't know it already, the "Photographer's Market" book<br>

http://www.amazon.co.uk/2013-Photographers-Market-Trusted-Photography/dp/1599636131/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360136477&sr=8-3<br>

is a good investment.<br>

3) Success will to a certain extent depend on going further, waiting longer and getting colder and wetter in order to get the shots that others don't have. Will your health permit this?<br>

Hopefully others will respond to your posting who have personal experience in nature photography, but as a start you could simply explore the internet, find nature photography picture libraries and ask yourself:<br>

1) Is my work good enough to compare with the pictures they carry?<br>

2) Will I be able to come up with pictures which are not simply like the ones already in the libraries but which bring something different to the table?<br>

Good luck in any case!</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Unless you have some supremely interesting and unusual images, making money from 50 images, rising slowly is going to be difficult. There are lots of nature photographs around, and being one of millions is about the name of the game. </p>

<p>If the 50 you have are a cohesive theme, and extremely good, there might be hope of a gallery becoming interested but the competition is tough and even if successful, you'd need to invest in prints without a guarantee that you'd get your money back. </p>

<p>For most successful nature photographers, the route into the commecial market has been through stock, either via an agency or your own website which then needs to be marketed to an appropriate target market and most people don't know how they can do that. Getting into good stock agencies is very tough and they'll accept only a proportion of what you have. The small number of quality images you have will not work in your favour, and in truth you need thousands of images with good agencies (not microstock) to make a meaningful income.</p>

<p>You could try selling prints from a website of your own, but the question of how/where to market the site arises again and in general, success rates are very low. How many people do you know who have nature photographs hanging on their walls, and of those how many are photographs not taken by the family or where there is some affinity between subject/place and that household. Few people buy pretty photographs with no connection to them. </p>

<p>I'm sorry but the path you're embarking on is difficult and the chance of success is low unless your work is virtually world-beating. Trying and failing can be destructive. Are you sure that you want or need this badly enough to prejudice your enjoyment? </p>

 

[dhbebb]

<p>I agree with David's comments above, but success is not impossible! Since writing my previous posting, I have recalled this gentleman:<br>

http://www.vicsharrattwildlifeimages.com/intro.php<br>

I am happy to say that the first time Vic's work was seen in public was in a local exhibition which I used to curate here in East Kent, England. Vic took up wild life photography 10 years ago after early retirement from another profession and has gone from strength to strength ever since.</p>

[tonybynum]

Sell local. Shoot local themes, places you can get to, and sell to a smaller market. Get your images in some shops around your local

community or one nearest the location where the photos were taken. Sell to local markets like tours and travel folks. Just a couple ideas.

You likely will never make money off 50photos. Just do the math. How much did it cost you to get those 50 shots? There's a lot of

daylight between selling your images and making money. Good luck and whatever you do, don't stop shooting!

[tonybynum]

Sell local. Shoot local themes, places you can get to, and sell to a smaller market. Get your images in some shops around your local

community or one nearest the location where the photos were taken. Sell to local markets like tours and travel folks. Just a couple ideas.

You likely will never make money off 50photos. Just do the math. How much did it cost you to get those 50 shots? There's a lot of

daylight between selling your images and making money. Good luck and whatever you do, don't stop shooting!

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Get a copy of John Shaw's Business of Nature Photography. It's from the late 1990s and much of it deals with how to send slides out in the mail, but the principles still apply.<br />With 50 pictures you might be able to set up at a local crafts fair and sell prints. Maybe sell prints in the gift shop if there is such a place at places you have photographed. <br />But the real money in nature photography is in stock, and 50 pictures doesn't begin to cut it. I think Shaw's formula is that you might expect on average to make $1 a year for each photo you have on file. (One photo might make $1,000 but others won't make anything.) Based on that, he recommended having several thousand top-level photos to expect to make a living. Obviously doing things part time sets the bar lower.<br />Shaw also recommended pushing your photos out to publications but writing articles that they can illustrate. Publications rarely buy photos on their own, but if they're doing an article on a topic, they need photos to go with it. Sell them an article that you have photos to go with and you make a double sale.</p>

[Jim_Dockery_Photos]

<p>I've been trying to sell prints for a few years and haven't managed to make back my investment in printer/paper/frames/etc. much less cameras & time. Printing high quality (I'm also doing canvas) is another technical challenge beyond simple digital photography which is a continual learning curve (and I had years in the wet darkroom). I agree with all the advice above. <strong>Very</strong> competitive field, economy doesn't help right now, marketing is key, but takes lots of work. Still a mystery to me what will sell and what doesn't - hard to figure that against your own preferences and bias. Not trying to talk you out of it, but go into it with open eyes for the love not money (it is quite a thrill to finish matting and framing a <em>fine art</em> print). Keep your day job for now!</p>

[ian_campbell1]

<p>It's not the money making option it used to be: what used to earn dollars is lucky to make pennies nowadays. Agencies ( and photographers) have been reduced to penury by microstock payments.</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p> I think Shaw's formula is that you might expect on average to make $1 a year for each photo</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

Giving information from a prior century in a changing market is pointless. I have no idea what the number is today, but based on what statistics I have seen, it's more like 10 cents/year. If you take out the top 100 photographers selling stock, you probably see it drop another cent or two.<br>

<br>

The best way to make money in photography these days is in assignment work, although even that is dropping. </p>

[johnp_alex]

<p>I have recently got an offer from a web travel guide for 2 USD per photo of some touristic sights in The Philippines. Does anybody know if this is a good deal and what about Copyrights? Is it possible to retain my "ownership" rights? </p>