Selling Photos - Help

rgiller

Just looking for some advice on how to go about this. Information is very difficult to come by and I find that a lot of people are reluctant to give details of their own experiences due to fear of competition or whatever reason. I would imagine there are a number of approaches:

Website - difficult to get noticed

Photography Fair - expensive? infrequent?

Direct approach - trying to sell relevant photos to newspapers, retailers, etc

How has anyone here gone about this? I'm not looking to make a career out of it but believe that I have taken some photographs of good quality that could be sold and would like to raise money for buying more lenses, etc. ANy help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rob

KarmaGarda

I'd imagine it's not so much an unwillingness to part with the information, but actually more to do with how hard it is to sell photos. Due to the volume of people who now carry excellent quality cameras it takes a really striking image, or something unique/right place right time/etc to be sellable. I have yet to do it myself so sorry I can't offer any more advice than that.

Paulw

It is very hard to sell, unless you have a specific area or niche.

I do get a few sales through my website. Mostly though, I just get hits and views on my site. This can get me access and also broaden who sees my work.

Newspapers can be a bit of an earner, but you need to have something good. You need to be available to suit their needs, and payments can be small. But, small and often is better than nothing.

I'm not making a career out of it, but I make enough to cover my costs plus a little more (costs being insurance, association fees, web hosting, etc).

Barname

'a friend tells me' that even vendors of hardcore porn have had their income decimated by the joe six-pack and his prosumer camera and internet connection

mervifwdc

Paul's right, it all depends.

for example, if you have a cracking good shot, even the best ever of a dive into the 40 foot from Christmas day, or a try by the Irish Rugby team, they are not going to sell to the papers as it's now old news. Newspaper stuff is tricky and low paying (typically).

if you have stunning landscapes, that's a different market, and web sites, exhibitions and the like can get you sales. Also events like the one where loads of folks sell photos around Stephens green. it's only once per year, but to have a stunning collection (and you'd need it - the competition there is pretty good!) it would take months to be ready.

if you have great people or portaits, they usually only sell to the subjects.

you need to be a LOT more specfic about your photos to get advise on how to go about selling them.

I cover sports events, and sell either on the day with viewing stations and printers, or sometimes off my web site. It's a very specific way to do it, and only works for larger events (i.e. that can justify the cost of being there). Check out what other people do when shooting the type of thing you plan do shoot. That would give you a good starting point!

Merv.

LoanShark

My brother sells his photos at the local country market every third weekend.. He was at his last one which was on for three days just before Christmas and he sold 7 pictures to one man at €30 a pop..

The usual cost is about €30-€50 for your stall per day with some markets giving discount for more than one day..

I can get a picture printed and a border on it done for about €5 a time, If I were to make a bigger effort to print more I could reduce this cost a whole lot more..

Buckz

Its a bit of a vicious circle- to get work you need experience, to get experience you need work.
For newspapers you need excellent pictures of a news worthy story that the paper didn't coverIf you have something, ring he papers straight away, news has a very short shelf life (a few hours of the dailies, a bit longer for local papers.
Magazines, check their policy- its generally with the editors name in the early pages. If they accept freelance, check to see if they will take unsolicited work, or do you need to get agreement for the article idea in the first place?
Selling prints is a bizarre market- one guy sells mediacore prints for €100 a pop, while the next guy sells brilliant pictures for €15-
Before any of this- be ultra critical of your work- do you brilliant photos that need no explanation or excuses? Get a few pictures published in Photography magazines- this gives you an idea of which of your photos are winners, and adds credibility
Good Luck, don't quit the day job, but do aim high.

t00116131

just a question for loanshark, where do you get these printed and a border put on, i'm looking to get some done at the moment?

PCPhoto

t00116131 wrote: »

just a question for loanshark, where do you get these printed and a border put on, i'm looking to get some done at the moment?

steve , stcstc on boards, does a fair amount of printing work for boardsies, drop him a PM.

he might be a bit more expensive than yer tesco's or harvey normans but quality is usually more expensive.

(note: I have not actually gotten any work printed by stcstc but have talked to other boardsies who have and I'm passing on the overall opinion of him)