My future in your hands...

JIP · May 24, 2008

Well I don't mean to be I just think if you are wanting to do something, especially if you financial well-being may depend on it, you need to go into it with your eyes vey wide open and know what you are getting into.

GeorgiaOwl · May 24, 2008

No,no don't take me wrong....I don't mind.

henkelphoto · May 25, 2008

Okay, let me jump in here with another bucket of cold water

As has been said before, it takes more than just some nice looking photos to make a business. You may or may not be able to take great photos. The ones you show are nice, but I really don't think you'd get many sales with the ones you've shown.

Remember, for someone to want to buy your photos, they have to be unique or something that the people in general can't do themselves. To be able to sell at art fairs, festivals and the like, you will need a large body of work. People like to look through dozens of prints looking for the one that they think is special. I've talked with a couple of photographers who show at the Cowboy Christmas Gift Show here in Las Vegas. They both market ranch/cowboy type photos, some in b/w, some in browntone and some in color. Both have literally hundreds of photos that they have made prints and matted for the show. They have invested several thousands of dollars in printing, matting and show fees in order to make sales. Even they don't do all that good on any given photo, it's the volume that makes them viable. One fellow told me he is on the road about 5 months of the year and spends the rest of the time working at getting better, more unique photos to market.

In short, selling prints at art shows is fun, and you could possible make your investment back after a while, but I doubt you could make a living at it with your experience level.

My advice would be to get out from under your house, selling it before you lose it to foreclosure, unless you find employment soon. Think about what you want out of life. You're 38, still young enough to make a major career change/location move. Personally, if I was that young again, I'd use the money I got selling the house to go back to school to get a job in the health care field and keep my photography as a great hobby. I've made a good career in photography, but the field is not what it used to be.

If you are determined to become a pro photographer, get yourself a dslr and learn how to do everything on manual settings--manual focus and manual exposure. Learn how to look at light and use it for your photos. Do not let the camera think for you. Learn to create the right photo in your camera, not "fix" a photo in photoshop.

Good luck in your life. Photography is not an easy field to enter and is even harder to stay in once you have started.

Jerry

Mike_E · May 25, 2008

Owl, once again, look into which frames are selling. If you can make 4 frames of a comparable quality to those going for $150 in shops around you in a day, put a photo in and then sell for $75 each, that is at least a good start.

If you also put in those -frames with photo- a business card then you have the beginnings of a photography business.

It's not likely that you can sell 4 a day but an extra $300-$400 a week would help wouldn't it? Even if you have to sit on the side of the road near the mall on Saturdays, you'd still be going home to your house.

Antithesis · May 25, 2008

Taking pictures is the easy part of being a photographer, or so I'm told. The market for fine-art and landscape shots is pretty minute, and with the flood of stock photography hitting the internet, it's near impossible to sell a print.

Plan on selling yourself as a photographer, offering a service, rather than offering prints. It can be done, but you have to "be the next Warhol" as you put it. If you need to make your mortgage, do what JIP is telling you and get a second job and start small with photography. Get your feet wet, understand the market and the requirements.

The people just starting out are going to be facing the most difficult market. They need to establish clientell and chances are, most of them won't make it. It'll be far from easy, and your going to have to lower your standards of living until you get a good reputation, a good portfolio and likely, a miracle.

GeorgiaOwl · May 25, 2008

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate you guys giving me the advice.

If I had the luxury of time or thousands of dollars to do something, I would. If I had a first job, I'd consider a second. If I had a situation that would let me slowly get into photography, I surely would rather do it that way.

But I don't have any of that, unfortunatly.

All I have is that need for that miracle and a desire to provide for my family whether I am "hired" by someone or not. I don't expect to get rich....I just expect to keep my head above water to start - or stay afloat long enough to find a "real job."

I'm not as crazy as I sound, ....
hopefully.

I just may be more desperate than you guys have ever had to be. And sometimes desperation drives people to try things that everyone else says can't be done. And sometimes it drives them to attack windmills.

LOL

Anyway, thanks again. And the fact that no one said my photos were total crap is, at the very least, a bit encouraging.

To me, the best thing about basing a career around photography is that there are so many avenues to try to exploit. So there are 6 portrait studios in town, and maybe there are a two dozen people in my part of the state selling prints at festivals and art shows...

I'm not planning on putting all my eggs in one basket, and I'm hoping to attack every market I can think of and hit it with everthing I've got.

Again, thanks for all the advice, and even the cold water comments. I dont' mind at all and I know there are people out there that have been down this road before me. I hope, in the future I can learn enough to give advice to people like myself that are just starting out - for fun or otherwise!

See ya in the field!

owl

itsanaddiction · May 26, 2008

Just an FYI..im in the housing business and an art major but the maths, sciences, gen eds are kicking my ass! Just thought I should throw that in! hahah