Side Income

[A/Ox4]

I was wondering if anyone has any tips for selling photography just as side income. I've got a full time job that allows me to scrape by and still enjoy going to work, so I'm not interested in replacing my career, but I'm only 22 so who knows. I really just do photography as a hobby, but it would be great if people wanted to buy prints or whatever to enjoy in their home, and if I could recoup costs to continue shooting that'd be great.

I don't even know if my stuff is worth selling. My family says so, but I think they're obligated to.

Does anyone have any tips? Are there good sites for selling prints online? I also thought maybe local fairs, swap meets etc?

My flickr: flickr.com/photos/27753493@N04/

 

[pixmedic]

selling random prints is a tough deal in an age where everyone has a camera.
you either have to have a picture of something people really want to see that has not been done a million times before, or have something extremely creative or artistic.

portraiture is probably the easiest way to ease into the market because people pay you to take pictures of them.
people are much more likely to buy pictures of themselves or family than of random stuff.

 

[A/Ox4]

Unfortunately, I don't enjoy taking portraiture. Not the way I do taking landscape photos.

 

[snowbear]

I like a lot of what you've got - maybe you could find a niche with wheelers, but even with that, there are a lot of cameras out there.

Good luck.

 

[A/Ox4]

Thanks!

I know in my group several people would love me to photograph their trucks but they live far away, and I couldn't charge most of them. They are practically family haha.

 

[imagemaker46]

You don't seem to have any problem getting into accredited positions for the motorsports. You have some really nice images on your site. What gear are you shooting with?

I just noticed that the credit on the motorsports is John Spooner.

 

[A/Ox4]

You don't seem to have any problem getting into accredited positions for the motorsports. You have some really nice images on your site. What gear are you shooting with?

Thank you. The Indy cars and alike are at the 2014 Long Beach Grand Prix. I'm an EMT and my company provided 6 ambulances. We were literally on the track, sometimes behind a cement barrier, sometimes not. Awesome access for that event.

For that I was shooting with a Nikon D3100 18-55 and 55-200. I kick myself now for not understanding shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc more then because I feel I could have pulled out more quality from some. But that's apart of learning I suppose.

I now have a D5300 with the same lenses.

 

[Gary A.]

I don't sell my stuff. But I have pro friends who use Smugmug for their sales.

 

[oyster.bong]

Side income is the way to look at it. [emoji1]

I managed to luck into getting space at a few local galleries and have garnered a few sales with images of things that there is a lot of local interest for.

I also really had to think about why someone would want to buy a picture that I'm trying to sell, hence the focus on local interest (landmarks, events, and so on in new and unusual ways).

Good luck though, it's a pretty awesome feeling when someone buys something that you worked hard on putting together!

Edit: FWIW, you've got some nice pictures that I think would be worthy of a price tag. [emoji2]

May be worth your while to go to some local galleries, farmer's markets, and so on to see what other photographers are trying to sell.

 

[A/Ox4]

Thank you! I don't really expect anything major. Just a little here and there, and the gratification that someone is willing to exchange money for something I've produced.

 

[dennybeall]

Nice pictures. You have a good eye for subject and cropping. Perhaps decide to take landscapes or trucks but having a white truck in most of your landscapes is a bit much.....
As to sales - most sales are to people for pictures of themselves and their stuff. Another approach is artistic work for hanging on walls but that's even tougher to sell. I'd suggest looking for a niche in some area that you love, such as outdoors or trucks, etc.
Something unique like take pictures of a driver in his mudding truck just as it comes thru a deep bog, print the picture and incase it in clear plastic to sell to the driver at the mud race.

 

[A/Ox4]

Thanks!
The reason for the truck is because originally, I only shot pictures for the truck club I'm in. Once I realized "Hey, I might be onto something" I branched out haha

 

[12sndsgood]

If you want to sell you need to get traffic to wherever your photos are at. that will be the main thing, doesn't matter if you have the most amazing photos if no one knows where to find them. Maybe just look at starting a website, and then work on driving traffic to that website. which in essence means skip photographer and pick up SEO optimization and marketing lol.

 

[vvcarpio]

My daughter who works for a book distributor told me this self-published book: Seattle ... From Where I See It: Doug Tostenson: 9780984972500: Amazon.com: Books, already sold over 1,400 copies. New York City where I'm at is pretty saturated (or so a book publisher told me) but maybe other cities especially underrated (not saying Seattle is underrated...) ones have potential.

 

[A/Ox4]

I set up a website for myself. Not sure that I need one but oh well.

Trey Spooner Photography