earn money from your photos

[GerryDavid]

Ive also heard people like to brag about how much they paid for thier wedding and the wedding photographer. :0) Cant do that if you go cheap unless you lie.

 

[celery]

Yeah, .20 is just too little. I'd rather just print out an 8 X 10 and sell it for $20 once rather than wait for 100 downloads. If you have good images, it's easier to find a handful of buyers than to find hundreds of people who want to download your image.


It costs about $5 -$8 to print an 8 x 10 at home (ink and really high end photo paper).

That leaves you with about $12 profit (not counting the cost of camera and computer . . . etc). That means you need an image to be downloaded 60 times to make $12.

So, basically it's 60 downloads VS one person buying directly from you.

BTW, even $20 is really cheap for a photograph, but it suits my example.

 

[cmptrdewd]

I've been doing photography off and on for two years and I'm still kind of in the expermenting phase. I never really thought about selling prints. I have a web site and maybe I could sell downloads (for more than .20 cents each of course) on my web. I really don't think that all the time and energy put into one good shot should be reduced to 20 cents.

I wanted to do an inhome portrait biz, but was wondering how in the world am I going to pay for all the equipment I need like backgrounds and lights and all that jazz. I think I'll get all my best shots and print some out and sell them... I think... ummmm..... but where would I sell them?

O I'm glad I fould this thread! Thx everyone! :thumbsup:


BTW my avatar is not one of my best shots, just thought it was cute. It's my chinchilla.

 

[GerryDavid]

Celery, who would pay $20 for an 8x10 of a fork? :0)

And why not have some images on istock, and then offer them as prints as well on your website. People that buy prints may not ever know about istock, and as far as I know, your allowed to sell your istock stock as prints as well. You just might not be able to sell the same images to another stock site. I know the bigger stock sites dont want your images on any other stock sites.

The stuff that does well on istock isnt usually the stuff that would do well as prints, and vice versa.

I think it just matters what level your at. Starting out, then you will probably only be able to get on those cheap sites. If your really good, go for the more pro sites. And I think the pro sites need huge files, so those using p&s cameras cant get on a real stock site anywase. So your gear limits you as well.

 

[cmptrdewd]

Celery, who would pay $20 for an 8x10 of a fork? :0)

If I were to go right now and grab my camera, get a fork out, lay it on the table and take a picture, it would cost about .20

 

[tmpadmin]

I'll disagree a bit here. Have you even looked at some of those images on the stock web sites? Heck, most of us here can do that by dropping our cameras. Beside I don't think that stock photography is the same as something you would want hanging on the wall. Why would I want a photo of a keyboard on my wall? But that same photo would be perfect for a web page. I honestly don't see much artistic about stock photography, there are exceptions, however for the most part they are of forks, keyboards, hand shaking and so on. Most of the photos posted here would never get downloaded at a stock site - they just don't serve the purpose, but they would get some good money to hang on a wall.

 

[Rhubarb]

Great thread.

http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?searchterm=fork&anyorall=all&searchtermx=

 

[ksmattfish]

Celery, who would pay $20 for an 8x10 of a fork? :0)

Who cares who will pay $0.20 for a photo of a fork. What you guys need to be asking yourselves is who will pay $200 for a photo of a fork.

Who will pay $2000 for a photo of a fork? There are people that will.

Don't crawl with the bugs. Fly with the eagles!!

 

[Artemis]

I dont know, im confused...I mean....Cant I just put some up there anyways? and sell them as prints to others anyways?

 

[MDowdey]

what is the gain from selling stock photos? arent you proud of your work? your name is no longer attached to that photo once you sell it to these people.

its just my opinion, but thats the antithesis of why i take pictures.


just my .02 cents


md

 

[Artemis]

Lol, your 2 cents has convinced me, and given me an idea..

 

[danalec99]

what is the gain from selling stock photos? arent you proud of your work? your name is no longer attached to that photo once you sell it to these people.

Good point!

Personally, stock photography does not interest me. I have a "personal relationship" with my work and I am not comfortable with the idea of someone using my work to get their end product. I feel it is so impersonal (the fact that they would use it); more like prostitution.

This is just my opinion.

PS: Thanks Matt. Lately I have been thinking about taking down couple of pictures that I personally like, from istock. Your words just allowed me to make the decision.

 

[celery]

Ok, here's some math-lite for those who are still thinking of selling their work for .20.

The guy who "trolled/advertised/spammed/posted" the original link stated that he has made around $75. He has 67 pictures in his gallery.

Now, most of us know that most photographers take multiple shots and pick the best one out of the bunch. So, if you wanted to make 67 great shots, you might have to take between 120 - 200 shots in order to get the *best* shots possible.

That's a lot of work for $75.

Now, we also don't know how long it took to make $75. It could have been one month or 3 months.

The other horrible thing about these cheapy sites, is that you're in competition with thousands of other photographs. So, in order to get your .20 the person downloading has to look through a thousand or so pictures to get to yours (unless you're on one of the front pages).


And chances are, if you are a hobby photographer or an art photographer, you won't want to take time out of what you enjoy doing in order to take pictures of keyboards, forks or businessmen shaking hands . . . etc.

 

[MDowdey]

im glad that you and arty are taking pride in your work. i think stock photog is great for graphic designers and companies on a limited budget, but for me personally, and alot of others on this forum...we all take these pictures to remember, not to dish out to a stranger so that his kitten in a jar website will be springing to life with top notch photography. ive seen your work dan, and its amazing, so is arty's. you both take pictures for the livelihood of your soul, not for .20 cents.



md

 

[danalec99]

Its not the .20 cents Matt. I did not post my images in istock to really "earn" money. .20 is nothing! Istock was and is just a fun thing for me, but no more fun with photographs that I love.

And thanks for the kind words re. my work. But I know I have miles to go.