How on earth can a photographer make money without stock?

[Jen2174]

I have been looking around for a few years now. ive also tried a few stock sites. i dont qualify b/c they are looking for commercial photos mostly. im so sick of hearing the word stock as if that is an only option as a photographer. ive started a website a few months ago again. this time knocking my prices way down to 1.00 per download for wallpapers and still cant get business.. its very hard advertising a site. what am I doing wrong? what does it take to sell pictures? mostly, i do landscape and nature, its just what calls to me. maybe their is no market for that. anyone have any ideas other than stock?

i have no money, cant invest, cant do art fairs, or anything like that. im broke. cant do much of anything except sell online somehow..

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I have been looking around for a few years now. ive also tried a few stock sites. i dont qualify b/c they are looking for commercial photos mostly. im so sick of hearing the word stock as if that is an only option as a photographer. ive started a website a few months ago again. this time knocking my prices way down to 1.00 per download for wallpapers and still cant get business.. its very hard advertising a site. what am I doing wrong? what does it take to sell pictures? mostly, i do landscape and nature, its just what calls to me. maybe their is no market for that. anyone have any ideas other than stock?

i have no money, cant invest, cant do art fairs, or anything like that. im broke. cant do much of anything except sell online somehow..

The days of stock photography as an income are over. I am still getting checks but they are so small I could use them to light my cigarettes and not cry about it. And my photos are with a top notch agency.

The problem is that everyone today is willing to give their work away because they are willing to listen to the wrong people. The wrong people are: 1/ the buyers telling photogs they can can get the same image for 50 cents
2/ the photogs themselves, so eager to see their shots in print they'll give them away and talk new photogs into doing the same thing
3/ the publications/magazines/whatevers playing people against each others so they don't have to pay for images.

There was an article posted on the forum a few months ago about the best selling micro/macro stock photog. He was the best selling in terms of numbers only. This guy had a staff of 12-14 photogs and had sold an amazing amount of photos.

Only problem was: he had not yet made a penny...

That article was posted by someone who, I think, was trying to say you can still make money from stock but had unfortunately not read the article.

All that to say, don't waste your time with stock. Especially since you say you have no money to invest. Stock, to me, was exactly that: an investment. I would go to an area, shoot the hell out of it and spend quite a bit of money in the process knowing I would make that money back.

This is just not true anymore.

 

[orljustin]

what does it take to sell pictures? mostly, i do landscape and nature, its just what calls to me. maybe their is no market for that. anyone have any ideas other than stock?

i have no money, cant invest, cant do art fairs, or anything like that. im broke. cant do much of anything except sell online somehow..

It "calls" to everyone, because it is relatively easy to do, and it is right outside your back door. It does take work to make money in stock. When there are 6 million images of robins on a branch, it is unlikely yours will be found. Sorry.

 

[Big Mike]

The more common way to make money with photography, is to sell the service of professional photography...weddings, portraits, commercial etc.

There is money to be made with nature, landscape, fine art...just as there is money to be made in painting such things. But have you heard the term 'starving artist'? There may be money but it's not easy to get...especially if you are unable or unwilling to put any money/effort into selling it (selling yourself).

You might be able to derive some business by maximizing the SEO of your website...but even then, the chances that someone will buy photos just because they happened upon your website, is extremely slim.

 

[usayit]

Unfortunately, the market simply doesn't place a high value on such work. Its not a judgement on your work (or anyone elses). Its just the way it is. There's a lot of people doing very difficult or very unique work which earns very little. THere's a lot of people doing very common very simple work and getting rich.

Move on... do your research and find out the services that the market is willing to pay for. As big mike said, many photographers are earning a living selling a service not just a photo. I found that many successful photographers are not photographers in the pure sense. There are journalists and writers that just happen to take photos for their assignments.

 

[Jen2174]

Thanks for all these great responses. what c.cloudwalker said was interesting about how people dont want to pay for images and such. the whole thing is depressing. as far as moving on goes, that was my whole point of the post. I am not interested in doing other forms of photography if it does please me. if i cant be happy doing it, I wont. plus, my camera sucks right now. its not professional enough to be considered for bigger leagues, yet.

 

[flightless_beaker]

Thanks for all these great responses. what c.cloudwalker said was interesting about how people dont want to pay for images and such. the whole thing is depressing. as far as moving on goes, that was my whole point of the post. I am not interested in doing other forms of photography if it does please me. if i cant be happy doing it, I wont. plus, my camera sucks right now. its not professional enough to be considered for bigger leagues, yet.

You shouldn't get discouraged because you don't think your camera is "professional enough". I've seen some amazing shots on consumer model SLRs and even point and shoots. I remember reading about one pro who went to Africa to document the people there and he was shooting with I think a Canon Powershot (wish I can remember the name but I read about it a couple years ago). Its what you do with the camera, not the camera. Also, part of being an artist is working with what you have and figuring out how to overcome your limitations.

Also there's nothing wrong with exploring different aspects of photography. I love shooting nature because it gives me a chance to get some fresh air and be creative at the same time (not to mention a little exercise, lol). But there's not a lot of money to be made in it unless you can sell them. I like portraiture. That's what I'm basing my business on. Don't like events but hey, I'll do them if I can please my client and get paid from it. I just know I have to do it in order to achieve some success. I have no desire to shoot any weddings but I'm sure I'll have to at some point.

 

[epp_b]

The real question is: how can a photographer make money with stock? The supply is so much higher than the demand that the pricing drops to pennies.

The money is now in custom work; providing a service. Weddings, portraits, commercial and otherwise commissioned works are the only real way to make money at this.

But have you heard the term 'starving artist'?

This guy isn't one of them...

It's a very nice photograph, but it's nowhere near the best or the most compelling photograph ever seen. However, there's an inspiring story behind it, it was created by an esteemed artist and it will most likely be the only print of this photograph ever to exist.

People buy art primarily because of the artist, not the art. Or maybe somebody needed to blow a million bucks on wall art to pad their business expenses for tax season

 

[Overread]

Many landscape photographers will make prints; frame them and then spend time going round local cafes, coffee shops and tourist spots (the latter only if their photos are of local landscapes) and will offer to put those framed prints on the shops wall in exchange that the print will also have a marked price upon it and that people can buy the print (in the frame) from the shop. The shop gets a cut from the sale and the photographer gets to advertise and (hopefully) sell their wares. Another method is to do the same with postcards and calenders.

These might or might not net much regular income but they area start in both getting your work out there and also instarting to get some income from it.

In the nature line unless you can attach yourself to something like nat geo or the BBC where you are providing your services as a photographer chances are your best bet isn't in the sale of photos; but instead in the running of workshops and tutorials. Most of the nature photographers I know make most of their income this way rather than through the sale of their photos.

 

[Formatted]

Many landscape photographers will make prints; frame them and then spend time going round local cafes, coffee shops and tourist spots (the latter only if their photos are of local landscapes

I follow a photographer, on twitter who is a fine art photographer. He does make a living, but he doesn't own a car, takes the bus to the shops and is out every day taking photos.

It can be done, but its a hard life. You can find his work - Lake District Photos : Stewart Smith

In the nature line unless you can attach yourself to something like nat geo or the BBC where you are providing your services as a photographer chances are your best bet isn't in the sale of photos; but instead in the running of workshops and tutorials. Most of the nature photographers I know make most of their income this way rather than through the sale of their photos.

I was talking to a BBC Photog the other day, about another project he was working on. Long story short, its a labour or love they get paid absolutely nothing....

 

[SlickSalmon]

The New Age adage "do what you love and the money will follow" turned out not to be true.

 

[gsgary]

To sell landscapes you need to be able to shoot like this guy
JoeCornish Galleries

 

[dupek]

I venture in jigsaw puzzle. Spend $30 on software and countless hours to convert my photos to puzzles. Set up shop on line with paypal account. Shop is set for digital download. The store is on line for 6month and is idling. No sale. The puzzles are cheap ($2). Have few visitors, but not buyers. It is hard to sell anything this time. When I get bored, I play my own puzzles.
Printing, framing photos is expensive too. Depend on size, the frame will run from $10 to $25, plus ink for printer. Can not print on cheap printer. I have Canon i9900. Had few clients that wanted to me fix damage photos and made few bucks. I have full time job. No way in hell, I could pay the bills from my photography or photo editing. Tough times.

 

[Big Mike]

Many landscape photographers will make prints; frame them and then spend time going round local cafes, coffee shops and tourist spots (the latter only if their photos are of local landscapes) and will offer to put those framed prints on the shops wall in exchange that the print will also have a marked price upon it and that people can buy the print (in the frame) from the shop. The shop gets a cut from the sale and the photographer gets to advertise and (hopefully) sell their wares. Another method is to do the same with postcards and calenders.

Another way is to have your own gallery/store. If people can actually walk into a store and look at a well printed & framed photo, they are much more likely to spend money on it, than if they just see it on a website.

Of course, you have a lot more overhead expenses with a studio/store, so you'd have to have something working in your favor...like really good marketing and/or a really good location.

There are also those who sell photos at flea markets, craft/art shows.

 

[Jen2174]

Thanks for the store idea. I would love to do something like that one day.

the jigsaw puzzle thing sounds really good, ive never heard of that. its unique. i think being creative is a big deal in this business