Is HDR Photography Profitable?

Brick · Mar 29, 2011

We're about to find out! 16 of my favorite HDR's will be up at this restaurant/coffee shop/bar for the next 3 months. If I break even on the cost of the frames, I'll call it a success :mrgreen:

Overread · Mar 29, 2011

Neat! Good luck with getting some sales

Provo · Mar 29, 2011

You will do just fine not sure about how much you are asking for the images. But I would definitely say is profitable I recently sold my 1st image and if you wanted to break it down into the cost.
Here's a recap

Taking the image $0 dollars
printed the image myself at my job using a fiery rip workstation connected to a rastek large format printer=0
mailing& shipment in a circular tube with insurance $22
total money earned back $150

The image was sold to someone who works or co owns a place in South of the Border Dillon SC
image size 24x36

But let's talk beyond that I will give you the example of Trey Ratcliff he has never taken a photography class he actually began taking
images 5 yrs ago and because of his passion for it he is now reference as the HDR king by some. So in a profit state it has brought him
sponsors,travel,lodging, gear etc.. But most important is not just hdr you can take a really good standard image let's say birding if you can manage to sell it
then it's profitable even if it's a little money.

The future is High Dynamic Range and 3D images

Good subject discussion and that image example you posted here looks good within itself. Goodluck & keep us posted on the sale.

mishele · Mar 29, 2011

Good luck!!! Please let us know how it goes!!!

Over Exposed · Mar 29, 2011

Any type of photography CAN be profitable. I think a better title would be "Is MY photography profitable?". Clearly the owner or manager of the shop was impressed enough to allow the images to adorn his walls, so I'd guess you are off to a good start. :thumbup:

mortovismo · Mar 29, 2011

How did you approach the restaurant owner or vice versa? Did you take a portfolio of work in with you, or framed examples? Did he/she find you online?

Brick · Mar 29, 2011

Over Exposed said:
Any type of photography CAN be profitable. I think a better title would be "Is MY photography profitable?". Clearly the owner or manager of the shop was impressed enough to allow the images to adorn his walls, so I'd guess you are off to a good start. :thumbup:

Ha! This is very true, as Provo mentioned above he's profited from it (kudos to you!) and Trey Ratcliff has certainly profited from it. So the only question now is, will I?

Provo, I definitely agree. I think the future will be in digitally enhanced media (like 3D and HDR and who knows what else). I live in Arkansas which is generally the last place any sort of trend hits and I've started to notice flyers for business, prints in local restaurants (other than mine), and even shots in a local high end contractor's home listings that are HDR. It's been slowly gaining momentum for the past few years, I'll be interested to see where it goes from here.

mortovismo - the restaurant I have the shots in has local art rotating in and out so they use an online application form on their website. Just submit a bio and a few low-res shots. I'm not sure how other places do it.

Provo · Mar 29, 2011

Hey Brick how about advertising commercial real estate hdr that is picking up
I even thought about jumping in on that with some trials call them freebies to get my feet wet

Brick · Mar 30, 2011

Provo said:
Hey Brick how about advertising commercial real estate hdr that is picking up
I even thought about jumping in on that with some trials call them freebies to get my feet wet

A friend of mine works for the high end contractor I mentioned early, and they pay someone to photograph their properties so I know there's a market for it - although I'm not sure how big the market is.

I thought about doing the same but eventually decided against it. Having a full time job while trying to finish up a degree gives me very little time to shoot as it is. I'd hate for the only shooting I do to be of things I don't care about. Maybe one day if I have more time I'll look into it. If you end up finding your way into it I'd love to hear about it.

user3977 · Mar 30, 2011

can i ask how much yall pay for frames? you mentioned if you can break even on the cost of frames. i have seen that posted before. what is it that makes the frames so expensive? i make my own frames and well i guess that is why i am puzzled by the cost of them. i have never bought a frame other than the cheap 12x16 $4 frames at walmart for show flyers to show in the shop.

480sparky · Mar 30, 2011

user3977 said:
........ what is it that makes the frames so expensive?...........

Markup.

molested_cow · Mar 30, 2011

Other than HDR, indoor panoramic can be very desirable too. I was visiting my old landlord who had been very nice to me. I offered to take some photos of her rental property and did a few panoramic shots. She didn't know how I did it, but was very happy that she has "professional" looking photos to show. I just used my point and shoot and stitched the images together. Imagine the volume of business if this were to pick up. One image for each room, but each image replaces a whole bunch. I say this can be very lucrative as well.

Now think about panoramic HDRs.....

SlickSalmon · Mar 31, 2011

There's a service in my area called Mouse on House that involves taking 360 degree panoramas of every room in a house and stitching them together with links overlaid on a floorplan of the house. The charge is around $250 or so. It started out being really popular, but I hardly see anyone using it anymore. On the other hand, I saw one instance recently where someone took well-staged HDRs of the house, and it sold in about at week.