What can I do with my Photos?

[Tanman11]

Hi I bought my first dslr camera and I like taking pictures and all but i'm wondering what can I do with the photos I take? Can i sell them? I'm not sure its kinda getting boring.

 

[DGMPhotography]

Hi I bought my first dslr camera and I like taking pictures and all but i'm wondering what can I do with the photos I take? Can i sell them? I'm not sure its kinda getting boring.

If you just got your camera and it's already getting boring, maybe you shouldn't worry about selling them.

Ideally, the first goal in photography (at least when starting out) is to learn and enjoy your craft. Read some articles, try some new and exciting techniques, different subjects. If your primary objective is to make money, you will not achieve the desired results. At least not when beginning. I learned this myself.

What you CAN do, is to edit and process your photos and then post them here for us to review and give you feedback so that you can get better.

If you don't enjoy it, then perhaps photography isn't for you. But I would encourage you to keep trying, just keep taking photos, and maybe you'll discover something you really enjoy.

Forgive me if this sounded harsh, that was not the intention. And take my advice with a grain of salt, I'm by no means a master.

Whatever you decide, good luck.

 

[PaulWog]

Hi I bought my first dslr camera and I like taking pictures and all but i'm wondering what can I do with the photos I take? Can i sell them? I'm not sure its kinda getting boring.

Step #1 Are you shooting in RAW? If not, you should be.

Step #2 Once you're shooting in RAW, are you editing your photos on your computer using a program such as Adobe Lightroom? If not, you should be.

Step #3 Once you've learned to edit your photos, go to step #0

Step #0 Learn new things, work on composure, etc. Buy a new lens if you don't have a fast prime lens if you're getting bored.

You mention that you purchased your first DSLR, but you mention nothing about purchasing a lens, tripod, or photo editing software. That indicates to me that you getting bored = you being lazy. Have you shot a panorama? Have you done night landscape photography? Have you tried shooting the stars? Have you tried flash photography? How about HDR? How about an HDR panorama? How is your animal photography? Bird photos? Dog photos? Action photos of animals or kids or people? Sports shots? Candid street photography? How about some nicely done landscape shots? Have you tried doing creative photography integrating special techniques, such as long-exposure light painting? Have you played around with ND filters for long exposure landscape shots? Have you checked out polarizing filters for shots of stream water to get better colours? Have you played around with all the effects you can get with a fast lens and bokeh?

I could go on and on and on. The list is seemingly endless, because when it comes to photography you have limitless freedom. So if you're feeling like you're getting bored, mobilize yourself and start thinking a little more. You don't even have to think that hard to pick up a new skill.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hi I bought my first dslr camera and I like taking pictures and all but i'm wondering what can I do with the photos I take? Can i sell them? I'm not sure its kinda getting boring.

Weird.. my trusty troll detector has a flashing red light on it. Hmm... well, if this post was actually made in earnest then I would have to give you a piece of advice that I've never given anyone. If you really want to make money, forget about selling your pictures and sell the camera instead.

 

[amolitor]

The market for photographs is pretty small. There's lots of people making pictures, and not very many people buying them. If you're very good, or can find a niche, or are very good at marketing, or are connected, you might be able to make a living. If you're pretty good, pretty good at marketing, and work pretty hard, you might sell some pictures, but not enough to make a living.

Selling pictures probably isn't a great thing to be thinking about as an end result.

The problem of "yes, but what shall I do with my pictures?" is a very real one. Many people never encounter it, because they like cameras, not photographs, so ultimately they don't care about the question. If the camera alone isn't enough to sustain your interest, though, then the pictures kind of have to do that job.

In this age of digital, we wind up with a lot of pictures. If there's no particular purpose, well, you can either find a new hobby, one that does interest you, or you can try to find something that satisfies you in these pictures.

Start by editing. Pick out the good ones. Now pick out the good ones from there. If you're not throwing away 99 pictures for every 100 you shoot, go over them again picking out the really extra god ones, until you are. Now you're got a more manageable problem: a lot fewer pictures, and better ones at that. You can print them and hang them on your walls, or give them as gifts. You can make online portfolios. You can document your life. You can start an online magazine. You can set yourself a project to take 1000 different pictures of leaves.

After a while, you'll probably go back to those earlier pictures and decide you hate every single one of them, and that you should have thrown them all out. That is OK. That is normal.

 

[MeddlinG]

I'm going to assume you are not a troll.

When I bought my first DSLR (D3100), I was absolutely amazed. I was running around the nighbourhood like several hours a day. If you just bought it and you are already bored from it:

1) Try to shoot something else, you need to pick an area of interest eventually (because you can't cover all photography with just one lens). I'm gonna assume you have the basic 18-55 lens. This is good for both landscapes and street. So how about to walk streets in a nearby city looking for funny/unusual situations, outfits, color contrast and so on?

2) Give yourself some photography assignment - for example 365 project (at least 1 photo a day, in the end print it), or taking pictures of letters (and eventually making all alphabet), or just blue things or so on..

3) If you don't like what you do, do something else. You will still have your camera handy for holidays/celebrations/family, but you don't need to force yourself to learning and shooting several hours a day if you don't like it.

 

[Tee]

Step 1: take many photographs
Step 2: hang them on wall
Step 3: have fun taking more photographs

 

[C4n0n.Fan]

My first skate board was great for a few months then it sat in the cupboard for ages.
I just wasn't that passionate about skate boarding...

 

[KmH]

It has been estimated that 500,000,000 new photos are uploaded to the Internet - e v e r y. d a y.
But, lots of people and businesses are buying photographs.
In fact, more photos are bought today than ever before.

But most of the photos that are bought are bought by people in the photos.
That is what retail photography is all about. People go to the local photographer to have the photographer make photos for them.
Retail photographers usually charge a fee to make the photos, and then sell the photos to the people that commissioned the shoot.
The photographer retains copyright ownership.

Businesses buy photos that have people in them for advertising and promotion. Photographers that make photos for that kind of use are usually commercial photographers.
The commercial photography business model is different from the retail photography business model.
The photographer charges a 'creative fee' for making the images, and because the photographer retains copyright ownership, then sells the business a use license which is essentially a rental agreement. The business rents use of the photographers photos for their advertising and promotion. People in a photo have the right to approve or disapprove of the use of their likeness in advertising and promotional material. They give that permission by signing a document known as a Model Release. https://contribute.gettyimages.com/producer/documents/Model_Release_English_Dec_2008.pdf

The 3rd type of photography is known as Editorial photography. On the past newspapers and magazines had staff photographers that made photos on assignment and were paid a salary. The company that paid the photographers salary owned the copyright to any photos the staff photographers made.
Mist staff editorial jobs have disappeared because newspapers, magazines, and other editorial image users now rely on stock, freelance, and amateur photographer made images.

Photos of flowers, your dog, the view up the street, your buddy doing a skateboard trick, the landscape at the lake or up in the mountains, etc. don't sell very often if at all.

So the content and quality of your photos would determine if you can sell them, or not.

 

[480sparky]

Step #1 Are you shooting in RAW? If not, you should be.........

Why?

 

[minicoop1985]

The market for photographs is pretty small. There's lots of people making pictures, and not very many people buying them. If you're very good, or can find a niche, or are very good at marketing, or are connected, you might be able to make a living. If you're pretty good, pretty good at marketing, and work pretty hard, you might sell some pictures, but not enough to make a living.

Selling pictures probably isn't a great thing to be thinking about as an end result.

The problem of "yes, but what shall I do with my pictures?" is a very real one. Many people never encounter it, because they like cameras, not photographs, so ultimately they don't care about the question. If the camera alone isn't enough to sustain your interest, though, then the pictures kind of have to do that job.

In this age of digital, we wind up with a lot of pictures. If there's no particular purpose, well, you can either find a new hobby, one that does interest you, or you can try to find something that satisfies you in these pictures.

Start by editing. Pick out the good ones. Now pick out the good ones from there. If you're not throwing away 99 pictures for every 100 you shoot, go over them again picking out the really extra god ones, until you are. Now you're got a more manageable problem: a lot fewer pictures, and better ones at that. You can print them and hang them on your walls, or give them as gifts. You can make online portfolios. You can document your life. You can start an online magazine. You can set yourself a project to take 1000 different pictures of leaves.

After a while, you'll probably go back to those earlier pictures and decide you hate every single one of them, and that you should have thrown them all out. That is OK. That is normal.

This and what DGM said. There's billions of images uploaded daily (or something like that) to the world wide web. There are ways out there to make a living taking photos, but to take a photo on your own then try to sell it... good luck. I have a client who pays me to take product photos for their website. It's small stuff, and the client is my stepmom's shop, but it's a start. Go ahead and laugh, I know.

One of the things that's keeping me interested in photography is experimenting with new formats and different technologies-I started out with a Kodak P&S a few years ago, then my wife got her first DSLR which I promptly stole as often as I could, then just a few months ago I got my own DSLR. Since then, the amount I use that Olympus DSLR has dropped significantly, and my use of film cameras (I have an Oly OM-1n, a Minolta SRT-101, a Rollei 35, and a Hasselblad 1600f-all very, very different) has skyrocketed because it's something new and fresh.

As for what you can do with your photos, just enjoy them. Try something new-a new lens, a new way angle, just something different. This got me back to taking more photos for fun:


My "urban-engineered" macro setup by longm1985, on Flickr

That's an old Minolta film lens flipped around and mounted to the front of my Olympus. It's incredibly sketchtastic looking, but it gives amazing results. If you want to become unbored by photography, get creative. Try something new.

 

[Derrel]

Take a bunch of photos and upload them to Pinterest! Start a Flickr page! Start actually having some of your best images PRINTED! Post 'em on Facebook.

 

[vikrampathaknewyork]

Well you can sign up for various website who buy stock images ! Also there are a lot of online companies these days where you can upload images and put a $$ price to it and may be end up selling images yourself as well.

by fashion photographer new york city Vikram Pathak

 

[vintagesnaps]

I see I'm not the only one whose first thought was, sell the camera; that if you aren't interested in it maybe it isn't for you. However looking at your other posts it seems like you're more interested in video and time lapse etc.

Maybe you should look more into what interests you and then figure out if you want to keep this camera or trade in/sell it to get something that you can use to do video etc. If you're not having fun w/the camera you got then maybe there's something else that would be better for you.

 

[AlanKlein]

Take pictures of people you know and love, relatives, friends and neighbors. Even people you don't know. Then give them a print of the best in a nice frame. They will love you forever. Whenever you visit their house,. you will see your icture up there which will give you a wonderful feeling. Don't keep it for yourself. Giving away what you've taken will make you feel so proud and happy as you make others happy too.