How To Make Money from Photography

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Julian Elliott

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Julian Elliott
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Afternoon all

Thought I'd put this one out there.

A lot of people out there want ideas on how to make and earn money from their photography so that it pays for itself. It's not an impossible task but it also isn't the easiest thing either as you are fighting against a huge pool of people.

There are a number of avenues out there in which you can use to maximize our earnings from your imagery. But do remember though that when you start going down this path is that it then does become a job which requires dedication to your skill.

 
Craikeybaby said:
Isn't the best way to make money in photography to make content aimed at teaching photographers how to make money...
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Well, I gave several ideas so what people do with the information is up to them.
 
Many years ago I did the making money from my photography thing, I did make some reasonable money but never went full time I just invested the money I made on gear. What I found though was that I lost my passion for photography and I got to the point where I never took a photo unless there was money involved. I realised that this wasn't why I got into photography and after a particularly fraught "short notice favour wedding at mates rates" decided to stop doing photography for money or indeed for anyone else. I'm back on the hobby route now and happily photographing what I want when I want to. My message is be careful of what you wish for but if you are intent on this route please don't fall into the trap I did. I know I was weak and it was my fault but it did just creep up on me. I have no personal photos from those years and I regret that.
 
Topsy said:
My message is be careful of what you wish for but if you are intent on this route please don't fall into the trap I did. I know I was weak and it was my fault but it did just creep up on me. I have no personal photos from those years and I regret that.
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I feel into the exact same trap you did...its easy to do. I had three years where I didn't take a personal photo and its probably taken a year fro stopping shooting for money for e to just enjoy photography again
 
I have to say that I am forever telling people that directly ask me about doing this full-time they MUST be aware that this is a job. Yes, you can have fun out there but ultimately this is a job. I think a lot of the problem, and I try to get this across in my channel, is that people look at some of these high subscriber channels and see the jollies going on and it just isn"t the reality.

I far prefer to be honest with people in the content that I provide and hopefully that's coming across.
 
I had a friend when we lived in London who ran a photographic business that fed a family for several years. He put it to me that it was 10% photography and 90% business. Granted he was doing weddings and portraits etc so perhaps less fun, but it's stayed with me ever since.
 
Topsy said:
Many years ago I did the making money from my photography thing, I did make some reasonable money but never went full time I just invested the money I made on gear. What I found though was that I lost my passion for photography and I got to the point where I never took a photo unless there was money involved. I realised that this wasn't why I got into photography and after a particularly fraught "short notice favour wedding at mates rates" decided to stop doing photography for money or indeed for anyone else. I'm back on the hobby route now and happily photographing what I want when I want to. My message is be careful of what you wish for but if you are intent on this route please don't fall into the trap I did. I know I was weak and it was my fault but it did just creep up on me. I have no personal photos from those years and I regret that.
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This is the exact same experience I had. Pro photography is overrated. I shot weddings for 5 years and burned out. I had some good times but in 2010 I quit and sold everything. I have only just found enough interest to get back into taking pics for me.
The internet is flooded with people giving the impression they make loads of money at this lark, a lot of it is smoke and mirrors. The term "those who can't, teach" is often very true.
 
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ancient_mariner said:
I had a friend when we lived in London who ran a photographic business that fed a family for several years. He put it to me that it was 10% photography and 90% business. Granted he was doing weddings and portraits etc so perhaps less fun, but it's stayed with me ever since.
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very true it all sell sell sell and very little photography
 
Bandit16 said:
I shot weddings for 5 years and burned out.
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I shot weddings, as an operator only, throughout the 1970s.

All I had to do was pick up the order form and the film, get to the church ahead of everyone else and make sure I got everything on the list. It was very formal back then and that suited my temperament. I often had two weddings on a Saturday and sometimes three. It was all a bit heart in mouth if the first wedding ran late but that was the worst case. After I handed the film in, I just forgot about it, until I got paid. :)
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I shot weddings, as an operator only, throughout the 1970s.

All I had to do was pick up the order form and the film, get to the church ahead of everyone else and make sure I got everything on the list. It was very formal back then and that suited my temperament. I often had two weddings on a Saturday and sometimes three. It was all a bit heart in mouth if the first wedding ran late but that was the worst case. After I handed the film in, I just forgot about it, until I got paid. :)
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Indeed I shot film for a few years and the whole process will less creative it was considerably quicker and easier. If we were still shooting film I would still be a wedding photographer to this day I'm sure of it.
 
Bandit16 said:
Indeed I shot film for a few years and the whole process will less creative it was considerably quicker and easier. If we were still shooting film I would still be a wedding photographer to this day I'm sure of it.
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I have exactly the opposite attitude; I stopped shooting weddings on film as it was so boring shooting the same thing week in week out.

I then started up again when I went digital, so much more fun shooting documentary style, hard work, but lots more interesting.
 
I've found combining with filming, and since covid live streaming, improved the viability a lot. Wise words above about risking your passion for photography and the focus on sales and marketing.
 
My take on this is that the world of professional photography has moved so far and so fast that it's now very difficult to earn a living from any one speciality, people need to do a bit of everything, and/or to have an entirely different income stream.

It was very different for people of my generation, we spent years in training and most of us ended up earning a very good living from our chosen speciality. Those days have long gone and, although photography has been extremely good to me, I wouldn't recommend it as a career choice for young people now.
Julian Elliott said:
Afternoon all

Thought I'd put this one out there.

A lot of people out there want ideas on how to make and earn money from their photography so that it pays for itself. It's not an impossible task but it also isn't the easiest thing either as you are fighting against a huge pool of people.

There are a number of avenues out there in which you can use to maximize our earnings from your imagery. But do remember though that when you start going down this path is that it then does become a job which requires dedication to your skill.

Click to expand...
I watched most of it but, to be brutally honest, I feel that it just touched, very lightly, on each of the various possibilities. I would think that a series of separate videos could be useful though, going into much more depth.
 
Garry Edwards said:
we spent years in training and most of us ended up earning a very good living from our chosen speciality.
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There were a lot of us self taught photographers around in the sixties and seventies as well. For a few years, I worked in newspaper advertising as my day job and shot local events in the evenings and at weekends. Some weeks I made more from my press pictures than from the day job, often selling to the papers who paid my salary!

Nobody thought it was odd, that was just the way that the local press worked back then. What with that, the weddings in the busy season and the odd advertising shot, it was both fun and rewarding! :naughty:
 
Garry Edwards said:
My take on this is that the world of professional photography has moved so far and so fast that it's now very difficult to earn a living from any one speciality, people need to do a bit of everything, and/or to have an entirely different income stream.

It was very different for people of my generation, we spent years in training and most of us ended up earning a very good living from our chosen speciality. Those days have long gone and, although photography has been extremely good to me, I wouldn't recommend it as a career choice for young people now.

I watched most of it but, to be brutally honest, I feel that it just touched, very lightly, on each of the various possibilities. I would think that a series of separate videos could be useful though, going into much more depth.
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What you have to remember is that you can't have a vlog that is too long as people's attention span diminishes. You also have to balance out the information to the point of giving people enough to work with and carry forward.

I think when you hand things to people on a plate then you are devaluing yourself to some respect. People expect a lot for free in this day and age instead of taking the time to learn things and experiment with what does and doesn't work.
 
Julian Elliott said:
What you have to remember is that you can't have a vlog that is too long as people's attention span diminishes.
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My view is that this was more a video about what you can do to make money from photography and not how. And it's the "how" that's the tricky bit.
 
Harlequin565 said:
My view is that this was more a video about what you can do to make money from photography and not how. And it's the "how" that's the tricky bit.
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What I'm happy about is the healthy debate that this has brought up :)

Hopefully what the vlog does is inspire people to think about what they can do earn money from photography and how they can do it :)
 
Well.. I make a nice living from photography :) I work cheap and I work hard.. A lot don't like that approach or agree with it.. a lot think it doesnt work (hahaha) but it makes me a decent living :) My view is its like anything else.. hard work pays... oh and I still enjoy it.. even the cold tuesdays nights sat in the rain or freezing conditions for a couple of hrs...
 
KIPAX said:
My view is its like anything else.. hard work pays
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The most interesting advice I ever had on that was from my last boss, just before I left to go independent. This was a guy who started out in a council house and was a multi-millionaire when he died.

"Hard work pays", he told me, "but smart work pays much better". Following that advice worked out very nicely for me. :naughty:
 
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