Starting out..

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annamoore1990

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Annaliese
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Hello,

I am new to photography and trying to get my name and experience out there.
My skills are very basic but I have a good eye and can take a good photo and very good with photoshop.
But was just wandering if anyone had any idea how to start out as applying for junior photographer isnt working.
I want to try and sell photos but just dont know where or how? or where to advertise myself.
I dont have a lot of money so I am a bit limited..
Any advice would be amazing
Thanks xx
 
Hi Annaliese and welcome to TP :wave:

There are a number of easy, no-cost/low-cost ways to get your name out there. I would recommend:
a) open a Flickr and/or 500px account and load some of your best images to your gallery. Also join a few groups on Flickr that are relevant to the type of photography that you do.
b) create a Facebook page for your photographs. If you already have a personal FB account make this separate.
c) get yourself a web site and use it to display your portfolio. Only show your very best images but also consider adding a blog and link to other photographers blogs as this helps with Google rating.

Okay, so c) is gonna cost you some money but if you research it carefully it shouldn't break the bank. You can usually create links between all three above which can encourage viewers to look at all three.

Hope that helps :thumbs:
 
annamoore1990 said:
Hello,

I am new to photography and trying to get my name and experience out there.
My skills are very basic but I have a good eye and can take a good photo and very good with photoshop.
But was just wandering if anyone had any idea how to start out as applying for junior photographer isnt working.
I want to try and sell photos but just dont know where or how? or where to advertise myself.
I dont have a lot of money so I am a bit limited..
Any advice would be amazing
Thanks xx
Click to expand...

If you want to sell photos you have already taken, good luck with that. Flickr etc has thousands and thousands of people trying to do exactly the same thing, many of them with fabulous images, but zero success.

If you want to make money, get paid to take pictures.
 
Hi Annaliese - I'm in exactly the same situation as you. i.e. i've got a good eye, good with Photoshop and have little money.

My first plan of attack is using the social networking sites, especially facebook and encouraging people to 'like' the page, posts and albums - this means that your stuff goes onto their news feed and people that you've not got in your friends list will also see your work.

So far I've only done work for friends, friends of friends and family - but it's a good start.

I have to say that in some ways reading the professionals posts on here has seriously knocked my confidence in taking my events photography to the public 'en masse'.

another big issue I've found is £££ as it all seems a bit chicken and egg...

Drop me a PM as I'd like to share some ideas with you and maybe we could help each other along?
 
DynamicLine said:
I have to say that in some ways reading the professionals posts on here has seriously knocked my confidence in taking my events photography to the public 'en masse'.

another big issue I've found is £££ as it all seems a bit chicken and egg...
Click to expand...

Tim,

Don't be put off by comments from the professionals on here. Many of them (pro's please note I used the word many NOT all) have a real down on amateurs trying to get into the business. What you have to remember is they are not your target audience and the only people you have to please are (in order of priority) your customers and yourself.

You are correct though that doing event photography can be expensive to start with. The initial capital outlay for a dye sub printer and print media is daunting but (in my experience) there's no other way to make it pay enough to make the effort worthwhile. Selling prints at the event will gain you many times more sales (sales=££) than any after the event web gallery.

I wish you and Annaliese every success :)
 
Professional photography is a business. If you want to earn money, you have to have a business head first and foremost.

Owning a decent camera is no qualification at all, though many seem to think it is. Being a great photographer won't do it either.

You need to be good at business first, tough as old boots, and a great photographer, almost cerrtainly with a lot of expensive kit.
 
I have family who's a sort of semi pro and they've mentioned us pooling shots (we shoot completely different things) and selling them like the people we often see selling prints at county shows, craft fairs and even markets but I've never noticed a queue of people actually buying the prints. I've never seen any truly outstanding photography for sale on these stalls but TBH what interests me more is that I doubt I could produce and sell prints for what they charge. They must do it for fun.

If you want to make serious regular money out of your photography, good luck.
 
Thankyou for all your help, I have a small portfolio at home at the moment but dont have a huge amount of photos within it at the moment and currently building up a page on flikr. Has anyone sold there photos before? X
 
Keep an eye on the @gettyimagewants feed on twitter and upload shots they might need into sets on flickr and give them the link and see if they get picked or not. Getty is one of the harder firms to get in with though and this takes time more often than not.

Heres a small list of companies who you can apply to be a contributor for and sell images, although the revenues from these companies are TINY until you can get to the point where you can be an exclusive contributor, and even then its not a liveable wage by any stretch of the imagination.

Depositphotos, istockphoto, alamy, fotoliaUK, shutterstock, dreamsite and microstock.

The only true way you can earn cash with photography though that would make any of it worthwhile is to sell the images yourself, either by some form of website or the better idea of approaching some local sat/sunday league sports clubs and take shots for them as the official photographer and sell the photos of the kids to the families. All of this requires business sense though, whilst stock websites don't (and pay FAR less, apart from getty if you get some big sales, which are highly unlikely without a lot of luck)
 
Sorry to say it Anna but if you are new to photography and your skills are "basic" as you describe them then you need a great deal more than that before you even consider trying to break into any form of professional photography.

I don't mean to be a downer but there are many excellent photographers in our world and even on here who have probably tried selling pics etc and made nothing or even lost money.

My advice is keep taking pics ( even as an enthusiastic amateur I take at least 10,000 picures a year!) and hone your skills - post them on here for some real criticism - and learn what your camera can do.

Remember if you ever cover a wedding or sell your skills the last thing you want to do is be trying to remember what everything on your camera does!

And lastly - never give up!

.
 
petersmart said:
Sorry to say it Anna but if you are new to photography and your skills are "basic" as you describe them then you need a great deal more than that before you even consider trying to break into any form of professional photography.

I don't mean to be a downer but there are many excellent photographers in our world and even on here who have probably tried selling pics etc and made nothing or even lost money.

My advice is keep taking pics ( even as an enthusiastic amateur I take at least 10,000 picures a year!) and hone your skills - post them on here for some real criticism - and learn what your camera can do.

Remember if you ever cover a wedding or sell your skills the last thing you want to do is be trying to remember what everything on your camera does!

And lastly - never give up!

.
Click to expand...

This
 
annamoore1990 said:
If i register to be a contributer what does that mean? X
Click to expand...

Getty pick you, you don't pick Getty.
If they find an image of yours they think is worthy,they will contact you through Flickr and ask for you to submit it in full resolution to them. It will then go through a secondary editing process and either be accepted or declined.

Alamy is easier to get into as you submit images to them rather than them looking for suitable images.
 
annamoore1990 said:
Hello,

I am new to photography and trying to get my name and experience out there.
My skills are very basic but I have a good eye and can take a good photo and very good with photoshop.
But was just wandering if anyone had any idea how to start out as applying for junior photographer isnt working.
I want to try and sell photos but just dont know where or how? or where to advertise myself.
I dont have a lot of money so I am a bit limited..
Any advice would be amazing
Thanks xx
Click to expand...

You're new to photography and your skills are very basic. Yet you are good with photoshop and have an eye for a picture.

If you want to sell pics, learn skills that will take you beyond basic, and get experience to know your camera. Enjoy your photography, practice and learn...Then think about selling stuff...Walk before you run. ;)
 
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Ive found Networking / social media can be a great help, as are local photography groups :)
 
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