subject: Ever Thought Of Making Money Taking Pictures? [print this page] Ever Thought Of Making Money Taking Pictures?
It can be a quick step between being a hobby photographer and selling your images. Many professional photographers began just where you are as a hobbyist and developed their skills to become nationally known. If you have basic photography skills, an interest in learning to shoot better images and the desire to work from home and earn money online, becoming a freelance photographer might be for you. It is possible to make money on either a full-time or part-time basis as a freelance photographer.Many aspiring image creators sell digital photos to stock photo distributors. Stock distributors sell images from contributing photographers online via websites designed to provide images to professional publications, editors, newsletters, websites and other businesses.Customers of stock photography companies search for images that have been stockpiled in extensive collections that cover every imaginable subject. When images sell part of the proceeds go to the photographer. This is a great way to get your work out into the public arena and make a name for yourself.Another way to make money as a freelance photographer is to provide images to online businesses and catalog development. Business needs product images for both online and catalog development and are willing to pay handsomely for quality work. Contacting these prospects personally and offering your services is one way to land contracts, but it will probably be time better spent to advertise in industry publications or in online service provider lists.Wedding photography is an enjoyable way to make money. Photographers hired to shoot weddings follow traditional approaches but in recent years have been allowed to exercise a lot of creative ideas. Weddings are fun for everyone involved and quite often the photographer walks away not only with a great portfolio but a nice paycheck as well.A take-off from wedding photography jobs are school, church, family, club and business sessions. These tend to run in seasonal highs and lows but supplemental in-between jobs can keep you afloat. A studio is an asset, but many of these photo shoots are done on-site at the organization's own facility.Family groupings are the notable exception. Many families love to have everyone gathered together for multi-generational images at public parks, the beach or another great outdoor location. These jobs can be obtained through use of the local Yellow Pages, newspaper classifieds or local online service classified listings.Getting your name out in the public eye is another way to generate freelance photography income. Enter your images in county fairs, online photo contests and other public galleries every chance you get. Name recognition is one way to grow your business. Many magazines and newspapers buy their share of freelance photographs.Larger publications hire photographers on a full or part-time basis while smaller ones prefer to buy from freelancers. Get in touch with as many publications as you can, get a copy of their submission guidelines and then get to work. Learning to make money from home by becoming a freelance photographer is an exciting and fulfilling possibility.
