Photography has long been a popular hobby, but with better and better cameras and equipment, and the advent of the digital SLR models, it is becoming increasingly accessible as the cost is no longer filtering photographers. A great many more talented, creative people are now able to share thPhotography has long been a popular hobby, but with better and better cameras and equipment, and the advent of the digital SLR models, it is becoming increasingly accessible as the cost is no longer filtering photographers. A great many more talented, creative people are now able to share their images, and with a little thought and planning, they might even be able to make some money from it.eir images, and with a little thought and planning, they might even be able to make some money from it.
Assess If Your Work Is Marketable
It is not generally advisable to show friends and family your photographs and ask if they would buy them because invariably they will tell you they would. Instead, try and gauge opinion from people you don’t know. A craft fair or a local gallery is a good starting point; mount some of your favourite images – around 20 is a good number to start with – on cards or as prints.
Talk to people looking at your work, and keep track of what is popular. Make sure you listen and take their feedback on board – what you like best about a picture might not be a commercial selling point and if you want to make money from them, you need to take the pictures your customers want to look at again and again.
The Digital Photography School lists some suggestions for how to sell your work. Amateur Photographer magazine has lots of advice and tips on choosing the right equipment.
Same But Different
Sometimes, the time of day an image is created makes a big difference; not everyone likes a sunset and sometimes there’s a more dramatic time of day to capture a scene. Similarly, try cropping an image in several ways. The same picture cropped horizontally and vertically will give a totally different perspective.
Keep Costs Down
Printing and mounting images yourself, and doing it only when orders are received, will help keep costs down, and you might even want to buy trade photo frames. Once business starts to take off, it might be worth investing in a printer capable of producing professional quality prints. Combined with wholesale photo frames by wallspace, suddenly, you have a quality, marketable product on your hands!
A Virtual Shop
Setting up an online shop is a relatively easy thing to do, and is a great way for people to find and share your work. Make it easy for people to buy with a PayPal purchase option. Do consider how you will get your work to your customers; mounted prints can be mailed easily in bubble-wrap and boxed, though fewer carriers will take frames with glass, so check beforehand.
Expect Prices to Rise to Shipping Glass Frames
You will need to keep a record of any earnings as you will need to complete a tax return, and you should inform the local tax office that you are working self-employed.
Most importantly, remember that this is your hobby and should be fun so do not get too caught up with the printing and mounting part. Your customers will also be expecting to see new work, after all.