In a recent television series, run by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), they polled the top 10 jobs people would really choose to do if money was no object. Essentially what would make you jump out of bed first thing in a morning, desperate to get to work? The intriguing thing is that the top 5 were all 'creative' jobs, and in 3rd position was 'Photographer'. Specifically, Freelance Photography, where you work for yourself.
With the huge rise in sales of Digital cameras and equipment, we are all delighting in the benefits of digital photography; comparatively low running costs, the capacity to take a virtually unrestricted number of photographs at virtually no cost, and the convenience of being able to edit and print them out yourself. The last couple of years has also seen an escalation in the volume of digital SLR cameras being purchased – in particular, the SLR beginner models such as Nikon D50, Nikon D80, Nikon D40and Canon 350D.
Directly in proportion to this has been the increase of photography associated sites, forums, galleries - such as Flickr.com for example - where all and sundry push their photographic efforts upon us with tireless fervour. Some fantastic, some good and, to be quite honest, some absolutely dire efforts. However, with many people now tiring of the daily 9-5 grind of office life, this is an excellent creative outlet.
Most amateur photographers are quite happy to continue with this for amusement, but for me, I've always strived to find a living that can be derived from something that the majority of people would regard as a past-time. That is what I call Freelance Photography.
Now I'm not saying that you will suddenly turn into the next Lord Lichfield, David Bailey or Man-Ray, but there is quite reasonable money to be made in freelance photography, and the best thing is you don't have to be an excellent photographer - just fairly competent will more than suffice.
Here are some thoughts to get you thinking:
Sign Up with a stock photography agency website such as www.shutterstock.com or www.dreamstime.com. These in particular are what are known as "micro-stock agencies". You upload your photographs for approval (by the editorial team) and once approved they can be downloaded by the agency’s customers. With only a small portfolio, this type of Freelance photography isn’t going to make you a millionaire overnight, but it will provide a steady residual income that grows as your portfolio grows.
Set up your own website and sell prints directly to customers. There are numerous merchants on the net who take care of all the site design and shopping cart details. I have a colleague who makes quite a nice second wage by selling his landscape photographs of the Peak District in the UK. The best advice here is to find a niche in something you are good at, and focus your efforts within that area.
Sell your photographs to the local newspaper. Seriously, if you've taken any decent pictures of the local football game, or community event, then see if your paper will be interested in using it. This sounds like a long shot, but local papers (in fact, national newspapers) use freelance photographers all the time. They often can't afford to employ more than one or two permanently employed photographers.
So, good luck in your efforts. Even if you don’t quite get to quit the day job, it is very realistic to attain a very decent second income which will pay for all the expensive lenses, filters and accessories that come with having photography as a hobby.
For more information, visit my website below.
www.digital-photography-pro.com
Article Source: http://www.artsymmetry.com
The author, Nick Bailey, is a pro-amateur photographer himself who earns an income from stock and freelance photography. Visit www.digital-photography-pro.com for more details.
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