Casual Photographer sells a decent shot ?

roboshatner

Now I heard a story last week of someone that took a photo in dublin city centre.

Now he water marked the photo and put the up for sale on a site.

So he put them up on his site for sale and someone wanted one of his pictures enlarged or framed he agreed and got a handsome fee for it.

Sounds like a interesting way to make money during a recession.

My question is this all true is it that easy ?

and what site would you put it up that that would not give away your rights to the photo..as we all know any photo put up on facebook you give away your rights.

CinSoots

roboshatner wrote: »

My question is this all true?

Maybe.

roboshatner wrote: »

is it that easy ?

No.


There are millions of photos uploaded to the internet every day and 99.99999999999% of them will never ever make a cent. Ever.

Import something from China and sell it. Much easier way of making a few Bob

RoiSoleil

roboshatner wrote: »

Now I heard a story last week of someone that took a photo in dublin city centre.

Now he water marked the photo and put the up for sale on a site.

So he put them up on his site for sale and someone wanted one of his pictures enlarged or framed he agreed and got a handsome fee for it.

Sounds like a interesting way to make money during a recession.

My question is this all true is it that easy ?

and what site would you put it up that that would not give away your rights to the photo..as we all know any photo put up on facebook you give away your rights.

Well the reality is that it's not that easy it all. The guy in the story was lucky and fair play to him. The stock photography market is saturated at the moment with companies like istock, getty offering very poor royalties to photographers.

Personally I've found it much better to sell directly myself. At least that way I control the prices and keep all the royalties (minus tax).

I also make a bit from chasing up companies that use my photos without permission. They are easy to find using Google reverse image search. I do a trawl once a month and then send out the invoices. About 30% pay up no questions asked (usually bigger companies who don't want the hassle), 20% argue the toss back and forth for a while:"But I found it on Google so it's ok etc". They eventually pay up. I get no joy from 50%. These tend to be owners of Chinese and Russian websites who don't give a toss about copyright. There's no real point in following these up.

I also sell prints directly and online with Fine Art America who let you set your own price. They have a base price and you set your price to whatever you want above that. Most customers tend to be in the US but not all and they pay decent money.

Funny story to finish. This is the email exchange I had with a Dutch Lawyer last Friday who wanted to buy a photo for use on his website.

Him: Hi, I would like to enquire about your Amsterdam Canal photo. I would like to use it on my website.

Me: No problem but can I get back to you. My wife is pregnant and I'm a little busy right now.

Him: No problem Congratulations. When is baby due.

Me: Well we're in the delivery room now so any minute now really.

Him: Holy crap! Get back to your wife. I can wait.

Btw, it's good to be back on this the photography forum. I used to post as Achtung Barry. Took a break to look after real life matters for a while most importantly the little 9 day old in my arms right now.

amdgilmore

Sure I can barely get into my apartment some days for all the caviar, champagne and stacks of cash from my photo profits.

In short: yes it's possible, but no it's not likely. And a casual photographer will never sell individual photos consistently enough for it to be a reliable source of income. Even pros struggle with that.

Congrats to the chap above on the new addition to the family.

magicbastarder

roboshatner wrote: »

Sounds like a interesting way to make money during a recession.

interesting, certainly. but the fact that it was remarkable enough that it becomes a topic of conversation should speak volumes about how common it is.

RoryW

welcome back Achtung Barry ! Your photos are always inspiring. Look forward to seeing more

and congratulations on the family addition :-)

pullandbang

Ah welcome back Barry and congrats on the new baby. Just go easy on the HDR this time

stcstc

i print and frame for some of the top pros, who would be selling more than most. and all bar none struggle to make a decent living from it

all of them do other things apart from selling images to make a living

i can think on maybe 2 or 3 photographers in the country that make a living by soley selling prints

roboshatner

Lets just say I have taken a few really good photos.

What site do I use to put them up.

I watermark them they are up on a site.

Now someone buys one of them.

I own the the copyright for that image.

so I can sell that image again if someone wants to buy it yes ?

amdgilmore

Lets just say I have taken a few really good photos.
Ok.

What site do I use to put them up.
Any of the major photo-sharing sites (500px, Flickr etc) allow users to buy prints or license photos. They also take a cut of any sale, and your photo is in any case likely to be drowned out by the millions of other photos that get uploaded every day. There is a very good chance nobody will even see it. Setting up your own website and drawing traffic towards it through SEO and advertising is the most productive approach

I watermark them they are up on a site.
Watermarks mean nothing, but ok.

Now someone buys one of them.
Optimistic, but we'll play along.

I own the the copyright for that image.
Yes.

so I can sell that image again if someone wants to buy it yes?
Almost always, depending on the licensing arrangement you have with the buyer. It's not impossible that somebody might ask for exclusivity, but that sort of licensing is generally reserved for the paparazzi/tabloid shots.

Barring that unlikely outcome, you will still be able to re-sell it to as many people as wish to buy it.

I'm sorry to be negative above but I don't think you're fully absorbing the message here regarding the sheer unlikeliness any of this actually happening... ever.

The J Stands for Jay

I have pictures on flicker, 500px and Society 6, all of which can sell the images in some form. The sum total of all my sales to date is $3.

ValueInIreland

Set yourself up on a site like: www.theimagefile.ie - Really easy to do, with the best customer support that I have ever encountered. You pay a modest monthly fee, but all revenue (apart from credit card fees) is yours. You can set your own products and pricing and use your own lab, their lab or print yourself. You can have all images custom watermarked automatically on upload.
If you already have a client base, you can direct them here for ordering (Hard copy or different resolution downloads).
Also use Twitter and Facebook to promote your images on a regular basis with links to The Image File.
Yes, you can get lucky and have a money shot that will sell and sell, but it is hard to stand out from the crowd.
Good luck!