You love photography, right? You have seen some photographers who do this as a profession, but, you don’t want to do what he is doing. So, is there any other way to make money with photography?

I recently have been studying about all the different ways to make money with your camera, and I am finally ready to share that with you. It is a long course, so this may take several sessions to get it all to you. So, here we go:

1- Sell your images via a stock agency:

There are thousands of people who buy photos to use in their advertising, in their product brochures, in their Company image, etc. and there is one place a lot of corporations and businesses go to get their photos, and that is a STOCK AGENCY.

Now, to do this, they usually expect that you will produce for the stock agency a lot of photos. I don’t know how much will happen if you don’t submit a lot of photos, but, from what I know, if you want to sell a lot of photos, you have to submit a lot of photos.

Some Genres of photos sell better than others, photos with people in them, their activities and seasons tend to be a big moving item. Check with all the people you submit to a stock agency. Can you imagine what would happen if you submitted a photo of your friend, and then they find their picture in some advertisement somewhere. A “MODEL RELEASE” is a good thing to have with every recognizable face. And if you have children’s photos, get a “MODEL RELEASE” from their parents.

Another genre that seems popular to pick through stock agencies, is “SEASONS”. How do you depict seasons? Here is a couple of ideas:

I think a person doing something with winter, is a great idea.

2- ENTER PHOTO COMPETITIONS:

I don’t think photographers, who are good, do this enough. But, there is big money in some of the competitions.

I remember I wanted to try my skills at the local county fair a few years ago. I thought I was a pretty good photographer. I made sure my photos were mounted, with a border, and presented very well. Fair’s don’t pay really big, but, it was worth finding out if my photos were any good.

I ended up taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the County Fair. I was surprised, but, with the local fairs, the amateurs who submit photos, really aren’t that good.

There are plenty of photography competitions to choose from, with prizes running into thousands of dollars.

Go to Google, and type in: Current Photo contests, and see what pulls up. I was also shocked to find a lot of contests.

You’ll have to pay to enter some, but there are also plenty of free contests. As well as cash prizes, it will give you the opportunity to have your work seen by many: which could lead to further selling opportunities.

Take a look at past winners and see what the judges are looking for. You may have a photo already that is a winning photo.

Here are just a few big ones. You can also go online and see past winners:

• iPhone Photography Awards if your camera of choice is your iPhone;
• National Geographic Traveller Photography Awards is the competition for travel photographers;
• Nikon Small World for microscope photography enthusiasts;
• Monochrome Awards for black and white photography; and
• Sony World Photography Awards for all genres.

3- RUN YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES:

This one is interesting, because you would do this only if you were real knowledgeable about photography, and you could share that with people who are dying to learn. And, do you have the personality to be a “TEACHER”.

There are different ways to do this. You do not have to get up in front of a class, but, you could do this:

Run your course direct via your own photography website or blog, or use a dedicated course platform. A course platform will give you the tools to enable you to share your skills. They’ll also help you reach your customers.

Then, you have to compete with people like me who do FREE training on photography through blogs like this. But, you may have a certain skill in Photoshop, or Portrait Photography, that you could do more of a “hands on” approach.

A course platform will give you the tools to enable you to share your skills. They’ll also help you reach your customers.

Check out the following platforms:

• Skillshare: try for free before signing up to the premium plan to run paid courses;
• Udemy: become an approved instructor to run paid courses;
• Thinkific: great for building a course from scratch; and
• Ruzuku: interact with students via webinars.

CONCLUSION TODAY:

I hope this gets you thinking about some different ideas in how to make money with your photography. I will be going over some more ideas in just the next few days that may also help you with certain ideas. Please come back, and follow along. That was only 3 ideas today. I have about 17 ideas to show you.