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01/31/2006 01:40:37 PM · #1 |
I have been trying to examine the best route to take to start making some extra money doing photography part time. I currently work at an adverising agency full time so my free time is limited to evenings and weekends. I have considered everything from art shows to stock photography to portraiture and wedding photography. I just am really unsure about where to begin.
So far I have ruled out art shows. This would require too much of an investment and seems like too much of a gamble on trying to gauge what people will buy.
Stock photography seems like it may be a good route. I am just very wary of these microstock sites as I don\'t want to give away my photos for $0.10 a pop. I get that it is a game of quantity, but I am afraid this may hurt me in the long run. I am thinking that sites like alamy would be the better route. Focus more on having fewer quality images that will sell for higher prices.
Portraiture is something I am interested in doing. My problem with getting started here is how to promote and get my first clients. I know that word of mouth is a very imporatant factor, but how do you get the initial paying customers. Do I advertise and if so where? A phone book listing? Local magazines and newspapers? I have taken on and shot one person that my boss refered to me for free. I figure that this may be a good start, to do a few sessions for free to help build a referal base.
Wedding photography I am not really sure about. That seems like a lot of pressure. I can\'t imagine trying to do that and screwing up someones wedding photos. Granted that is much less likely shooting digital... but still somewhat intimidating.
My goal is to eventually start averaging $400-800 per month. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. |
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01/31/2006 01:47:00 PM · #2 |
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01/31/2006 01:51:35 PM · #3 |
hi! I'm not an expert but if you choose quality , there are more sites , by example Photographersdirect , they even send you mails with request from buyers , and I have seen people happy with Istockpro.
Hope this could help. |
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03/09/2006 02:56:47 PM · #4 |
Hi, I am new to microstock photography adn have been pondering the question of microstock vs. macrostock too. Currently, ia m all on microstock sites. I think my pictures are good, but not great and I need to learn a bit more. I have a goal to be on macrostock sites in the future. My question is what not do both micro and macro? Yes, it will take more time, but I think it would be worth it. I have read on this forum of a guy that has about a 1000 photos on Alamy and a 1000 on many of the common microstocks. He even mentioned that he makes more $/picture/year on the microstocks than he does on Alamy. This was eye opening to me. In any case, consider giving both a try with different pictures of course. I hope this helps. I am with the following sites if you are interested in some decent sites to work with:
ShutterStock
iStockPhoto
Dreamstime
Big Stock Photo
123 Royalty Free Fotolia
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