Freelance Photography - Earn Cash From Your Hobby

Freelance Photography - Earn Cash From Your Hobby

By:


In a recent series on television, commissioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), they looked at the top 10 jobs people would really want to do if given the opportunity. Essentially what would make you dash out of the front door first thing in a morning, champing at the bit to get to work? The intriguing thing is that the top 5 were all 'creative' jobs, and at number 3 was 'Photographer'. Specifically, Freelance Photography, where you become your own boss.

There has been a massive rise in sales of Digital cameras and equipment, we are all delighting in the advantages of digital photography; comparatively low running costs, the ability to take a virtually unlimited number of photographs at virtually no cost, and the convenience of editing and printing them out yourself. The past couple of years has also seen an escalation in the amount of digital SLR cameras being purchased mainly, the SLR beginner models such as Nikon D50, Nikon D80, Nikon D40and Canon 350D.

Directly in proportion to this is the upsurge of photography related websites, discussion groups, galleries - such as Flickr.com for example - where every man and his dog force their photographic attempts on us with relentless fervour. Some fantastic, some passable and, to be quite honest, some absolutely hopeless undertakings. Mind you, with many people now tiring of the daily 9-5 grind of life in an office, this is a superb creative vent.

The majority of amateur photographers are quite happy to continue with this for amusement, but for me, I've always aimed to find an income stream that can be built from something which most people would call a leisure pursuit. 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 good cash to be made in freelance photography, and the great thing is you need not be an excellent photographer - just fairly competent will more than suffice.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Sign Up with a stock photography agency website like www.shutterstock.com or www.dreamstime.com. These in particular are what we call "micro-stock agencies". You upload your photographs for approval (by the editorial team) and once approved they are available to download by the agency's customers. With only a small number of photographs, this type of Freelance photography won't make you a millionaire straight away, but it will bring in a steady residual income that grows as your portfolio grows.

Set up your own website and sell prints directly to customers. There are several providers on the net who handle all the web design and shopping cart details. I have a friend who makes quite a nice second income 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

About the Author:
The author, Nick Bailey, is a pro-amateur photographer himself who earns an income from stock and freelance photography. Visit http://www.digital-photography-pro.com for more details.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags: , , , ,

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Business Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.