How many of us sell our pictures ?

[flatfour]

q

[flatfour]

I have been asked to provide a folio of pictures for a gallery but have never sold any of my pictures before. I have done some jewelry photography on commission but that is all really. I haven't a clue how to go about it but I was wondering how many people on this forum sell their pictures.

[stunsworth]

I've sold a few (very few :-) from my website. Best deal was a travel company that payed £500 for a shot to use in a promo flyer.

There are quite a few professionals on this forum, I expect (and hope!) that their hit rate is higher ;-)

[bill]

I've sold a couple for use in books. I've also sold a few illustrated articles. It takes a lot of effort though. Like Steve, I have the utmost admiration for the pros here. I "backed off" when I realised that shooting to sell was taking all the fun out of it for me.

Regards,

Bill

[stunsworth]

Bill, we're the lucky ones. We can shoot what we like and not even go out if we don't feel like it.

Whenever I think about how good it must be to be a pro, I think back to a friend who was professional and regularly had to shoot a hundred pair of shoes for a catalogue.

[bill]

Steve, my point exactly. I shoot as an antidote to my normal day to day existence. I don't want pressure or deadlines in what is a hobby. It zaps the fun.

Regards,

Bill

[stnami]

I did it on and off as a job, my progress was food-boring( lasted a month), police dept- that was shit, crap soul destroying work. I did work for books as a freelancer supplemented with stonemasonary and landscaping, since the arrival of digital and image banks books are not as lucrative, prices dropped, still I did lots of travel.
I teach/lecture and wrote educational art books now, still exhibit and sell both artwork and photographic work and enjoy

[abrewer]

I got a check for $250 today in the mail for some of mine.

Unfortunately, they weren't taken with the Leica...had to go with the D300 to turn the images around in a couple of hours to meet their press deadline.

I actually made enough last year to justify filing a Schedule C and taking depreciation on my camera stuff....

I like having something that I can do that is different from my "real job" but could be income-producing some day in the future if I really needed it.

I have a friend who's a full-time eye surgeon who shoots a wedding or two every weekend. Lord knows he doesn't need the money. He just likes having the outlet for his time and creative energy. He probably gives the money he makes from it to charity if I know him.

Thanks.

Allan

[earleygallery]

I've taken weddings, portraits, product shots for catalogues/brochures and sold some other general images.

[fotografz]

Just about everything I shoot, except culls and Holiday snaps : -)

[ddp]

I live it. Full time job and side business. And shooting film for myself with the M's keeps me from going insane with the digital at work. I'm sure there are career paths I could have chosen that would have been far more lucrative...but I can't see myself not doing this.

[strick]

Me, sometimes (art photography). But I couldn't make a living with that. Even so, it's a nice confirmation :-)

Cheers,
Greg

[telyt]

I sell prints and calendars from my website, and I've sold photos for use in numerous books periodicals and calendars other than mine own. I agree with Bill and Steve, having to do this for a living would take the fun out of it.

[R.Morrison]

I'm a freelance journalist. A writer first, a photographer second. I write for magazines and newspapers that have long lead-times, (yes, [i]some[i]newspaper articles can have long lead-times) therefore I don't need to go digital. The photos illustrate my articles. The payment received is usualy based on some version of the per column-inch formula therefore payment for the photographic portion of the article is dictated by the size the publication has decided to make your pictures. This means that you can be paid peanuts for a great photo and meaningful bucks for a mediocre shot. You can temper this somewhat by just getting good at it, then the publications can't resist giving space to your photos. The OTTAWA CITIZEN has twice surprised me by, once devoting a third of a page to the front page of one of their sections, and another time, when I gave them a selection of photos of which I believed they might use one, they devoted an entire colour page to all of them!

Keep plugging away,
Robert Morrison, M4-P, etc.

[xray]

I started shooting profesionally in the mid 60's and worked my way through college as a photo journalist. After college I started doing commercial photography and have done mothing but that since. Nearly all of my commercial work is digital but all of my art images and documentary work is film. 75% of my documentary work is Leica or Zeiss and the rest scattered from 6x6 to 8x10 film.

[KM-25]

I shoot full time, stock, editorial, commercial and fine art.

You know, just as fun as the hobby but earn a living..

It has never been a job for me, it is a lifestyle choice.

[jerryharwood]

Well, I am a freelance photojournalist; I have had some very lucrative work, photographing site containers for a Canadian building co. Also have sold a number of landscapes, bird photos etc. commissioned work is the best, but hard to come by. I write as well, and illustrate articles, two three times a month. The hardest is digital, as companies want the photos done in the morning, scanned to disc, in the office by 1600 hours for approval, and out to Canada by 1700 hrs ! that includes all the computer time... well knackered after that lot!

[bobtodrick]

Steve...there is however the other side of the coin (shooting hundreds of pairs of shoes).
At one time I photographed for the Bay (a major Canadian dept store).
Every 2nd Tuesday was bra and panty day....

[stunsworth]

Originally Posted by bobtodrick

Every 2nd Tuesday was bra and panty day....

Bob, is that a bit like dress down Friday? Did the straps chaff a bit at first ;-)

Seriously it goes to show that very cloud... you know the rest :-)

[xray]

Originally Posted by bobtodrick

Every 2nd Tuesday was bra and panty day....

I shot fashion for two major department store chains and there were those fun days.