Selling and Showcasing Your Photos
Now that you have taken your images how can you recoup some of your investment?
There are some very good ways to promote your images close to home. Let’s take a look at how you can start getting your images putting some money back into your bank account.
Small Prints for Sale at Markets – There are markets everywhere. Annual craft markets, weekly farmers markets, artist markets. Have you ever wandered through these markets and saw someone selling their photos and thought, “mine are better than those”. Well, take the bull by the horn, get some images printed, and try to sell some images to the people that are visiting these markets. If you don't want to rent a booth, talk to one of the vendors, and see if they will sell some of your photos for a percentage of the profit.
Finding a Local Small Business To Showcase Your Images – Where I live there are numerous small coffee shops and bistros. Often these locations will hang art in their sitting areas. You could talk to them and see if they will hang your images. Some will let you sell your images for a percentage of the sale. At least you will start to be identified locally as a photographer by placing a card with each image with your name and website.
Approach Local Hospitals and Banks – Oftentimes locations like this will refresh their art. What better way for these locations to be identified as local by supporting local artists like yourself. These images are sometimes purchased, but more often you will be donating your photos.
Donate Artwork to Charity Auctions – Local charities are always looking for prizes that generate donations for their causes. Creating a nicely presented image for auction is an effective way to get your photos and name out in the community in which you live.
Enter Images into Local Art Contests – There is always an art contest at local fall fairs or sponsored by local camera stores. Enter your images and hopefully grab a prize ribbon. Nothing better than getting some bragging rights to build your confidence.
Pricing Your Images For Sale - Check out the websites of over photographers to see what they are selling their images for in their online stores. You can also go and visit a few of the local galleries and art shows to see what local people are selling their images for.
When we sell our images to individuals we will price them anywhere from $0.50 to $1.00 a square inch plus printing, framing, and shipping costs.
When I sell my images to corporate clients I negotiate a price based on the number of years they want to use the photo for, then consider if they are requiring digital formats or printed formats, and then I take into account the level of exclusivity they require. All will all have a determining factor on price.
If you are unsure how to price it, reach out to people you know on social media and ask them how they charge. Maybe even ask the company what their budget is. Then negotiate from there.
Developing Your Style and Having the Confidence to show off your images
I would be remiss if I did not address this one important hurdle that you have to get over first. I believe this is the single most important aspect of photography.
Learning photography is not a competition with ANYONE. It's a self-journey of learning and finding the joy that comes from refining your style through research and practice. Not everyone is going to like your images. All that should matter is that you are happy with the images you are producing. People that like your style will find you, and you can start to create a circle of friends and clients with similar interests.
I feel like this is one of the most overlooked steps by amateur photographers today. For me, developing your style and having the confidence to show off your images is the most important part of becoming a better photographer. Arming yourself with technical and compositional knowledge, developing your photographic eye, and understanding your gear are the major parts of the learning curve you’ll have as a photographer. Confidence in your own photography, thats the major hurdle. I have a thought on that, and I will address that farther down in this post.
Mastering the exposure triangle and understanding how to manipulate camera functions to achieve different results is just a matter of studying and repetition. All these are must-do steps that so many forget to focus on first. Then there is composition. There are also many rules that you can read about. Each of these rules will help you begin to “see” your images better: The rule of thirds, shoot to the right, sunny f16 rule, etc. Understanding them is a good place to start. The creativity comes when you start to consciously choose to embrace, or break, these rules while creating your own photography style.
To further refine your style you can learn from others before you. I still look at photos from those wildlife photographers and artists that we think are some of the best. Frans Lanting (photographer), Robert Bateman (painter), Will Burrard-Lucas (photographer), and Marsel van Oosten (photographer) to name a few. You can read their tutorials, watch youtube videos, and buy their books.
As you apply these learnings with the camera in your hand you will begin to master the hardest part of taking a photo. That leads us to the part where I said, “I would address that later”.
So why is developing your own style the hardest? It’s my opinion that showing off your work when you are first learning is like permitting to allow a total stranger to look into how your mind thinks. it makes us all a little insecure, and that insecurity is what initially holds us back. That is why it takes time for photographers to hit their stride and be confident to show off all their images.
Be honest, how many of you have taken a photo and had that internal thought that it’s not that good of a photo? Then someone you perceive to be a better photographer sees it and compliments you. Remember that instant confidence? It doesn't have to be in person you know. It can even be the feedback you get on social media as well.
Let me tell you a quick story about something we just saw on Facebook. A few months ago, a friend of mine posted a photo on Facebook and basically said, "is this a good photo or not?" She opened herself up to feedback, good or bad, I admired that! She is well on her way on her own personal journey and confident enough to allow thousands of total strangers to critique her. It will make her a better photographer...
Flat out, we are our own worst critics. That that self-doubt holds you back. So get out there, press the button and take the shot no matter the final product. A blurry or mis-composed image is always better than no image at all! Each image you take is a step in the right direction, it’s a step to more confidence, it’s a leap in helping you define your style, and maybe, It will give you the confidence you need to start selling some of your images!