 Molly E. Baldwin |
Freelance Landscape Photography How hard is it to get into freelance landscape photography? I have a relative who is in that field, and he has published many books from all of his different travels. His name is Tim Hauf, by the way... Anyway, it has always somewhat peaked my interest. The only thing discouraging me from that is the aspect of income. It has to be pretty hard to make money off of something like that unless you are working for a nature magazine or something. I would appreciate anyone's thoughts! Thank you!
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Sharon Day |
I have never heard of Tim Hauf but did an online search and have to say he has some beautiful landscapes! Molly, you have some beautiful landscapes as well. This has always been an area of photography that interests me. When you think of the people already involved in nature and landscape photography such as David Muench as well as Marc Adamus (who has a BP gallery) the idea of selling your work can be daunting. I would not want to discourage you in the least, but there are so many awesome photographers out there that I have to wonder if my work could ever get noticed. I don't have a clue how to market myself, but I did find an avenue of income that helps with the travel expenses a little and that is microstock. I've made over $2,000 in a little over a year which paid for an extra vacation this year. Most people can not wrap their mind around the idea of microstock because the downloads pay ridiculously low, but the same photos sell over and over so that helps. If you're interested email me through my gallery and I'll send you some more information. Good luck!
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Tony Sweet |
Someone has to make $$$ as a landscape/nature/wildlife photographer. Why not you? Now, let's look at the realities: There are many, many, many outstanding landscape photographers ... just take a tour through the BetterPhoto galleries and photo contest! With the large numbers of outstanding photographers comes the basic economic principle of supply and demand. Demand for excellent images is always great, but the supply is even greater. Therefore, you have what I consider opportunistic (to be kind) micro-stock agencies, who pay literally pennies for an image, and take full advantage of a photographer's desire to be published. These should be avoided like the plague! Set your sights higher with more established stock agencies. However, even for established professionals, stock has become a secondary source of income. Many professionals have become more involved in teaching as their prime income stream. But more practically for you and your landscape photography, there are many avenues to making an income. If you are so inclined, the craft show market is viable, but to make any serious money (up to several thousand dollars per show) is a big time commitment. Local exhibits can make a few bucks. Getting involved with a local art consultant, who can place your work in office buildings, can possibly work out for you. Also, if you frequent a local restaurant, see if you can place work in there year round, rotating images every 3 months or so. Income from photography has become a patchwork quilt of various income generating venues. I recommend Jim Zuckerman's Making Money with your Photography course here at BetterPhoto as a good starting point.
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Molly E. Baldwin |
Thank you so much, both of you! Your advice has been very helpful, and it's given me some new ideas to think over. Tony, I'll certainly have to look into that course that you were talking about. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read and answer my questions!
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