Not long now…..

Wow! What a response to the posting of my images for sale here!!! It didn’t take long at all for the positive comments to role in at all! I thought the photos were good – but these comments were instant!

“wow..so many…:O) amazing shot!”

“Wow, very striking shot!”

“Striking indeed, love the greens!”

“colorful! nice work!”

Positive feedback – but no sales yet. I am sure someone will buy one soon! Looks like my experiment is off to a good start!

….or so I thought.  Turns out it has now been about a while since I posted the images. The positive comments have died down, and I still haven’t sold a picture! BUT – I have had a lot of people viewing my photos.

I originally thought that this was the sort of website that had people browsing through looking for something to buy. I am not sure that this happens so much. It seems to me now, that in order to sell something here you must drive traffic to the site. So, looks like there is definitely going to be a strong “business” side to my photographic experiment. I am as interested in seeing how I handle this aspect as you are!

Custom Search

To sell a photo

After deciding to become a professional photographer, I had a quick think about what it actually takes, more on this later. However, I decided the most important thing, above equipment, above what I tell people my occupation is, above approaching pretty girls in the street and asking to take their photo without getting slapped, above all else, was to sell a photo.

Now, at this stage, I am limited in many ways. I am limited in my photographic experience, I am limited in my camera equipment, and I am limited in my sales experience. Not to let these small details stand in my way – I decided to go back through my photo library (aka happy snaps from holidays) and see if I could pull out any photos that someone else might want to buy. After a few hours of searching and reminiscing, I ended up with a LOT of great photos! These photos were of me doing silly things in front of the Great Wall of China, of friends smiling while stretched out sunbaking on a beautiful beach and of some nice scenery shots. I was onto something here! This professional photography caper isn’t that hard afterall!

Now, at the moment, I don’t have a lot of time to wander around selling my photographs to local business and the art collectors who I know would want one of my original photographs. The value of these photos is only going to rise as my name gets out there and I become more famous. To avoid the effort of finding buyers, I thought I would let the buyers find me. After all, these photos are great and the internet will simply bring people to me - The cream (or is it crème?) always rises to the top. A quick Google search found a website where I could create a profile and upload my photos. They can be ordered by customers as cards, prints, t-shirts, all manner of things really. The website handles all the invoicing payment etc, and I simply add a mark-up to the base price, and this is my profit. Perfect! You can check it out here, have a look round and see if you like it.

After finding my soon to be award winning photos, I have since gone back through them and culled them down to three. I realised that although they are great photos, other people probably aren’t going to want to buy them. I think they should buy them, but they just don’t know they should buy them…yet. So I decided to focus on three photos – a photo of a flurry of goldfish, a photo of a piranha feeding frenzy and a tight crop of a peacock on display. I figure that these photos are generic enough to be searched for and all are interesting in their own right. This is where they are available for sale here.

I have since created an account and uploaded my photos. Let the fun begin! By the time I post my next blog, I will probably have sold my first photograph. This may not be enough to call myself a professional photographer – but at least I might be able to elevate my status from enthusiast to amateur?

The Experiment - from zero to professional photographer

How do I become a professional photographer? What is a “professional” photographer? Just what even is a photographer? All very good questions and something that I need to answer!

I enjoy taking photos. Does this make me a photographer? Whether they are happy snaps on holidays or “selfies” at a party, I enjoy trying to take a good photograph. That being said, I don’t overly go out of my way to find the photograph and no one has ever bought one off me. I simply take advantage of the opportunity when it arises. I think it is this combination of facts that means I am not currently a professional photographer, and not even a photographer. I have had friends ask for copies of my photos, but it is not necessarily because they like my photographs, it is because they need something to help them remember the blank spots in their memory or find out what the person looks like that they gave their phone number to. I guess my enthusiasm for photography and my lack of experience would make me a “photography enthusiast”. Not a very interesting title L

On a more serious note, I have taken some photos that I consider good, and I have taken some that other people like a lot. This, combined with a dislike of my current career, sparked an idea. What if I could make a living from photography? How awesome would that be! I could wake up every day knowing that I can do something that I enjoy, and possibly be my own boss! What a great life!

This leads me to my experiment. I will be spending the next two years, seeing if it is possible to become a professional photographer. Before I go on any further, I realise that it is “possible” for some people; otherwise the world would be void of sleazy guys taking photos of half naked girls. What I mean though, is this, for a normal person with a career, friends, family and other interests all taking up my time, is it possible to work on my photography in a fun and enjoyable way that allows me to eventually survive on the income it generates alone. If I cannot survive on it alone, can I generate enough money to buy some nice toys. If I cannot buy some nice toys, can I make enough to buy some nice wine. If I cannot buy some nice wine, can I sell just one single photograph?!?

I know I am not the only one out there who would like to do photography for a living, and I am definitely not the most talented photography enthusiast. All this means is that this will be an interesting experiment!! Along the way I will keep you informed on everything I learn. This will include information on ways to sell your photography, ways to improve the pictures you take, equipment, and techniques, computers and digital editing. I am going to be doing this in a very informal way, no expensive photography courses or degrees for me!

Enjoy reading about my mistakes, but if I make them and write about them, then you don’t have to make them! In the end I might not achieve the goal of becoming a professional photographer, but the only failure in life is not trying. Regardless, it will be an interesting life experiment!