by Alex Hinds

Created on: October 09, 2009

The era of digital photo has significantly lowered the barriers of entry to working as a photographer and trying to earn some money from your photography. While this is great in that has opened opportunities for many people it does mean there is increasingly competition from more and more photographers trying to, if not earn a living, at least make some money from their photography skills and investment in expensive equipment. In addition the prevalence of digital cameras also means many people will no longer feel the need to hire a photographer when they can shoot pictures themselves or have a friend who will be their photographer for free.

So, I don't think it is necessarily easy to make money with your camera, despite what you might hear and read. However it is certainly possible provided you have a combination of photography skills, business acumen, drive and persistence and hopefully a decent slice of good fortune. Earning some income on the side is a lot easier than trying make your living entirely from photography, so success will be measured to a large degree on the ambition of your goals.

There are a huge variety of photographic services and products you can offer from Art prints, you could try selling online at a site like redbubble, to offering portrait photography in your local community. The latter is an example of where you will need to demonstrate you can offer high quality creative photography to convince clients it is worth paying for your ability when they will quite possibly have equally good equipment themselves. If you can add this value though I've family portrait photography can be lucrative. Personally I charge a low shoot fee and then make my profit from print sales, I've found this helps people to commit to a shoot as their initial investment is low. After cutting your teeth on portraits yo may get tempted to try wedding photography; a lot more pressure but potential big bucks can be made!

Commercially there is still lots of potential providing photography services to local businesses in your community. I would suggest approaching those you feel will most easily see the value in what you can offer; high quality images that will help them in their business activity. You may need to offer a bit of a freebie initially, but if you can then show them what you can do can help them save time and make more money you've hopefully secured a client!

Another area worth considering is stock photography. Again the barriers to entry have really come down with nicrostock agencies shaking the industry up. There are a lot of "Mom and Pop Photographers" making a decent income in this marketplace now. It is not an easy get rich quick avenue and genuinely requires a lot of effort and talent to do well, but the flexibility to work how and when you want is great. I discuss stock photography often on my blog here if you're interested in this way of making money from your camera.

There are a lot of resources online offering advice and tips on making money with your camera or starting a part time or full time photography business so it is definitely worth reading around a lot and considering any niche areas you may be able target. Remember the most successful photographer in your area isn't necessarily the best photographer, but the photographer with the best business skills. So if you decided to try and earn from your camera keep your business head in focus, but don't forget to keep enjoying your photography! Good luck with your efforts!

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