Now what?

[mooi licht]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the forums (in fact any forum) and thought I would get started over here. I have hundreds of photos on my computer, mainly landscape. I absolutely love taking pictures. Most anywhere I go I have a camera with me, but what do I do with all my photos? Does anyone sell them, enter them into contests, etc? If so, how do I get started with stuff like that? I don't want to get ripped off or enter into a fake contest.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[ClickerChik]

You can open an account on websites such as flickr.com and upload your photos for others to view, create albums, etc.

One way of making money off of your photos is thto sell them as stock photography. You can sell your photography on micro stock photography sites such as istockphoto.com and shutterstock.com where you offer your photography for a very low price, but get a lot more sales. These sites sell pictures for as low as a dollar for small sizes, up to ten or twenty dollars for a large copy of your picture. They also offer other options like allowing prints, and exclusive license (they pay you a lot more but you can no longer sell the picture to anyone else). Photographers get a percentage of the sale, which can vary from 20 to 80 percent of the sale price. Many photographers don't like these sites because they sell photography for much less than they feel it's worth, but many small businesses rely on them for affordable stock pictures. The other option is macro stock photography (ie Alamy and MyLoupe). You will probably sell A LOT fewer pictures on macro stock sites, but on these sites you make significantly more per picture, usually around $250 per photo (as opposed to the 60 cents I made off my first micro sale). Most of these sites will only accept pictures with over 6MP, but if your camera has fewer pixels, you can learn to upsize your photo in an editing program. While it is your own choice which route to take, many photographers start out on micro sites and then start moving their best pictures over to macro photography sites as their skills improve. You should note that some macro sites will not do business with photographers who sell their work on micro sites, so be sure to check their policies before uploading.

 

[ClickerChik]

For contests you can always search yahoo or google for photography contests. Always check out the website, credits, etc to make sure it is a legitimate company offering a contest. A good website is photoawards.com

 

[mooi licht]

Thanks so much! I'll definitely be looking into some of those sites.

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Very good advice there regarding stock photos.

One thing you'll want to do is find a place that will give you really good feedback on your photos. Fredmiranda.com, and BetterPhoto.com are to place I recommend. This place is good, but the people are too nice--which is good. With a group this small it's more about just sharing experiences than fine tuning our skills.

 

[MarkEvan]

I second the photography forums idea, while you do not sell your photo`s on them people will give an honest appraisal of the picture and also give lots of ideas for selling your photo`s. Most sites have a buisness section as well dedicated to this.
As to the stock photography idea the best one I now of is photographers direct but they are also quite critical of what they will show. They also will not allow you to display if you use the micro stock sites. If memory serves me correctly you get 80% of the sale and they give you a list of what people are asking for daily (might be weekly but I can`t remember).



Whatever you do good luck.



Forgot to put some photography forums up for you, there`s;



Photography on the net (though thats primarily for canon users though Nikon users use it as well)
Nikonians (same as the above but for Nikon users)
Fred Miranda (great sight)
Naturescapes (the standard of the photo`s here are very high, but everyones helpfull)