Are you a trigger-happy, photo enthusiast? Did you ever want to see if photography could earn you money? Most photographers in India tend to go through the usual “been there done that” routine of setting up a photo studio, etc. Don’t just be the photo person at family events. Make a career or business out of pixels. There are plenty of ways to make money from digital photography, even if you are in India. Here are at least 6 ways to do that:
Haul up Stock Photos and Make a Residual Income
Every online publisher needs images, photos, vendors, and illustrations for that extra visual appeal to the otherwise boring text. Digital, Royalty-free Stock photos are of the most popular resource pools publishers use online.
Think of a theme to work on each time you set out for a project. For instance, if you wanted to build a collection of photos( that you can later sell the rights for), think if of a theme such as “human expressions”.
Click your photos of random people anywhere appropriate and edit them. Go to one of the following sites which are popular Stock Photography resources for publishers. Each time a publisher downloads a copy of your photo, you get paid royalty. Isn’t that cool?
Best sites to sell copyrights/credits for your photos:
istockphoto
shutterstock
Gettyimages [They have an indian office too]
fotolia
Jupiterimages
Punchstock
Images
Acclaim Images
Of course, if you are a publisher, blogger, magazine owner, designer, etc., you might want to take a look at the following:
25 Free Sites to Download Royalty Free Stock Photos from
15 Best Places For Designers to Get Free Stock Photos Online
If you are a digital photographer, pick up your camera, think of a theme, click photos, edit them, upload them, and make money.
Wedding photographer
I didn’t know this genre could be a fruitful, highly satisfying, and incredibly demanding at the same time until Peddu Eshwar — an accomplished,highly skilled, and very successful wedding photographer — rolled out as a self-employed wedding photographer in India, based out of Mumbai.
If you’d like to talk to him, send him an email or leave a message on Facebook referring me. Do check out his Facebook Fan Page and his blog to check out his portfolio.
Another expert photographer in the making, although I am not sure if she found her specialist genre yet, is Manisha Panchawati. She is in Mumbai now and works as a Freelance Photographer.
She was the expert hand behind some of the most stylish pics produced for a close friend. I remember her saying that her portfolio also included a few celebrities, models, etc. You can check her out on Facebook.
I then realized that if anyone had a third of skills Peddu or Manisha have , it could be a truly lucrative and substantially sustainable way to make money from photography. Maybe that should give you an idea as to how to get started.
Totally irrelevant Note: What’s with Mumbai and Photographers? Eh?
Newspaper pics
It’s time to get away from marriages, events,and private parties and get out on to the streets. Newspapers and magazines always look out for great visuals to go with their content each day, all the year round.
If you are the out door, adventure types, this could just be the gig for you. Become a photo journalist yourself through your own blog and/or sell your pics to these publications for a healthy sum.
E-commerce Store Photo Specialist
This is a new area of application for digital photographers in India. E-commerce sites depend heavily on images to appeal to their customers who arrive at the store. Amateur photography could only mean a disaster for these companies, right? That’s when you pitch in to take various shots or angles at their products so as to produce appealing photos to entice customers.
Local photography business
As far as India is concerned, this is one of the oldest way to make money using photography. I highly recommend you don’t go for this one since it places too much emphasis on location, word-of-mouth, and sales by chance. The customers you are likely to attract aren’t going to be the best pay masters and you will have to scratch and win your sales.
Forget this one. If you are reading my blog, it tells me a lot about you already. Technology is way ahead of those one-guy stores in busy city and town intersections.
Photography website
If you knew me better, you will realize that I have the nasty habit of thinking of a website for almost everything.A photography website was expected, then.
- If you know a lot about digital cameras and photography, create a website to sell photography products. Keep visitors and customers coming back with engaging content on various aspects of photography.
- Start a membership site with tons of content, video classes on photography or even local meet ups for your members throughout the nation.
- Directly sell photo copyrights off your website.
- Use the website as a portfolio to get business.
Pictures are beautiful to look at. They have a way of capturing a life which is otherwise constantly in motion. Human expressions are best captured using digital photography and India is one of the best places in the world for you to swing into action simply because most people aren’t as talented as you are. Although, it’s an expensive endeavor, it has more money making potential than any other money making idea.
I am Ashwin. I am a web-consultant, freelance writer, and an entrepreneur. I am also a Certified Behavior Analyst, speaker, and corporate trainer. I am an e-commerce enthusiast and an avid reader. When I am not working (which is rare), I travel around the world just for the sake of traveling.
