I've only just discovered this forum - wow, I will be paying a lot more attention to this in the future!

I do a lot of photography, which could probably be best classed as travel photography (even if some of it is barely in exotic locations: rural Bedfordshire, anyone?) A couple of people have suggested I look at selling some of my photos (which is a nice compliment - I don't mean to self-aggrandise here) which piqued my interest - if it's something I could make money from, I'd be more than happy to do so.

I've recently upgraded my camera to a nice, but entry-level DSLR (the Sony A100 - not going to do stuff for the cover of Vogue, but it takes some very nice photos). I've looked into a couple of stock photo sites, but it seems clear that the kind of photos I do aren't really stock material.

So... Does anyone have any experience or suggestions as to how I could go about determining whether my photos are indeed sellable, and if so, where I could do that? (I am in the UK, by the way). I suppose the most basic way of doing this is getting some nice prints done and pitching directly to potentially interested people...

If anyone's tried to do this in the past, or has thought (or is thinking) about it, it'd be great to hear your thoughts!

I would suggest start small. Does your town have a local market? Grab a spot, set up a table, and peddle some prints. How about a church social or gathering?

I don't know how much it will help, but I wrote an article on my website about getting started in the art show business. If there's anything of value to you in there, I hope it helps!

http://www.greendragonartist.com/articlesArtShow.htm

You've touched on lots of potential discussion items. I know there are people much better qualified to discuss some of these topics, but I'll jump in with a couple of thoughts.


I do a lot of photography, which could probably be best classed as travel photography (even if some of it is barely in exotic locations: rural Bedfordshire, anyone?)

When you say 'travel photography,' do you mean landscapes? Art images? Because a landscape image might be used in a more general sense than travel images of the Eiffel Tower, for example. And that might take you in a different direction in terms of marketing.

Are you sure your images aren't potential stock photos? I mean a cow in rural Bedfordshire might still be a good stock image of a cow, right? ;)

Have you looked at sites such as Alamy (http://www.alamy.com/showcase/default.asp)(and it is also UK-based, I believe).

And if you have looked at stock sites, have you some idea of the possible remuneration you might receive for your images? And also the associated costs (submission fees, storage fees, check-issuing fees for payments, etc)? Can you meet the technical requirements of the image site?

When I look at istockphoto, they sell images for as little as $2 or $4, so true, commissions aren't going to add up unless you have a lot of images selling. But it might still be a way to get your feet wet.

Also, do you wish to sell (digital) images or actual prints? How much time do you have to devote to this? And how much is your time worth?

You can try to sell images to periodicals and publications, but you'll have to get familiar with each one's requirements. A book like the annual Photographer's Handbook can give you a pretty good idea of markets and pricing.

You could also do "self-publishing". Print your own images. Mat/frame them and sell them via any of several means. Some people make money by selling such images through craft fairs and weekly farmers' markets or by paying a commission to retail outlets. But it takes time and involves some investment in materials and equipment. Do you print your own photos, for example, and if so, what quality printer do you need?

Postcards, notecards and calendars are all possibilities. You could still do some of the printing yourself or pay for professional printing.

PhotoSecrets has an interesting little overview of selling photos (http://www.photosecrets.com/tips.sell.html).

Finally, there are lots of contests out there and some of them have nice prizes. The Travel Photographer of the Year contest (http://www.tpoty.com/pages/home.html)is just about to launch for 2007, for example. GAP Adventures has both an annual and monthly contests (http://www.gapadventures.com/contests/photo_contest).

Make sure you read all the details for even the contests. Some charge submission fees or want complete ownership of your image. Some have obvious biases. And there is at least one "scam" contest, which has a zillion "2nd place" winners and will seek to sell you a pricey book with your "prizewinning" image in it.

I don't know if any of the above is helpful. This could be a much larger discussion.

Sometimes some local coffee shops will sell your work for you. There is one here where I have a few prints up. The coffee shop lets me set the price (I am selling them for $100 + framing) and they don't take any of the profit. Neat little idea.

The calendar idea sounds like an interesting idea to me. Pick out 12 of your best images and get a few printed up? Sell to friends and family - or to businesses who would be able to showcase them a bit for you... Sounds like it could work. Keep us updated!

I do a lot of photography, which could probably be best classed as travel photography (even if some of it is barely in exotic locations: rural Bedfordshire, anyone?)

Having a few minutes of dead time this afternoon and being curious, I did a search on Alamy. Here are the results for "Woburn," for example:

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography-search-results.asp?qt=woburn&lic=1&lic=6

So, even Bedfordshire is represented in the "stock market!" :)

For many people in other parts of the world, Bedfordshire is probably quite an interesting location. Travel photography doesn't have to be just about travel that is unique for you, it's also about places and experiences other people might find appealing, and some of those might just happen to be in your back yard.

I'm sure there are some groups or agencies that are trying to sell people on the idea of travel to Woburn and environs. I bet they have brochures, web sites, etc that need images. Shops that sell to tourists who might like to take a few photo images home with them or send to friends. It certainly looks like a picturesque village and Abbey.

The Alamy site looks pretty interesting. I had actually been playing around with the idea of making a submission to a stock photo outfit and that seem to be a pretty easy way to go about it. With my photography habit now being the number three item on my budget (behind housing and travel) its time to see if I can yield some returns. :)

The Alamy site looks pretty interesting. I had actually been playing around with the idea of making a submission to a stock photo outfit and that seem to be a pretty easy way to go about it. With my photography habit now being the number three item on my budget (behind housing and travel) its time to see if I can yield some returns. :)

I mentioned it to stut partly because he/she is based in the UK and so is Alamy, I believe. It's always nice to have a local number to call if you are looking for your check/cheque in the mail, right? ;)

I've never used them, and I can't say if they are better than others. Make sure you read their contract and agreement details. Check out others. I have seen comments by a few people who make some money with stock images, but I don't know the ins and outs of the process and I have not seen anyone claim they are making big bucks in that market.

Wow, thanks folks, plenty to think about here, I will read, digest, and figure out where to start.

I take all kinds of 'travel' photos: landscapes, buildings, people... I have a thing for bikes and stations, too, which I expect marks out my geekishness rather well ;)

The town where I now live (I really should update my profile), the improbably named Biggleswade, does have a Saturday market, so I could enquire about a stall there. The local coffee company is also opening a brand new, huge coffee lounge in the old maltings, so that could be a good approach too.

Calendar could be a good approach, maybe this isn't the time of year for it, though... Although I suppose you can do mid-year calendars, can't you? There's a good photo printers in town, so I can find that out too.

And that Alamy site is interesting! Never actually been to Woburn, but we do have some odd attractions in this part of the county (which is almost Cambridgeshire): a Swiss-style village and garden, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, an old (working) aircraft museum and bird of prey centre... And some nice rural backwaters, plus the most bizarre, folklore-involved road in the country. Maybe starting locally is the way to do things...

I will have a think. Thanks again!

I was thinking about this too.
I would love to sell both digital and prints. I came across a few companies that do that, but most take a huge commission out of it.
You could set up a site with paypal, and just after purchase link them to a download link

I was thinking about this too.
I would love to sell both digital and prints. I came across a few companies that do that, but most take a huge commission out of it.
You could set up a site with paypal, and just after purchase link them to a download link

You comment go me thinking and I went out and did some research. It looks like you can pay all different amounts depending on how hands on you want to be in the process. For instance, Smugmug has an interesting nearly completely hands off system for about 150 dollars a year, plus 15% commission on each sale. What I have read, though , indicates that the printer they are using has really slipped in the last few years.

Then again, as will become very clear in this new forum, I will go way out of my way to do something on the cheap. (I am now 100% linux, because I refused to pay the 500-600 to adobe for photoshop). I am thinking of using a combination of google checkout and an open source shopping cart detailed here:

http://checkout.google.com/support/sell/bin/answer.py?hl=no&answer=59795

At this point, I am just trying to decide whether I should do some working/coding on an existing pbase account to integrate these two or just start from scratch with a new domain. (I wonder if dreamhost still has the 777 deal?)

For printing, I figured I would drop ship from one of the printers that I like.

Theres a ecommerce database I used to use.
http://www.zen-cart.com/
I use it for a site that sells shirts and caps and mugs. You can select the payment method, being paypal or check and it can calculate shipping, either flat rate or by weight. If you were to print off your own photos, this I think would be a great option

Here are some more online sites that allow printing of either prints or merchandise:

www.deviantart.com
www.cafepress.com
www.lulu.com

I print calendars from lulu (have used cafepress as well, but I prefer the spiral binding lulu offers to the staple binding) each year, and sell them at art shows. They cost around $13, I sell them for $20-25 (depending on how far past January they are!)

:)

I don't know if this is too U.S. based or not, but Writer's Digest publishes the best market guides for selling manuscripts and photos:

2007 Photographer's Market By Donna Poehner (Writer's Digest Books)

I am a travel photographer who sells images via stock agencies and portals.
I highly recommend Alamy if you are looking to get your feet wet.
Alamy is a portal, not a traditional stock photography agency.
Traditional agencies are extremely selective in choosing photographers. If they are accepting new photographers they have submission guidelines for prospective photographers. If you have images that meet their standards and subject matter needed they may offer you a contract. If you get that far they select what they want. This can typically be about 10% of what you submit. The better the agency (meaning good sales) the tougher it is to get in. Most agencies also want exclusivity--you can't sell the images they select or any similiars anywhere else.
Alamy is a portal. Anyone can submit--from amateurs to very successful professionals. They don't edit for visual content but are strict in terms of technical requirements--file size, type etc. Images must pass quality control. Their web site has an excellent description on this. Once you get this workflow down and images pass quality control you then keyword images so that they appear in searches.
Alamy is a good way to see if your images are saleable. They also don't require exclusivity. There are plenty of amateurs who make sales on Alamy on a regular basis. Do some searches on Alamy on the subject matter you have to see how many and what you are up against in terms of quality.
Travel photography is extremely competitive. Stock photography is a long term commitment. You really need excellent images that stand out above the rest and/or are really unique for which there is a market to make money.
If you go this route don't expect instant results.You don't get paid until the agency/Portal gets paid. This can take months from when a sale is made.
Many traditional agencies often say don't except sales in the first year.
I would avoid micros. Getting paid 50 cents for a download is insulting. Why bother. If your work is good enough to sell you should get paid accordingly, just like any other profession.
The above is an extremely brief overview of how things work.
There are some excellent resources with tons of info on stock photography.
stockphoto.net is a good place to start. It has a yahoo forum where you can search and find out all you need to know.
Don't hestitate if you have questions. I'm happy to share my experience.

I've never sold travel photos as an occupation per se, but I've been approached by publications a few times who have used my photos on my website. After Hurricane Charley hit Florida a few years back, my photos showing the Disney parks in hurricane mode sold to quite a few people :)

It is a long time since I sold my photographs, but when I did, it was almost invariably as an illustration for my writing or as an illustration for another writer's work in a publication where I was already known to the editor. If you have something to say, in words, as well as in photographs, a very specific and targeted package including both the article and the photographs can work. The pay at many magazines hasn't really gone up in a couple of decades though, so it probably isn't worth doing it just for the money these days. There is also, more and more these days, a problem of magazines (especially local ones) not paying for photographs at all. You are supposed to just be happy to see your name in print, which might be fine for you, but which is highly destructive to the incomes of people who are actually trying to make a living as photographers. As Wencon above says, travel writing/photography is highly competitive, and when I looked into it, I decided that it was too many people chasing too few dollars to interest me. The person I know best who is earning money from his photographs already has an international reputation and is so highly qualified that it's scary.

After reading this thread, I thought I might try putting some of my travel photos for sale. I looked at several websites and ended up signing on to fotolia.com. It's relativly new and not as well known as some of the others, but it has a really nice setup with an easy way to submit your photos. Anyone else tried it?

... Anyone else tried it?Nope, but did check it out. Seems easy to use. Let us know how it goes.

Good Luck!

Fotolia is actually working pretty smoothly so far. I submitted a few test photos two days ago and by this afternoon, my account had been fully activated and my photos reviewed and some even accepted. Since they have no membership fee, I figure it couldn't hurt to try.

They have a referral promotion going, so if anyone here is interested we could start a conga... here (http://www.fotolia.com/partner/332447)'s the link, for me.

or you can set up your own site. it's not difficult (I did it!)

The main thing to do then is to have its popularity increase in search engines.

But if you detail each picture (textual content) and they're a bit special, you'll have no problem doing that.