How to Make Money as a Photographer [5 Simple Ways]

Photography is a passion for many, but it making money through it can serve differently for different photographers. A photographer earns $24,000 yearly on an average (1), which can be a bit frustrating when it comes to the hard work associated with building photography projects.

Everyone wants to earn more money, and there’s nothing incorrect with it. As a photographer, consider yourself as a brand that you need to strengthen.

A brand’s worth determines the pricing of its products, the same way your brand’s quality will determine the value of your service – photography. 

5 Ways to Earn Money as a Photographer

1. Freelance Photography- events, photoshoots, etc.
2. Conduct Photography Workshops
3. Sell Your Pictures- Magazines, Shutterstock, Newspaper, etc.
4. Start Your Photography Blog
5. Find Your Niche & Turn Yourself into a Brand

1. Freelance Photography

Becoming a freelance photographer can help form an efficient stream of income for yourself. 

The best part about being a freelancer is that you pick the projects you want to, unlike working in a company where you are given the projects you want to work for. 

As a freelancer, you can mint extra money from:

• Events
• Festivals
• Pre-wedding photoshoots
• Wedding projects
• Modeling portfolios
• Maternity shoots
• Newborn baby photoshoots
• Company shoots
• Business photoshoots

Depending on the requirements and efforts involved in the project, you easily earn anything between $100 to $450, or even more. 

2. Conduct Photography Workshops

Conducting workshops is an excellent way of passing your knowledge in the field of photography to the ones who want to learn more about the art.

 In this way, you can teach your passion, while gaining a side income from the same. 

You can conduct photography workshops:

• In college events
• For aspiring photographers
• On a webinar for an online audience 
• For a local audience-base

Depending on your popularity, you can charge anywhere between $20-500 per workshop. So let’s suppose you have an audience of 30, you have the potential of earning up to $1,500 per workshop.

3. Sell Your Pictures

Till when will you keep your favorite bunch of pictures locked in an archive. Its time to sell them!

There multiple ways in which you can sell your photos, digitally or physically. One way is to sell prints of your photographs to individuals in the form of books, journals, or even as separate prints. 

Digitally, you can sell your photographs on:

• Abode Stock (2)
• Shutterstock (3)
• Etsy (4)
• Alamy (5)
• Fotomoto (6)

You can also sell appropriate photos to:

• Newspapers
• Magazines- Outdoor Photographer (7), Harper’s (8), Burn (9)
• Publications

4. Start Your Photography Blog

If there’s one ultimate way of earning passive income, it is through blogs. Sure, blogs take some time to shoot up, but once they do, your content brings you profit.

A blog can bring you income in four ways, i.e., via:

• Advertisements
• Referrals (Links in articles)
• Promotional content
• Product reviews

Remember, producing income via blogs cannot be done inadvertently. It is your side hustle, so treat it as one.

Your articles and content need to be high-quality and SEO friendly, which is how you’ll build an audience on your platform.

You can also hold a social media blog on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.

Other than blogging, you can also start your Youtube channel. If you feel like you’re more confident while speaking to a camera, this is the perfect vlogging opportunity for you.

A vlog can bring you income similarly to how a blog can. 

In your blog/vlog you can:

• Give photography tips
• Provide some photography tricks
• Review the photography equipment
• Give the best camera equipment advice
• Share your experience

Note: Dinosoft Labs provides the perfect SEO assistance to help your blog gain larger organic traffic through high-end SEO tools. 

5. Find Your Niche & Turn Yourself into a Brand

Finding a niche can be a very hectic task. Consider this, you can photograph almost anything anywhere, but what is the subject that you love to photograph. Do you love photographing weddings? Or are you an enthusiastic fashion photographer?

Photography is a skill that can be turned into a business any day. Many photographers have turned their work into million-dollar companies.

You can either start a photography agency or develop your portfolio to become a known brand among your clients. 

Some of the highest-paid photographers in the world (10) with their niche are: 

• Andreas Gursky- Landscape Photography (11)
• Annie Leibovitz- Celebrity Photographer (12)
• Lynsey Addario- Photojournalist (13)
• Gilles Bensimon- Fashion Photographer (14)
• Morgan Norman- Commercial Photographer (15)

Some highest-paid photography niches are:

• Celebrity Photography (16)
• Commercial Photography 
• Fashion Photography (18)
• Event Photography (19)
• Wildlife Photography (20)

Being a photographer is a full-time job that comes with its own set of pros and cons. I hope this article helped you find legit ways to make money as a photographer. Some days are great, and some days are not; just never stop being consistent and continue working with the same passion for rising the ladder of success. 

I hope this article served you well. If you have any further suggestions, feel free to reach out.