Photography is one of the most interesting pastimes you can get into, but it’s also a very interesting profession.

Can you make money from photography? The answer is a big fat YES!

No matter the skill level, there are multiple ways in which you can make money from photography as a career, or for even a bit of extra income to compliment that of your main career.

How To Make Money

1) Selling products online

This might sound like cheating, since the main skill is finding the objects at a low price and then selling them on at a profit. But a large part of being able to sell at a profit is presentation. Good photographs sell products. If this wasn’t the case, every advert in a magazine would be a fuzzy shot taken on a cell phone. You can also make money online by setting up a website offering to take pictures of other people’s items.

Taking pictures of items and presenting them in a way that’s likely to make them sell is a real skill. As well as learning how to take good close-up photos from appealing angles, you will also learn the use of different equipment (lighting tents, lights etc.) and how to edit photographs on computer software to make them look their very best.

2) Graphic design

Whether you are designing website aesthetics or a brochure for a company, much of this design needs high quality photographs. You will also have to be competent in photo editing software as well as being able to use photographed images in conjunction with vector graphics software.

3) Selling prints

If you have an eye for a fantastic photograph, why not see if you can sell them? It may be that you are better at photography than you might think, and many people would love to have your pictures hanging on their wall.

The prints can be unique and sold for a high price, or they can be several prints of the same photographs. Your subject matter is entirely up to you, and you can really let your imagination run wild.

4) Selling photographs to news websites and blogs

If you keep up with the latest news, you can have a good idea what is topical and what will sell. Some of this is down to being in the right place at the right time, but often these websites use generic images that match the subject matter at hand.

It has been well known for years that certain media will pay for a photograph of certain events and celebrities, but increasingly blogs are starting to require their own unique photographs as they aim to be taken more seriously as a media form.

If you can take a topical photograph, or a picture of someone famous, you may be able to sell it to a blog. In the past, these blogs often used images they found on search engines, which may have caused rights infringement; by offering them a unique photo you may be saving them a headache.

5) Photo editing

You may not think that this is strictly photography, but it takes a photographers eye to be able to do it well. There are many freelance websites where this skill is increasingly sought after, and it can pay very well. It can be a very lucrative way to make money online.

You will need to have a good knowledge of what makes a good photo, as well as being able to use software such as; Adobe Photoshop or GIMP.

6) Wedding photography

This can pay very well. Setting up a website can be very simple to do. To gain a portfolio, you may need to either accompany an already established wedding photographer or offer to take photographs for free.

7) Portrait photography

This is a good way to earn money, and it allows you to be a little more inventive than wedding photography will. You can really play with angles and colors to get the best out of your subjects.

As with wedding photogrphy, when setting up your website portfolio, you may need to take photographs for free until you are established.

8) Greeting cards

Greeting cards, as with prints, can allow you to sell the same photograph multiple times. If you get a great shot, it can be a best seller for many years to come.

There are multiple opportunities to sell photographs in this way, due to the sheer amount of annual events that can be covered worldwide.

9) T-shirts

Many people will pay money for a T-shirt featuring something they love. If you are taking photographs of a sports star or another kind of celebrity, be careful that you do not infringe image rights.

You can really have fun with your photographs on T-shirts, they can be as serious or as funny as you like. You can also use graphics design along with the photographs to create something really unique, and sell something which will consistently make money online.