Returning Professional?

[Last Bastion]

After many years away from doing any sort of photography, professional or otherwise, I am ready to get back into it. I did the corporate life for a while and (due to extenuating circumstances) that doesn't appear to be my future any longer.

So, I've been reinvigorating my love for various passions, and I had a thought this is a good time to try and make a career in photography again. But I am not sure where to get started again. I don't want to do weddings/events/headshots again (that business kind of killed my passion, to be honest). I think I want to go more the "pure" art route - yes I know that's a terrible phrasing but it's what I have right now...

I guess I just have a question for those who have made any sort of living selling photos or getting into galleries, what advice do you have for me; where should I start?

 

[LeicaEye]

I would visit local art shops and chat to the owners. Ask what sells and what they have been asked for.. A ready market awaits..

 

[BAK]

My daughter=in-law is a professional artist, of the painting kind. Most of her work is based on NASA space photographs. She sells mostly at public art fairs, and she sells through several galleries in south western Ontario.

A friend from grade nine (65 years ago) missed our high school reunion last week because he was out in Alberta in his camper van, creating fresh painting that he sells in about ten galleries scattered across Canada. Several of the galleries are in prosperous suburbs, several in big cities, and several vacation / holiday communities. Most of his work is stylized scenics involving sea coasts, lakes, and farm lands. We have four of his acrylic paintings, and plan to commission him to paint a portrait of our grown son. We will talk to him about what style he'll employ.

I "know" two landscape photographs via their You Tube sites. Go to YouTube and look up Thomas Heaton, from England, and Gavin Hardcastle, a Scotsman who now lives in Nova Scotia.

Both have books (Gavin's is $125cdn) and both sell pictures from their web site.

Their videos are full of infor on how they work, and how they markets and sell their pictures. Gavin and Thomas both use Hasselblads, and some smaller cameras.

Simon D'Entrement is a wildlife photographer who lives in Nova Scotia, and uses Canon cameras. He sells from his web site.

All three of the photographers also lead in-field workshops. All have camper vans. All travel a lot.

All sell from their sites. All have quite different personalities, and Thomas and Gavin are friends.

All make money from YouTube.

Kym Illman is a middle-aged Australian who is a YouTuber and an F1 photographer, and he owns businesses that make him a lot of money, without Kym paying much attention to them. He shoots every F1 race around the world, selling picture to photoagencies using the most modern delivery systems; his photo can be on a picture desk at an agency in London, New York or elsewhere within a couple of minutes of being shot. He has a wife who handles administration, a som who is also an F1 photographer, and an editor-retoucher based in Perth.

He and his son have a lot of Canon equipment.

He shoots and sells big prints of racing drivers and their cars, and creates a book of every race. Everything is sold from his web site.

All work very hard.

BAK

 

[BAK]

Ask yourself some questions/

One sheet of peper perquestion, keep them in a binder, and update them as approriate.

Necessary income.

Skill level, by photography niche. In my note above, the landscape guys may overlap with the wildlife guys, but I bet they can't take racing pictures.

Geopolitical location.

How far are you willing to travel? Kym's been in Abu Dhabi, Spain and montreal recently. Tom's been in Bolivia. Gavin in Iceland and Ireland and Newfoundland.

Can you work the machines? Fine art flowers shot by stidio strobe?

And so on for the questions.

AND... start planning your portfolio.

And start making a list of photographers with whom you'll be competing.

BAK

 

[ROUSSEL_Photographer]

Everyone is different but i can tell you my recent story

after 3 decades shooting exciting low pay news and boring but well paid corporate, working 80 hours a week, 52 weeks a year : i saw my business go down since 9-11 and rise of digital, subprime crisis reduced my income to 10 % of pre-911. I gave up and used my saving to travel to asia hoping to sell fine art. i am on two well know websites and sales of travel + fine art are not good but sales of my historic photo pay my (affordable asian) rent and i can have fun giving street photography workshops when i am not busy scanning more negatives and slides that i shot or acquired,

For people (re) starting ; i would advise to keep your expenses to a bare minimum, save 10 % for the future, buy used, do barter as much as you can for stuff you need (accountant, clothes, restaurant, ...)

IMHO :

Nothing is easy,

More pixels is better (36-50 mp full frame) should cover 99 % of the market.

Fun and money are often opposites but money is not everything in life

The more people you know the better

Niche is better than ''McDonald'' approach

Best of luck

 

[Last Bastion]

Appreciate your perspective!

Since you've been in the game for so long, how have you seen AI affect your business? Or, to ask it a better way, how do you see yourself navigating AI being a thing now?

 

[Ellis Vener]

Art galleries span a surprisingly large market. Some cater to high-end high art individuals and art buyers who buy for corporate collections, others are more mid-range and sell to decorators, and others target people who are just looking for art they like.

Put together portfolios of different subject categories and start finding local galleries and photography collectives (such as this one in Atlanta, GA https://atlantaphotographygroup.org/ or this one in Houston, TX: https://hcponline.org/) and start visiting and getting involved.

 

[ROUSSEL_Photographer]

my main income is from historic photos published in books or documentaries film, so NO AI there but i saw AI replace low end portrait and food photography, that was a part of my income long time ago. AI will screw stock, fashion and commercial photographers

weddings and events may be saved and even then ; feed your crappy phone images to AI and get better looking photos may happen sooner than we think

Best of luck