Is it possible to recoup equipment costs through stock libraries?

Hi, I live in Thailand and have been into nature photography for two years. I'm considering spending a lot of money ($20,000) on upgrading from a Nikon 8700 I've been using for macro and a Nikon Digital Scope System P1 for birds.

I don't need to recoup funds by selling photos but if I could, I'd rather know now than after I've spent the money on the wrong gear.

As mentioned above I live in a country with a varied and interesting fauna. That together with the fact that I don't work leads me to believe that with practice I can put a good portfolio together.

I'm considering buying the following:

Canon eos-1Ds Mark 3
EF 500mm F4L IS USM
1.4x converter
Wimberley head
Manfrotto tripod

My question is - Am I on the right track or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Ian.

I'm not familiar with the market in Thailand, but a little bit familiar with the central U.S. I quickly discovered that the market for "nature" photos here is flooded. There are thousands of photographers with the resources to buy expensive stuff AND the budget to travel to exotic places. They pump out quality shots by the tens of thousands. I have had some luck selling to small regional stock agencies but I have stuck to agricultural subjects (grain harvest, cattle, etc.) and other things that few of the guys from big cities like to photo. In short, I've found a niche. Not quitting my day job though.

I'd be very, very cautious about putting that kind of money into photo gear when you really don't know the market and apparently haven't sold anything in the past. Just because you have $20,000 worth of stuff certainly does NOT guarantee you will sell anything. Especially when you are concentrating on such a limited market. There are three kinds of photos that seem to sell relatively well: (1) photos of people (portraits, weddings) (2) photos of products (commercial photography) (3) photos of local landmarks/festivals (tourism.) "Nature" photography is about the hardest to sell and lowest paying in my own experience. Another thing to think about is if you really want to have thousands of dollars tied up in a 600mm lens that you really can't shoot weddings, portraits etc. with. Something as specialized as that is very limited in what you can do with it.

My advice would be to start much lower in cost, such as a used Canon 30D and Canon 100-400mm lens with Gitzo tripod, take some shots, and see where that leads you. I'd rather put $20,000 into a good stock fund than into camera gear. It will most likely make more money there. I have kept my own photo system relatively modest and I think I have paid for it with the few sales I make. My strategy is to photo things no one else will do for "fun," and try to sell articles with photos rather than just photos. I have an article in this month's Railroads Illustrated and another one was accepted last week for another railroading magazine. The pool of people that can photo AND write is much smaller to compete against. Railroads are another niche market.


Kent in SD

Ian,

Some photographers do more than pay for their equipment. Most of these are pros with years of experience and training. I know some who started as amateurs and progressed to pro status. Others are still really amateurs but sell very very well.

But keep in mind that these photographers produce stunning work and are dedicated to their art and craft. They have access to places of great beauty or go to where they are.

It just ain't easy and the laws of probably that it will be a long long time before you pay for your gear.

Cheers,
Frank

If that is equipment you want to buy and have the funds to pay for it, go for it. But unless you have an established track record of sales, which from your question I assume you don't, you will probably never recover costs from sales.

The basic problem with the marketplace is that it is highly oversaturated with extremely high quality material, especially in nature photography. The skills which will sell images are marketing, business, making and following up on contacts, salesmenship, writing and willing to work extremely hard for hours on end, for little or no reward other than personal satisfaction. Good, marketable images doesn't go on the above "A" list of needed skills - it is on the "B" list since there are too many good pictures out there already.

Look at it this way: In all likelihood, someone has already shot your subject far better than you have and already has the "A" list of skills to boot. How are you going to compete against that person? If you are buying the 500 and associated equipment with the idea of recouping your costs in 3-5 years (remember, there is travel, gas, food and your time in there as well), you need to be able to answer that question with a proven track record BEFORE buying. But if you are buying the gear because you want the gear, you can afford it even if you never sell one image, and MAY sell some images down the road, go for it.

I have to apologize for both my post and the two above, but the reality is that this is a very tough business to be financially successful at. Sales, yes, that is straightforward. But $20,000 of sales, in addition to other costs associated with shooting, and knowing that this lens is just one piece of it - that is far more difficult. It can be done, but it will take far more work that most people realize, especially without a proven track record.

The answer to that question depends on how much the gear costs. Birds are already being photographed to death and there are only so many species out there in a given country. I'd think that the top few photogs in that market have most of it locked up as is. If you can find a dramatically different but still marketable way to shoot them and a new way to reach an audience then maybe you'd find yourself a market niche.

Ian, let me approach this somewhat differently.

You've made it clear that you don't need to pay for the equipment out of sales. You've also shown some doubt, which no one has yet addressed, about spending that much money on the "wrong" equipment for avian photography.

I can at least tell you you're not buying the wrong stuff. That's an excellent setup for avain work and other wildlife work, and many long-established and talented pros use that exact level of equipment. "1" series bodies and the 500 f4L are commonly used in that niche, offering the best in durability and IQ. So I believe you are good to go there. And since you don't seem to need to sell images in order to recoup equipment costs, I'll offer just a little bit of advice and say dive in, have a blast, work hard, hard, hard to get better and better, and work to develop markets as you go.

I'd also recommend against trying to develop those markets until you have a pretty good portfolio of images. I don't know the level of competition in avian photography where you are. It's as intense in the U.S. as competition can be, but there simply may not be that many people capturing top-notch images in your part of the world, so you could be ahead of the game there if you can develop a strong library of images.

Hope that helps a bit. Best of luck to you.

I heard a statistic a while back...that if you have photos in stock agencies that you make about a $1.00 (U.S.) on average per photo...so depending on how much you want to make, you need that many photos...(Example: want to make $20,000 a year in stock agencies then you would need 20,000 photos accepted by agencies.) Hope that makes sense...don't know how accurate it is, but something to think about.

Cynthia Spence
www.geolightphoto.com

Thanks everyone for your help.

I now see that I have to base this purchasing decision on whether I will get $20,000 worth of quality time out of using the gear and stop trying to justify it by possible future revenue.

Over the last few years I've easily had my money's worth out of my camera purchases but recently I've been getting more and more frustrated by their limitations. It would be nice to get back to a position where my skill level is the main limitation. Hmmm...big decision.

Thanks again for your help,

Ian.

That sounds like a good attitude.

And with regards to trying to market your work - GO FOR IT! There is nothing wrong with trying, and you have a fair variety of the local animal populations on your website. Any sales you get certainly can be put towards other photo trips/lenses/gear.

Good luck, and post over on the macro and fauna areas!