I'm a young, amateur, self-taught wildlife photographer who operates a lot more on instinct than technical knowledge of photography. I currently live in the San Juan Islands, WA and one of my main photographic subjects are the local killer whale pods. As I started sharing my images, a lot of people encouraged me to "do something" with my photography, and on a recommendation I shared some photos with a small outdoor book publisher in Portland, OR and was lucky enough to get a book of orca photographs published in May of 2007. (It's called Orca Encounters, and you can find it on Amazon.com.)
When talking to other amateur photographers, the first reaction I always get is "Wow! You've got it made now that you're published!" But, in all honesty, I'm not sure what to do next to further my photography career! I've started to submit my photos to some small-scale magazines, but I'm not sure how to promote myself or use the fact that I've been published already to my advantage. Other than that, my photography is mostly used locally for things like calendars, but everything other than the book I've been involved with has been very small scale.
So, I would love some advice. What should be my next steps? Where should I look to showcase my photography next? Does having a book published really give me a leg up?
Thanks in advance!
Posted by Phillip Noll on January 31, 2009 at 11:45 PM
I would recommend that you identify what it is that you like most about photography and pursue that. This sounds easier than it may be. Really take a hard look at the different aspects of photography and try to zero in on what part of it makes your heart sing!
You mentioned submitting photos to magazines, calendars, books, etc. Is stock photography your passion? If so, get yourself a copy of Photographer's Market 2009 and start submitting your photos on a larger scale. Submit your photos to stock agencies. Learn all you can, find a niche, be the best in your field. But remember that stock photography is a "numbers game" and very hard work.
Is there some other aspect of photography that appeals to you more than stock? Research that aspect and learn more about it. Do you want your photos to be taken as fine art? Then learn how to make fine prints and pursue representation in galleries.
Do you like teaching photography? Offer and conduct workshops. Lead tours.
There are many paths you can take but your next steps will be up to you. Follow your heart and the rest will work itself out. Good luck to you!
Posted by Ed Cordes on February 1, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Phillip has given you excellent advice. I would also add that you should do all you can to learn all you can about the technical aspect of photography. While you can, and you did, make excellent images by "instinct", you will be more consistent and develop a larger portfolio of pro quality images by knowing the bread and butter tools of the trade.
I have visited your website and I would suggest that you develop a gallery page for your images with the option to order prints or images for other uses. Your gallery will act as an instant portfolio for editors and other interested people to browse.
Posted by Linnet Long on February 2, 2009 at 2:10 AM
Photo blogs are great - but as others have suggested, a real, live "online gallery" works as a portfolio.
I'll just offer up a couple links to photographers' galleries whose "style" I like...and one photo blog:
http://www.joeltruckenbrod.com/
http://www.avianstock.com/
http://regex.info/blog/
Cheers to a fellow Washingtonian - from a former one :-).
P.S. Being "published" may help you to get "published" again - that's one advantage.
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and comments. It gives me a lot to think about (which is what I wanted!) in terms of what it is I love about photography, how to go about learning the technical side a bit more, and developing a web portfolio. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness.
Best thing Monika, is to really study the markets you want to get into. You need to know what kinds of photos they use, and here's the biggy---- determine how they're already getting their photos.
There are so many photo markets and genera out there, that it's easy to overlook them if you follow the traditional "nature" pathways to sales. Right along with the thundering herd of aspiring nature photographers. Magazines, stock sales, prints and books represent only a very small part of the ongoing markets for "nature" photography. And each has its ups and downs. You've got more local photo markets with 100 miles of Friday Harbor than you can imagine, and almost none of them appear in Photographers Market.
A lot depends on your interests, equipment, opportunities and skills, but I'd always be on the lookout for sales opportunities as you shoot. Great sunset? Yeah, you might sell a print or two and maybe a little stock. But take a few steps back and include silhouettes of other people shooting the same sunset, and you've also got a great travel image to go with your standard sunset shot. Recognizing photo ops for different markets is a huge bonus for sales. I'ts not uncommon for me to take 4 or 5 different versions of a shot in addition to traditional "artistic" layouts. Vertical, horizontal, wide, narrow, shallow and deep DOF, etc. Long as you have a great photo op, may as well use it to its max. Knowing where each of those versions is likely to sell is the business part of the art. I'm not satisfied merely to take great art photos of any setting. I want "selling" photos, too. Here is a sunset shot that illustrates my point.
For an idea of the scope of possibilities, check out my Staff Profile here at NPN. We've been successful specifically because we keep our perspectives wide and our options open.
Discussion
5 repliesWhen talking to other amateur photographers, the first reaction I always get is "Wow! You've got it made now that you're published!" But, in all honesty, I'm not sure what to do next to further my photography career! I've started to submit my photos to some small-scale magazines, but I'm not sure how to promote myself or use the fact that I've been published already to my advantage. Other than that, my photography is mostly used locally for things like calendars, but everything other than the book I've been involved with has been very small scale.
So, I would love some advice. What should be my next steps? Where should I look to showcase my photography next? Does having a book published really give me a leg up?
Thanks in advance!
You mentioned submitting photos to magazines, calendars, books, etc. Is stock photography your passion? If so, get yourself a copy of Photographer's Market 2009 and start submitting your photos on a larger scale. Submit your photos to stock agencies. Learn all you can, find a niche, be the best in your field. But remember that stock photography is a "numbers game" and very hard work.
Is there some other aspect of photography that appeals to you more than stock? Research that aspect and learn more about it. Do you want your photos to be taken as fine art? Then learn how to make fine prints and pursue representation in galleries.
Do you like teaching photography? Offer and conduct workshops. Lead tours.
There are many paths you can take but your next steps will be up to you. Follow your heart and the rest will work itself out. Good luck to you!
I have visited your website and I would suggest that you develop a gallery page for your images with the option to order prints or images for other uses. Your gallery will act as an instant portfolio for editors and other interested people to browse.
I'll just offer up a couple links to photographers' galleries whose "style" I like...and one photo blog:
http://www.joeltruckenbrod.com/
http://www.avianstock.com/
http://regex.info/blog/
Cheers to a fellow Washingtonian - from a former one :-).
P.S. Being "published" may help you to get "published" again - that's one advantage.
There are so many photo markets and genera out there, that it's easy to overlook them if you follow the traditional "nature" pathways to sales. Right along with the thundering herd of aspiring nature photographers. Magazines, stock sales, prints and books represent only a very small part of the ongoing markets for "nature" photography. And each has its ups and downs. You've got more local photo markets with 100 miles of Friday Harbor than you can imagine, and almost none of them appear in Photographers Market.
A lot depends on your interests, equipment, opportunities and skills, but I'd always be on the lookout for sales opportunities as you shoot. Great sunset? Yeah, you might sell a print or two and maybe a little stock. But take a few steps back and include silhouettes of other people shooting the same sunset, and you've also got a great travel image to go with your standard sunset shot. Recognizing photo ops for different markets is a huge bonus for sales. I'ts not uncommon for me to take 4 or 5 different versions of a shot in addition to traditional "artistic" layouts. Vertical, horizontal, wide, narrow, shallow and deep DOF, etc. Long as you have a great photo op, may as well use it to its max. Knowing where each of those versions is likely to sell is the business part of the art. I'm not satisfied merely to take great art photos of any setting. I want "selling" photos, too. Here is a sunset shot that illustrates my point.
For an idea of the scope of possibilities, check out my Staff Profile here at NPN. We've been successful specifically because we keep our perspectives wide and our options open.