How To Make Money with Photography In South Africa

Some photographers are content with using their photography skills to make some extra cash on the side. Then there are others who are more ambitious and decide to make photography their full-time career. If you are thinking of making photography your full-time career or even just doing it part time, then it’s important that you learn the different ways to make money with photography. Below we discuss how to make money with photography in South Africa and the rest of the world.

Table of Contents

Stock Photography

Anyone with high-quality photos can get in to the stock photography industry. It provides a largely passive income and is the best way for people who don’t want any creative or business ownership associated with their work.

What Is Stock Photography?

Some people may not be familiar with the term. Stock photography is photos that are licensed for use for multiple purposes. These photos can be taken by professional or amateur photographers. You can use stock photos on your websites, blog posts, social media, ebooks, marketing materials, and more! There are times when you don’t have your own photo to use on something you’re creating. This is where stock photos come in handy. You can get creative with your stock photos. You can crop them, use them for different purposes, and edit them in any number of ways.

What Are Stock Photography Websites Or Agencies

Stock photography websites are a good way to earn passive income. They provide photographers with an outlet for their work to be used by other people and businesses without the need for direct negotiation or payment.

Stock photography websites or agencies allow contributors to sell their photographs. Contributors must provide identification documents and information about themselves to ensure that they are selling photos that they own the rights to.

To sell your photos, read the submission guidelines and upload them for review. Add metadata, descriptions, and relevant keywords before uploading to make it easier for buyers to find your work.

List Of The Top 10 Best Stock Photography Websites

Types Of Stock Photography

All stock photos fall into 1 of 3 categories; macrostock, midstock, and microstock.

Macrostock: Macrostock image agencies or websites will generally sell you exclusive rights to images; this means that no other person, corporation or organization has the right to use them. Only you get to use what you buy.

Midstock: Midstock is a type of photography between macrostock and microstock. Macrostock agencies have expanded their business into midstock recently and provide high priced rights-managed licensing along with cheaper royalty-free licensing.

Microstock: Microstock photo agencies sell users commercially-useful, copyrighted images without giving them an exclusive license to the work in question. In other words, several users can buy and use the same image at once.

Tips for Stock Photography

Keep the photos simple and clean
Make sure there is a clear focus
Make sure the photo is high-quality and high resolution
Make sure the photos are cropped and edited to perfection
Taking photos of everyday objects can be lucrative.
Shoot something unique
Shoot against beautiful backdrops
Shoot something that isn’t cliché
Shoot something that is funny
Shoot something candid
Shoot something that is weird
Avoid brands and people who would have an issue with being photographed.
Make sure you get model release forms signed when photographing places and people.
Focus on a few niche areas in which you want to excel in, for example photography of food and wine.

Teach Photography

The world of photography is filled with an infinite number of artistic styles. There are different ways to interpret the world around you, to transform how you see reality. The world of photography is filled with endless possibilities to create something beautiful, to capture the world in a way that resonates with you. Photography is an art form that can make money, but it does take hard work! A good way to make money with photography is to teach photography. There are various ways to achieve this and it can be quite lucrative.

Teach A Photography Class

You might be able to teach a course at a local college, art school or some other type of educational institution. Again, this would depend on what kinds of institutions are in your area and to what extent you have the required qualifications and experience that they’d require for such a position.

Create An Online Photography Course

Photography is artistic expression, especially when you capture something that could be forgotten or overlooked. If you have a passion for photography, you can share your skills with other people by making an online photography course. Online courses are huge right now. Udemy is a good place to start, or you can also try teaching your course on teachable. What cool photography tricks do you know? Teach them to the rest of the world and make your passion your paycheck!

Write An Ebook Or A Physical Book About Photography

If you’re looking to make money by writing a book, it may be a good idea to write a book that will benefit beginners. Beginners who are learning photography will find it easier to make money if they learn the best techniques and use them to develop a better eye.

In your book, you can explain different techniques that help to take better pictures. You can talk about different types of lenses, cameras, and how to use them to your advantage. You can teach the fundamentals of exposure, composition, depth of field, and much more. Some of the information may be basic for you, but the book can still be very useful for beginners to gain a better understanding of photography. With photography, it’s important to be able to see the beauty in many different things and teaching people to capture that will make you stand out! When you write a book about a topic people want to learn about, you provide a very valuable service and can make alot of money in the process.

Start A Photography Blog

If you love taking pictures and want a fun new hobby, turning your Instagram account into a photography blog is the perfect idea. This type of blogging has a low barrier to entry and is a fun way to make money from pictures that you already take!

You can also buy a domain name from a website like NameCheap.com. Then, create a free blog on Blogger.com. There are many people that have started their own blog and are making money through advertisements or affiliate marketing. Just by taking pictures of your day-to-day life, you can turn them in to a blog where people can see what you are doing in your life. If you have a unique look, people could see it in your pictures. You can take pictures of your daily meals or your day in the park. You can even take pictures of your family or your dog. There are so many ways to turn your life into a blog and make money.

You can also do sponsored posts by writing about a company who is willing to pay you if they are mentioned in the post. You can offer your followers premium content in exchange for their email address to build up an email list. Also promote your blog on all of the social media platforms so the most amount of people possible, will see it.

Work As A Freelance Photographer

Becoming a freelance photographer can be tricky. But if you do your research, you’ll be able to make money by working as a freelance photograper! Here are several tips to help you get started. First, make sure your photos are great! You want to make sure you take high quality photos. You can do this by researching what makes a good picture, practicing, and applying your knowledge. Next, start pitching! Research different magazines and websites that hire freelance photography writers. Pitch your photos to them via email. Make sure you use the guidelines provided! After that, keep pitching! If you keep pitching, then eventually you’ll get more jobs. Then, you’ll be making money by working as a freelance photographer!

Become A Wedding Photographer

Being a wedding photographer is a rewarding job and you can also earn a lot of money. Here’s some tips to help you become a wedding photographer. You must first learn the basics of what makes a good photographer – which is to be able to tell a story and capture emotion with an image. You also need to be able to accurately adjust your equipment and understand the importance of lighting. You definitely need a high quality camera to be a good wedding photographer. Most people have good enough cameras on their smartphones, so your camera and pictures should be better than that. If you want to be a true wedding photographer, you’ll need a camera with very high megapixels so you can get beautiful quality pictures. Next, you’ll need to get business cards and a website to showcase your work and attract clients. Also, make sure you’re comfortable working with people and good at communicating, because that’s very important when you’re working at a wedding!

Sell Canvas And Other Wall Art On Etsy

Selling canvas wall art on Etsy is a great way to make money. Start by taking high quality photos. Then upload them to your Etsy account or sign up if you don’t already have an account. Make sure to use good keywords in the title of your product to help people find your items! Once your photos are up, setting a price will be the next step. You can start at a low price to make sure your products will sell. After you get some sales under your belt, you can raise your prices. You can start this process by taking photos yourself or hiring a professional photographer. Keep in mind that it is recommended to use professional, high quality images if you want to sell your products and make good money.

Sell Your Pictures On Greeting Cards

Sell your images to greeting card companies and you can make a decent side-income. Many people are also looking for quality photographs for their cards, but not all of them are willing to pay the astronomical prices the professionals charge. If you have great pictures, you can sell them to these people, who are very willing to pay small prices for your work.

T-Shirt Selling

T-shirts have been a popular clothing article for decades and it’s no surprise that selling them is a great way to make a profit. Teespring, a product of a Kickstarter campaign, allows you to do just that! Teespring allows you to design a T-shirt and sell it through the site. Essentially, you’re a mini-manufacturer! Just upload your photo, let people purchase it to be printed on a t-shirt, and Teespring will create the t-shirt and ship it to whomever wants to buy it. You don’t have to worry about advertising, packaging, or shipping. Sounds pretty good, right? It is! It just takes a little time and creativity and you can be making tons of cash and never have to worry about a JOB again!

Photographs for news publications

Nowadays, you can also make extra money by selling your photographs to news publications. Several companies and news agencies use photographs to relay their stories to the public. While photojournalism is no longer as present as it once was, amazing photographs can still be used to relay information and present a certain view to the public. Such photojournalism can also be used as part of a campaign to advocate a certain issue. If you’re a freelance photographer and you want to make money, this is a great way to do so! If you’re interested in doing this, you can get a good camera and just get to work taking pictures of breaking news. You may also want to consider keeping an eye on the weather, this means that you can be ready to take pictures of lightning storms, or any other natural disasters.

How to sell photos on eBay

Selling photos on eBay is a fantastic way to make a lot of money. The best thing about it is that there is no startup cost and you won’t have to go overseas to do it. To be a successful eBay seller, you need to have a variety of photos to sell. You will have a better chance of selling your photos if you have a variety to choose from rather than just one type. The more photos you have, the higher your sales will go as you have a broader range of buyers. While certain photos by themselves may not hold that much value, if you take them and frame them well, then you are adding value and can make a considerable profit.

Offer Photography Services Locally

If you like to take pictures, not only can you make money taking pictures of family and friends; you can also make money taking pictures of other people’s families and friends! You can use your camera to take pictures of events like weddings, graduations, reunions, and sports games, and you might even be able to sell the photos to the people involved.

You can also make money by photographing things like commercial properties and events, or taking pictures of people’s homes and making them look nice for real estate agents. You can make money by offering your services as a photographer and you can find places to submit your offers and your portfolio on the Internet. You can also look at your local classifieds, or job boards for anyone in need of photography services and contact them.

Create Video Reviews On Youtube Of Products In The Photo Industry

On an average day, we spend time online reading product reviews and ratings. We base our decisions on whether we should buy a certain product by what we see and read online. Even when it comes to something like photography where there is ample room for interpretation and originality in the genres of photography (such as portrait, landscape or street photography) and in the processes used to make interesting images, we still rely heavily on video-sharing websites such as YouTube and similar sites to get honest feedback about products we’re interested in buying. What I’m getting at here is that if you love photography and enjoy sharing your expertise with other aspiring photographers, you can use it as a way of building up your reputation online which will not only allow others to benefit from your knowledge but also help you earn some extra money for equipment and accessories that might help you reach your dream.

Ways to make money by reviewing on YouTube include affiliate marketing, YouTube ads and sponsorships. You can also create a product, review it and then sell it to whoever is interested in buying it.

Participate In Photo Contests

It’s a good idea to enter a photo contest even if you don’t think you have a shot of winning. People who visit the contest’s website will likely see your photos and follow you on your other social media accounts, which is a great platform for photographers to build a following. Plus, there’s always a chance you might win a huge sum of money or smaller prizes like new camera equipment, or even have your photos exhibited. Check out the websites below for lists of photo competitions to enter.

Photo Contest Guru

Photo Contest Deadlines

Photo Contest Insider

Sell Your Photos In Local Galleries

Selling your photos at local galleries or stores can be a fantastic way to make some extra money. Getting your photography work seen by more people can help you get increased exposure and in the process you make a bit of extra cash. A thing to note though is, not everyone is going to love the same things as others. For example, people right from around where you live might prefer pictures of famous landmarks from their area instead of those from abroad. At the same time, internationally oriented tourists may find family-made memento photographs or landscapes painted by local artists more fascinating than local touristy items themselves! When you’re at a local event, keep a journal to document the photos you take. If you find that a picture is a great photo, it can be framed and sold at a local event, restaurant, or other businesses! This way, you’re supporting your local businesses and your family, too!

Conclusion

Whether you’re a budding photographer or a professional, you can make money with photography in South Africa. If you are serious about making money with photography, you should invest in the right things. You cannot be successful if you do not know what you are doing. You need to do your research and find out what works and what doesn’t. The tips we’ve compiled in this blog post can help you get started and show you what you need to do to fast-track your success. We hope we were able to provide you with some useful tips and tricks for using photography to generate an extra income in your life.