Howard Moo Young, Contributor 
The butterfly on this lily offers a close-up on nature. - Photo by Tony Young
IF YOUR passion is photography, you really enjoy it, and you do it very well, why not make some money from it? Visit any photo lab, listen to the photographers as they check their pictures, compare assignments, bargain for discounts, boast about their cameras, talk about their clients, answer cellphones and hustle to get their jobs done. Take a good look, and you would be surprised to know that you can't draw a straight line that separates the professionals from the serious amateurs and hobbyists.
Take another look! This is where surveyors, taxi drivers, professors, journalists, historians, musicians, housewives, students, divers, policemen, doctors, airline pilots and a host of different individuals find common ground ... in photography. It's amazing when we all meet on one level to discuss our experiences with the camera. The only lines drawn are the ones to show whether the horizon is straight, the building is leaning or the many that we see in an old, wrinkled face, whether they are out of focus or not, and why.
But the one noticeable thing that you'll perceive is the enthusiasm they all have, and even if you take a 'peek' and shake your head, up and down or sideways, it doesn't matter, they each consider themselves good. Seriously though, the love of photography is growing at a considerable rate in Jamaica, and the world, and one just cannot be without a camera these days, whether it's film, digital or disposable.
I've found that it doesn't matter where people live, which parish or country they come from, their age, background, race, sex or economic status, everyone loves to look at beautiful images and appreciate well-taken photographs in both colour and black and white. That's why great calendars never get outdated, National Geographic magazines are not thrown out after they're read, even old newspapers and posters are collected, and good-looking hotel brochures keep the tourists coming back year after year.
Every one of these printed materials would lack impact without the end product of the photographer...pictures. Within each of us lies some form of creativity that has been imparted to each individual by the Creator, and all we have to do is to harness it and improve it. God has given us eyes, but we must learn to see potential pictures all around us. Create your images with passion and they will have the potential to create cash.
Please visit the website of the New York Institute of Photography, America's oldest photography school online @ www.nyip.com and see how one of the students cashed in on one photograph earning thousands of US dollars. I highly recommend this photography course to everyone as the best correspondence course in the world.
Photography is a wonderful hobby, as well as a good profession that allows one to make photographs for a living. So here are some money-making tips. These are geared more toward the hobby photographer who'd like to defray costs than toward the shooter who wants to become a full-time pro. But everyone should find some useful ideas here. Some of the ideas are general in nature, while others are more specific. But they all should give you things to think about.
1. Study and practice the art of photography. It should go without saying that if you expect people to pay you to shoot them, your work should be very good. If you are trying to sell your services as a photographer rather than just your existing photographs, make sure you are capable of doing the job you seek.
2. Before submitting photos or a proposal to a potential client, try and find out for instance, what kind of photos are appropriate for the client. If you want to impress the editor of a magazine, don't present a series of great photos on a subject that the publication just covered extensively, the editor's impression of you will be negative. It's hard to change that first impression. Create an impact with new subject matter or a brand new treatment and different approach of a mundane subject.
3. Learn to write. It's easier to sell photo stories than individual photos to many magazines or to the few newspapers that's published here in Jamaica. You don't have to be able to turn out polished professional copy, but you should be able to put your ideas down on paper clearly, so that the professional editors can polish them into a usable article.
4. Specialize. One advantage you have as an amateur, over a full-time pro is that you don't have to shoot things that don't interest you. Shoot what does interest you, and try to market that. If you like sports, shoot sports. If you like birds, photograph birds. By specializing, you'll amass a goodly collection of good images, and you'll enjoy doing it.
5. Photograph events you encounter, and send the shots, with captions, to your local newspaper. For example, if you belong to a group, photograph a group event, such as the installation of new officers. If you have a child in a youth organisation, photograph their events. This is a good way to get your work known to the editors and the community, and to make your organisation be seen in a positive light at the same time. Newspapers just doesn't have enough photographers to cover every event, only the ones that are important to them.
6. Conduct photo field trips or workshops. If you specialise in a certain type of photography or a certain location, consider teaching others how to do that type of photography, or how to photograph that location. Quite a few photographers I know, could supplement their incomes in this way if they decided to organise workshops on their own, and I'm sure they would get the support of enthusiasts. Be sure you really know your stuff, and be ready to answer questions. On these teaching expeditions, you can shoot, too, expanding your stock of saleable images.
7. Contact local amateur sports groups and offer your photographic services. Shooting team photos and individual portraits, as well as action shots, can provide a lucrative sideline - and be a lot of fun.
8. Sell your photos at art, craft, Independence and Christmas fairs. Take a selection of prints of various sizes and set up your own booth (with permission of course.) You not only should sell some photos, you'll get feedback from the buying public first-hand.
9. Develop your own style. While learning photography, or shooting for your own enjoyment, it's fine to imitate the styles of photographers you admire. But when you want to sell your photos, you have to offer something different - those whose work you imitate probably already have the market for such photos cornered. If your photos offer a different way of looking at the subject matter, you'll have an edge over photographers whose work looks like everyone else's. (Of course, some clients want specific shots done a specific way, so it doesn't hurt to know how to shoot with the mainstream, too.)
- To be continued next week.
Howard Moo Young is an Advertising / Graphic Design / Photography Consultant with over 40 years of experience. Email: howardmooyoung@getcaughtmedia.com
