Selling Photography: Remembering the Basics of Photography

Selling photography for a living poses a lot of obstacles. But as long as you know what exactly you’re doing and where it is that you’re going, you can quickly and surely overcome these obstacles.
Now, if you want to be selling photography and you want to be sure that you’ll be succeeding in it, you have to have an edge. You should make sure that your eye for taking photos is above average.

You have to be a great photographer.

With all the free pictures that people get online and all the website selling photography for half the usual price, you have your hands full on your competition. You have to make sure that every photo that you take is worth some bucks. And how do you do this? Well, you have to go back to the basics.

Many professional photographers sometimes fail to remember the basics of making and taking good photos. And for someone who’s just starting in selling photography as a career, stick with the basics. They never go out of fashion.

When we talk about the basics of photography, there are three main things that you need to remember: light, focus and position.

Lighting Rules

One of the most important aspects of a photograph is lighting. A photographer can either use natural light or flash. Either way, the amount of light, the location and the light source must always be carefully checked.

Lighting can make or break a photograph- the whole appearance depends on it. Now, when you’re selling photography, here are some tips that are related to lighting.

1. When taking photos on a sunny day, use your flash to lighten up your subject’s face. Too much sunlight can create deep shadows on the face and also intensifies blemishes on the face.

2. Cloudy weather is a perfect time for taking photos. But if you do decide and think you need to use flash, make sure it’s on a fill-flash mode to highlight your subject in the photo.

3. Remember that if the light position does not seem perfect for you, you can move your flash or your subject anytime.

Focusing Rules

Whether it’s a person, a thing, an event or scenery, every photograph must have a focal point- a part of the photo that you want your potential customer’s eyes to focus on.

To create focus in a photograph, there are multiple techniques that you can try.

1. When shooting on a busy background, look and focus not only on the subject but everything and everyone you can see in the viewfinder. Make sure that nothing is out of place or would look awkward and distracting,

2. Don’t rely entirely on “auto focus” mode. Always double check if your subject is on focus.

Positioning Rules

Lastly, when you are planning on selling photography, you need to remember all the basic rules on positioning your subjects.

1. Add dramatic effects to your photo by simply moving the subject to one side or the other. Find the best profile.

2. Try repositioning your camera to find the best angle. You’ll be surprised as to how big a difference even the slightest change can affect the whole shot.

3. Don’t be afraid to get close to your subjects.

4. When shooting people, try to get down or up to the level of your subject. The closer you are to your subject, the more intimate or personable the photo will be.

Many people selling photography often budge a potential sale because they showcase the wrong photos.  But you know what? As long as you remember your basics, you will never take a wrong photo again.

If you are happy to plod along that’s OK too but be sure you get the message from the article and you didn’t just glean through.

I always include my course at the bottom of these articles via this link so you can get underway with your own photography customers when you’re ready.

…all the best,

Ray Baker