I really miss doing photography. There once was a time when I was doing it all day long. Now I'm so busy with my 9-to-5 job I hardly have time for it anymore. However soon in a matter of months I will get back into it. When I was doing it all the time I was really into stock photography. Stock photography is a really great way to make money these days. However it takes long hours of dedication and work just like any other job. Just because you're able to sell your images on the Internet doesn't mean you're getting it rich quick. It takes hours and hours of dedication or perhaps years and years of dedication to even begin to start making decent money. I was doing it full time for about a year and I didn't even come close to paying my bills.
If you are very dedicated and want to make a career out of this is very important that you choose the right subject matter. If its stock photography or after be sure to take lots of pictures of people in different situations. If you're going to take pictures of people you must have a model release. A model release is a very important legal document and enables you to sell the pictures on the Internet and maintain complete rights of the photographs.
It's really fun when you start building a large portfolio, and the most rewarding part is when you start seeing your images sold all around the world. One very interesting thing you can do once you have sold a number of photographs is to Google your own name and see what images come up. I often do this myself and I'm amazed at where I see my images. I have seen my images in magazines online websites forums and so many other places I can even begin to imagine them all. I'd say that besides the money this is the most rewarding thing of all.
I am also a huge fan of travel photography. I have traveled all over the world but mostly I have spent a great deal of time in Japan. Sadly though travel photography is not really a great seller. The reason for this is that photographers all over the world to matter what country all have great equipment these days and the number of images are just growing in huge numbers around the world.
For example, think about all the historical landmark locations around the world. just think about how many times one of these locations have been photographed. It almost makes you think it's not even worth it. When I go to a foreign country and take photographs, I often look for the obscure small and very out of the way things. This is how you develop an eye for things. If you don't have an eye to pick out the unusual stuff, and the beauty within the details, you are probably not meant to be a great photographer. Anyway I don't want us out like a snob, the most important thing is that you enjoy photography and then you get something out of it whatever that may be.
I think it is also important to take time to photograph the things you're most interested in. Even if you don't make a lot of money selling those photographs you should still take time to pursue your interests. In my case for example, I love to photograph cars most of all. I know that the world is full of amazing photographs of automobiles but that doesn't stop me from taking more. My technique when photographing such objects is to search for a dramatic angle. For example all been down low to get a dynamic shots. Or even if you can get high that is also interesting. Composition is absolutely the most important element of photography.
Also what I photographed people I use the same technique. I will get way down on my knees to get a dramatic angle or I may stand up on a ladder again to get a slightly unusual look and feel. In fact photographing people is very interesting. At first I didn't think so but over time I became more and more interested in photographing people. When you photograph a person the interesting thing is that their expression is never exactly the same twice. And the better the model the more range they can show. Most of the models I photographed have been excellent, however there have been some that didn't have very much expression all. Another very important thing I've discovered is that people who want to have their picture taken tend to the great subjects. But I guess this is common sense anyway.
Anyway that's all for now, keep shooting and I will keep on adding to my webpage with new news about photography. Thanks for reading and stay in touch.
