Selling Prints For Profits

Help turn your hobby into a business with these basic tips
Text By Mark Lukes

At some point, phographers consider the possibility of making a living with their cameras. Some turn their passion into a lucrative business while others are enthusiastic about maintaining their amateur status. However, if you're interested in sharing your images with the world and actually being paid for it, here are some tips for selling fine-art prints to the pblic.

Assess Your IQ
(Image Quality)

As with any businness, your initial step is to analyze your market. What kind of photography appears to be selling in your area? Go to the art fairs, gift shops and galleries to see what other photographers are doing with prints. Then look through your image bank and determine whether you have kind of images that your market appears to be buying. Once you've established that you have marketable imagery, make an honest assessment of your work's quality: sharpness, color, compotion, exposure.
More than a single image, you need to determine whether you have an assortment of images in which people will be interested. Your work doesn't have to be markedly different, but neither should it be exactly the same as others. Bring your unique take of the world and share that.

The Best Print Possible

Quality printing is key for successful sales. whether yo choose to do your own printing or use a professional lab, it's important to never settle for "good enough" quality. you're a professional; your prints should show that you're a professional.
Currently, you have three professional printing choices: traditional photographic printing, digital photographic printing (using laser or LED printers) or inkjet printing(sometimes called giclee). Digital printing offers the best quality and soon will become the only way most labs will print photographic images, but at this time, it can be more expensive than traditional printing.
There's a growing trend for photographers to print their own images.