23 Best Ways to Make Money as a Photographer in Any Niche to Maximise Income
Want to know how to make money as a photographer and maximise your income? I am sharing the best ways to make money as a photographer in any niche, whether you’re a newbie or a pro.
Making an income from your passion is a dream come true, but if you’re anything like me, you want to fully maximise your income potential. As a lawyer myself who creates contracts for passionate photographers like you, I am sharing all the best ways to make money as a photographer.
You will learn about the top ways to make money as a photographer, including the answers to how to make money with photography online, how to make money as a beginner photographer, and how to make money as a photographer on Instagram.
After learning how to make money as a photographer, you will turn your passion into a major money-generating machine!
This post is all about the best ways to make money as a photographer to maximise your income from your passion.
Best Ways to Make Money as a Photographer
How to make money with photography online and offline
Now, let’s get into all the different ways to make money as a photographer, both online and offline.
1. Open a photo studio
Let’s start with the most traditional way to make money as a photographer: open a photo studio.
This will require an investment, though, as you’ll need to rent a studio. But, this might be the best thing for you to do depending on your photography niche, such as the following:
Boudoir photoshoots
Family photography
Portraits
Pet photography
Product photography
2. Product photography
Speaking of product photography, if you don’t have a budget to rent your own photo studio, you can also just use a room in your home for product photography.
There are many businesses, large and small, that need professional product photographers to take photos of their products. So, there are many opportunities in this niche.
3. Make photos for brands’ social media
Another way to make money as a photographer is related to product photography: it’s called user-generated content or UGC, in short.
It means creating photos (or videos) of products in use or showing how you can use that product as the ‘user’ or ‘UGC creator’. It’s a niche that has exploded in popularity in the last few years, and it’s a great way to make money online.
Learn more about how to make money as a UGC creator in this blog post on the 6 Crucial Terms. Every Content Creator Contract Template Needs to Generate MORE Income.
4. Shoot portraits
Another way to make money as a photographer that you do not necessarily need a studio for is portrait photography.
There are many different types of portraits you can shoot and, thus, many different clients in the portrait photography niche, such as the following:
Professional portraits for employees of businesses at their offices
Professional portraits of solo entrepreneurs taken at their place of business or even just outside
Family portraits taken at their homes (where they feel most comfortable)
Portraits of children for their annual class photos
Pet portraits taken at pet shops (for the ultimate challenge in photography) or at their own homes (where they are not so nervous)
Ensure you have the proper photography agreement to maximise your income from these one-off projects. Learn more about how to maximise your income in this blog post on the 7 Key Money Terms Every Photography Agreement Must Have to Generate a High Income.
5. Become a commercial photographer
If you want to go more corporate, another way to make money as a photographer is commercial photography.
Many large businesses are willing to pay good money for commercial photography, and there are many different sub-niches you can get into. Many businesses will also have ongoing projects, as they will need more and different photos for their marketing and advertising needs.
Read this blog post I have written specifically for commercial photographers on the 7 Must-Haves Photographers Must Have in a Commercial Photography Contract.
6. Photograph small businesses
Maybe you do not live in an area where there are large corporations. Or it’s just not something you enjoy, but you like shooting for business. In that case, you can also opt to photograph small businesses in your own area. Local restaurants, coffee shops and retail shops will always need professional photos taken of their businesses. Send them an email or, better, drive around and hand out your business cards!
7. Assist other photographers by freelancing
Speaking of going local, perhaps there is a photographer in your neighbourhood who could use an extra pair of hands. If you are just starting out, this is a great way to earn some money while you are building your clientele.
Ensure you have the proper freelancer-friendly freelance agreement, though, so that the photographer can not limit you in growing your own photography business. Check out the section ‘How do freelance photographers make money?’ for more on freelancing.
8. Edit photos
Another way to make money as a photographer from other photographers is to edit photos for other photographers.
You can specifically provide an editing service for other photographers who simply do not have the time to do it all themselves.
You could also provide your editing services to marketing and ad agencies and magazines on a project- or a freelance basis.
9. Freelance for companies
Speaking of freelancing, another way to make money as a photographer is by freelancing for companies.
Many different types of companies need a freelancer on a regular basis and will want to hire a photographer (at any level) on a freelance basis, such as the following:
Marketing and advertising agencies
Branding and PR agencies
Modelling agencies
Fashion businesses
Real estate agencies
10. Real estate photography
Speaking of real estate, you can also specialise in real estate photography and work as a real estate photographer for multiple real estate clients, like local realtors and home designers.
You can charge a fixed fee for such services and additional fees per additional service (like additional revision rounds or photos), which are included in my photography agreement template.
11. Photography for magazines and newspaper
Another option is to photograph for magazines and newspapers
You can go very niche and earn money from photos that you would normally not get paid for by other companies or individuals, such as the following niches:
Architectural photography
High-fashion photography
Photojournalism
Travel photography
Nature photography
12. Become an event photographer
Another, more traditional, way to make money as a photographer is to become an event photographer. But it can take you to many different beautiful and interesting places and events.
There are many different kinds of events you can get hired as a photographer for:
Business conferences
Networking events and seminars
Music festivals and concerts
Sports events
Art shows and craft fairs
13. Wedding and engagement photography
One of the major event photography niches, and one that deserves its own separate mention, is the wedding and engagement photography niche.
Wedding and engagement photography is a great way to earn money because these events are going on all the time, all year round. So, there’s always work.
And if you specialise in destination weddings, it can take you to a lot of beautiful places!
Ensure you don’t make major mistakes that could have you losing money by reading this blog post next on the 9 Crucial Mistakes to Avoid for Videographers in Their Wedding Videographer Contract.
14. Sell your photos at art shows and craft fairs
Another great option to make money as a photographer is to sell your photos at art shows and craft fairs.
Especially if you are more of an artistic photographer and are not as much into cookie-cutter photography, this is a great option to make money.
15. Enter photo contests
Another option for the more artistic photographers is to enter photo contests. Maybe the prize you get for winning a contest is not that great or not even monetary; the notoriety can bring you other great opportunities and make you lots of money if the right person discovers you. Sometimes, the best way to make money as a photographer is to be at the right place at the right time.
16. Grow your social media and do brand partnerships
Speaking of getting discovered, another great way to make money as a photographer is through brand partnerships.
As a photographer, you are probably sharing your work on social media, and your goal is to grow your social media to gain more clients.
But one of those clients could be not just a traditional client who wants you to take photos of or for them, but they could be brands that want to be discovered through you. Your audience already likes and trusts you, and brand sponsorships are a great way for brands to generate income via other people that potential customers already like and trust.
Don’t know what a brand would pay you, supposedly not an influencer, to promote on your social media? Here are some examples:
A camera or tech business might want you to promote a photo camera to your audience if a lot of people in your audience are fellow photographers.
A beauty brand might want you to promote their makeup that looks great on camera if a lot of your audience includes influencers and creators.
Or a hotel could want you to promote them for weddings if you are a wedding photographer.
Brand partnerships can get tricky, though, and you can end up losing a lot of money if you do not have the proper contract in place. Use a creator-friendly brand sponsorship contract for your brand deals.
17. Blogging about photography
Another great tool to grow your visibility and really start to make money as a photographer is blogging about photography. Now, bear with me. This is a long-term game, and you will likely not see any results in the first 1 to 2 years IF you do everything right, like your SEO strategy and the quality of your content. But it is so worth it, and it will propel you into so many great money-making opportunities, specifically passive income opportunities. It just takes a lot of time and hard work. I’m speaking from my own experience.
In the long term, even the blog itself can generate passive income if you have a large number of readers. You could make some pennies in the beginning from Google Adsense, but in the long term, when you have a large enough following, you could make quite some money from others. You can apply to an ad agency like Mediavine.
You could even do blog sponsorships where you write sponsored blog posts for brands, for which I have a specific sponsored post agreement template.
However, you’ll really make money by selling your own photography products, which your readers will organically find through your blog posts.
18. Sell prints
There are many different photography products you can sell to make money as a photographer.
I’ll start with the most obvious one, which is to sell prints of your own photographs in different sizes.
You can also sell different types of products with your photos on them, like calendars, notebooks, (holiday) postcards, etc.
19. Sell photobooks as a service
Another great way to make money as a photographer that you may not have thought of is to sell photobooks as a service.
If you have all the tools and equipment to create a photobook, you can create these for anyone. You can offer this service to customers who you have not even taken photos of to create photobooks of their own photos. Everyone loves taking photos of their holidays and other important events, but a lot of people do not ever feel like creating their own photobook or album when they would actually like to have one of their special vacations or events. That’s where you come in! You make it easy for them by creating a photobook for them. This service then creates the opportunity for those same people to hire you for your photography services later as well. So, you create even more opportunities to make money as a photographer with one simple service!
20. Sell digital products on your site
But you don’t just have to sell traditional physical products, like printed photos, to make money as a photographer. A great way to make passive income is to sell digital products.
One obvious type of digital product to sell is digital photos, which you can sell on your website directly to customers. But there are many other digital products. Here are some examples:
You could sell presets on your website to other photographers and creators.
You could sell eBooks on photography for beginner photographers or anyone wanting to start photography as a hobby.
You could sell guides on how to edit photos, travel photography or how to model for photos.
It will take some initial hard work to create these digital products, but once they are done, you can easily sell these passively while you are doing shoots.
When selling digital products, however, you want to make sure you protect your intellectual property and prevent losing money due to (unfounded) refund requests and claims based on results and outcomes you are not responsible for.
To protect you against these dangers, I sell terms and conditions for digital products so that you can earn passive income without risks!
21. Sell stock photography
Perhaps you are just starting out, and you don’t have a following yet or loyal customers to whom you can sell your digital products.
In that case, another option to make money as a photographer is to sell stock photography to major stock photography platforms that make money off of licensing them to businesses and creators.
22. Teach photography
If you are a seasoned photographer, another great way to make money as a photographer is to teach! You can teach photography to beginner photographers in your niche. You could also teach photography to influencers and creators looking to up their social media game.
A great way to teach photography and create a passive income stream is by providing an online course.
But, just like with selling digital products, you need to make sure you protect your intellectual property and money with the proper IP provisions, payment mechanism, (no) refund policy, and exclusions of liability.
I sell terms and conditions for online courses, specifically, that will keep you and your online course safe while the money flows into your bank account!
23. Host photography workshops
Another great way to teach photography and make money as a photographer is to host photography workshops.
It is a great option if you live in a big city to host physical events.
But if you live in a small town or rural area, you can also host photography workshops online! You can have different guest speakers from all over the world join your live online event!
Specifically for these live online events with guest speakers, I have created a Zoom Guest Speaker Agreement to create smooth collaborations and gain the rights to repurpose the recorded content for your online course or social media!
How do freelance photographers make money?
How do freelance photographers make money? With a proper freelance photography agreement, of course!
Learn more about essential money-making clauses, the protections you need to safeguard your money as a freelance photographer, and so much more in this blog post on the 13 Key Terms Every Freelance Agreement Template Must Have.
How to make money as a beginner photographer or seasoned pro with the right contracts
Now that you have learned about all the best ways to make money as a photographer, you need to have the right contracts in place to earn and protect that money!
Here are all the contracts you need that we have talked about:
A photography agreement for any photography entrepreneur who works with clients on a project basis.
A freelancer-friendly freelance agreement for every freelance photographer who works on a freelance basis.
A brand sponsorship agreement for photographers who have a following on Instagram or Pinterest and want to earn extra income through brand partnerships.
A content creator agreement for those creating content for brands to use on their own social media platforms.
A media release form for photographers who take photos of people (other than the clients themselves).
An IP assignment agreement for photographers assigning ownership of their photos to someone else (against compensation).
A licence agreement for photographers granting a license to use their (existing) photos to someone else.
Terms and conditions for online courses for photographers who teach photography by way of an online course.
Terms and conditions for digital products for photographers who sell their photos as digital files online.
A sponsored post agreement for photographers who are successful in blogging about photography online and want to earn an extra income.
A Zoom Guest Speaker Agreement for photographers who host photography workshops online with guest speakers.
This post was all about the best ways to make money as a photographer in any niche to maximise your income potential.
Still need a contract template with all the key money-making clauses you need for your clients? Check out my photography contract template on this page of my contract shop!
