Photo Gifts, Can You Make a Living With These?
Sunday, August 3, 2008 @ 03:03
For everyone who absolutely loves photography, a far-off dream has always been how we could one day get to the point where we can quit our "day jobs" and just focus on our photography-related business ventures.
Of course, for most of us, that dream never sees reality, but for a lucky handful, those day jobs are a long distant memory in the past.
But how specifically have people been able to do this. Well, of course, they were gifted with their cameras, and did such amazing work that they quickly developed a niche that paid the bills. For example, someone who shot a couple of weddings and quickly developed a strong following based on his unique gifts for capturing the highlights of that very special day. Or how about the person who shoots news or sports photos and quickly develops a strong following among the photo assignment chiefs at the various newspapers?
And then there are the rest of us who simply use their creativity to come up with a special niche. How about photo gift items? For example, how about custom-designed wine labels marketed to folks who maintain their own cellars. Or, what about a customized wallpaper border featuring action shots from a variety of sports teams? Or maybe even extreme sports shots? I have a friend in the skydiving field who is working right now with a few wallpaper manufacturers to design a process that will allow him to put his action shots on wall borders. These can be sold to skydiving enthusiasts seeking a way to emblazon their sport across their bedroom walls. Future plans include possibly even allowing the customer to select his own images, such as ones that feature him alone. Other plans include taking the concept to other extreme sports, such as surfing and snowboarding.
Photos can be used to customize a variety of products and for the photographer with a steady stream of these photos to supply, or the willingness to go out and capture the right shot, a ready-made market could exist for all sorts of things, from customized tee-shirts, to mouse pads, to coffee mugs.
The only thing limiting the photographer is his imagination and creativity in finding just that right niche that will let him give up the day job once and for all.
