How to sell photography

Best Ways To Make Money Selling Photography:

How can I start my own photography business for local bands?

I'm 15; & i LOVE to take pictures. http://www.randipaige.deviantart.com any tips on how to start a business for local bands?

Public Comments

1. tbh i don't think local bands will pay, they will just get one of their friends taking pictures of them live. you could always take pictures of them for free to get a portfolio running and email more famous bands, they will probably pay.
2. I agree with the first, there isn't any money in shooting bands
3. the first two answers are lies. :] i make $25-$75 per show shooting local bands and i'm 16 years old. it's obviously not a TON of money, but it's a great start! but you have to know exactly what you're doing! and i mean it. it's really not going to work if you go in and use auto-mode and flash, because any fan in the crowd can take pictures that way. practice before you start charging, and once you feel your skills outweigh everyone else in the crowd, you can start charging a bit. start a myspace. i know, i know. people on here want to murder me for saying that, but that is the absolute greatest way to contact local bands. good luck! i can give you all kinds of info, feel free to email me! ociotoli@hotmail.com
4. So I checked out Livyyy's myspace photography and it's nothing special. I get those kind of shots on the auto setting of my camera without even trying. Well anyway one thing you can do is definitley get out and go to shows and just take pictures to build up your portfolio. Then you can post an ad on craigslist.com and see if any bands are interested. It works. I've done it before and I had a manager that manages local bands and has a record label contact me. You can also start a MySpace that shows your previous work and pricing. You can start charging little and then go up when you have more experience.
5. LOcal bands are poorer than fine art photographers. The first two answers you got were right. Local bands won't (can't) pay. The girl making $25-$75 is basically doing it for free. A professional camera costs $2000+ so how many $75 jobs do you do before you're not losing money? Even a cheap camera that will do this kind of work is $500. The last job I did was taking ONE photograph for an air conditioner manufacturer. I charged them $400 for that one photo. It took 2 hours of real work (an hour setting up the shot with the company's advertising director, and an hour color-correcting and prepping the file for four-color press) and two hours of driving (the location was an hour from where I live). You have to bring in at least $100 an hour to pay your expenses, which include equipment costs, materials (film if you aren't digital yet, CDs to deliver files on, gaffers tape, etc), taxes (YES taxes..the IRS expects even kids to pay if you make money and you can be sent to prison for not doing so), gas and other transport costs, etc. And on top of that, you need to make a profit so you can eat!