Top 18 Reasons Digital Photography Makes a Great Home Career

With jobs becoming increasingly hard to find and difficult to keep, many are looking for ways to earn money from home. Digital photography is an excellent way to work for yourself and make extra - or even a full-time - income at home.

If you're interested, download this free report called "Make Money with Digital Photography."

If you're still undecided, this might change your mind. Here are 18 reasons why digital photography makes a great home career:

1. Minimum equipment required

To make money with digital photography, all you need are: a digital camera, a computer, and Internet access. In fact, you may already have all three.

2. No need for special training

Anybody who can take decent pictures can make money by selling digital photos. You don't have to have formal training, or so many years of experience. You can be young or old, male or female.

3. Low start-up costs

Aside from the equipment required, you don't need to make any other investments. This means you can get started immediately.

4. No need to leave home

If you like, you can do sell digital photographs completely from home. Yes, that includes taking photographs.

5. Money in your hard drive

You may already have pictures in your computer that you can sell right away. In fact, you should begin with those.

6. Make money when traveling

If you like to travel, you can make your trip pay for itself by taking pictures on your trip and selling them online.

7. Location independent business

You can have sell your digital photographs from anywhere, as long as you have your equipment (see number 1). This means you could be a nomad and still make a living.

8. Flexible hours

Work when you want, as much as you want. Do it full time or part time. It's up to you!

9. No need to build websites

Although you'll be selling digital photographs online, you absolutely don't have to build a website - unlike other online marketers.

10. Stock photo sites do the marketing for you

You don't have to do any marketing, either, because stock photo sites do it all for you. All you have to do is take high-quality photographs. (More on that in "Make Money with Digital Photography."

11. No fees to sell online

You don't have to pay any fees to sell in stock photo sites. It's completely free to become a member and start selling your photos.

12. No need to set up a shopping cart

Again, stock photo sites take care of processing payments for your photographs. You will have to be able to accept payments from stock photo sites. A PayPal account should be enough.

13. Enhanced creativity

This business forces you to become more creative, such as in the way you choose the subjects of your pictures, to how you edit them.

14. Sharper photography skills

You have to improve your photography skills if you want to succeed in this business. The longer you keep at it, the better you'll become.

15. Build your portfolio and expertise

Selling digital photos online helps build your reputation as a photographer. You can easily build a portfolio based on your best-selling pictures.

16. Profit from passion

You can easily combine this home business with a hobby or special interest you have. Because of the wide range of subjects that are in high demand, you don't have to take pictures that you don't care about.

17. Steady demand

As more and more stock photos are sold and bought, the demand for fresh photos increases. Marketers always want unique pictures for their materials, which further increases the demand for more digital photos.

18. It's profitable

Because of low overhead costs, it's easy to earn a full-time income from selling digital photography. University students are doing it, stay at home Moms are doing it, and you can do it too.

However, you have to know some insider secrets. Which types of photographs sell easily online? How do you avoid legal problems? How do you work with stock photo sites? How can you sell more photos?

You'll find the answers in "Make Money with Digital Photography." It's completely free, so go and grab it now.

Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Submitting Photos to Stock Photo Sites

A quick and easy way to make money with your photos is by submitting them to stock photo sites online. You can start earning money with the photos that are already in your hard drive; you don't even have to take new photos right away.

If you want a step-by-step guide to monetizing your digital photos through stock photo sites and other ways, check out Turn Your Photos Into Cash.

Meantime, you can get started right now. But do make sure you don't make these 10 mistakes when you submit photos in stock photo sites:

1. Submitting low-quality photos. Don't waste your time and energy. Nobody wants blurred, under-exposed and other types of low-quality photos.

2. Not doing keyword research. The right keyword list can make or break the profitability of your photos.

3. Submitting photos that you don't own. You can get into real big trouble for doing this.

4. Submitting photos of people without a "model waiver." Know when you need a model waiver and always get one when necessary.

5. Submitting photos of objects owned by other people without a "property waiver." This is another legal requirement you should be aware of to avoid future headaches.

6. Submitting photos that don't meet the stock photo site's standards. You may think your photo is perfect but each site has its own standards, including minimum size, etc. Double check before submitting.

7. Submitting photos that have unwanted elements. Some items are simply unacceptable in photos. Find out which ones they are and either edit them out or avoid them altogether.

8. Submitting photos to stock photo sites which require exclusive contracts. Don't submit to these sites.

9. Submitting photos of mundane objects. Why bother when demand is low and they're all over the web already?

10. Submitting over-edited photos. Over-editing can drastically reduce the quality of your photos, causing them to be rejected.

If you want more detailed guidance on submitting to stock photo sites, I recommend Turn Your Photos Into Cash.

Aside from making money on stock photo sites, this fact-filled Ebook teaches a number of other ways you to turn digital photography from a hobby to a home business - a profitable one at that.

Click here to find out more about Turn Your Photos Into Cash.

Black & White Photography

Top ten mistakes people make in wedding photography

Top ten mistakes people make in wedding photography

Weddings are emotionally-charged moments for everyone involved.

As weddings are logistical nightmares in any event, for the photographer to eliminate as many potential problems and mistakes as possible the first order of business is to communicate with the wedding party.

This does a few things; it enables you to get an idea of their “game plan”, so you can set your strategy. Otherwise, if your plan is to wing it (which is highly unadvisable), you’ll miss out on the best opportunities to get single and group photos, and you can also be rushed – all of which can contribute to poor photographs. Create a “Shot List” with someone intimately involved with the Day’s Schedule. This way you’ll know when there is down time for you to go grab candids… the “true” bread’n butter of wedding photography


It’s vitally important for you to ESTABLISH A RAPPORT WITH THE BRIDE AND GROOM, because they need to feel most comfortable with you. It’s best to take a series of photos of them prior to the wedding, so you can learn how to communicate with them best in order to get them. An engagement photography session is one good time to do so.If you skip this crucial part of the process, when it comes down to the actual day of the wedding, the Bride & Groom won’t be at ease with you around or with you issuing commands, barking out orders and other dictates to get what you want so they’re happy with the end result.

Third, they say the best butler is not seen or heard; well the same adage is true for wedding photographers. It is paramount that you strive to be as unobtrusive as possible; many people forget this fact, and erroneously think that as “the photographer” they have the right to barge in a take the shots of this once-in-a-lifetime moment. No one wants the photographer interrupting the joyous occasion by asking to get a shot (“hey, can I…”) or bombarding unsuspecting subjects with a harsh, blinding camera flash. It’s important to move quietly, slowly and smoothly – be like a ninja as much as possible (but you don’t need soft soled shoes).


NOT COMING PREPARED



This goes without saying, but without the proper equipment you can really hamper your effort to get the best photos possible. Preparation is anything and everything you can do that will inform you on what lenses to bring and what the location looks like when photographed, so you can pre-visualize shots. Part of being prepared is scouting the location ahead of time at the time of the wedding, so you are aware of the lighting conditions and can plan accordingly. You’ll also want to bring a tripod (or monopod), as it’ll be a lifesaver. If one of your goals is to completely blend in (and it should be), then taking photos without the flash is one of the best ways to do that. But that means lowering the shutter speed and/or opening up the aperture as wide as possible to accommodate for the low-light conditions.… that’s were a tripod or monopod becomes worth its weight in gold to eliminate camera-shake and blur (too big no-no’s).
BRINGING ONE CAMERA is another major mistake that most people make.. If you bring two cameras, you have two options to mine the most out of the event – 1) is to bring an assistant; this way you can divide up the duties, subject and events and capture as much as possible. There’s so much material to cover at a wedding that two eyes are always better than one. And 2) is to have a wide-angle lens on one camera and a telephoto on the other. This saves time in switching lenses, so you can grab the group shot then immediately segue to an intimate close-up of the bride kibitzing with her bride’s maids or the father of the bride brushing aside a tear.


LACKLUSTER Group Photos


 We’ve all seen these, and they are a major bummer for wedding photography. The main challenged of group photos is to get everyone smiling and not blinking at the time that you press the shutter. You can avoid this by having everyone close their eyes, and then open them “on the count of three.” Once you’ve trained your group, do the count again and snap the picture. You can also avoid these recycle bin shots by properly positioning yourself to get the most dynamic shots. Staged group shots are always awkward, severely clichéd and don’t offer anything exciting or memorable. Your individual creativity in staging can elevate a de rigeur group photo into something that everyone will want copies of (consider a changing your perspective and/or staggering the group).

Rushing usually results in UNPOLISHED COMPOSITIONS and with all the surrounding drama and chaos it is very easy for you to skip the added seconds (or minutes) it takes to find a more aesthetically appealing composition. Bad composition and sloppy framing will ruin amazing opportunities and result in mediocre (at best) or unusable (at worst) photos of action that can’t be replicated or re-staged. Take the time to make sure all the elements are properly in place – lighting, subject, background all must work in concert. As “the photographer” you do have some authority in getting the wedding party to reposition itself for your purposes. Sure, they might grumble, but the Bride & Groom will thank you later. And if you’ve scouted the location ahead of time and broken bread with the Bride & Groom ahead of time, then by all means push the envelope and be bold with your decisions.

Another common mistake is a “nice” background; now, why is this considered a mistake? Because the background should in no way, shape or form compete with the Bride & Groom. The background should be as neutral and/or bland as possible (although avoid a white background). The true skill in photographic composition is knowing how all the elements of the picture will draw the viewer’s eye director where you want it.

In the digital age there’s no excuse for NOT SHOOTING ENOUGH. You should bring two or three memory cards and don’t hold back (please shoot in RAW+JPEG for the most flexibility). Professional photographers take 100s and 100s of photos to find those 10 to 20 that not only capture the key, critical moments, but will serve as emotional hallmarks of the event.

Take these points to heart and incorporate them into your thinking, and you should be able to avoid the common mistakes and therefore elevate your work, and win raves from the couple weeks later when they review the photo album you put together for them.

Specializing in wedding photography that is both visually expressive and contemporary, requires dedicated efforts and a clear blueprint. Digital Wedding Secrets by Nick Smith is one of the rare resources that prepares you on how to capture a creative portrait that defines the essence of every wedding day and every couple. It also provides you with a step by step action plan, website, business agreements to help you get the most out of your wedding photography. For short time he has releazed a free report that reveals the best kept secret of wedding photography. Sign up while its still available!

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