Is it worth a try?

[TJKilborn]

I've had friends/family tell me that I should start selling my photographs. I'm not sure if they're just saying that to be nice or what. Please view my Flickr and tell me honestly what you think? Is my work worth continuing or selling?

[graciousness]

I just need to ask this - why are you asking people for their opinion if your work is sellable when you already built or you are building a website selling your services already?

Also, you must know that you can't rely on your family and friends with your photos. They are and will be biased and unless they are professional photographers or are at least in the industry (this doesn't include Walmart employees working behind the photo processing cash registers).

I had a quick look at your photos and to be honest, you are not ready. You do have some nice landscape shots, but they are not consistently good. The people shots have focus and lighting issues. One can see your potential to be a pro, but that time is not now. You need to expose your scenes and subjects properly and your photos show you haven't mastered this yet. You also need to learn to use shallow DOF for backgrounds when you have people as subjects, and you need to be able to know how to focus on your subjects properly (thsi would be the eyes with people). Composition need a lot of work as everything is centered that I have seen so far.

I hope I wasn't being harsh; this was not my intention at all. You just need a lot more practice and master your basics, at least, before contemplating on charging people for shots. Look at professional photographers' works and compare your work. You'll see that you need a little bit of work to do when you compare your work with theirs.

And that brigns me to the question again - why are you asking people if you can sell your work when you have a website trying to sell them already?

[dlambert]

Based on a quick tour through your photos, there are quite a few nice ones in there, and a couple that are really nice. I also saw a handful of "meh" photos, as well.

I think the real question here is probably about 50% "are my photos good enough to sell" and 50% "can I sell them?" It looks to me as if the majority of your photos (certainly the ones that stood out to me) are landscape photos, and speaking as an amateur, my impression is that landscape photography is really difficult to break into. Simply put, there are a *ton* of really good landscape photos out there, and you're going to have to find a way to stand apart from the crowd, as well as find an audience that's receptive to your particular portfolio of photos.

I think one thing you could start doing would be to accumulate a portfolio of your best stuff and have a way to show off only that A+ material. When I think landscape photography, for instance, I think about portfolios like these:

500px / Wolfy .
500px / Aaron Reed

Look through a page or two from these guys -- you won't find any duds in there, and I think that helps from a marketing standpoint. The stuff in their pages is pretty consistent, too -- notice how the one or two architectural photos really stand out. If you do one or two of these, they're interesting, but if you have a bunch, it starts to water down your portfolio (is this guy really a landscape photographer?).

In your case, if you're going to try to sell your landscapes, gather the best of the best and put them together. Leave out the other photos, including the wildlife stuff (An Elk or Bison standing next to an asphalt road isn't going to help you much, I think), and get some feedback on that portfolio. At that point, you still need to figure out who you're going to sell these too, though, and that's all about marketing. There's been some good stuff written on marketing in these forums -- search through them and I think you'll start to see some ideas. Go out and take a shot at selling some stuff, then fine-tune and repeat.

[TJKilborn]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Why are you asking people if you can sell your work when you have a website trying to sell them already?

I have a website, yes. I do not have them posted 'For Sale' anywhere. On my site I state that I am trying to build my portfolio and there is no charge for my services because I'm looking to gain experience and better my techniques.

I know I have a lot of learning to do. That is why I asked this question, because I know friends and family are biased when passing out compliments.

Thank you both for your responses! I will definitely be more cautious with what I post on Flickr as well as work on my composition skills.

I hate to be "that guy" but hell, I'm already "that guy".... So I'll just say it.

IMHO, no. I wouldn't buy the photos you had on your flickr, sorry.

Continuing to work on? Sure, it's a hobby. No one can tell you no.

As far as if you can make money? Let the market decide. I'm hedging my bets on, 'no'.

[Krusty79]

I also agree that your shots show some promise, but you're not ready to go pro yet. I looked through the first few pages of your Flickr account and every landscape shot you took was in the middle of the day. Almost every "professional" landscape shot is taken in the golden hours when the light is softer and you don't have to deal with as great of a dynamic range. If you are still making "mistakes" like this, it's another indication you are not ready.

People will not pay for photos that they think they can take themselves. You have to set yourself away from the pack so potential customers will want the magic you have captured. I am trying to get as good as the guys on this site - Photo Cascadia. When your images are close to being this good, then I think you should start selling them.

We do not mean to discourage you, we just want to give you a realistic appraisal. I encourage you to submit individual images in our Critique sections for detailed feedback.

[RichardTaylor]

@ Krusty79

Thanks very much for the link. Inspirational pics on that.

[ChrisAdval]

Originally Posted by TJKilborn

I've had friends/family tell me that I should start selling my photographs. I'm not sure if they're just saying that to be nice or what. Please view my Flickr and tell me honestly what you think? Is my work worth continuing or selling?

you got potential but I'm not a nature photographer, but I highly recommend start building a solid portfolio where you have your strongest photos only. And get as many critiques from experienced photographers who are into nature photography, try nature photography critique flickr groups.

After 6-12 months of building a super solid portfolio then look into stock photography but don't expect a whole lot of cash coming in... just research if thats a route for you, if not then selling them directly in galleries maybe?

[graciousness]

Originally Posted by TJKilborn

I have a website, yes. I do not have them posted 'For Sale' anywhere. On my site I state that I am trying to build my portfolio and there is no charge for my services because I'm looking to gain experience and better my techniques.

I know I have a lot of learning to do. That is why I asked this question, because I know friends and family are biased when passing out compliments.

Thank you both for your responses! I will definitely be more cautious with what I post on Flickr as well as work on my composition skills.

Sorry, under "services" on your website, it states that "hours are negotiable". Very easy to assume that you are trying to sell your services if you state that. If you really are just doing things for free and portfolio building, I would remove that.

I wouldn't start building a portfolio even at this time cause you're way too early to be showing others your work prematurely. Basically, what you need to do is practice. Practice to make mistakes, practice not to make mistakes, without thinking that your next shot is going to be your best. You have to take your next few thousand shots because you need to learn "why" and "how" you are taking the shots.

[Jim Bryant]

They are being nice. You need to find a professional in your area to view your portfolio and make comments.