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| A year ago I jumped into trying to sell my photos through local Final/First Friday monthly art crawl. COVID has mostly derailed that plan, but I was curious if anyone else had tried to monetize their work, what websites they may use, things like that. I'm well aware that for a photographer to make his first million, he has to start out with two million, but I see selling photos as a decent method of astronomy outreach as well as a way to slightly recover the cost of some of my equipment. |
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Hi Brent, Yes, I sell my work. As far as selling online, earlier this year I joined the Artist Support Pledge (https://www.instagram.com/artistsupportpledge/?hl=en) and acquired buyers via Instagram and Facebook. The goal of the initiative was to generate income for artist whose galleries were closed during Shelter-in-Place. I used that effort to also generate money for our local food bank which was stretch to breaking to serve out-of-work families in our area. Over a couple of weeks I was able to generate several thousand dollars for the food bank, as well as support for another local fine art photographer. My main way to market is via a local fine art photography gallery, Gallery Sur, in Carmel, CA (www.gallerysur.com). The gallery specializes in large format color imager and stone sculpture (primarily from Zimbabwe), especially imagery of the Monterey Peninsula (Big Sur, etc.), and my astrophotography. The gallery represents the work of eight photographers and sculptors (they do not put on shows for non-house artists). My work includes prints on metallic photographic paper face mounted on acrylic, and prints on heavy, handmade watercolor paper mounted on floater frames. The size ranges from 15"x30" to 40"x60" (picture of my collection at Gallery Sur https://www.garylopezphotography.com/contact). Carmel is a tourist destination, primarily for the SF Bay Area, but also for tourist from out of state. Most buyers are looking for decor items for their home. I see you live in Wichita, KS (my wife grew up in Lawrence). I'd suggest that you explore the possibility of connecting with a gallery in your area (maybe consider Kansas City). Galleries know their customers and help you consider how to present your work to appeal to their buyers. As you likely know, there will be a substantial cost to getting into this world. I have spent much more money on experimenting with printing and framing, as well as inventory, than on astrophotography equipment. I have found it more challenging to create a compelling image to hang, than to create an image for display on a computer monitor. I hope this helps. CS, Gary |
