Even the Pros had to Start Somewhere

By Lori Allen on October 3, 2011

Dear Photographer,

A great way to get started in stock photography (and stay motivated) is to find a stock photo agency online, look through their pictures, find a few photographers whose portfolios you like, and then sort their pictures by age so that you can look all the way back to the first few photos they uploaded when they were first starting out.

Professional stock photographer Lise Gagne did this with us today to show how far she's come in just a few short years.

If you look at some of her earlier work, you'll quickly see that she's no different than you.  She started with a point-and-shoot camera she bought at a local pawn shop and an interest in taking pictures she could sell for a second income.

You can see some of Lise’s “then” and “now” pictures here:

"Then":

 

"Now":

These days, it's hard to get into a microstock agency with a point-and-shoot. But the good news is that you'll pay just a few  hundred dollars today for a camera that would have cost you several thousand dollars a few years ago.

In addition, with sites like eBay and craigslist, you can often find slightly used equipment for even cheaper.

Here are a few more pictures attendees got this weekend here in Portland:


Jaqueline Harvey


Tinker Lucas


Wendy Swanson

When they get home, they'll also get step-by-step videos that explain how to set up a shoot, how to set their camera, and how to get the best shot.

You can get these videos, too.  There's still a discount on the entire workshop-at-home package until midnight tomorrow.

I hope you'll take advantage of it and get your stock portfolio up and working toward your first check before the holidays.

Take care,

Lori

P.S. On our first day here in Portland, professional photographer Shelly Perry told us that horizontal photos sell better than verticals.  She also said that objects on white sell better than objects on black. Find out what else is selling today, so you can get a headstart with photos that will sell better than others.

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Lori Allen is the Director of the Travel Division at AWAI, which publishes The Ultimate Travel Writer's Program and Turn Your Pictures into Cash as well as myriad books and special reports geared to helping folks master the art of getting paid to travel. She is also the Editor of The Right Way to Travel, which features articles geared to help writers and photographers improve their skill and sell their work. Over the past ten years, Lori has worked personally with more than 1,500 budding travel writers and photographers to help them meet those same goals -- to hone their writing and photography skills and to better market themselves to prospective clients and editors.

One response to “Even the Pros had to Start Somewhere”

  1. Bea Amyotte
    Bea Amyotte
    December 7, 2011 at 2:55 am | | Reply

    Thanks for the the info you have send me. They are very helpful. Keep up with the good work.

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