Dear Reader,

To sell fine art photos locally, the quickest way to get started -- and to consistently sell -- is to start in your hometown, according to professional photographer Rich Wagner.

"It doesn't just sell because it's pretty,” he says, “it sells because it's meaningful to the viewer."

Two of our readers recently took Rich’s advice and wrote in about their success.

** Vera Kerr, a full-time nurse, took photos in her hometown and made them into postcards. A friend of hers started selling them in her café and before long, had to ask for more because they had sold out.

** Reader Helen Murray started to sell fine art photos locally, too. Thing is, Helen’s hometown is in remote Australia... with a population of just 45 people. A historic tourist destination, the town had been photographed before. But Helen decided to look at it differently, and take photos that no one else had. Since then, she’s been selling her larger photos as fine art and smaller ones to tourists and passers-by.

Here are four tips from our Turn Your Pictures into Cash program for sprucing up your hometown photos so you can make a fast sale, too...

** 1. Capture reflections. Skyscrapers and storefront windows offer a lot of opportunities for great reflection photographs.

** 2. Go out in the rain. Few photographers like going out in the rain so you’ll likely have the market on these moody shots.

** 3. Go back at dusk. Power lines, street trash, and ugly storefronts disappear at night. This is your chance to get a completely different view of the city than you got earlier in the day.

** 4. Capture all the seasons. This winter certainly brought enough snow to fill your portfolio full of winter shots. Mark your schedule to add spring, summer and fall to your collection too.

And when you start to sell fine art photos locally, let us know. We love to get success stories from readers.

-- Lori

Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division

P.S. While you’re out shooting fine art photos in your hometown, look for stock-worthy shots, too. Snap clean, well-composed photos of a piece of pie in the local diner, a red stage curtain at the theater, or friends and family on a picnic, for example. To try your hand at taking saleable stock photos, join us at the Ultimate Money-Making Photo Workshop this April 16-18 in Nashville, TN. Sign up now and you’ll save $300.

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