How to Make Money from Photography as a Teenager

As a teenager, you might have photography skills but be lacking in experience. As such it might seem impossible to earn money from photography. However, you will be pleased to know that it is quite possible to earn money from your photography skills just like professional and more experienced photographers do.

There are a ton of photography opportunities available both online and offline that you can venture into as a teenager. This will help you to gain experience, enhance your skills as well as enable you to earn money.

The best thing about photography is that all you need is to have the required photography equipment as well as the skills, even if they are self-taught. Skills are all that matters, therefore, even without prior experience you can easily make money with photography.(become a freelance photographer with no experience),

Offline Opportunities

Working with clients

People require their photos taken for a variety of reasons; some for fun while others are seeking to capture memorable moments. This makes this type of photography the most common type of photography. Jobs in this market include; wedding, maternity, birthday, graduation or engagement photos amongst many others.

While diversification is good in helping to increase your chances of getting a gig, it is also important to think about your long term vision for your business. If you would like to make it more than a side-hustle, you might want to specialize in a certain niche. Specialization is good for branding your business; it makes it even more professional.

Work for a tour company

Tourism and photography integrate perfectly. Look into local tour companies, if you can find one that offers tour packages for teenagers the better. The nature of this job will involve taking pictures of clients while on their tour as well as nature and any other kind of pictures you might want to. These pictures will go into promoting the tour company on their social media pages, brochures and magazines (if they have one).

The advantage with this type of job is that it allows you to enhance your skills as you will be taking pictures of a variety of subjects, that is, buildings, animals, people, nature, etc. while at it, you can also take shots for your personal use; to build your portfolio.

Work for magazines

It is a creative’s dream to have their work published on a platform. There are so many magazines available in the market today with some whose target market is teenagers. This, therefore, makes this a viable option for making money as a photographer. All you have to do is pitch your services to them, if they accept to work with you, then you need to ensure you provide them with high quality and unique pictures.

Note that the magazine market is a tough niche that results in low commissions. However, if you can make yourself a valuable asset in the company, then you will be sure of good pay. For example, you can perfect your writing skills so that on top of providing a picture, you can also come up with great content to back up the photos.

Make money Online with Photography

While offline opportunities tend to be more fun and challenging; there are also online opportunities that you could venture into. These tend to be a bit easier since for one, you do not need to put yourself out there physically to search for clients. Online opportunities are also quite flexible as you work on your terms. Example of offline opportunities for making money from photography as a teenager include;

Selling stock photos

Stock photos are those images that have been sold to a photo library site that licenses them for specific uses. There are so many stock image sites available online that can allow you to upload good high-quality photos.  There is no limit to the type of photos you can sell, they could include; photos of yourself (how to make money selling photos of yourself), nature, buildings, food, clothes, events amongst several others.

Product photography

This is whereby you will be commissioned by companies to take photos of their products. Companies are always in need of good, high-quality photos to upload on their website or magazine catalog. The companies you work with are either going to send you the items or if it is a local company, you might be required to go do the shoot at their location.

YouTube channel

There is good money to be made off YouTube, but only if you have a huge number of subscribers to your channel. On your channel, you can create content that teaches your subscribers how to take photos or create behind the scenes videos for when you have a photography contract you are working on. Once you monetize your channel, you will be able to make money off it based on your video viewership as well as paid ads and sponsorships.

Sell downloadable prints

This works great with landscape, fine arts, travel and nature photography. When you sell a downloadable print, you allow the buyer to use the print in any way they might please. This could include; printing them and displaying as wall art, as photo books template, cover photos for postcards and greeting cards or they can also print the images on merchandise such as calendars, mugs, t-shirts, bags, etc.

Sell editing presets online

Have you perfected the art of editing photos? If yes, then you can use this skill to earn extra money. Many people dread editing photos since it is hard to achieve the perfect settings. Therefore, you can earn easy money by providing a solution to their problems.

In Conclusion

If you are a teenager looking to make money from photography, then you should try out one of the above-mentioned ideas. There are a lot more opportunities available so keep doing your research, network and market your service.

Build your confidence, show people that they can trust you to do the work. Also, when deciding on which path to follow, remember that you can always do more than one, this will help diversify your income.