Making Money with Overland Photography

[Clean Drink Adventures]

I have been seeing these ads for real estate photography and I do live in an area with several large real estate companies. I wonder if that would be a good idea to start upgrading my gear?

Those ads for real estate photographers are best avoided. The ads exist because the job is so unrewarding the cycle of new shooters is endless. Entry level real estate photography is a grind for very little pay.

The trick with editorial photography, which can pay okay if paired to a good story, is the subject matter. A couple of years ago I had photos and stories on two magazine covers at one time. My stories published that year were from Peru, Chile, Nepal, and Alaska. Easy to sell, but the expenses to get those stories put a dent in my take home. So, unless you live a pretty rad life in your own zipcode, selling editorial features, with rad images, is tough but can be done.

As for gear, you can get by with pretty simple pro-sumer kit. I know shooters who started out with one solid body, and one great lens...me. It's really tough to deliver with that setup, but it also develops great skill. Probably better than dropping $10k on a bag of lenses and bodies. That said, you cannot fully develop your pro level skills until you have fast lenses and more robust camera features. Choose wisely. Switching brands mid-stream is cost prohibitive. Once you buy your first pro-level camera body, that's likely the brand you will stick with forever.

If money-making is the end game, these days you will have to become an equally good image editor. And as sad as it is to say, if you cannot shoot video, and edit it well, that too can limit your potential. When you get it all dialed in, your options to choose your revenue path are endless.

Lastly, I would start crafting your "treatment" or style. Consistency in aesthetic is very important. If you're shooting for editorial, you can get very creative and use a lot of grain, low-fidelity coloration, etc. If you want to shoot for ad or PR, more realistic aesthetics will likely prevail. I shoot a lot of travel content, so I tend to go for more real-life treatments. Vibrant color is my signature.

One thing that REALLY helps is having a better shooter critique your images, even when it hurts. I'm lucky to have a mentor who is one of the best travel shooters in the world. But, he's brutal. He HATES this shot below, absolutely will not look at it. LOL.

Happy to help pass on any lessons I have learned from great mentors. This knowledge is best gained when handed down.

Good luck!

 

[NathanPAnderson]

Those ads for real estate photographers are best avoided. The ads exist because the job is so unrewarding the cycle of new shooters is endless. Entry level real estate photography is a grind for very little pay.

The trick with editorial photography, which can pay okay if paired to a good story, is the subject matter. A couple of years ago I had photos and stories on two magazine covers at one time. My stories published that year were from Peru, Chile, Nepal, and Alaska. Easy to sell, but the expenses to get those stories put a dent in my take home. So, unless you live a pretty rad life in your own zipcode, selling editorial features, with rad images, is tough but can be done.

As for gear, you can get by with pretty simple pro-sumer kit. I know shooters who started out with one solid body, and one great lens...me. It's really tough to deliver with that setup, but it also develops great skill. Probably better than dropping $10k on a bag of lenses and bodies. That said, you cannot fully develop your pro level skills until you have fast lenses and more robust camera features. Choose wisely. Switching brands mid-stream is cost prohibitive. Once you buy your first pro-level camera body, that's likely the brand you will stick with forever.

If money-making is the end game, these days you will have to become an equally good image editor. And as sad as it is to say, if you cannot shoot video, and edit it well, that too can limit your potential. When you get it all dialed in, your options to choose your revenue path are endless.

Lastly, I would start crafting your "treatment" or style. Consistency in aesthetic is very important. If you're shooting for editorial, you can get very creative and use a lot of grain, low-fidelity coloration, etc. If you want to shoot for ad or PR, more realistic aesthetics will likely prevail. I shoot a lot of travel content, so I tend to go for more real-life treatments. Vibrant color is my signature.

One thing that REALLY helps is having a better shooter critique your images, even when it hurts. I'm lucky to have a mentor who is one of the best travel shooters in the world. But, he's brutal. He HATES this shot below, absolutely will not look at it. LOL.

Happy to help pass on any lessons I have learned from great mentors. This knowledge is best gained when handed down.

Good luck!

View attachment 168477

I think that is a beautiful image. What does he not like about it?

I have a friend who is family experienced as he used to be a professional portrait and wedding photographer. I would love to have mentor who is more of a professional outdoor or landscape photographer since they are totally different.

 

[NathanPAnderson]

By the way I currently have a Nikon D3500 with the two kit lenses, a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G and 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G. I prefer using the 18-55 mostly and I’m planning to invest in a 24-70 f/2.8 soon. I know my gear is still very much beginner level but I am learning how to get the most out of it as far as compositions and framing and learning how to edit.

 

[Clean Drink Adventures]

I think that is a beautiful image. What does he not like about it?

I have a friend who is family experienced as he used to be a professional portrait and wedding photographer. I would love to have mentor who is more of a professional outdoor or landscape photographer since they are totally different.

I'm hesitant to tell you what he hates, as you'll see it and probably hate it too. LOL. Suffice it to say, what makes it 90% great is stuff I could control. The 10% I couldn't control, kind of ruins the shot.

Shoot me a PM with your email. I'd be more than happy to pass on some tips and offer constructive suggestions for your images.

Regarding your gear, the D3500 is a solid little shooter. The kit lenses will only limit your ability to get juicy depth of field. With lenses, it's all about sharpness and speed. I'd much rather shoot amazing lenses on so-so bodies than the other way around. Like many photographers, I shoot lenses, not cameras. My 70-200mm 2.8 is my go-to. I also love my 85mm 1.2 prime, or 35mm 1.4 prime. Landscapes look great in wider range, but shooting wide takes a lot of practice.

You have to really develop an eye for foreground with a wide lens. Even a tuft of grass can be a star in a wide shot.


If you want to get really compelling overlanding shots, you will probably need a longer reach with a fast lens to lend more compression at 2.8. Those mountains are MILES behind these bikes. This was shot with a 200mm and x1.4 converter for just under 400mm.


One common misstep for some shooters is they tend to use too much "normal" focal length and shoot from a "normal" perspective. If you shoot too close to 35-50mm all the time, that looks very normal to the human eye. If you always shoot standing, that too is too normal. Shooting wide or long, outside "normal" focal lengths will often give your perspective a more interesting look.

The other critical thing is - sharpness. I mostly shoot Fuji as a few of their lenses are ridiculously sharp.

Fun stuff. Have fun with it!

 

[NathanPAnderson]

I'm hesitant to tell you what he hates, as you'll see it and probably hate it too. LOL. Suffice it to say, what makes it 90% great is stuff I could control. The 10% I couldn't control, kind of ruins the shot.

Shoot me a PM with your email. I'd be more than happy to pass on some tips and offer constructive suggestions for your images.

Regarding your gear, the D3500 is a solid little shooter. The kit lenses will only limit your ability to get juicy depth of field. With lenses, it's all about sharpness and speed. I'd much rather shoot amazing lenses on so-so bodies than the other way around. Like many photographers, I shoot lenses, not cameras. My 70-200mm 2.8 is my go-to. I also love my 85mm 1.2 prime, or 35mm 1.4 prime. Landscapes look great in wider range, but shooting wide takes a lot of practice.

You have to really develop an eye for foreground with a wide lens. Even a tuft of grass can be a star in a wide shot.
View attachment 168779

If you want to get really compelling overlanding shots, you will probably need a longer reach with a fast lens to lend more compression at 2.8. Those mountains are MILES behind these bikes. This was shot with a 200mm and x1.4 converter for just under 400mm.
View attachment 168780

One common misstep for some shooters is they tend to use too much "normal" focal length and shoot from a "normal" perspective. If you shoot too close to 35-50mm all the time, that looks very normal to the human eye. If you always shoot standing, that too is too normal. Shooting wide or long, outside "normal" focal lengths will often give your perspective a more interesting look.

The other critical thing is - sharpness. I mostly shoot Fuji as a few of their lenses are ridiculously sharp.

Fun stuff. Have fun with it!

Incredible photos! My plan is to use this D3500 as long as I can and pick up a couple of better lenses. My friend that I mentioned before said that a 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 would be the perfect duo.

Thanks for the tips and I will be sure to send you my email!

 

[Tundracamper]

I make money with my overland photography. I’m not sure how much, though. I have close to 10k images on a microstock web site. Only a small percentage are overlanding, but I think a few are selling. I like taking photos on my overlanding, uh I mean business, trips.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I'm hesitant to tell you what he hates, as you'll see it and probably hate it too. LOL. Suffice it to say, what makes it 90% great is stuff I could control. The 10% I couldn't control, kind of ruins the shot.

Shoot me a PM with your email. I'd be more than happy to pass on some tips and offer constructive suggestions for your images.

Regarding your gear, the D3500 is a solid little shooter. The kit lenses will only limit your ability to get juicy depth of field. With lenses, it's all about sharpness and speed. I'd much rather shoot amazing lenses on so-so bodies than the other way around. Like many photographers, I shoot lenses, not cameras. My 70-200mm 2.8 is my go-to. I also love my 85mm 1.2 prime, or 35mm 1.4 prime. Landscapes look great in wider range, but shooting wide takes a lot of practice.

You have to really develop an eye for foreground with a wide lens. Even a tuft of grass can be a star in a wide shot.
View attachment 168779

If you want to get really compelling overlanding shots, you will probably need a longer reach with a fast lens to lend more compression at 2.8. Those mountains are MILES behind these bikes. This was shot with a 200mm and x1.4 converter for just under 400mm.
View attachment 168780

One common misstep for some shooters is they tend to use too much "normal" focal length and shoot from a "normal" perspective. If you shoot too close to 35-50mm all the time, that looks very normal to the human eye. If you always shoot standing, that too is too normal. Shooting wide or long, outside "normal" focal lengths will often give your perspective a more interesting look.

The other critical thing is - sharpness. I mostly shoot Fuji as a few of their lenses are ridiculously sharp.

Fun stuff. Have fun with it!

I could tell you shoot fuji, Something about the fuji system that makes images "pop" and become "real" Other systems are flat looking. I look at a fuji picture you look at the image, other systems you look at a "photo" with no depth to it. I am starting my own photography business here in Newfoundland, I have some interesting prospects that I maybe able to lock into for product photography. It's not going to make me rich, but I will be working for myself. I also develop websites, have a motorsports restoration business and furniture/woodcrafts business. All of which will not keep me busy 100 percent of the time by themselves, but put them all together, and I think I can survive, while having my freedom to roam when I want/need.

 

[Clrussell]

Awesome pics! Keep up the great work!

 

[madcratebuilder]

Not a good rock crawler.

 

[Clean Drink Adventures]

This is photo related - I promise. :)

We just launched a Kickstarter campaign for a book of portraits captured during multiple overlanding trips in the last two years. Four of the six photographers are very avid overlanders. For every book we sell we will be able to provide safe drinking water solutions to a family of 5-8 for the next 3-5 years. All of those water systems will again be delivered via Land Rover Defenders or classic Royal Enfield motorcycles.

There are amazing portraits in here.

 

[old_man]

The wife and I had a VERY respectable income from a side business selling LARGE limited edition scenic from 1975 to about the mid 80's. They were all shot with large format cameras and we printed and framed them. We sold through architectural firms mainly for centerpieces in conference rooms for Fortune 100 companies. We printed to 40"x60" both photo print, dye sublimation print, and Duratrans inhouse. A 40x60 print went for over a grand back then. We shot a ton of 4x5 and 8x10 film. Nothing like looking at a 5 foot wide print and as you keep getting closer, you can see the grains of sand.

Cheap litho prints came about and the market crashed. We kept doing them for specialty advertising and ramped up a video production company.

 

[old_man]

The wife and I had a VERY respectable income from a side business selling LARGE limited edition scenic from 1975 to about the mid 80's. They were all shot with large format cameras and we printed and framed them. We sold through architectural firms mainly for centerpieces in conference rooms for Fortune 100 companies. We printed to 40"x60" both photo print, dye sublimation print, and Duratrans inhouse. A 40x60 print went for over a grand back then. We shot a ton of 4x5 and 8x10 film. Nothing like looking at a 5 foot wide print and as you keep getting closer, you can see the grains of sand.

Cheap litho prints came about and the market crashed. We kept doing them for specialty advertising and ramped up a video production company.

I have since switched over to digital. I miss film with rise, fall, swings and tilts, but digital has its advantage. Everything I want to keep for more than a scrap book is shot in HDR and post processed. Working almost exclusively in the mountains, my favorite lense tends to be in the 10 to 20mm range but it all depends on what I am shooting. For the moment I am shooting a 24mpx Nikon SLR. Hopefully I will upgrade to the 50mpx range in a couple of months.

I am searching for a GOOD large format printer at least 24" wide, but they get a bit spendy. I want to keep it under $2000.

 

[Boort]

I have since switched over to digital. I miss film with rise, fall, swings and tilts, but digital has its advantage. Everything I want to keep for more than a scrap book is shot in HDR and post processed. Working almost exclusively in the mountains, my favorite lense tends to be in the 10 to 20mm range but it all depends on what I am shooting. For the moment I am shooting a 24mpx Nikon SLR. Hopefully I will upgrade to the 50mpx range in a couple of months.

I am searching for a GOOD large format printer at least 24" wide, but they get a bit spendy. I want to keep it under $2000.

Tom

keep an eye out for an Epson P9000 Sure color on the lightly used market. A friend of mine bought one a year or so ago. She got the printer and some accessories including almost a full change of inks and some paper for well under under $2k. there is one on Craigs list down in Denver area for $2200 Epson P9000 Sure color - computer parts - by owner - electronics sale

Boort

 

[jolyn]

Those ads for real estate photographers are best avoided. The ads exist because the job is so unrewarding the cycle of new shooters is endless. Entry level real estate photography is a grind for very little pay.

The trick with editorial photography, which can pay okay if paired to a good story, is the subject matter. A couple of years ago I had photos and stories on two magazine covers at one time. My stories published that year were from Peru, Chile, Nepal, and Alaska. Easy to sell, but the expenses to get those stories put a dent in my take home. So, unless you live a pretty rad life in your own zipcode, selling editorial features, with rad images, is tough but can be done.

As for gear, you can get by with pretty simple pro-sumer kit. I know shooters who started out with one solid body, and one great lens...me. It's really tough to deliver with that setup, but it also develops great skill. Probably better than dropping $10k on a bag of lenses and bodies. That said, you cannot fully develop your pro level skills until you have fast lenses and more robust camera features. Choose wisely. Switching brands mid-stream is cost prohibitive. Once you buy your first pro-level camera body, that's likely the brand you will stick with forever.

If money-making is the end game, these days you will have to become an equally good image editor. And as sad as it is to say, if you cannot shoot video, and edit it well, that too can limit your potential. When you get it all dialed in, your options to choose your revenue path are endless.

Lastly, I would start crafting your "treatment" or style. Consistency in aesthetic is very important. If you're shooting for editorial, you can get very creative and use a lot of grain, low-fidelity coloration, etc. If you want to shoot for ad or PR, more realistic aesthetics will likely prevail. I shoot a lot of travel content, so I tend to go for more real-life treatments. Vibrant color is my signature.

One thing that REALLY helps is having a better shooter critique your images, even when it hurts. I'm lucky to have a mentor who is one of the best travel shooters in the world. But, he's brutal. He HATES this shot below, absolutely will not look at it. LOL.

Happy to help pass on any lessons I have learned from great mentors. This knowledge is best gained when handed down.

Good luck!

View attachment 168477

Beautiful shot! How many pitches do you send out per month before you land a gig for photojournalism? Have been shooting landscapes for a few years but haven't gotten around to pitching to companies

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I have since switched over to digital. I miss film with rise, fall, swings and tilts, but digital has its advantage. Everything I want to keep for more than a scrap book is shot in HDR and post processed. Working almost exclusively in the mountains, my favorite lense tends to be in the 10 to 20mm range but it all depends on what I am shooting. For the moment I am shooting a 24mpx Nikon SLR. Hopefully I will upgrade to the 50mpx range in a couple of months.

I am searching for a GOOD large format printer at least 24" wide, but they get a bit spendy. I want to keep it under $2000.

If you want all out image quality and resolution. Fuji's GFX cameras are second to none in a compact camera that you can take with you. They are AWESOME!

 

[Clrussell]

Off topic, sorf of.

Where do you guys store photos? Dropbox style or something like that?

thinking of a place I can dump all my trip photos and send the link to family so they can view and save as they want.

 

[Flipper]

Flipper, I think there is a distinctive difference between creative imagery and imagery used for highly commercial enterprises. I have shot thousands of product images for print and digital publications and absolutely hate it, but it was a necessary thing. I tried shooting real estate thinking it could fund new gear, but quickly gave up as it was not creative at all and just boring, for me. So, while I agree a photographer has to adapt to the market if they want income, there are still parameters most shooters will stick within to make it worth doing. That's different for everyone.

Sometimes your creative imagery shooting what you like dosent pay the bills. Your creative side has to blend with the commercial. You take what you can get . I would much rather shoot a music video with a creative shot a close up of a fretboard and crazy guitarist than a fade to black on a vase of flowers at a wedding but I would used my talents equally for both. Or you could go the starving artist route.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Off topic, sorf of.

Where do you guys store photos? Dropbox style or something like that?

thinking of a place I can dump all my trip photos and send the link to family so they can view and save as they want.

I store my personal photographs on my server and in onedrive so I can access them anywhere. My professional files I have a 14tb HDD in my workstation, a 14tb NAS server and a seperate 14tb drive I can access via wired connection 500 ft away in my workshop for redundancy.

 

[old_man]

If you want all out image quality and resolution. Fuji's GFX cameras are second to none in a compact camera that you can take with you. They are AWESOME!

I am looking at kicking up to a 50gig pixel Nikon from my 24gig pixel. It will require a whole new suite of lenses.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I am looking at kicking up to a 50gig pixel Nikon from my 24gig pixel. It will require a whole new suite of lenses.

I highly recommend going to the GFX instead. If you have to get new lenses anyways. The glass from fuji is TACK SHARP. 100mp camera is now 5999.00 which is awesome.