Is it worth it? Buying an SLR now or wait?

Hey all I'm at a dilemma- not making money atm and people have been commenting on my water pics on flicker ( 4 people have called 4 different photos a favorite) so question: Do I buy an SLR now to make prints and sell them? Or just wait it off until I can afford 2 buy one ( was gonna buy it on a CC)?

Is it kinda just wishful thinking to think I could sell them?

Love M

thanks pro



[Edited 5/3/09 0:36am]

Are you talking to yourself again?

mcmeekle said:

Are you talking to yourself again?

missmad said:

mcmeekle said:

Are you talking to yourself again?

say what?

Wait till you have the money surplus to needs... credit isn't a good option in the present climate.

If folks are commenting on your photos you are doing pretty well with what you already have

I have a firm grip on reality...Maybe just not this reality

Opened my RedBubble account 1 year ago. 97 images, 39 people have added me to their watch list, with hundreds and hundreds of comments. Total views = 10,105!

Check me out. I'm not too bad, right?

http://www.redbubble.com/...nicholaspr

Total sales:

27 Nov 08 Memorial Flower 2.0 Greeting Card 1 £0.32

Well... I'll weigh in only because CC debt has made life nothing short of difficult for me...

I wouldn't do it until I tested the waters... if you took great pics with the camera you have now then frame them inexpensively, price them well and set up a table at the farmers market on a weekend. See how well they sell. What kind of response you get from those just walking by. Not only will you get an idea of who your market is but people will ask questions about your work and you can find out what people may be looking for...

good luck!

REGISTER FOR SECRET SANTA 2009!! Go here NOW ---> http://prince.org/msg/100/323760
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A working class hero is something to be...

Fauxie said:

Opened my RedBubble account 1 year ago. 97 images, 39 people have added me to their watch list, with hundreds and hundreds of comments. Total views = 10,105!

Check me out. I'm not too bad, right?

http://www.redbubble.com/...nicholaspr

Total sales:

27 Nov 08 Memorial Flower 2.0 Greeting Card 1 £0.32

KoolEaze said:

Fauxie said:

Opened my RedBubble account 1 year ago. 97 images, 39 people have added me to their watch list, with hundreds and hundreds of comments. Total views = 10,105!

Check me out. I'm not too bad, right?

http://www.redbubble.com/...nicholaspr

Total sales:

27 Nov 08 Memorial Flower 2.0 Greeting Card 1 £0.32

Wow Nick, I LOVE THOSE PICTURES !

You really have some talent. Are you a professional photographer or is this just a hobby ?

mcmeekle said:

missmad said:

say what?

Thanking pro, who hasn't posted on this thread.

Nevermind, my post isn't worthy of any scrutiny!

Steadwood said:

Wait till you have the money surplus to needs... credit isn't a good option in the present climate.

[b]If folks are commenting on your photos you are doing pretty well with what you already have :thumbsup:


[/b]

Fauxie said:

Opened my RedBubble account 1 year ago. 97 images, 39 people have added me to their watch list, with hundreds and hundreds of comments. Total views = 10,105!

Check me out. I'm not too bad, right?

http://www.redbubble.com/...nicholaspr

Total sales:

27 Nov 08 Memorial Flower 2.0 Greeting Card 1 £0.32

RenHoek said:

missmad said:

Buy it


[Edited 5/3/09 7:38am]

Wait 'till you can buy it outright. Think about how many extra photos you'd have to sell to pay the interest on the purchase.

ZombieKitten said:

missmad said:

Good advice thank you! Yes CC debt is making lives miserable!

I agree with Kev
I have a friend who sold a few on a stock photo site, but over the last 2 years he has made less than $100. For most stock sites you need a minimum model camera .

Mars23 said:

If we're talking stock sites, unless you really know what you're doing as far as very precisely targeted, useful stock images, you will never, ever get close to making back what you spend on an SLR.

A good site will reject your sunsets and flowers. It's all about interracial business handshakes, cocktails by the pool, and fruit splashing into super sharp water.

Missmad, please take my response with a grain of salt. Selling prints is hard. There are INCREDIBLY talented photographers that do not sell. With the advent of digital photography, it is incredibly diluted also. Please don't gauge your marketability by flickr fave tags. It is not a barometer of sales. Again, it may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Understand, I am NOT telling you to give up a dream of maybe doing this as something you love. I love photography and want the world to shoot and share, I do.

My advice? Buy the SLR to become a better photographer. That alone is worth the price of the body.

Please don't buy it and expect your print sales to pay for the price of it though.

Happy shooting!

I realise that sounded either really bitter or a bit pessimistic to say the least.

I just think it's important to be buying the camera anyway, for the love of taking pictures, and not specifically because of any expectations of selling your work. Stock sites are tough, but of course there are other ways to sell your photos, online and off, if stock sites aren't for you.

Stock sites bug me because my favourite of my pics (and I think my best) usually involve people, and unless they're of family or friends it's usually virtually impossible to get the model release you need to put it on a stock site. Try getting a Thai woman at the floating market to sign a piece of paper so you can sell pictures of her on the internet.

Sites like Redbubble I really enjoy though, but I don't make hardly any money from them. Just good feedback and more of a community vibe, a bit like Flickr I imagine.

JerseyKRS said:

Missmad, please take my response with a grain of salt. Selling prints is hard. There are INCREDIBLY talented photographers that do not sell. With the advent of digital photography, it is incredibly diluted also. Please don't gauge your marketability by flickr fave tags. It is not a barometer of sales. Again, it may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Understand, I am NOT telling you to give up a dream of maybe doing this as something you love. I love photography and want the world to shoot and share, I do.

My advice? Buy the SLR to become a better photographer. That alone is worth the price of the body.

Please don't buy it and expect your print sales to pay for the price of it though.

Happy shooting!

JerseyKRS said:

Missmad, please take my response with a grain of salt. Selling prints is hard. There are INCREDIBLY talented photographers that do not sell. With the advent of digital photography, it is incredibly diluted also. Please don't gauge your marketability by flickr fave tags. It is not a barometer of sales. Again, it may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Understand, I am NOT telling you to give up a dream of maybe doing this as something you love. I love photography and want the world to shoot and share, I do.

My advice? Buy the SLR to become a better photographer. That alone is worth the price of the body.

Please don't buy it and expect your print sales to pay for the price of it though.

Happy shooting!

Fauxie said:

If we're talking stock sites, unless you really know what you're doing as far as very precisely targeted, useful stock images, you will never, ever get close to making back what you spend on an SLR.

A good site will reject your sunsets and flowers. It's all about interracial business handshakes, cocktails by the pool, and fruit splashing into super sharp water.

Fauxie said:

I realise that sounded either really bitter or a bit pessimistic to say the least.

I just think it's important to be buying the camera anyway, for the love of taking pictures, and not specifically because of any expectations of selling your work. Stock sites are tough, but of course there are other ways to sell your photos, online and off, if stock sites aren't for you.

Stock sites bug me because my favourite of my pics (and I think my best) usually involve people, and unless they're of family or friends it's usually virtually impossible to get the model release you need to put it on a stock site. Try getting a Thai woman at the floating market to sign a piece of paper so you can sell pictures of her on the internet.

Sites like Redbubble I really enjoy though, but I don't make hardly any money from them. Just good feedback and more of a community vibe, a bit like Flickr I imagine.

Fauxie said:

JerseyKRS said:

Missmad, please take my response with a grain of salt. Selling prints is hard. There are INCREDIBLY talented photographers that do not sell. With the advent of digital photography, it is incredibly diluted also. Please don't gauge your marketability by flickr fave tags. It is not a barometer of sales. Again, it may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Understand, I am NOT telling you to give up a dream of maybe doing this as something you love. I love photography and want the world to shoot and share, I do.

My advice? Buy the SLR to become a better photographer. That alone is worth the price of the body.

Please don't buy it and expect your print sales to pay for the price of it though.

Happy shooting!

Uncanny!

missmad said:

Fauxie said:

I realise that sounded either really bitter or a bit pessimistic to say the least.

I just think it's important to be buying the camera anyway, for the love of taking pictures, and not specifically because of any expectations of selling your work. Stock sites are tough, but of course there are other ways to sell your photos, online and off, if stock sites aren't for you.

Stock sites bug me because my favourite of my pics (and I think my best) usually involve people, and unless they're of family or friends it's usually virtually impossible to get the model release you need to put it on a stock site. Try getting a Thai woman at the floating market to sign a piece of paper so you can sell pictures of her on the internet.

Sites like Redbubble I really enjoy though, but I don't make hardly any money from them. Just good feedback and more of a community vibe, a bit like Flickr I imagine.

oh no i want to buy one eventually but thought that id get the $ back not right away though, obviously not. Agreed, love of photos!

Oh wow LOL, did u succeed? Yea i signed up there but haven't put anything up yet, i think so as well as selling yea?

Fauxie said:

missmad said:

oh no i want to buy one eventually but thought that id get the $ back not right away though, obviously not. Agreed, love of photos!

Oh wow LOL, did u succeed? Yea i signed up there but haven't put anything up yet, i think so as well as selling yea?

Did I succeed? Hard to answer really. I only got a little Nikon D40x, but I think it led to me improving quite a bit, and then input from other photographers taught me some good stuff. It really helped me take my enthusiasm and focus it on enjoying photography even more and getting a kick out of getting better at it. As far as sales, I routinely sell on one stock site, but only make tiny amounts at a time, and on the main site I go on you saw my one solitary sale.

I must confess I got a little tired of it all a couple of months ago (after taking pictures every day for months), so decided to take a break. I've so many images on my computer that still need post-processing and I'm just too busy right now. I know I'll come back to it because I love photography. That's the main thing and an SLR can help you take that enjoyment and your photos to a whole new level. That and a good site with other enthusiastic, helpful, passionate photographers.

missmad said:

Fauxie said:

Did I succeed? Hard to answer really. I only got a little Nikon D40x, but I think it led to me improving quite a bit, and then input from other photographers taught me some good stuff. It really helped me take my enthusiasm and focus it on enjoying photography even more and getting a kick out of getting better at it. As far as sales, I routinely sell on one stock site, but only make tiny amounts at a time, and on the main site I go on you saw my one solitary sale.

I must confess I got a little tired of it all a couple of months ago (after taking pictures every day for months), so decided to take a break. I've so many images on my computer that still need post-processing and I'm just too busy right now. I know I'll come back to it because I love photography. That's the main thing and an SLR can help you take that enjoyment and your photos to a whole new level. That and a good site with other enthusiastic, helpful, passionate photographers.

thanks hun but i wasn't clear sorry i meant did u succeed with the lady in thailand?

but really appreciative that u took the time out to answer that question and type it all.

LOL- one print at a time hun.

Agreed I get sick of it after a while 2 but u come nack 2 it cause you love it-can't live withoout it another extension of ur personality/who u r.

Right lots of great sites out there, as long as peeps love what they do.