Photo by Wojciech Czekalski via iStock
How to make passive income with photography, an idea also known as passive incline photography, is an intriguing subject. What kinds of things can we do as a photographer to create passive income photography?
In this guide, we’ll explore several avenues you can take to make more money with less effort.
Table of Contents:
- Photography Income Ideas
- Income Streams for Photographers
- Passive Income Photography Ideas
- Passive Income Photography Caveats
- How to Leverage Passive Income Photography
- Recommended Photography Gear
Photography Income Ideas
Photo by galina ermoleava via iStock
There are two basic methods to make an income from photography: sell our pictures or sell our services. These two ideas are tied up with each other in fundamental ways. Our services as a photographer are sought out in order for us to make pictures for someone. And selling prints is an experience made possible by our photographic service.
A more targeted way to define these ideas is that some people will hire us to create photographs for them while others will buy photos we have already made. As examples to illustrate this, we may be hired by a Realtor for taking pictures of a property. Or we could be hired to document an event such as a wedding. That’s hiring our services.
We could sell physical prints at a gallery or from our own home studio, or a stock agency may have several digital files of our images that get licensed for use at a fee. That’s selling our photographs. Both ways can work great, and we can mix the two ideas together back and forth.
Income Streams for Photographers
Photo by focalmatter via iStock
An income stream can be active, such as booking a wedding, a portrait session, or a commercial photoshoot. An income stream can also be active as we’re taking our prints somewhere or putting them up to be purchased, in person or online.
An active income stream is one that involves our active participation, even if that action is merely taking an existing photo off of the wall we set up at an art fair and swiping a debit card. Some more passive streams for photography also exist.
Passive Income Photography Ideas
Photo by kate_sept2004 via iStock
Passive income photography ideas involve our setting up a system of some sort that can continue to work behind the scenes without a lot of active involvement of our time and effort. Some passive income photography ideas are more passive than others.
For instance, an idea for passive income photography that involves a little bit of active involvement for us is having photo books and specialty enlargement prints available on display and ready to go out the door of our studio, office, or home office/studio.
Photo Book Press is a source of high-quality photo books, and wall art that we can make of our fine art photography (or other styles) that is also very reasonably priced so we can actually realize a good profit margin for our offerings.
Lay flat photo books capture lots of interest as coffee table art books and they move quickly once clients and visitors find out they are for sale from you. A lower price per book might encourage repeat business and referrals, but the cost of making them is small enough to provide a healthy profit however you price them.
Acrylic prints as wall art are another passive income photography selling idea. You can make smaller square prints or enlargements up to 20x24 inches. Again, the pricing from Photo Book Press is fair, allowing for healthy profit margins for the photos. Since it’s wall art, you can probably price them up a bit more than you might be asking for the photo books.
A truly passive income photography arrangement is listing images with stock agencies. There are lots of good ones out there, each of which has its own guidelines for submissions. We have some excellent articles about income streams for photographers, such as stock agencies and some other photography income ideas you can choose to implement for your own business.
Passive Income Photography Caveats
Photo by mapodile via iStock
The most important consideration for passive income photography methods is that the photography has to be superb and memorable. You can’t expect a “good enough” image to generate much interest, appreciation, or sales numbers. Whatever the genre is that you shoot, don’t dilute your brand with anything for sale as passive income that isn't representative of your best work.
Also, we sometimes have to temper our expectations of how much profit we may make from our passive income photography. Sometimes if we price our photo art too high, we miss out on sales. Passive income can be steady and regular with a constant flow of books, wall art, or digital licenses, the art of pricing properly is part of our calculations for our photography business.
How to Leverage Passive Income Photography
Photo by Givaga via iStock
Part of the passive income photography equation is having multiple income streams for photographers. Passive income photography is a great addition to our photography business model.
Almost any style and genre of photography can benefit from passive income photography ideas. You can mix styles and genres.
A wedding photographer can sell fine art landscape enlargements, a real estate photographer can sell photo books of wildlife, a commercial advertising photographer can sell stock agency licenses of macro photography images of bugs and feathers.
What are your passive income photography ideas? We want to hear them!
Recommended Photography Gear
Learn More:
- What to Look for when Ordering a Photo Book
- Custom Artwork Ideas for Your Photography
- Layflat Photo Book Buyer’s Guide