Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Tina, I'm already doing that! About half the photos I sell are stock, the other half prints for people who want art. Sold one to a publisher in Canada a couple weeks ago for a book cover. Made enough to live for a month off it. I agree on microstock, I can't believe people are so dumb to give away work for pennies, when you can still get hundreds or even thousands for a single image if the buyer wants it bad enough and its unique enough. If it were not for the internet, I'd literally have starved to death, and my son too. Like I said almost all young college educated men and women here are unemployed and basically unemployable because no one here wants people for anything requiring thinking skills. I've shot weddings, but was not good at it. I do not have the social skills for it. I am very socially awkward and do not do well around large gatherings of people, but for outgoing normal people it is easier to make a living doing that here in Indiana than doing photojournalism or commercial work, since a lot of people here do hire wedding photographers when they marry. I'm happy doing my artistic work, and as long as I make enough to live and spend some money on my son for things he wants, I am good. The cost of living is very low here so I don't need to make $100,000 a year. People I know outside Indiana are always shocked when I tell them that you can rent a NICE two bedroom apartment for $500 a month here! LOL My son is happy too. His mom made a lot more than I do before she was hospitalized, and she spent a lot of money on him, but he didn't care about possessions. She was crazy and made his life miserable, and he's so much more happy and outgoing and joyful now. When he came to live with me, he was really quiet and withdrawn. It sucked, and I tried for years to get custody of him. Here, a man never, ever gets custody of his kids unless the mother goes to jail or gets put in the loony bin, no matter how bad she is. She lived with 15 cats who peed on everything my son had and the court still didn't give a damn. They finally had no choice but to give me custody cause she was locked up! The system is really disgusting. I could rant about this for hours.... You know what's funny? My grandpa's evil old cat, Molly, tried to warn me about my ex when I first met her. We went to my grandparents house soon after we began dating, and the cat instantly hated her! Attacked her 3 times while we were there, and everytime we visited after, the cat would stare at her and hiss. We say the cat was evil because she used to kill rattlesnakes and bring the heads to grandpa, and she tore up the neighbor's pit bull in an unprovoked attack on the dog (it was locked in a fenced yard, she went in and attacked its face!). Shoulda listened to her, but then I wouldn't have my son, and he's the best thing in my life. -- Chris Crawford Fine Art Photography Fort Wayne, Indiana 260-424-0897 http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work! On 8/26/10 10:11 PM, "Tina Manley" <images at comporium.net> wrote: > Chris - I'm so sorry for your situation. I know you are doing the best > you > can for your son. Making money with the M9, however, has nothing to do > with > where you live. I live in York, South Carolina!! Think Stock and Internet. > You can do it, easily. You don't need my seminar, just buy the book "Sell > and Resell Your Photos" by Rohn Engh. Or even borrow it from the library. > He will tell you everything you need to know about beginning to sell stock > photos. Today, you can live in Timbuktu and still sell photos as long as > you have an internet connection. You can pay for an M9 in less than a > year. > The more you sell, the more you will know about what sells. You can do > this on the side, apart from your art work. Wedding and portrait are not > the easiest by any stretch of the imagination. Just stay away from > microstock or royalty free stock! > > Good luck! > > Tina > > because the demand for it is universal. Anyway, I am supporting myself and > a >> teenage son entirely from sales of my work off my website. I am proud of >> that and I know there are VERY few photographers who could do that. >> >> Maybe I'll buy a used M9 when I move back to Santa Fe in 5 yrs! In the >> meantime, I have two M6 bodies and several lenses that I pieced together >> here and there when I had some extra sales, and I am enjoying them >> greatly. >> I actually gave my digital SLR, a Nikon D70, to my son because I never >> used >> it. He's having a blast with it. >> >> >> -- >> Chris Crawford >> Fine Art Photography >> Fort Wayne, Indiana >> 260-424-0897 >> >> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio >> >> http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work! >> >> >> >> >> On 8/26/10 9:24 PM, "Tina Manley" <images at comporium.net> wrote: >> >>> I'm giving a seminar for Leica on Cape Cod in October about how to pay >> for >>> your M9 with your M9. I've certainly paid for mine several times over. >> You >>> might want to sign up ;-) >>> >>> http://www.pksqcamera.com/seminar/seminardetails.htm >>> >>> <http://www.pksqcamera.com/seminar/seminardetails.htm>Tina >>> >>> PS: It won't be with Fine Art, though! >>> >>> I'm a fulltime graduate student. I can't afford an M9 even with a >> discount, >>>> and I couldn't have when I was working on my BFA years ago either. I >> don't >>>> know any students who could where I study (Indiana University at Fort >>>> Wayne). Anyone that wealthy doesn't go to a state university. >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Chris Crawford >>>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >