Best Ways to Sell Landscape Photos

As a landscape photographer, you may often think about this question: What is the best way to sell my landscape photos?

Just shooting landscape photographs is not enough. If you want to become a professional photographer and turn your passion into profit you will also need to be able to sell them to generate income. Finding the means, however, can be quite challenging, especially if you’re just starting off.

There our many ways to make money with landscape photography, today more than ever.

In this article we will talk about the best ways to sell your landscape photos.

How to Make Money With Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres of photography. This also means that it has a lot of competition. Being organized and creative, however, can help you separate yourself from the rest, and catch the attention of the right people. Once you are on the radar for your landscape photography, you can make money from numerous platforms.

The most popular ways to make money with landscape photography are the following.

• Produce prints of your images that you can sell to customers
• Commissioned works from clients
• Selling as stock images on numerous platforms

Related: Landscape Photography Tips for Beginners

Best Ways to Sell Landscape Photos

1. Create an Online Portfolio

If you want to sell your landscape photos you need a portfolio first. It’s time to collect and organize your best images and create your own website. To start you don’t need hundreds of photos.

Just pick the very best work you have and organize it in some collections.

You can order your images by type, for example, mountain landscape photography, seascapes, abstract landscape photography, and so on. Or you can organize by locations, if you do travel a lot, it’s up to you. The most important thing is that you really only feature your best photos.

Quality over quantity is key in this phase.

2. Create an Online Store to Sell Your Landscape Photos

If you already have a well established online portfolio, you can integrate it with an online store as well. This way you cut out the middle-man and sell directly to your customers. This gives you flexibility in pricing, and there is no need to pay a high commission for every sale made.

There are some really good platforms out there that won’t cost you an arm and a leg to get started. Take a look at services like Squarespace or Smugmug that are made specifically for creators and photographers.

The main benefit of having your own online store is that potential customers can view your entire portfolio. More of your work will be seen by them, which greatly increases the chance of further sales!

3. Get Known (Market Yourself)

Freelance photography is hard. You have to treat it like a real business.

From capturing photographs, promoting yourself, sending invoices, and responding to customers, you must do everything by yourself especially in the beginning. Improving your marketing strategies is essential for more exposure. Regardless of how good your work and photography are, if people aren’t able to see it, then you cannot make any money off your skills.

Just knowing the basics of marketing and promotion can go a long way in helping you get some more recognition and exposure.

Understand how you can use social media to reach more people. Try Instagram as a channel to showcase your work and directly connect with people.

Create engaging content on social media platforms to build customer interest as well as loyalty.

4. Start a Blog

Starting a blog will help you bring traffic to your portfolio. Search engines like Google won’t rank your portfolio or online store just because it exists.

You can run some ads on Google, Facebook or Instagram, but if you really want traffic you need to create valuable content for your audience.

Learn about capture forms and ways to send updates and newsletters to interested readers.

If you are a gear expert, you can share content about choosing the best accessories for various types of photography and so on.

5. Sell Your Landscape Photos on Stock Images Websites

Stock images websites and stock photography is thought to devalue the work of photographers. Stock photos are usually priced very low, and a large chunk of the cost goes to the stock website itself rather than the photographer. Additionally, there is no obligation to credit the photographers of stock images, which again, doesn’t work in their favor.

It is, however, possible to get a good source of income from stock photos. As long as you follow the trends and put up relevant and high-quality photographs, you’re sure to make good money. They can act as an excellent source of passive income.

6. Sell Your Photos at Your Local Fair

You can even go to a local fair and hire a spot to promote your photographs.

It might be a little bit of an investment at first, and you won’t sell many photos in the beginning. But you can use it as a way to get known. Brand your booth, make sure your logo and most importantly your website is visible, and give away as many business cards as possible.

To attract potential customers, and as an excuse to talk to people, in the beginning, you can also print some postcards with the best landscape photos you have. You can give them for free as a gift to some selected visitors. As I said, it doesn’t matter if you don’t sell many prints at first, use this as an opportunity to build relationships.

7. Stay Up to Date With Photography Trends

Looking at successful landscape photographers for inspiration. Read blogs and books by some well-known figures in landscape photography. Try to understand why others rate these photographers so highly. What is that you like about their work?

When you do this exercise, you too will be able to get inspiration fro your own photography. You can then use this inspiration to set your own unique style and character to your photographs.

8. Keep Improving Your Landscape Photography

As you get better at capturing landscapes, you will get more attention from people across the world. A great picture will stand out in the eye of the viewer and is significantly easier to sell.

There are numerous guides, books, and articles that talk about how you can improve your landscape photography. Understand how you can adjust your camera settings to get the best out of it. With enough practice, you are sure to perfect the art of capturing landscapes! Over time, you will be able to purchase better gear and equipment as well, which will further improve the quality of your shots.

Related: Landscape Photography Tips for Beginners

Conclusion

Now that you are aware of the best ways to sell your landscape photos, give it a go! Soon you’ll see a steady source of income from your landscape photography.

I have a question for you now. Will you start with an online presence and create your own website? Or you’ll try to print some beautiful photos and hire a stand at a local fair? What’s your favorite way to market yourself and get known?

Let me know in the comments below. And if you find this post useful don’t forget to hit one of the share buttons below and let your friends know about it.