ADDING VALUE TO MY WORK – TAKING MY PHOTOGRAPHY ONTO THE HIGH SEAS

I’m often asked by photographers who are travelling how they can make money from their photographs.

As you might guess, it’s a competitive arena and financial success can be elusive. Personally, I think being a good photographer is just one of the elements you need to be successful in this game – you also need to be competant in business, innovative in marketing, passionate about the work you do and, well, just lucky.
Like most of my ilk, I’m constantly on the look-out for new opportunities to add value to my photographs which is the main reason I’m on this cruise to Papua New Guinea at the moment. Having produced a substantial library of photographs on Papua New Guinea over the years, I approached P&O cruises in between assignments to produce a souvenir book they could sell on their ships to generate revenue and promote their cruises. Over the 10 day cruise, I’ll capture a range of appealing images of their ship in location and drop them into a customised version of a popular book on PNG I am about to re-print. It’s a win/win outcome for everyone involved. P&O, will have a high quality souvenir publication featuring their cruise which they can sell to guests (which they don’t have at the moment). Papua New Guinea will have an appealing publication of their destination being circulated widely to encourage others to visit and I will have a new distributor and a captive – hopefully enthusiastic – audience of about 2,000 passengers per cruise to sell my books to.
The underlying message: Everyone wins  which, for those looking to make money from their photography, continues to be a large part of whatever success I enjoy as a photographer.