Kent Art Photography wrote:
Do you want to do boudoir shots for guys?  I believe there is a market for it, although I have no idea how big or lucrative it is.

Do you want to sell art prints?  This is difficult to get into, and the market is quite small and specialized.

Do you want to sell adult interest material?  No chance, the Russians have undercut everyone.

Is there another way?

dude-doir?

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:

dude-doir?

Excellent!

Peter House wrote:
Boudoir is the path of least resistance IMO. I've noticed a huge demand for it. Sometimes a client just wants to feel sexy, sometimes they want to capture their youth in an elegant way, sometimes its a gift for a S/O, and sometimes its a celebration of their divorce from a S/O. There is a wide range of possibility across a large age group.

I have to say that you might need a strong stomach for some of the shots that some people want.

EROart London wrote:
....yeah... how?

I am new to this and atm I am calling myself a hobby photographer but would be nice to make money form it one day?

1. Be really REALLY amazing at self promotion and convince people that they should pay for you to photograph them nude or to buy your nude photographs.

2. Be adequate at taking nude photos.


It's far more important to be good at selling than shooting.

EROart London wrote:
....yeah... how?

I am new to this and atm I am calling myself a hobby photographer but would be nice to make money form it one day?

You don't.

There are three reasons people pay for photos. One is because of who shot it - in other words, art. So have a commercial career first, then it's realistic.

Next - sentimental - weddings/bar mitzvahs/senior portraits.

Last - marketing investment - to sell things - advertisements, book covers, album covers, brand buidling etc.

No generalization is 100% so it should be easy to shoot holes in this, but a business plan that doesn't follow this premise is playing the lottery.

Boudoir fall under sentimental, but really that genre is portrait with "sexy" or no wardrobe. You can find advertising/editorial photos that have nudity, but the genre is not "nude photography."


If you want people to give you money, you have to think about what makes them want to give you the money.

People buy Art for an investment or social status. Real art sales are dependent on the story of the artist as much or more than art itself.

Is anyone shopping for a chunk of a wall to hang on their wall? Of course not, but they would if it was a Banksy.

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:

dude-doir?

Hipsters in lingerie!

Kent Art Photography wrote:

I have to say that you might need a strong stomach for some of the shots that some people want.

Why?

Good Egg Productions wrote:

1. Be really REALLY amazing at self promotion and convince people that they should pay for you to photograph them nude or to buy your nude photographs.

2. Be adequate at taking nude photos.


It's far more important to be good at selling than shooting.

What you're saying is that when it comes to initial marketing, it's better to be good at marketing than something unrelated to marketing. I can't see why you'd even bother mentioning shooting in a subject of marketing.

Shot By Adam wrote:
I think this is a question that is better to be posted in a business forum than a photography forum.

is this because you feel most photographers are not well versed in business?

Mikey McMichaels wrote:

Why?

You might like to try searching on here for nude male models over 40.  There are more than you might think, and many of them are not a pretty sight.

Sometimes, something happens to a man in his 40's or 50's and he suddenly seems able to overlook his shortcomings and decide that he looks good naked, and, more importantly, that other people will think he looks good naked.  (And it is invariably nude shots that they want, nothing else will do).  I did one shoot years ago, but never again!

Good Egg Productions wrote:
It's far more important to be good at selling than shooting.

Exactly,
I realized long ago that first you have to know if you can sell (good at marketing, self promotion, persuasion, make contacts, etc). Otherwise it will be a waist of time looking for what sell.

Only then, if you can sell, you look for what can sell.

I my case, money runs way from me no matter what. I only get money when somebody sells my stuff for me.

L A U B E N H E I M E R wrote:

is this because you feel most photographers are not well versed in business?

It's because I KNOW most photographers are not well versed in business.

EROart London wrote:
....yeah... how?

I am new to this and atm I am calling myself a hobby photographer but would be nice to make money form it one day?

I think being a female model is probably the surest way.

Kent Art Photography wrote:

You might like to try searching on here for nude male models over 40.  There are more than you might think, and many of them are not a pretty sight.

Sometimes, something happens to a man in his 40's or 50's and he suddenly seems able to overlook his shortcomings and decide that he looks good naked, and, more importantly, that other people will think he looks good naked.  (And it is invariably nude shots that they want, nothing else will do).  I did one shoot years ago, but never again!

Yeah, I often half joke that the fact that I actually like older men gives me a pretty strong in to a business model. You can also make money by being a nude fitness photographer.

It really comes down to looking at who is throwing money into their looks and then offering them a way to immortalize how the look. Having the images bound into a nice quality book helps to create a total package for the client.

Marcio Faustino wrote:

Exactly,
I realized long ago that first you have to know if you can sell (good at marketing, self promotion, persuasion, make contacts, etc). Otherwise it will be a waist of time looking for what sell.

Only then, if you can sell, you look for what can sell.

I my case, money runs way from me no matter what. I only get money when somebody sells my stuff for me.

How is this different from any other business?

Mikey McMichaels wrote:
How is this different from any other business?

It is not different but exactly the same as every business. Business is business. They are all about self promotion / marketing (to be known and persuasion), competition, knowing and delivering what a public or a group expect towards one go that is money. This is what makes anything business.

Marcio Faustino wrote:
How is this different from any other business?

There is a huge difference, because people place different value on different things.  Most people are content with cell phone cams.  Why would you pay for something that you can do easily yourself.  The difference doesn't justify the cost in most people's mind.

Photography is a dying business imo.  Like fixing stuff.  Back in the 60, a guy could make a living fixing TVs, VCRs, etc.  Now?  Good luck.

Asking how a photographer can make money is like asking an actor the same question.  Most actors have day jobs.  That is how they survive.  99.5% of them don''t make it.  Same with photography.