I Smugmug worthwhile

I was idly trawling photo sites this morning and was wondering if anybody has ever made any money using either this photo sharing site or any other.

I haven't made any money (yet), but one of my pics on Flickr was chosen by a website, before I fully understood their policy on creative commons. The pic is in my portfolio here.

I was wondering if it was a worthwhile investment or if my images would just become part of the digital noise that is the internet lost in a sea of flickr, 500pix and so on.... or if I would do better getting my own images printed and touting them round the local shops.

Possibly a combination of both is a good idea, or try selling your photos to one of those stock image companies.

Thanks Steven, I have been in touch with the local town development group since I started this post and have received some positive initial murmurings, I will have to see where it goes.

I'm sure there's plenty of Galleries up and down the Northumbrian coast Graham, try approaching a few of those, especially the ones in the tourist hotspots.

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My Names Alan, and I'm a lensaholic.
My PPG link
My Flckr link

That is probably part of the problem , far too many gallerys offering sunsets with creamed out water looking towards Bamburgh castle, I need to develop a more original style to stand out from the noise. Still "shy bairns get nowt"!

I've made $10 from a collection of 12 images over a span of 2 years on Dreamstime.co.uk
So no, not much money, but mind you I've put no effort in producing stock images, just went through my collections, put some up and forgot about it.

Which reminds me I'll have to rummage through it again and put some more up.
You can make some money out of stock photography, but you have to put the effort into it and on photography you might not even enjoy. Only a few have it as a major source of income.

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TWAPSI Blog

I am looking at getting a photoshelter account. Photoshelter allows digital downloads which means no need for me to submit to agency. I can then link to the download from my flickr stream. Flickr is usually google SEO'd within an hour of uplaoding so hopefully photoeditors can find my work & buy it for web or print use

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PPG Wedding photography Flickr
Concert photography

Currently on a Pentax hiatus until an FF Pentax is released

Photoshelter looks interesting but 359.00 dollars for standard account it is very steep for my budget.

Define "worthwhile". Plus, how are your planning to make money?

Are you just posting photos hoping someone will notice and want to pay you?
Flickr might do that for you if you're a very socially connected type of person and like to join groups and so on...

SmugMug is good. For the money it offers a lot.

Many of the photos I post there are for customers that have actively sought out my photography work (portraits, events, etc...). So when I put up a photo it is with the expectation that some of them will bring in money.

Some are just artistic or for fun, but many are for customers to review and request prints.
I only do this part time, so it mainly helps pay for the Pro-level of Smug Mug and some equipment.

I do not know what SmugMug has to offer with regards to photos being randomly "noticed" and purchased.
Thy do offer the option to have your work searchable, and to allow ranking and comments, so I know there must be some aspect in that regard.

Naturally, my business cards and event posters/handouts direct people to that site so I do get 'random' traffic... but I have never had anyone 'notice' my work out of the blue on SmugMug if they were not somehow guided my direction.

Thanks for the comments, they are quite considered and helpful.

I have recently had some local interest for photos on a small scale, most of which have been the "memories of holiday" type rather than stunning high art ( I have a long way to go ). So my natural thought process was to see if a wider audience could be developed via the internet using social media and a website, although to be honest I expect not, but it may be worthwhile as a short term experiment.

Graham