# How to go about selling bird pictures?



## Starskream666 (Dec 27, 2014)

Any ideas how to make money from selling bird pictures etc? I love doing it and need some income. A woman in a shop that sold pictures once told me people won't buy my picture of a seagull because birds are thought as 'bad luck' :/

Anyway happy with these i took. I cropped the 3rd one so many times in different angles aha not sure i like the one i chose to upload


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## pjaye (Dec 27, 2014)

Your pictures are nice, but you have exposure and focus issues. I'm not sure they are of a high enough quality that people would pay for them.  If you look at some of the posts on here from people who do make money off bird pictures, (like msnowy..I have 4 of his on my wall that I bought) you will see the quality difference. 

As for selling them, I'm not much help although around my area, people tend to sell them attAched to cards.


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## Starskream666 (Dec 27, 2014)

Ok thanks could you elaborate on the focusing issues? I can understand the one that is blurry due to it being about to fly though ive seen blurry images in shops before to be honest. Unless you mean the 2nd that is slightly out of focus, whereas the branch is sharper? I took another one from that angle with the bird in full focus. I was using the 50mm 1.8 bare in mind which is known for its bad focusing


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## SCraig (Dec 27, 2014)

Word of advice:  When you have to explain why a photograph isn't in focus or isn't cropped properly or isn't composed properly or isn't this or isn't that, then it probably isn't something that people are going to pay for.  For someone to purchase a photograph it has to have value over and above all the others around it.  In short:  It has to be better.


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## gsgary (Dec 27, 2014)

The last shot above is totally killed by the blurred branches in the foreground,  you have a long long way to go if you think these are sellable


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## Didereaux (Dec 27, 2014)

Starskream666 said:


> Ok thanks could you elaborate on the focusing issues? I can understand the one that is blurry due to it being about to fly though ive seen blurry images in shops before to be honest. Unless you mean the 2nd that is slightly out of focus, whereas the branch is sharper? I took another one from that angle with the bird in full focus. I was using the 50mm 1.8 bare in mind which is known for its bad focusing



That lens will not get you many 'salable' bird shots.  Not a terrible lens but you are going to have to 300-500mm at least to get bird portraits.  You have a people portrait set up, not a wildlife one.   

Go here to the Birds & Critter album.  In 409 shots there are less than 20 that might be salable (I wish they were salable).  
Picasa Web Albums - monte
Compare your stuff to those pictures.  And THEN go to a professionals site and look at their galleries.  I really hate to discourage you but you are neither equipped nor ready for this type of shooting.    Find some subjects locally and take unique shots of those.  Often times  people can sell such pictures in card form.


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## Starskream666 (Dec 27, 2014)

Okay gsgary that wasn't contributing to my question, it just sounded like your ego was trying to put me down and sounded rather belittling...

Thanks for the advice from the others, as I say though i've seen alot worse being sold which is why I asked the question in the first place

*EDIT* Yeah Didere, the Robins were really not bothered by  me being close so I managed to get quite close with the 50, im not sure how a telephoto would of benefited in this scenario i was in today but agree obviously its not a wildlife lens.
Also which one would you say was saleable?


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## Light Guru (Dec 27, 2014)

Starskream666 said:


> Okay gsgary that wasn't contributing to my question, it just sounded like your ego was trying to put me down and sounded rather belittling...
> 
> Thanks for the advice from the others, as I say though i've seen alot worse being sold which is why I asked the question in the first place



Actually it is contributing to the question. The first step to selling photos is having photos good enough to sell. 

You say you've seen worse photos for sale, but to you actually see those photos selling? Having a photo for sale and having photos that sell are two different things.


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## Starskream666 (Dec 27, 2014)

Didereaux said:


> Starskream666 said:
> 
> 
> > Ok thanks could you elaborate on the focusing issues? I can
> ...



I honestly don't see any that are as interesting or miles better other than the one Hummingbird picture, taking away the subjects are more extravagant.
But if you could select which you could give an example of a saleable one then it would help


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## Didereaux (Dec 27, 2014)

Starskream666 said:


> Okay gsgary that wasn't contributing to my question, it just sounded like your ego was trying to put me down and sounded rather belittling...
> 
> Thanks for the advice from the others, as I say though i've seen alot worse being sold which is why I asked the question in the first place
> 
> ...



None of ones you posted are salable.  As for your question concerning a telephoto I will give an example:  the shot below was sone at less than 10 feet with a 400mm lens.
Here is a salable shot.


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## Starskream666 (Dec 27, 2014)

I know I meant show me the ones of yours that are salable and the one you've shown is also the one i thought. But only that


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## Didereaux (Dec 27, 2014)

Starskream666 said:


> I know I meant show me the ones of yours that are salable and the one you've shown is also the one i thought. But only that


lol  If that was the only one in those 409 you picked as salable then how in the world do you think you can sell something like the ones you posted?


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## Nevermore1 (Dec 27, 2014)

I'm no pro but I think you need to get an appropriate lens and get out and practice more before you think about selling.  I'm on my cell phone and the shots look slightly blurred.  In the first one the bird stands out pretty well but the blurred branches in the foreground are very distracting.  The second and third ine you have to look for the bird amongst all the branches and dead leaves.  There's definitely some potential but at this point I can say that I personally would not pay for photos of this quality.


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## matthewo (Dec 27, 2014)

its tough to sell bird photos.  I cannot say I have put a lot of time into marketing prints, but I do have accounts at the 4 top stock photography sites, it sure takes a long time to get your portfolio big enough to make any decent money,  i make maybe $10 a month on one site with my 100 photos,  once, you get a good big diverse portfolio of all subject maters then they can make some ok extra money, but you will end up spending the time of a full time job on doing it to make anything decent.

the best bet would be to probably try to sell prints and work at getting full frame shots in good light at low iso so the print quality will be good,  spent a lot of time getting the shot you want and edit it well for best print quality.


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## gsgary (Dec 27, 2014)

Starskream666 said:


> Okay gsgary that wasn't contributing to my question, it just sounded like your ego was trying to put me down and sounded rather belittling...
> 
> Thanks for the advice from the others, as I say though i've seen alot worse being sold which is why I asked the question in the first place
> 
> ...


I'm telling you how it is Robins will not sell Kinfishers coming out of the water with a fish in their beak will, I'll find a member at our clubs flickr, sorry but there are not many on here man enough to tell you the truth


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## gsgary (Dec 27, 2014)

One of my friends at our club Flickr: d1ngy_skipper's Photostream


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## KmH (Dec 27, 2014)

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” - Robert Capa.
Your photos have to be _lots_ better than the average bird photos out there.

Then you need to market your work so people know you have images they can buy.


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## tirediron (Dec 27, 2014)

gsgary said:


> One of my friends at our club Flickr: d1ngy_skipper's Photostream


Those are EXCELLENT images Gary, and sadly, I'll bet that not many of them would sell either.  Why?  Because the market is so saturated with wildlife images, that there's no more room, unless you are truly exceptional.  Good wildlife photography, especially birds is probably the most expensive genres in photography, other than perhaps high-end fashion.  The one serious bird photographer I know has more money invested in one body and two lenses than I have in my whole kit.


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## gsgary (Dec 27, 2014)

tirediron said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > One of my friends at our club Flickr: d1ngy_skipper's Photostream
> ...


He does sell quite a few but I wouldn't think enough to pay for his new 600F4 lens


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## Starskream666 (Dec 27, 2014)

Didereaux said:


> Starskream666 said:
> 
> 
> > I know I meant show me the ones of yours that are salable and the one you've shown is also the one i thought. But only that
> ...



Why did you take that so personal but expected me to not take what you said personal haha no need to attack the images. A lot of yours looked grainy and a lot of them had birds blurry so i couldn't see their details etc. I just like to do and see different things, like the pictures i took, in my head the idea and how i made them turn out with the colours etc worked in my head. Obviously not to others taste here and I appreciate that people don't think they will sell, and on further looking i dont think they would sell to the traditional buyer either. 
If you want more traditional then I took these a while ago... Unfortunately the only birds I have around here are seagulls and this 1 Heron, and the Robins.


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## Didereaux (Dec 27, 2014)

Starskream666 said:


> Didereaux said:
> 
> 
> > Starskream666 said:
> ...




You have been given a lot of very good advice, and honest critique from everyone...you choose to ignore it.


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## The_Traveler (Dec 27, 2014)

OP,

You may not want to hear this, and I have no dog in this fight because I don't shoot birds, but nothing I've seen that you've displayed is of quality, interest or singularity that would make me think it is salable.

These are  example shots,   done by a friend of mine, he has hundreds; you may not like the highly edited style but he doesn't expect to sell these - there is just too much really top quality work out there.

Stephen Talabac - Central Maryland Photographers' Guild
Stephen Talabac - Central Maryland Photographers' Guild
Stephen Talabac - Central Maryland Photographers' Guild
Stephen Talabac - Central Maryland Photographers' Guild
Stephen Talabac - Central Maryland Photographers' Guild


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## Overread (Dec 27, 2014)

PEOPLE Behave and lets leave slinging mud at the door shall we.

There is NO rule that anyone must accept what is told to them on the site. Each person is left to their own choice as to who they do and don't listen to. If someone isn't listening to you chances are you're saying it wrong. Try saying it again a different way or walk on - no need to get offended.


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## tirediron (Dec 27, 2014)

Okay folks, let's tone it down.  WAY down!  A number of us have repeated more-or-less the same advice to the OP; there's no need to keep beating that particular horse.  Any further comments of a rude, or insulting nature will earn the poster a Christmas vacation from TPF.


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## Overread (Dec 27, 2014)

Making money is hard, very hard. 
I won't beat on that horse, its old and rather over-repeated. 




My advice is to read the critique link in my signature and then head down into the wildlife gallery. Post up a couple of shots or just one into a thread and go through the critique process. You've got a good start, but you've got a ways to go yet before you're ready. 
It's always hard to judge that at times; we see a huge increase in our own skill early on. Quick gains and quick easy achievements in easy to see steps. Things slow down some once your at the intermediate levels and the differences get more subtle (and we all get a degree of increased confidence too which messes things up sometimes with learning more). 

It's all perfectly normal and natural, but you've got to fight through it. You've got to keep getting feedback and you've got to set your sights high. You've got to look at hte works of a respected wildlife photographer (or portrait or studio or landscape etc...) and say to yourself that if they got there YOU can too. You just need some more practice - some more ideas and some help along the way. 




Explaining the problems behind your shots of fine; in fact its a GOOD thing from a learning perspective. Because each time you do it you're listing out problems. Stage two is to start to address those problems - especially when you see yourself repeating them over and over. Sometimes you won't be able to avoid repeating them over and over-  it might be the wrong situation or it might be that the answer is harder to find (or harder to put into practice even if it sounds really simple).


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## Starskream666 (Dec 28, 2014)

Cheers 
I've been on this site 3 years and been posting photos since i joined so I am used to getting criticism. I just felt SOME were talking to me asif I posted images that hurt their eyes while theres were professional quality which they weren't. Some of them were great examples.

I consider myself a portrait photogger anyway so not sure if ill invest in a telephoto lens just now but ill continue to try hard


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## robbins.photo (Dec 28, 2014)

Ok, well a lot of folks answered already but I'll give it a go, step by step

Step One - take picture of bird
Step Two - sell picture of bird
Step Three - repeat

Lol.

As other's have mentioned, it's not an easy market by any means.  But I will wish you luck.


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## bulldurham (Jan 1, 2015)

I sell most of my birding shots in notecard sets. Cheesy perhaps but there's a decent income and the cost output is negligible. I have several sets that have sold steadily for the last three years but to a tourist market, not a gallery. It took some legwork to get them in the shops, but once established, it's some pennies to drop in the piggy for a new lens now and again. The few large item shots I've sold, went to local homes, friends, mostly.

Try to keep in the back of your mind that digital photography has made "everyone" a "professional," good, bad or indifferent. There are a ton of folks just like you who are trying to beat the same market. Even the really, really good birders have problems selling their work. Good luck.


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## Trever1t (Jan 1, 2015)

What, you have a camera and think you can just take and sell pictures? Good luck to you! Your images aren't worthy of sale. Even if you were one of the better wildlife photographers it's not easy to sell and you are years away from that. 

My advice, enjoy your hobby!


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## astroNikon (Jan 1, 2015)

All great advice.

I think the major thing is getting your photos in the stores where they can possibly be bought.  But you have to be better than someone else's.  

Your last 3 photos are worlds better than your first 3.  In your first 3 all I see are branches.  In your last 3 the birds are the subjects, thought the first has a bad background (some manufacturing building).

So when taking pictures of birds you have to isolate the subject.  make sure the background is really OOF or more pleasing, and getting some nice great action is great too.

I'm not a real birder but I've been going to the local nature reserve and getting about 10-30 feet away from hummingbirds and woodpeckers, using a 300mm/4 or 80-200/2.8 lens to do just that !!  Then optimize your shutter speed for the look that you want (slightly blurry wings or not, etc), making sure the lighting is good (time of day, cloudy, etc)  and them improve, improve, improve.

The most important factor as stated above is to not let your ego get in the way.  The "improve, improve, improve" part is being critical of your own work.  Look at your work from the perspective of someone else.
Just compare your first 3 photos to your last 3.

my 0.02 cents ...


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## CmazzJK (Jan 1, 2015)

Starskream666 said:


> Any ideas how to make money from selling bird pictures etc? I love doing it and need some income. A woman in a shop that sold pictures once told me people won't buy my picture of a seagull because birds are thought as 'bad luck' :/
> 
> Anyway happy with these i took. I cropped the 3rd one so many times in different angles aha not sure i like the one i chose to upload
> 
> View attachment 91892 View attachment 91893 View attachment 91894



I think the most important thing you can ask yourself is would you pay someone else for the images you plan on selling?  If the answer is no/maybe, then you are probably not going to be successful.  That being said, the only person that can make you successful is yourself.  If you really want to do this then do it and don't rely on people you don't know to tell you otherwise.  That being said...  Don't discount others opinions, be humble, and accept you don't know everything.  Good luck.


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## Overread (Jan 1, 2015)

CmazzJK said:


> I think the most important thing you can ask yourself is would you pay someone else for the images you plan on selling?



I'd certainly buy some of my shots that I know no one else would 

I'd say ask yourself if you could see National Geographic printing them (make sure you're actually reading a couple of them before asking this question). And if you can't answer yes then maybe you're not ready (yet)


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## CmazzJK (Jan 1, 2015)

Overread said:


> CmazzJK said:
> 
> 
> > I think the most important thing you can ask yourself is would you pay someone else for the images you plan on selling?
> ...



Lol, that was the best piece of insight I have ever received regarding work ethic.  I believe it applies to every trade.  Would you be willing to pay someone else you're salary to do work the way you do it.  If the answer is no uou need to reevaluate yourself


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## PropilotBW (Jan 1, 2015)

The birds have to take up most of the frame.


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