How to Make Money with Photography this Summer

Team up with a local makeup and hair artist and offer an evening of pampering and beautiful portraits for busy moms. This will give them a chance to get to know other moms, have a blast while getting glammed up, and get some gorgeous photos of themselves, whether they choose more traditional headshots or glamour shots. You could even partner with a local makeup brand and have them sell their products at the session. Working with other vendors in your area makes you more visible and can help you double your clientele! Imagine - if you set a date, worked out the details and partnered with vendors, you’re ALL going to be promoting the event - which means MORE BUSINESS! If you really want to go all out, you could have someone qualified to be on childcare duty in the case of single moms or moms who want to participate but do not have childcare. Work with the vendors to come up with a fair price point, and you will be offering an incredible experience, mingling with your community, building business relationships and making money!

2) Know your community’s Summer events

Sign up for newsletters, scour the library bulletin boards, and talk to people in your community to find events that would benefit from your photography skills. Theatre, sports, cultural events - these are all great opportunities for work. So make a list of events and contact the organizers to see if you can be of service!

3) Mommy and Me sessions for Mother’s Day/Daddy and Me sessions for Father’s Day

Mini sessions are perfect for this type of holiday. The best and most timeless gifts for moms and dads is photos with their little angels, so pick your date and location, select props (another great opportunity to partner with local vendors) and get promoting! You could have matching bowties and hats for dads and boys, and mardi-gras beads, tiaras, or boas for moms and girls. You could also incorporate flowers and other props, and an outdoor location such as a park would be a beautiful setting.

4) Offer grad and prom portraits

This could be done in a similar fashion the the mom’s night out, but marketed towards students looking for beautiful grad or prom portraits. Again, you could offer a hair and makeup option if you partner with a local artist/stylist. This is a great idea because professional portraits are definitely the way to go - a phone snapshot or even a family member shooting with a good camera never has the same timeless results as when these photos are done with a pro. Market these sessions accordingly, using copy that reflects on why a pro portrait can’t be beat and will be treasured forever. Be sure to find out the dates of prom and grad at your local high schools and plan accordingly!

5) Teach photography

This one takes a lot of time, planning and research but it’s incredibly rewarding and can really step up your income. You will need to figure out exactly what and who you want to teach - adults? Children? Beginner photography? Or maybe you want to pick a specific aspect of photography that you have particular expertise in, like portrait or product photography. You could focus on one thing for the entirety of the lessons or you could have a new theme each week, for example; aperture one week, manual shooting the next. Or perhaps you want to teach a class about how to jump-start a photography business, just like you’ve done? The sky’s the limit once you figure out who and what you want to teach. Then you’ll need to find a space, create lesson plans, gauge pricing, etc. Draw on your own experience, talk to other teachers, and do as much research as you can to make sure you’re offering the best classes out there. Like we said, it’ll be a lot of work but the payoff will be worth it, we promise!

Which one of these will YOU try this Summer? Maybe you’ll engage in all of them and rake in the cash this Summer! Be sure to let us know what works for you, and have a safe and productive Summer!