Photography After Retirement (Page 4): I've been "retired" for about 20 years (Good God! Can that be true?) Been a photographer for about 60 years, not a "pro" but a good shooter. I've...

coyotecall Loc: New Mexico

julesannb wrote:

I am wondering, is anyone who is retired or of retirement age, making money by just selling prints, greeting cards or other type of image sales, (locally or online) in order to supplement your income, whatever that might be. That is where my interests lies. No weddings, events or clients. I don’t want to deal with those kind of hassles in my retirement. I just want to make some extra cash doing what I love.

I've been "retired" for about 20 years (Good God! Can that be true?) Been a photographer for about 60 years, not a "pro" but a good shooter. I've sold framed prints, given many away, won a show or two and now have a set of 74 cards that I market locally (a small store in New Mexico). I'd not call it supplemental income by any stretch. I make enough to make more cards is about the story. I like it that they sell, people like 'em. I'm a straight-shooter i.e. not much Photoshop "magic".....landscapes, flowers, a few birds, a coyote here and there. So, making money at it? Not really. Just enjoying the product of my (still) good eye.

lee1956

My “encore” job is real estate photography. I try not to work too hard. The little extra income is nice. Pays for gear and vacations. Of course, you need thick skin when working for some realtors.

Sentinel4

I am retired as well. I have not attempted to sell on line. I think you may be able to sell note cards if you are willing to market to gift shops.
I am trying to set up a portrait shoot in a large retirement community where I live. If you do portraits you may want to investigate that possibly.

Sentinel4

julesannb

Sentinel4 wrote:

I am retired as well. I have not attempted to sell on line. I think you may be able to sell note cards if you are willing to market to gift shops.
I am trying to set up a portrait shoot in a large retirement community where I live. If you do portraits you may want to investigate that possibly.

Sentinel4

I actually live in a retirement community and thought of that. Let me know how it goes for you if you like.
Good luck.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

The quality of your business and marketing skills are more important than your photography in this endeavor.

fstoprookie Loc: Central Valley of California

I'm 74 and I love shooting High School Sports (Football, Basketball, Softball, Baseball, and Volleyball. I do some Senior Pictures - I sell the sports pictures to parents, Grandparents, and contribute free of charge too the annual Yearbook of the school. It's fun and keeps me out of my wife's hair (so to speak)

julesannb

fstoprookie wrote:

I'm 74 and I love shooting High School Sports (Football, Basketball, Softball, Baseball, and Volleyball. I do some Senior Pictures - I sell the sports pictures to parents, Grandparents, and contribute free of charge too the annual Yearbook of the school. It's fun and keeps me out of my wife's hair (so to speak)

Thanks for the ideas. Sounds like a lot of fun.

FunkyL Loc: MD

julesannb wrote:

I am wondering, is anyone who is retired or of retirement age, making money by just selling prints, greeting cards or other type of image sales, (locally or online) in order to supplement your income, whatever that might be. That is where my interests lies. No weddings, events or clients. I don’t want to deal with those kind of hassles in my retirement. I just want to make some extra cash doing what I love.

Thanks, julesannb & hedgehogs, for the question & answers. Hubby asked "are you going to be able to walk away from that job and retire?" I said " I'm not attached to the job, but I need something to do" He said "do more with your photography" I realize the difficulty of turning it into supplemental income, tho I wish the OP success, but there's lots of ideas here for me to explore.

julesannb

FunkyL wrote:

Thanks, julesannb & hedgehogs, for the question & answers. Hubby asked "are you going to be able to walk away from that job and retire?" I said " I'm not attached to the job, but I need something to do" He said "do more with your photography" I realize the difficulty of turning it into supplemental income, tho I wish the OP success, but there's lots of ideas here for me to explore.

Wishing you success and a happy retirement.

Sentinel4

Thanks. I will let you know.

If you live in a climate that has tough shooting conditions you might want to consider learning more about encaustic art- coating photos with hot wax during the winter months. I make a lot of abstract images which might work well and am investigating this medium.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Sentinel4

julesannb

Sentinel4 wrote:

Thanks. I will let you know.

If you live in a climate that has tough shooting conditions you might want to consider learning more about encaustic art- coating photos with hot wax during the winter months. I make a lot of abstract images which might work well and am investigating this medium.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Sentinel4

Wow, let me know how it works out for you.
Merry Christmas to you too.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

julesannb wrote:

I am wondering, is anyone who is retired or of retirement age, making money by just selling prints, greeting cards or other type of image sales, (locally or online) in order to supplement your income, whatever that might be. That is where my interests lies. No weddings, events or clients. I don’t want to deal with those kind of hassles in my retirement. I just want to make some extra cash doing what I love.

There are a number of Web sites that display your images and offer them for sale. Two popular ones are fineartamerica.com and 500px.com. I'm sure there must be many others. If your images have wide appeal, this can be a good way to sell them.

julesannb

aellman wrote:

There are a number of Web sites that display your images and offer them for sale. Two popular ones are fineartamerica.com and 500px.com. I'm sure there must be many others. If your images have wide appeal, this can be a good way to sell them.

Thank you for these suggestions. Those are two I will look at.