12 Photography Business Ideas to Make Quick Bucks

Published by Color Experts International August 12, 2023

12 Killer Photography Business Ideas

Tons of photography business ideas are there but not all of them are profitable. Apparently, some of them are lucrative but in reality, they are non-profitable.

This round-up, however, has brought together 12 enticing and profitable photography business ideas that will keep money flowing. Let’s check them out…

Consider Ecommerce/Product Photography

Product photography has always been a lucrative business for photographers. Especially, ecommerce website vendors have a continual need for product photos. So, you can approach them with a strong portfolio to offer your services.

Apart from that, kick off in the brick and mortar stores in your local area to offer product photography services to post online.

On top of that, some customers also seek product photos like cups, plates, t-shirts, pants, bags etc. With the right equipment and more experience, you can offer this service. Bear in mind, the opportunities for product photography are many; you just need to grab the opportunity.

Not only product photography, but your target customers can also even be artists who want photos of their work for selling online. Besides, antique dealers and eBay sellers require custom photography on a regular basis.

Starting Costs: Initial startup cost is low, under $50 if you have camera and accessories. Go for low-cost business cards and also make a simple DIY website to keep cost low.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Stock Photography can also be a Cool Choice

This concept of this business encompasses selling your photos through popular online stock photo sites like Shutterstock and Getty Images. To put it simply, stock photography is when you sell your photographs to a marketplace or platform.

All types of photos are required for stock photography sites, including, website content, blogs, social media, brochures, books, etc. To generate high sales, you can experiment with different photo subjects and elements, right from buildings, to people, to nature.

This will give you an idea of which ones sell better and from that, you can adjust your photography strategy and maximize profit.

Shooting stock photography is primarily meant for magazine publishers, newspaper publishers, website designers, graphic designers, and bloggers who require image publishing. Once you submit your photos to paid stock photography sites with all the details, the stated professionals will buy them as they need.

Starting Costs: You don’t have to pay any hefty amount at the start, under $0-$25 if you have camera and accessories. Choose low-cost business cards and also get a simple DIY website designed to keep cost low.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –Yes

Opt for Portrait Photography

The demand for portrait photography is paramount, especially, in family events, engagement, pregnancy announcements, and also for new babies. Take these programs as an opportunity and offer your portrait photography services.

Of course, this business comes into question if you enjoy photographing people and taking portrait shots. However, a wealth of competition exists in this space, so you will need to offer umpteen products and potentially even branch out into different types of portrait photography.

Take family portrait photography for example. To nail and make the photography fruitful, keep the business simple and smooth. Instead of hiring a studio, offer short photoshoots at the client’s home in order that the kids are comfortable with the surroundings or at a nearby park or forest.

While shooting, bear certain points in mind. Pick up a couple of LED panels as your key lights and capture with a short zoom lens. Maintain consistency in your shots with the same photo poses and camera settings. You’ll be able to batch edit your photos should the lighting is the same throughout saving time.

On top of that, bundle the photoshoot along with a number of edited hi-resolution digital images so the client knows exactly what they will get later.

Starting Costs: The starting cost is low, below $50 if you have camera and other gear. Opt for low-cost business cards and don’t go for a fancy website to keep cost low.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Go for Photography Courses

Newbie photographers always aspire to learn from experts like you about how to brush up their photography skills and make bucks from their hobby. Not a bad idea to consider taking photography classes locally at your library, community center, or even virtually.

However, the key to teaching photography courses is to study the course options of photo specialty based on your particular expertise like fashion photography, model photography, portrait headshots, travel photography, and so forth.

If you have the necessary gadgets and long experience, you can consider running your own photography courses and help others hone their photography knack too. Make sure you offer multiple courses so you attract customers at a larger scale.

Starting Costs: The startup cost isn’t that high, under $50 if you have camera and accessories. Get a simple DIY website designed to keep cost low and also avoid spending excessive money on business cards.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –Yes

Pet Photography is Ideal if you are a Pet-lover

Pet market is leaping globally, and so is pet photography. Many people own pets and treat them more like children every day. This also boosts the demand for creative pet portrait photography.

Different types of pet shots can take, right from traditional portraits to whimsical ones with funny pet costumes or even action shots of animals at play.

Don’t forget to create a business card (or postcard) with a lovely-looking pet portrait printed on it and dish it out in veterinarians’ offices, pet stores, and dog parks.

Pet owners love having their pets photographed. If you’re an animal lover with an advanced knack for photography, pet photography could be the photography business idea for you.

Starting Costs: The startup cost is moderate, under $100 if you go for low-cost business cards
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Fashion Photography Has High Demand

If you are looking for a high-paying photography business idea, consider fashion photography. It’s one of the highest-paid in the industry. Just to mention, magazine photographers work decades to become the best in the industry, whereas, you can kick off your fashion photography business right away.

Begin by shooting local fashion shows, fashion designers’ collections, red carpet sessions, and local boutiques to leverage on their e-commerce websites and social media. Another way is to sell photos for models’ portfolios.

Don’t forget to target all market segments, including children, men, and fashion items. Remember fashion is something that’s not constant. What’s in vogue now may not be in vogue after some days. Hence, it’s always a killer idea to capture fashion industry and show how it evolves.

Starting Costs: If you have camera and accessories, the starting cost will be $50, which is low.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Don’t Ignore Wedding and Event Photography

Another lucrative photography niche is wedding and event photography. Keep the option of becoming a wedding photographer and help preserve the happy couples’ memorable moments with your photography craft.

Don’t shy away to incorporate video services and possibly aerial event photography to amplify your profits and make your company stand out among your competition.

Not just weddings, events of other types hire professional photographers too like family reunions, birthday parties, and retirement celebrations.

If you feast on the magic of weddings and you’re a seasoned photographer with a good eye for action shots, this could be a potential photography business for you. In order to ensure you get sufficient clients, you can always partner with wedding venues.

Starting Costs: With under $50, you can start the business if you have camera and other equipment.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Don’t Override Real Estate Photography

While dealing with photography business, real estate photography can’t be looked over. These days all real estate listings residential and commercial alike require many classic images of home interiors, exteriors, neighborhoods, and surrounding areas.

To ace real estate photography, connect with local real estate brokers and property management agents to get regular assignments. Bear in mind to contact other types of businesses, including restaurants and hotels to vend your real estate photography packages.

If you have experience with building and room photography, always be confident to start this photography business. Real estate is something that always requires spellbinding photographs to spark buyers’ interest.

Starting Costs: The startup cost is under $50 if you have camera and accessories.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Aerial Photography if you are Adventurous

Aerial photography is booming as time progresses. So, a cool idea to profit from this photography trend! Shoot captivating drone photos of historical events, weddings, real estate listings, and travel destinations and sell them thereafter.

Apart from that, aerial sports photography is highly in-demand for teams, stadiums, and individual athletes. So, if you are a sports-freak, choosing this photography business is a nice idea as well.

Additionally, countless industries are there that need aerial photography, right from the agriculture industry to construction. Given the high demand for aerial photography in various industries, opting for it is unlikely to bring out negative fruits.

Starting Costs: With drone camera and accessories in possession, the startup cost is $50.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Children Photography

Parents enjoy capturing their children’s special moments with clicks of pro photographers. They want to save these child moments for lifetime. You can capitalize on this massive opportunity and establish your photography business. In fact, children photography is one of the largest markets for photographers.

Some of the most popular children photos include outdoor shots reflecting children’s funny moments. This type of photography has high demand as parents desire to capture and document the early stages of their children’s lives that means when they are babies.

To run a successful children or baby photography business, it is important to have a robust understanding of lighting and composition. Having a patient and placid demeanor is also useful as babies can be unpredictable and may require extra time and effort to get perfect shots.

We would suggest offering a variety of packages to meet the needs and budgets of different clients. This can embody options for digital files, prints, or albums. Offering a fusion of posed and candid shots as well as indoor and outdoor settings are also a cool idea to provide clients with various options.

Starting Costs: Initial investment is under $50 provided you have camera and accessories.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Try Travel Photography

Travel photographers photograph travel destinations, spots of attractions, museums, vacation resorts, and so forth. You can do the same and generate a money-making business by posting these majestic on a blog and making affiliate income from them.

Alternatively, you can also sell them to tourist boards, hotels, and travel agents for their marketing materials. In addition, you could sell those breathtaking photos for stock photos, or create products like postcards, calendars, t-shirts, and tote bags.

If you are a travel-buff, don’t hold back to transform your love and passion into a profitable business. When love and passion generate money, there is nothing more blissful than that.

Starting Costs: With below $50, you can commence if you have camera and accessories.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –Yes

Sports Photography can be a Perfect Option

Both sporting events and individual athletes fancy hiring photographers to shoot and document their accomplishments. All types of sports events can be your prospective clients, including car races, horse equestrian events, rodeos, surfing competitions, marathons, gymnastic meets, and golf tournaments.

You may be aware that the primary application of professional sports photography is for editorial purposes. Dedicated sports photographers usually work for newspapers, major wire agencies, and dedicated sports magazines.

However, sports photography is also leveraged for advertising purposes, both to build a brand and to promote a sport in a way that cannot be notched up by editorial means.

Starting Costs: The initial cost is low like most of the others, below $50 if you have camera and accessories.
Is it Home-based? –Yes
Can be a Part-Time Side Hustle? –Yes
Is Online Operation Possible? –No

Time to Wind Up

Photography is such an industry that comes with immense opportunities for businesses. With so many different genres of photography, you have stacks of opportunities to start your own business. If you don’t enjoy shooting one type of photography, you have 50 other options.

What you need essentially is optimum photography skill in a particular photography type with passion for it. In addition, it’s also important to have sufficient knowledge about how each photography niche works, management complexities, expectations and needs of clients, and so on.

When you know your photography job well and also possess holistic knowledge about the business operation related to it, the amalgamation of both is likely to yield positive fruits for your photography business.