Consider the eBay opportunity. The pictures are what sells on eBay. Especially eBay Motors. If you look on eBay Motors, a typical car will have 5-20 pictures on it. Many do not help the seller auction off the car because they are so bad. The pictures are often blurry and dark.

The difference between good pictures and bad pictures might make hundreds of dollars of difference on a car auction because the buyer can actually see what they are bidding on.

You might offer to teach a class or seminar at your local community center, library or in your studio on how to shoot pictures of products to sell on eBay. You could show examples of what is good and what is bad. There are plenty out there to choose from – mostly bad.

Some of the eBay Photography tips that you could teach about during your class or seminar:

• Limit what is in your image to what is for sale
• Try to eliminate the carpet background that sits behind so many of the products that are for sale on eBay. Instead, use a clean background that contrasts with the product to really show it off
• Don’t forget the tripod. Having a small tripod will ensure crystal clear images for posting on eBay
• Shoot from different angles to make the product seem more interesting and appealing
• Make sure that you have enough light on the product to “show it off”
• Shoot more than just the product sitting front and center. Shoot from the corner, turn it over, change directions, shoot from above, shoot from below, etc.
• If you are selling a lot of product on eBay, you might consider a small product studio lighting kit that provides the ability to have diffused light on the subject.

You might also offer eBay Photography services from your website or on your business card, although with the number of digital cameras available today, I don’t think you will get a ton of business from this.

Being recognized in your local community as an expert will always helps future business!

They teach a Graphics Art Instructional program that includes courses on Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Web Page design, and Quark Express. As we discussed the program and the benefits of each course, I saw an opportunity to partner with the college, instructors, and faculty to facilitate learning opportunities for the students.

Some ideas that I had:

1. Provide a guest lecture on the basics of photography, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. It is always better to design when you understand the basics of how a photograph is put together
2. Provide digital images that the course could use to manipulate and/or do layout with
3. Onsite set design – understanding qualities of light, how to setup a photograph to minimize the Photoshop work afterwards, etc.
4. Be able and willing to participate in lectures, provide guidance, mentoring, studio tours, etc.

All these activities will help identify you as an expert in the field…one that the student can leverage when they need a photographer to shoot assignments after they graduate.

Oh – being the staff photographer has its benefits too. As part of the evening, they hired a photographer to come in and take pictures of the members of the advisory board. Not a bad gig – 1 hour to shoot ~15 pictures. It took the photographer longer to setup her equipment than take the portraits.

She also took advantage of the opportunity and handed out her business card to the members of the advisory board as they left the set.

Team up with the other professionals in the field to increase your photography revenue opportunities.

Have fun shooting!