In the digital age, photography has evolved significantly. It’s not just about capturing stunning images anymore. It’s about sharing, teaching, and selling. More and more photographers are focusing on selling classes, creating and selling Lightroom presets, and leveraging social media to expand their reach and income.
The New Age of Photography
Photographers today have more resources to work with than ever before. They’re not just selling their photos; they’re selling their skills, their styles, and their knowledge. They’re connecting on Instagram, selling photos to stock photography sites, working with brands looking to expand their digital presence, and even providing online photography courses and workshops from home.
The traditional way of earning as a photographer, attending gigs and selling photos, can limit your income. It’s time-consuming and physically demanding. You have to find and meet with clients, go on photo shoots, and spend hours editing in post-production. However, there’s another way to make money with your skill set.
Lightroom Presets: A Passive Income Stream
Up-and-coming photographers are turning to Adobe Lightroom as a medium to monetize their creativity. After the online stock photography market became highly competitive, photographers started creating online shops that house presets and custom filters as an option for entrepreneurial growth.
Lightroom presets are a passive income stream. They’re a quick and reliable method for improving the look and feel of your photos. Just like writers need editors, photography needs to go through the pains of post-production. Presets offer a peek into your style of photography, and give aspiring photographers or a particular brand the option to stylize their content and learn from a pro.
A Lightroom preset, or Lightroom effect, is a predetermined arrangement of the sliders housed in Lightroom. A preset is a selection of edits that you choose to apply to a photo that can be saved to be easily applied to another photo in Lightroom.
To create Lightroom presets, first select a photo. Make edits to this photo according to how you want your preset to look. Then, save this photo and follow these steps to save a preset in Lightroom.
Steps to Create a Preset
1. Select a Photo: Choose an image that best represents the style you want to create.
2. Edit the Photo: Use Lightroom sliders to adjust elements like color, vibrancy, tone, contrast, exposure, whites, blacks, and shadows.
3. Save the Preset: Once you’re happy with your edits, save your preset. Right-click on the edited photo and select ‘Create Preset’. Name your preset and save it.
Once you’re happy with your preset, you can export it easily by control- or right-clicking on it and selecting ‘Export’ in the menu that appears. Choose the destination where you want to save your preset, type in the name, and save it.
You’ve learned how to make presets, developed them to suit your personal style, and kept them organized! What do you do next? How do you make your presets available online, market them, and make them interesting to other photographers?
Many photographers package their presets to include variations of similar edits under one heading. Offering minor adjustments to your presets to give them variations will present your buyers with a more robust and applicable package of presets, instead of a single preset that they may have to adjust themselves. This range will help make your edits more accessible and help to flesh out your style.
Setting Up an Online Store
If you already have a portfolio website set up, you’ll want to add an online store to sell your presets. Before you set up your store, here are a handful of things you’ll need to get started:
– Introductory description for your store
– Preset packages or individual presets
– Photos that best represent your presets
– Product descriptions
– Prices
Once someone has downloaded your Lightroom presets online, it’s a good idea to walk them through how to apply presets in Lightroom so that they don’t have to follow up with you with questions. Setting up Lightroom presets is easy: just open Lightroom, click on the ‘Develop’ tab, and right- or command-click anywhere in the presets module to select ‘Import’. From there, all you have to do is navigate to the preset download file and click ‘Import’.
Leveraging Social Media
Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest are invaluable tools for photographers looking to expand their reach. By regularly posting your work, engaging with your audience, and sharing tips and tutorials, you can attract more followers and potential customers.
– Consistent Posting: Maintain a regular posting schedule to keep your audience engaged.
– Engagement: Respond to comments, engage with other photographers, and participate in community events.
– Content Variety: Mix up your posts with behind-the-scenes shots, tutorials, before-and-after comparisons, and user-generated content featuring your presets.
The world of photography is evolving. It’s not just about taking photos anymore. It’s about sharing your skills, your style, and your knowledge. It’s about selling classes, creating and selling Lightroom presets, and leveraging social media. It’s about taking your passion for photography and turning it into a sustainable business. By diversifying your income streams and embracing new opportunities, you can ensure that your love for photography not only survives but thrives in the digital age.
