How to make money from photography workshops
If your photo skills are solid and you enjoy talking to people, one alternative way to make money from your camera is to run a photography workshop. This is where you coach fellow photographers to give them the benefit of your experience and help improve their own skills.
1. Plenty of choice
This sector of photography has increased dramatically over the last ten years, with photographers keen to learn from professionals. From landscape courses and studio workshops to masterclasses on post-processing and printing, there is still plenty of room to grow in this area.
Some workshops are half- or full-day affairs, while others stretch over multiple days. Likewise, some workshops require the attendees to turn up on the day while others offer overnight accommodation.
2. Find a USP
Before you launch your own workshop, why not attend some yourself? This will give you the opportunity to see what works well and what should be avoided.
Just like composing an image, finding something special about your workshop will help it stand out from the crowd. Perhaps it’s expert knowledge of a specific area, or a mastery of a certain technique, such as HDR or black-and-white photography – anything that offers more than the next workshop will make a difference to your selling chances.
Giving access to restricted areas such as the side of racetracks will prove appealing if you can arrange it; or getting photographers close to rare wildlife such as birds of prey is another example of what will make a workshop popular.
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3. Limit your crowd
It can be tempting to book as many people as possible on your course to make the most profit. However, it’s worth thinking about how the experience will be for customers if you spread your time with each participant too thinly. For those new to leading workshops, small groups of three or four can often work better.
Alternatively, offering one-to-one tuition is also a workshop option for newcomers to consider. While the returns will be less than a group workshop, you get to shower the participant with attention, which can help build your reputation in the market. The questions you’ll get asked in smaller workshops will help you immensely as you start to plan more ambitious courses.
4. An opportunity to travel
If your language skills are as mature as your photography mastery, you could consider arranging workshops further afield. Being able to communicate and set up access in overseas locations for your participants enables you to travel on someone else’s money.
Read more: The best travel cameras right now
