The 5 Ways I Generate Revenue as an Outdoor Adventure Photographer

The question I hear most often from other photographers is how do I make money in the outdoor adventure industry. I've been working in the outdoor adventure industry and I can tell you from experience that to support a career you have to put in a ton of effort and have lots of patience. Looking at top photographers you think they live a life of luxury whereas the reality has been a lot of hard work.

The ways I make revenue change from year to year. On one hand, there are aspects such as working with brands that are generating me more revenue. On the other hand, my publication sales are not as consistent. Regardless, I currently focus on 5 different revenue streams as a photographer.

Licensing Images

Publications

Art Prints

Working with brands

DMO’s

This list if how I CURRENTLY make the largest portions of my revenue. But I know that it will change as the value, use and distribution of content changes in our digitally driven world.

Licensing Images

This currently makes up the largest revenue generator in my business. Licensing is when I grant the specific rights to one of my clients to use my image. It is pricing is dependent on a few factors; usage, company size and circulation.

Publications

In the past, many photographers made a significant amount of their money from publications and magazines. But times have changed as the attention has shifted away from print and towards digital. My main industry, skiing, stills places priority on print imagery but it’s influence has been decreasing over the years. The biggest benefit I have found from publications though are the connections I’ve made, which have turned out to be incredibly valuable as I progress in my career.

Art Prints

I have sold prints for about 10 years but in the last two years sales have been consistently increasing. I invested in a passive online shop about three years ago and it is starting to pay off. My biggest sales period is late in the year due to Christmas and other holidays. Most of these sales are local too.

Working with Brands

This is a growth aspect of my business. This year I went fully freelance for the first time, which has allowed me to work with athletes and brands more often. Brands usually have the most money to spend on advertising and may be the biggest contributor on multi-stakeholder projects.

DMO

Destination marketing organizations (DMO) are usually non-profits that are used to facilitate marketing for tourism. I have worked with many DMO’s over the last five years and continue to do so. The benefit of working with DMO’s is that they are usually funded by governments, municipalities and stakeholders so there is budgeted funding to be spent on marketing. Also, they usually facilitate trips and get local business owners on board too. If you are in outdoor adventure photography I would suggest connecting with your region's DMO.

These five aspects are how I make most of my revenue currently but I know it could shift soon. I have placed more emphasis on offering educational workshops that teach photography, marketing and storytelling to youth and adults. I’ve also reached a skill and confidence level where I’m actively pitching bigger brand. The photography industry is changing rapidly but I know that there will always be the opportunity to be successful in it. You just have to anticipate the change and showcase how you can bring value to a project.