The Future of Outdoor and Nature Photography & Some Things You Can Do.

Market conditions are not in the photographers favor.

The editorial markets have long been one of the largest for outdoor imagery and many of them are in survival mode. The biggest shock to me was the announcement that National Geographic Adventure, a publication I had been published in several times, was closing its doors. I was stunned!

Print advertising revenue continues to drop as more advertising moves to the net and this loss of image sales has been widely felt. Sadly, the market for imagery used in the same advertising done online has not converted to sales for many independent photographers.

Those assignments to photograph stories like the Everest expedition or Zambezi raft trip are elusive if they even exist these days.

Everyone knows there is a glut of imagery

Currently the huge glut in imagery, consisting of many of the usual locations, creates an inventory that suffers from lack of demand and forces many stock agencies to limit or decline nature imagery from their contributors. Clients as well are sick of seeing page after page of the same stuff and crave new options in finding quality imagery.

Most photographers run their businesses alone and subsequently market a limited inventory. Consider the clients you market to. With zillions of photographers marketing their nature and adventure photography to them as well as stock agents, the client can experience vendor overload. They can’t possibly work with every one of us and for this reason the veteran photographer with 30 years of images may earn their repeat business simply due to the high probability of having the image they need.

The Sinks, Great Smoky Mtns. NP

Photography Has No Value in the Eyes of Some

Image theft is rampant as a public that does not understand copyright, grabs images that should be paid for. A magazine startup needs a Wall Street investor to launch while brochures and advertising in print form require deep pockets to produce. Yet blogs, websites, and online magazines cost little if anything to get started. Many of these proprietors feel because their site was virtually free to launch that the content they need should be free as well. The web is still the Wild West in terms of a content free-for-all.

Microstock is the fastest growing sector in the business, yet the photographer who travels widely and is a solid business person realizes the numbers for Microstock just don’t crunch in their favor. Yet the photographer quoting Rights Managed pricing is finding huge resistance to making the sale.  The industry is changing from a high priced model designed for print to a digital model based on volume. This naturally forces prices down in this model due to the ease of distributing digital content.

Outdoor Photographers are Independently Wealthy

Many photographers are receiving requests for free or donated photography than ever before, proving time and again that the perception of photography having any value exists in only a few. There is free photography everywhere, even at stock agencies and this creates that perception of “why pay when there is so much free?”

Are you stable enough to survive in these market conditions? You will be if you adapt quickly to the changing market.

Some Strategies to Consider in Today’s Markets

• The markets for outdoor photography are still there but have changed. Markets for photography used in print will be around for a long time, although not as vibrant as before. Don’t expect calendar companies to quit printing or magazines to jump totally to Kindle, or note cards to be all electronic delivery. These markets will continue to use photography in traditional form.
• Consider sticking closer to home and becoming a local specialist. Avoid the costly ‘photo adventures’ to far off places that you crave to photograph but probably can’t justify the costs.
• Shoot for the markets. Avoid wandering around looking for pretty pictures. Rather determine where the demand is and shoot those subjects. Consider the ‘green’ theme suchs as wind power, solar, clean coal (?), global warming, and other environmentals themes.
• With assignments being reduced at magazines, considering an increase in marketing your stock and team with a writer. Pitch magazines stories where you have wide photographic coverage or can easily fill gaps in your files.
• If you are feeling the pressure to lower your price to an unacceptable low, consider the cost you spent to travel, capture, and process the images, and then explain this to the client. Mention the usage fee they will pay is undoubtedly less than your costs to produce the image or hire a photographer on assignment. In the end, fight for as much as you can but also show flexibility in agreeing to a final price.
• Support your local non-profit looking for free imagery, but know it is not unreasonable to ask for something in return, especially in this economy. Photo credits have little value but is something. Trades for goods or services are an option as well.
• The photographer who goes it alone as a single proprietor may see fewer photo requests as time strapped clients go to larger suppliers with deeper image files. Organize a group of photographers and create a mini agency at Photoshelter. Divvy up the duties and share costs for direct mail promotions.
• Sometimes the sum is greater than the parts. Begin to look at your photography efforts as multiple storytelling images instead of single ones and in the form of photo essays. This could have more appeal to a client than your marketing of an image library based on single images uses.  Most magazines welcome queries involving photo essays. Some even use multi media slide shows and videos on their website that don’t make it into the magazine.

Finally, begin to look at the current market as the new market, like you are just starting your business are trying to get established like you did years ago. Create new ways to present your work for a better fit with a clients evolving product line. As previously mentioned, it could be a photo essay to a magazine or a collection of images that accompany a calendar proposal.

There is a future in outdoor and nature photography even though right now the picture is a little foggy.

What do you think? Leave a comment.