Making Money from Photography in Every Conceivable Way. Steve Bavister

study. Calendars, unfortunately, are considerably more expensive. This means that you need to do your research on site, making notes where they’re sold. While you might feel a bit self-conscious about doing this, you should have no problems if you choose a large newsagent, department store, garden centre or stationery shop, where you can be reasonably anonymous. If you spend no more than five to ten minutes in each outlet, and move from one to another, you should avoid any hassle or suspicion.

      As well as the name, address and telephone number of the publishers, you should look for calendars that use the kind of pictures that you either take at the moment, and have on file, or feel you could take in the future. You also need to pay attention to the kinds of images that each publisher uses. The more information you can record, the better. If necessary, go back on a number of occasions, or visit another town or city if you are worried what staff may say.

      

Scenic subjects

      One of the great things about the calendar market is its diversity. If you like to photograph something, the chances are that someone, somewhere, produces a calendar featuring that subject. That said, the biggest market by far is for scenic pictures – although some other areas, such as domestic pets, are popular as well. Some calendars depict specific towns, cities or counties and regions, while others are more diverse, containing pictures taken from all over a particular country. Such calendars aim to give a strong sense of place with each image, but also provide good geographical coverage, so there’s variety over the full 12 months.

      As well as the traditional ‘blue sky and bright sun’ shots, more dramatic or atmospheric lighting will be considered, providing pictures capture the character of the area and depict a specific location well. However, it is mostly traditional ‘chocolate box’ colour images that are used, depicting landscapes, village scenes, famous monuments, thatched cottages, popular landmarks, harbours, beautiful gardens and tourist sites – although some feature more creative, moody scenic images such as sunsets, mists and stormy weather.

      Publishers of scenic calendars are most keen to hear from photographers who have extensive collections of landscapes covering a certain area or country. That is because they prefer, whenever possible, to illustrate a whole calendar, or most of it, with the work of one individual. The benefits are twofold: the calendar has a common style running through it, independent of the different locations, and the logistics are much easier – the picture buyer doesn’t have to liaise with 12 different photographers, produce 12 purchase orders, and so forth.

      However, don’t be put off making a submission if you don’t have national coverage. Providing that you have plenty of pictures of a particular region or a particular city, it’s worth sending them in – because they may be used for a calendar with a narrower focus. Most publishers are not interested, though, in seeing ‘bitty’ collections of photographs, no matter how good they are.

      GONE FISHIN’

      Calendars feature a wide range of subject matter to reflect popular hobbies and interests.

      

Details matter

      One thing you have to be careful about when photographing landscapes with calendars in mind is that the locations appear unspoilt. Make sure you avoid cars, people, telegraph poles, road signs, rubbish bins and anything else that could prevent the scene from looking idyllic. Generally, you’ll be using wide-angle lenses to open up the perspective and create a sense of drama, but always check when doing so that stray elements of this kind don’t get included. Choose your vantage point carefully, and if necessary use a telephoto lens to exclude anything problematic.

      Another thematic approach to the landscape calendar is to choose 12 images that are tranquil or restful in nature – such as sunsets and isolated beaches, waterfalls, ocean scenes, dramatic lighthouses with crashing waves, or calm or moody seascapes. This kind of series might be given a name to point up its theme, such as ‘Golden Thoughts’.

      

Animal subjects

      Once you get started in the calendar market, it is reasonably easy to make further sales. But getting your foot in the door can be tricky when it comes to scenics. That’s because it is such a popular subject area – what could be more enjoyable than taking pictures in a delightful and photogenic location? – so many other photographers are submitting high quality work.

      When it comes to other subjects, the competition isn’t so fierce, and publishers are generally delighted to receive material that meets their needs. Animals are probably the second biggest market for calendar images. Domestic pets such as cats, dogs, rabbits and horses are especially popular. As well as ‘generic’ cat and dog calendars, which include a mixture of breeds, there are also calendars for individual breeds. As with greetings cards, pets need to look cute and appealing for their pictures to be used in a calendar. That means that you can’t just take any old snap and send it in hoping it will be published. While there are fewer people submitting photographs of animals, some specialize in the area. Study carefully the pictures that are currently being published in calendars and take the same approach. As with landscapes, you will need to build up a reasonable collection of quality images before making a submission – and it’s better to focus on just one animal than to take a more random approach.