15 ways to Get Paid to Shoot Photography and Videos

Here are some things that people are willing to pay you for shooting video or photos of. Some of them require a bit of work on your part to set up but can serve as ideas for creating content or finding new customers.

1. Corporate Meetings or Corporate Execs
Stay close to the dealmakers and you could be the last one smiling. They often want to document the results before they sign the deals. Same goes for Corporate Executives. Shooting powerful people is a unique form of portraiture that brings a special challenge and a special rate too. Find the big fish and you can get a big payday.

2. Dating Site Portraits
Online dating has created a new demand for eye-catching profile photos — and a new market for your portrait skills.

3. Wannabe Models/Actors
There’s no shortage of young women (and men) chomping at the bit to break into Hollywood or the Paris catwalks. They all need professional headshots. What they put in their portfolio, you can put in yours and add a little jingle to your jeans pocket.

4. News
Who said you had to work for CNN to get paid. You don’t have to be a staff reporter to get your picture in the press. Many outlets these days use stringers and accept freelance shots. See what they need, then hit the streets.

5. Annual Reports
Did you know that Annual reports are one of the biggest markets for photography agencies? The bosses of the companies behind them can be a huge market for you too. See the first example.

6. Celebrities
There’s always a market for a photo of a star, especially if they’re doing something they shouldn’t like Brit Spears. But you can elbow your way to the front of the red carpets to get that great shot and the papers, magazines, blogs or online publications will buy it.

7. Wedding Events
The "bread and butter" of any professional photography business and a go to for a quick fix ;-). Rates are decent, demand is constant and you get all the free food you can handle.

8. High School Yearbook Photos
Hundreds of people crammed in one space all waiting for you take their pictures… and often paying in advance. What can be better than that?

9. Children
Children grow up fast so parents want those youthful moments frozen before they’re gone forever. The market is enormous and the marketing is easy. Just get your ads around playgrounds and day-care centers.

10. Facebook Portraits
Facebook has millions of members, many of whom use the site for business as well as pleasure. Add on LinkedIn, MySpace and everyone else, and you’ve got a huge potential market of people who want to be seen and look good online. I think I need this ;-)

11. Publicity Events
Grand openings, charity giveaways, competitions and every other kind of publicity event is useless if a photographer isn’t there to record it. Talk to a PR firm.

12. eBay Items
Of course, you don’t have to get friendly with Sotheby’s to shoot for auctions. Everyone’s on eBay and many of them lack the pictures that bring the sales. Now, there’s a market for photographers.

13. Award Ceremonies
Sure, it would be nice to be official photographer to the Oscars, but there are plenty of industry awards given each year. They pay too.

14. Conferences
Conferences are as much about networking as listening to speeches. What better way to remember who was there — and what they look like — than have a photographer on hand? Make a pitch.

15. Fundraisers
If someone’s paying a lot of money to attend a fundraiser, the organizers should be willing to pay you a little to give the donors a momento. Call a charity and work for a profit.

This list has been condensed and reworked from a list over at Photopreneur.