Dive Photos that Sell!?

[katefu]

Hello folks and fellow divers! I'm looking into making a career of dive tour photos and if you have a moment, it would really help me (and possibly other aspiring underwater photographers) if you commented your feedback to these questions!

If you've ever purchased photos or video from a dive: what did you pay and what did you receive (cost, how many photos, delivered by CD/website download, etc.)?

If you've never bought photos or video, what is the reason (have your own camera, too expensive, never offered, low quality, etc.)?

What would you pay for photos and/or a video and what would you expect to get? Have you ever sold your photos/videos; what did you charge and what did you deliver?

If you're a dive shop owner/operator, have you tried offering photos/videos to your customers - what worked and what didn't?

 

[northernone]

Here's my data sample in support of your request.

I've never bought a photo. There are tons easily available to enjoy, I don't need to be in them or "own" them to appreciate quality art. BBC's Blue Planet streamed does suffice.

I have sold video and photos. It takes a special purpose and client. My rates are for corporate clients, not appropriate for a tourist wanting a souvenir. Mostly delivered via the cloud for mobile sharing. Occasionally a thumb drive or micro sd card. Rarely on a hard drive.

Most everyone has an action cam/cellphone. Their (possibly lower quality photo) is theirs, and they love them. They aren't going to buy mine, even if it's markedly "better". The exception being I've noticed is bucket list divers or those doing an experience package... Think buying photos at a roller coaster.

My friend's who work as resort dive shop photographers say they sell well. So it's viable in some markets, particularly with an actually skilled camera operation with good people skills.

Enjoy considering your options.
Cameron

 

[Dogbowl]

I recently purchased a video of my trip on a liveaboard. It cost USD$65 and was delivered on a USB. From what I noticed, about half of the passengers purchased the video.

 

[lowviz]

Hello folks and fellow divers! I'm looking into making a career of dive tour photos ...//...

Hawaii? Yes, you just might be able to pull it off. Do you have sufficient volume of tourists on Kauai?

If you've ever purchased photos or video from a dive: what did you pay and what did you receive (cost, how many photos, delivered by CD/website download, etc.)?

Never from a dive but once from a tour on Maui and several times from whitewater rafting in West Virginia. Same proven recipe. Had a photographer at the best parts of the big rapids and had a photographer on the tour boat. A small speedboat met the tour boat half-way and the photographer tossed a bag to the speedboat. There were the finished photos as we disembarked. Just snag yours as you walk past and pay for it or keep on walking. Totally impulsive.

What would you pay for photos and/or a video and what would you expect to get? Have you ever sold your photos/videos; what did you charge and what did you deliver?

I paid a reasonable rip-off price for incredible convenience with respect to recording a memory.

If you're a dive shop owner/operator, have you tried offering photos/videos to your customers - what worked and what didn't?

My previous LDS hosted a prestigious photographer at one of the yearly parties. He had a professional kiosk with stunning photos. Everybody looked and admired, I don't think he sold a single print. Totally lose the idea of 'art' photos. (IMHO)

 

[katefu]

Thank you for the feedback thus far!!

I'm not looking to make a profit from selling stock or fine art photos, more to the tune of an experience album of images of divers and the marine life/reef on the dive.

Diving isn't the biggest or even the best thing on Kauai, unless you go to Niihau which many come back raving about. I'm leaning toward aiming at divers that are not certified and are experiencing diving for the first time, usually couples, friends, and families that are looking to try something new and have a fun experience together. I believe photos will be most marketable to them, and I'm trying to get an idea of what folks would like to have offered, and what they are willing to pay. I'm also looking into delivery methods and as the margin is pretty thin, I'd like to find a cheap/free way to share.

 

[scubadada]

I recently purchased a video of my trip on a liveaboard. It cost USD$65 and was delivered on a USB. From what I noticed, about half of the passengers purchased the video.

Of course, that's for a nicely edited video of 20 something dives of your week on the LOB. At that, it still seems on the expensive side to me. I've passed on my opportunity to buy the video from my 3 trips on an Aggressor, from past experience, I'm quite sure I would not ever watch it again. Of course to each their own. I agree with you, seems like about half the passengers bought the video each time.

 

[Chris Ross]

If you want to make a career of it, I'd be doing my research carefully. If you are looking at filming try-divers - how many of them does the dive shop take out? There's limits on how many non certified divers each DM can look after, which may limit how many you can shoot per day. If you were selling stills at maybe $20-$40 a package, you'd need to sell quite a few of them to make a living wage.

The only recent experience I can offer is the whale shark swim I did in Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef). On that boat they offer a photo package at $40 delivered via a weblink so the customer can download. I declined the offer as I really wasn't interested in a photo of me trying to keep up with a whale shark. The photographer was not a dedicated photographer, but was one of the spotters who swam to keep up with the shark to indicate it's direction of travel so the tourists could be lined up on the shark, who also carried a camera to take shots and do ID shots of the whale sharks. I think one or two families took up the offer from memory. Definitely not something you could make a living from.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

With digital cameras and post editing software so prevalent it's very difficult to sell photos. I have been shooting for about fifteen years, had many photos in magazine articles that I have written for free but have never sold a single photo. There are many sites that you could try like this one but there is a glut of photos out there unsold.

 

[kelemvor]

If you've ever purchased photos or video from a dive: what did you pay and what did you receive (cost, how many photos, delivered by CD/website download, etc.)?

I bought photos or videos twice.

Roatan, Honduras. The photographer had decent photos containing both my wife and I. Our cameras only had one or the other in each frame. They were $45 (I think) and we got about 35 photos delivered by website download and "air transfer" to my wife's iPhone. The resort had a photo shop, where you could review and pick your photos and then delivered them via your favorite method.

Disney Divequest. We weren't allowed to bring our own cameras so it was the only option. Also, part of the dive is specifically designed to lead the group through the aquarium and create good video. Combined with an experienced videographer, the results were acceptable. The only real problem here was that their camera was not shooting high definition video. It was probably an ancient camera they'd been using for decades. Still, if you want a record of this dive, it is your only option. I believe it was $35. Delivered on a burned CD.

Now that I have a few dive photos with my family I doubt I would ever buy any more. Photos of sea life that other people took are interesting enough to catch my eye for a few seconds on the internet at no charge. I can't imagine ever wanting to pay for somebody else's photo of sea-life. If it really is that amazing, it will show up on national geographic (for free) or somewhere similar.

That said, I presume someone at National Geographic is paying for some of the photos they publish. Maybe they aren't, I don't know for sure. You should probably be looking into magazine and website publishers to see what they pay for freelance photography. These days there are probably millions of divers with cameras in the water so I don't think mediocre subject or photography will be likely to cut it if you want to sell images. I am guessing the guys who make documentaries like "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet" are getting paid to take the videos. However, those are exceptional quality videos of rare or unique subjects.

 

[diversteve]

I wouldn't be interested in Photo's since we can manage to do those ourselves. Actually for us, nor video since we both shoot it on most dives.

One area to concentrate on is delivery.

I was on a snorkel/dive boat on Maui once. Mostly snorkelers but they also offered a discover dive and tanks for certified divers. They had a videographer on-board - on the ride out she explained who she was and gave you a wristband if you were interested in being in the video.

During the dive she spent time with the snorkelers and also the Discover Divers near the boat and I also saw her chasing the other groups - even us although neither buddy or I were going to buy the video - we found some resting sharks that made it into the final cut although only a few of us saw them.

She actually edited the video on the spot on the ride back - one of the monitors in the cabin showed her working - and was able to deliver a finished product that same day to customers who purchased one. I believe it was $60 or so.

I also have done two dolphin dives - in Curacao and at AKR on Roatan. For them I was shooting HD video myself so not interested in purchasing a video although my friend did at AKR - since we weren't staying there we waited around about an hour afterwards for a DVD delivered by the staff videographer on the dive. I believe it was $80 and with 6 of us on the dive - we only bought one. No one else was on the boat that morning.

I think with the prevalence of GoPro's now it would be a very different market for you - I see quite a few people recording their experiences with selfie-sticks or strapped to their BC - sort of a in the moment video experience. For their Facebook page or Youtube for most it's good enough.

With only 3-4 shops on Kauai don't they all already have someone shooting video for them? I might pay for a good professionally edited Ni'ihau video since you're likely only going to do that once.

I don't believe any instructor would want you filming new/discover divers while they're doing skills as you'd be a distraction. For the same reason most don't allow cameras on those dives. So that may not be as profitable as you'd expect.