How to Take and Sell Celebrity Photos
Anyone can join the paparazzi with a camera and a little ingenuity. Have you
caught a celebrity in an embarrassing situation? If you have a camera you may
be able to sell the pictures for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and even
mundane celebrity photos can often be sold. Whether you're a professional
paparazzo or you just happen to be in the right place at the right time, follow
these steps to take valuable celebrity snapshots and sell them.
Steps
- Avoid crowds. Pictures of celebrities at events, such as the Oscars
or movie premiers, where all the paparazzi are present, will generally be
worthless because so many people have the same pictures. The really valuable
pictures are the ones that no one else has - pictures of the celebrity in casual
or intimate settings - and you'll need to get away from the crowds to get those.
- Do some research. Find out where celebrities hang out, what their daily
routine is, and where they stay while on vacation. Reading the tabloids or
entertainment news is a good start, but to get the rare shots, you'll need to do
some extra investigation. Ask taxi drivers, nightclub personnel, and others who
might have valuable information. Stake out the celebrity but keep a low profile.
- Make your pictures tell a unique story. If you catch a celebrity in a
compromising situation (cheating on a spouse, doing drugs, shoplifting, etc.),
you've got pure gold. Photos of less damning activities can also be valuable.
Getting the first picture of a celebrity baby, or simply catching a celebrity
behaving in a way that is out of the ordinary, could earn you some big bucks
when selling the photos.
- Connect with someone who will buy your photos. If your photos are big
news, sell them directly to tabloids and entertainment publications. Look up
their contact information on the Internet or inside a copy of the publication.
If your photos are rare, but not necessarily earthshaking, you may not have much
luck going directly to the publications, so try going through one of many
agencies that act as middlemen between photographers and magazines. These
agencies can also be found with an Internet search. Keep in mind that they will
take a commission for finding a buyer.
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