While I've been on this artistic journey of mine, I've had to learn a lot on my own.  In fact, when I started this journey, I had literally only stated "I love taking photos and want to do it for a living," with absolutely no idea what the next step should be.  I still don't know, but I am certainly figuring it out slowly.

The first thing you have to figure out is how you're going to share your art.  There are so many different ways that you can share your work with the world.  However, let's face facts.  In this day and age, the internet really does have to be involved if you want to attract any kind of attention.  At least you do if you're trying to attract attention at a rate that will provide you success in this century.

So I wanted to take a moment to review a couple of options and hopefully this blog post will save some of you a little more time so that you can use these options a little sooner in your artistic career.

Social Media

Social media has had this world in a stranglehold ever since the MySpace days (I know my age is showing.  Oh well).  People just cannot seem to get enough of oversharing their lives with the rest of the world, in most cases complete strangers.  However, this means that you have an opportunity to get your artwork in front of even more eyeballs, which should be your goal, especially for the first couple of years or so.

With that in mind, which platform should you turn to if you want to reach more people?  Here's my experiences:

Facebook:  An oldie but a goodie.  At the same time, that does not mean that it's easy to work with.  My experience actually shows that it's harder to gain a following there.

Mind you, I don't mean that it's necessarily difficult to develop a following in general on Facebook.  I mean in the way that I've gone about it.  If you were to go on Facebook and look up "Rebel Studios," you will find my Facebook page in the list.  I made sure to make it as a business page and separate from my personal account.  Why?  I don't know.  I really just figured it was a good idea.

To be completely honest, I really haven't worked very hard at developing this page and collecting a following, but I still have it for as I build my brand.

Instagram:  Instagram isn't quite what you would think.  Historically, it was exactly the place that an aspiring artist would want to go to.  Every post required and image and it was easy to put together your very own portfolio to show off to everybody from friends and family to prospective clients.  In fact, some people have even been able to generate business from their Instagram profiles alone.  Nowadays, that story has completely changed.

Over the recent years, the landscape of Instagram has changed dramatically.  With the rise of Tiktok, Instagram has been struggling to keep up until finally, in very early 2022, the President of Instagram posted a reel that announced that Instagram is "no longer a photo sharing platform."  So even though it was exactly what us artists needed to share our work with as many people as we could, now I really wouldn't consider them to be the best option.  And that is putting it lightly.

However, despite their newfound direction, I would still advise that artists at least try to use this platform.  They're not taking away the ability to share your work and that still means that you can get your work in front of even more eyes.  Plus, maybe think about branching out into video as well.  Maybe make some short reels about your processes or vlogs about a day in your life.  After all, doing so will put you in front of a lot more people, and that is the trick to succeeding in this career path of ours.

And when you do, please drop by my profile: @rebelstudiosnow.  And remember to hit the follow button, because I follow everybody back.

Twitter:  Logic would dictate that Twitter is not the platform to turn to.  I mean, there are more restrictions on both what you can write and how many photos/images you can have on a post.  So how would this be a platform that was even close to Instagram?

Honestly, it just is.  And I think that is because of the awesome support network that has been established there.  You simply add some hashtags and you're bound to pick up at least a few more likes than you would without them.

Artists are constantly on Twitter, either posting their own work or commenting, retweeting, and liking other peoples' work.  They've become a thick community of people that simply wants to help you survive and thrive.  They'll provide help if you need it.  They'll share your work to help more people see it.  And they will always be there for you, about your work or yourself.  For those reasons, I would say that Twitter is probably your best option as an artist.

I'll post again another time on some of the best practices to grow a large following on these platforms at another time, but until then stop by my Twitter and give me a like or a comment.  I'd love to hear from everybody.  The username to look for is @RebelStudios6

Contest Communities

This is where you will find more opportunities to improve your work while working on your craft.  It's where you can take your current masterpieces and pit them up against others.  Some of them will rank you, others provide opportunities for publication, exposure, and even more equipment or gear.  Either way, this is where I enjoy spending most of my time.

So let's look at a couple of the websites that I frequent, shall we?

Photocrowd

Photocrowd is a site where you can enter contests to see where you rank against other members.  There are a few organizations such as magazines that will sponsor some of the contests where the winner will get published in an upcoming issue, but most tend to just stick with ranking (respect points).

This is a fun way to keep yourself on your toes.  By browsing the contest categories, you can find plenty of inspiration and ideas for new shots.  Or maybe they have a contest in play that you already have that perfect piece to enter.  Who knows?

I personally am a "free" member, meaning that I have not purchased any kind of subscription.  With that being said and if I remember correctly, none of their subscription plans are too costly and you might find that they fit you better.  Just in my case, I get along just fine with the free option.

As a free member, I do have limited access.  I can only enter up to seven contests at a time and I do not have access to a portion of the contests available.  I also can't make my own contests for people to take part in.  But honestly, I'm really more than okay with that.  At least for now.

If you do subscribe, you can enter more than one photo per contest (the allowed amount depends on which plan you buy) and you are able to compete in any of the contests that they have running.  You're also allowed to make your own.  To the best of my knowledge Photocrowd allows you to compete in the same contests that you create, but I don't actually know that for a fact.

The reason that I'm pretty sure that you can also compete in your own contests is because you, the creator, don't actually pick the winner.  In fact, your opinion of each photo is worth just as much as everybody else's.  This is because in the end of most of them, the images are voted on by anybody that has an account, free or not.  There are some, especially the ones that are sponsored by magazines and such, that are strictly judged, and the community doesn't get a say in the winner.  But in those cases, it's usually judged by a small panel of photography pros and curators.  So honestly, it feels to me like winning those would be worth just that much more.

This website is great and all, but it's not where I do most of my competing.  No.  I prefer the next site.

Viewbug

Viewbug is like a really souped-up version of Photocrowd.  I stumbled on it in my Instagram feed one day, explored what they had, and was completely and instantly sold.

Just like Photocrowd, most of Viewbug is made up of contests and challenges that photographers can enter to compete against one another.  If you're actually using it right, this should help you improve as you work on your craft because you can see what's working for others and what's not.  But let's start with the profiles themselves.

The profiles act as virtual portfolios (a shared characteristic that I forgot to mention about Photocrowd by the way).  You would fill out your general information, then start uploading your masterpieces to your profile.  Ta-da!  They even have options to display if you are available for work/photoshoots and a possible button to collect donations!  It's the all-in-one photography kit.

The contests and challenges are also both different from the Photocrowd setup.  It feels like you get a whole lot out of each in their own respective ways.  Let's start with the challenges.

The challenges are probably the closest to the contests on Photocrowd.  There's a plethora of challenges to choose from or participate in, the prize is points and bragging rights, and you can even make your own.  However, they are also still different.

First, you cannot participate in a challenge that you created, because you are the sole judge of who wins (who would enter and then not pick their own photo?).  Also, there is no limit to how many you get in on.  Screw it, choose them all!

The contests at Viewbug are what excite me about the platform.  Again, there is no limit to how many you can participate in at all.  But now you're not creating them because they're sponsored.

By whom?  Well, by those that can do a whole lot better than a pat on the back and some "respect points."  Try like exposure and publication in a national magazine, up to and including the cover shot!  Or some top-of-the-line gear to add to your kit!  Had an eye on one of those Sony Alpha 7's?  That's okay because they currently have two contests that are giving them away as the top prize!

Is that not enough for you from a platform like this?  Really?  Okay, fine.  How about we also talk about the fact that subscribers (this time it includes me now) also have access to making their own website/online portfolio!  I know there are dozens of websites out there that you can go to for the same thing, but c'mon.  It's already right here.  Plus, you've already uploaded your photos, right?

All-and-all, Viewbug is a fantastic resource (or group of resources) to help you start and maintain your photography journey.  They even allow users to hand out "peer awards" of different kinds to photos that they feel are good enough.  But whether we're talking about Viewbug or Photocrowd (don't let this post fool you, I love them both), I've found that they just plain help you grow by leaps and bounds.

Stock Photography

The third way that I've found to help you master your craft would be plain old stock photography.  This one is extremely useful because it gives you the potential to earn a little bit of money while you work through it.  I've already broken this down in my first installment on stock photography, giving a really quick walkthrough of the ups and downs of different stock photography sets, so I won't go on about it here.  Just remember that there are several more stock agencies than I had mentioned in that blog post.  To read more on stock photography, check out my last blog post, "Kept In Stock."

With these three ideas, you are ready to at least try to start your photography journey.  Chances are that you will not be able to make a living from your craft just by using these points.  Even if you use all three in every single way that you can, you're still going to need a whole lot more to make it out there, not to mention at least a little (lot of) luck.  Just don't lose sight of why you started this journey.  Because you enjoy it.  Don't let a desire to make more money ever take the fun and enjoyment out of your photography.

Now, wish me luck as I strike out again, to try to find more useful information for the next blog post and hopefully (you have no idea how badly I want this) start making enough to at least pay the bills.  Keep snapping those photos everybody and I will see you on the other side!