MAKING YOUR

CAMERA PAY

By

FREDERICK C. DAVIS

NEW YORK
ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY
1922

Copyright, 1921, 1922
Photo-Era Magazine

Copyright, 1922, by
Robert M. McBride & Co.

Printed in the
United States of America

Published, 1922

A WORD BEFORE

The demand of publishers for good pictures is increasing. Editors are eager to use the best photographs that may be obtained. They draw no distinction between the work of the amateur and that of the professional photographer. If a photograph meets their requirements, they buy it and care little whence it comes. The opportunity to sell good pictures has never been better than it is to-day.

To give accurate and helpful information with regard to making the camera a profitable investment is the purpose of this book.

Frederick C. Davis is well-known to readers of photographic magazines, and is a practical photographer in addition to being a successful and experienced professional writer. Mr. Davis has written this monograph in a non-technical style that will entertain the reader and encourage him to make the most of photography.

This little book is a practical, up-to-the-minute answer to the question: "How can I make my camera-work profitable?"

A. H. Beardsley,
Publisher, Photo-Era Magazine.

CONTENTS

MAKING YOUR CAMERA PAY

I

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT

Whence come the thousands of photographs used every month by newspapers and magazines?

More than that, whence do the photographs come which are used by makers of calendars, postcards, for advertisements, and for illustrating books, stories and articles?

At first thought, the answer is, "From professional photographers and publisher-photo-services." But professional photographers do not produce one-third of the photographs used, and publisher-photo-services are supplied by that same large number of camerists that supply publications with most of their prints.

No one can deny that the greatest number of prints published are bought from amateur photographers in towns no larger than the average, and sometimes smaller.

The camerist does not have to get in an air-ship and fly to Africa in order to produce photographs that will sell. Read what Waldon Fawcett says, himself a success at selling his photographs:

"The photographer is apt to think that all his ambitions would be realised if only he could journey to foreign shores or to distant corners of our country; or if he could attend the spectacular events that focus the attention of the world now and then. This is a delusion. The real triumph is that of the photographer who utilises the material ready at hand in his own district, be it large or small."

And more, a person does not have to be an expert photographer in order to succeed at the work. Here is what one prominent writer says about it:

"The requirements of the field are well within the capabilities of even the beginner in photography, viz.; the ability to make good negatives and