The blockchain has changed the way people do business, and make money, especially in the NFT space. NFTs allow photographers to list their artwork for sale on a number of online marketplaces and collectors can purchase artwork from artists just like any other traditional market. However, there is one key difference because everything from transactions to ownership happens digitally and selling digital art could be traced thanks to blockchain technology. Almost all digital artists agree that the new technology has brought more advantages both for collectors and artists as it omit a middleman and, as the result, their share of trade.
There are a few things artists should know to start out in NFT market and to sell photographs as NFTs, and once they learn the basics, it will be relatively easy to sell NFT photography. In the following we provide a complete guide to selling photos as NFTs, what it takes to start, how much it costs, how to market the art what NFT photography marketplace artists may choose, etc.
Table of Contents
What is NFT photography?
NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens, which have their own characteristics like uniqueness, rarity, ownership and collectability. Such characteristics could help NFTs end up being worth thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars.
NFTs are essentially collected similarly to traditional photos but in the digital world and could be anything from landscape photos to portraits to GIFs and 2D images. They are also different in that they can only be purchased with cryptocurrencies, mainly Ethereum, and a digital wallet is required to trade NFT photography and invest.
Why NFTs are great for photographers?
Photography has become one of the most popular ways to make money among artists. Using smartphones and digital cameras almost everyone takes photos every day. As a result, people are more likely to plan to earn more taking photos and share them with others. Many photographers see NFT photography a must nowadays.
Simply saying, NFT for photographers is easy if they have unique shots. Sure, photographers can also sell their photos on stock photography websites, but the revenue isn’t comparable as, according to the reports, some NFTs sold for millions of dollars in some cases. Naturally, not all NFTs will sell for such a high amount, but it seems that photographers surely make much more selling photos as NFT rather than stock ones.
Pricing images on photography NFT marketplaces is totally depends on unique ideas behind each photo and, for sure, the advertisement online. In the following, we discuss it in more details.
What do you need to sell photos as NFTs?
Although everyone can start selling photos as NFTs, there are some requirements to join the market. First of all, you need a unique piece of art which can be a unique photograph in the form of portrait, landscape, drone, sports photography or any related piece. Every piece of art can become an NFT.
Once you chose the photo to be sold as an NFT, you will need a digital crypto wallet such as Meta Mask. Then, you will need to add some cryptocurrencies, most likely Ethereum, to your wallet to process the transactions and sell your NFTs.
Although everyone can start selling photos as NFTs, there are some requirements joining the market. There are a few, simple steps to take to walk in this space.
Choose a photograph
First of all, you need a unique piece of art which can be a unique photograph in the form of a portrait, landscape, drone, sports photography or any related piece. Every piece of art can become an NFT.
Digital wallet
Once you chose the photo to be sold as an NFT, you will need a digital crypto wallet such as MetaMask. Then, you will need to add some cryptocurrencies, most likely Ethereum, to your wallet to process the transactions and sell your NFTs. You may directly purchase the cryptocurrency within your digital wallet or you may prefer to join a cryptocurrency exchange, like Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com, etc. Here, you are required to create an account in your favorable crypto exchange and purchase the cryptocurrency. Then, all you need is to send it to your digital wallet address.
Choose a marketplace
There are several NFT marketplaces available now and the artists need to look for the ideal fit for their NFT. Keep in mind that each marketplace comes with advantages and disadvantages. For example, Foundation has a large community of artists but it is invite-only; OpenSea is ideal though the gas fees seem really high. So, it is wise to check the features and choose the best marketplace for selling your NFT photography.
How to list your NFT photography for sale
Once you connect your digital wallet to the platform you choose to sell your NFT on, the process of selling your photos as NFTs will be pretty straightforward.
Here we provide the process of selling NFT photography on two of the most popular NFT photography marketplaces: OpenSea and Foundation.
OpenSea
OpenSea is easily the most well-known NFT photography website and where endless artists list their art for sale. First, sign up for an account on OpenSea and collect your digital wallet, e.g. MetaMask. Then, chose the photograph to sell as an NFT, head over to OpenSea’s homepage and click on “Create” on the top-right corner of the screen. OpenSea accepts pretty much all formats you can think of and up to 100MB. After uploading your file, select the auction type; you can choose to sell your NFT photography with a fixed price or bid. Fill in all the details, making sure not to leave any space empty. Further, you also may create an external link that is great to display your entire portfolio, however it is necessarily on OpenSea. Pay the posting fee (gas fee), and you’ll start selling. It’s worth noting that the “gas fee” can vary a lot depending on the hour and the number of users on the network at the time. I recommend doing so in the early morning or late at night to hopefully pay lower gas fees. After publishing the first NFT, OpenSea provides you the option of Lazy Minting which mostly costs less in fees. Generally speaking, when you receive an offer on your listing, you will need to pay 2.5% of the final price to the platform. You can also set a royalty for up to 10% which you will receive on secondary sales.
Foundation
Foundation is quite different compared to OpenSea, though they share the same purpose. Foundation is an invite-only platform, so that you will only be able to start selling an NFT if another creator (that sold at least 1 NFT) invites you to the platform. The user interface and ease of use that every artist and collector appreciate makes Foundation remarkable, though it is more limited than OpenSea and the fees are higher. But Foundation is still popular with artists and collector since it is more exclusive and not everyone is able to post NFT photography for sale on this platform.
Rarible
another well-known platform to sell artwork online is Rarible. It also uses the Ethereum blockchain and all payments are ETH based. However, Rarible is different in that all digital artworks are limited in number or even unique. As the name suggests it is a home for the rarest NFT artworks. It also makes it possible for artists to get commissions from the resale of their artworks. Rarible supports most digital format art including JPEG, PNG or GIF. It also requires a digital wallet, like MetaMask, which has some ETH deposits to pay the gas fees. You need to create an account on rarible.com/create and connect your digital wallet. Then, click on Create Collectibles and choose the type of your digital asset, single or multiple collectibles. You must enter all the details required about your digital art to mint the artwork: upload the image with the required format, title it, write a description and decide about the number of copies to make, decide about royalties and set the price in ETH. You are all done!
How to price your photography NFT?
One of the tough areas for NFT photographers is to price their digital assets. Pricing is directly affected by the NFT market photographers wish to list their NFT photos. So, first of all, you need to check the gas fee and all other fees related to uploading and listing an NFT photo on a market, like Opensea, Rarible, etc. You need to add the fees to your price in advance.
You also need to choose the type of NFT you wish to produce, like edition, standalone or collection. The type of NFT you create makes you choose certain platforms and pay defined fees, which again influence the final price of the NFT image you create.
Furthermore, as an NFT photographer, you need to check the market requirement along with the rarity of your asset. As you may already know, rarity is the most important item which influences the price of an NFT image. The rarest items, including the fewest number of prints, cost more and attract more investors accordingly.
It is also helpful to choose if you want to sell your NFT image at a fixed price or at an auction. Remember that you need to set a reasonable floor price if you choose an auction and decide about the time duration for the auction, timed or unlimited. Also, try to price your NFT using ETH, DAI or any common cryptocurrency so you may allow more investors to purchase your asset.
Costs of selling NFT photos
Once you minted your NFT you should consider the cost which directly depends on the platform you choose.
As already discussed, the fees on OpenSea are 2.5% of the final price for both primary and secondary sales. Also, the royalties are up to 10% for primary and secondary sales where the actual percentage is defined by the artist.
On the other hand, Foundation asks for the highest fee on the market. Selling an NFT, you pay 15% of the final price on the primary sales to the platform. For secondary sales, a fee of 5% is applied. Apart from that, the royalties on Foundation are set to 10%.
It is a good advice to consider the fees and what receive for that on each platform.
Marketing your NFT photography
Besides minting your photos and listing them for sale on the NFT marketplaces, you definitely need to market your collection on social media to gain visibility and ultimately make money with NFT photography.
In the following you will find the most popular ways to market your NFT photography and eventually make sales!
Twitter is a popular choice for gathering in the crypto and NFT communities. All you ned to do is to step in NFT space, like, comment, and retweet other artists’ work, be part of the community by supporting and engaging with others and make friends with collectors who will potentially be your customers. Twitter also has a great feature called ‘Twitter Spaces’ which is essentially audio-based chat rooms where get the chance to speak in a space, introduce yourself, ask questions, and showcase your work.
Discord
is one of the best ways to market your photography NFTs. It has recently been hosting some of the most populated crypto and NFT spaces. All you need to do to market your NFT is to start a discussion and build a community for users to interact with each other. It is a place to discuss with other artists and collectors, take part in online streaming events, and promote your project. Things even get better if you set up a profile on Discord, join some servers, engage with the community, and make friends with other artists. All this make Discord an incredible platform to get more attention to your NFT photography portfolio.
is a powerful way to attract collectors to your NFTs. Start a profile for your portfolio, engage in the comment section, and post about your latest pieces. Further, you may share stories, reels, and posts directed to your photography NFTs. This will drive more attention to your artwork on OpenSea or other sites that you decide to use.
Final words
Besides all the information provided here, there are few other information on NFT photography that may also help you. The most important one is that the rights to the NFT traded are all directed on the smart contract developed for the sale, including ownership and copy right, which means, for example, when a collector buys an NFT, it may or may not mean that they are the complete owner of the artwork unless it is stipulated in the smart contract. Therefore, consider the type of contract you choose according the platform used.