How can I start to get my photography noticed?

[Amarand]

I've sold a few of my images to advertising agencies and my images were found on Flickr. I release all of my work to the Creative Commons under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license, which means that someone can use my image for any non-commercial purpose as long as they give me credit for the source image and the final product is released under a similar license. Remixing is a great idea, and you don't lose any of your commercial rights. It's a chicken-or-the-egg type of question. If your work is posted on a photography site like Flickr, and you start to gain a following and popularity, as long as you tag your images properly, there's a good chance that the right people will find you if you're worth finding.

Now on the other end of the spectrum, you can market yourself, which involves being a little more proactive as others have mentioned, submitting your images to magazines and other media. Keep in mind, if you go for this submittal route before you learn what resonates with your audience, you may submit pieces that are quickly rejected. Another thing is that users of professional photography are super-picky about things like focus, sensor/lens dust, accurate color, resolution, composition and adaptability as a component within a larger piece...just to name a few. These professionals see so many images per day, they have a pretty good sense - immediately - as to what will work, and what will not work, with their particular product.

Another great option is to start selling your best work to the various stock photography companies on the market. If your work is of high-quality, original and has artistic value, people will pay a premium for your work. Eventually, as you start to sell more and more images, you can start using these as references to add to your resume, so you might get pushed a little closer to the top of the stack.

Personally, I believe in a holistic, one-two (three?) punch - and it doesn't hurt at all to make friends, don't burn bridges, learn about social capital and social marketing. I make friends with the bands, do free shoots for local people who are cool and make/keep as many friendly/helpful/positive connections as I can. It all helps!

Another thing to consider, if local business is useful to get you started out, is to join your local chamber of commerce. A lot of times, people are looking for a photographer, and will look to someone within their local peer group to use.

Hope this helps!