There is a huge difference between doing photography for fun and doing photography to try and make money. Honestly I think you are better off trying to find another way to make money than photography. Not only are you going to be competing with everyone else with a camera who thinks they are a photographer or thinks they take top tier photos. You are also trying to make money in a market that really doesn’t have a huge target audience. I don’t want to discourage you, but it’s a tough field. Even myself who is a portrait photographer still find it harder and harder to find clients. The only real area I think money can be made is as a wedding photographer. Even then you are still competing with more experienced and just sheer number of photographers out there.

I do find it amusing that you claim to shoot top tier photos but have no way to prove it. You got some huge balls kid to say you take photos as good as Ansel Adams, Hudson Henry, Pete Mckinnon, etc. I challenge you to submit your “top tier” photos to some competitions and see where you land. I am going to bet you will be humbled, but hey if you can claim a top 10 spot in a PPA competition, I’ll buy that photo for $1000.

And this is what happens when you try to be nice and fail to protect your work. Whether you are a hobbyist or make money from your work, if you care about what happens to your photos once you give them to someone, then put things in place to protect it. Don’t do verbal agreements. Put everything in writing down to what can and can’t be done with the photograph and definitely state that copyright is NOT transferred by the sale or use of the photos.