NFTs for photographers — how to get started
You probably heard something about NFT’s in the last weeks and months, but you have no idea what that is and how to get started? Here’s my breakdown.
Well, I just released my first #NFT photo collection on opensea.io, and I want to share my little journey with you.
So what are NFTs?
NFT stands for “non-fungible token.” Non-fungible means it can’t be altered or replaced. An NFT is an image in the form of a digital token. These tokens are then sold online. An NFT can be anything in digital form. For example, artwork, photographs, and animations can be converted into an NFT and sold online. In the real world, you only have one ‘Mona Lisa’ — the original one, but in the digital space you could copy a photo as often as you want, you didn’t know what was the original one. Now, this changes through NFTs. With NFTs you have the chance as an artist to mark your asset as the original one and write it in the Blockchain.
Why sell an NFT?
NFTs are giving digital art creators a new way of selling their work. They can sell individual images pieces directly as NFTs. So they don’t need to rely on fairs and exhibitions.
There have been some staggering figures linked to the sale of NFTs. Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey, sold his first-ever tweet for over $2 million. Pop artist Grimes sold a 50-second video as an NFT for $390,000. And there was a $6.6 million sale for a video by Beeple.
How do you sell NFTs?
NFTs aren’t bought and sold with EUROS or US Dollars. An NFT can only be purchased with cryptocurrency.
The majority of the current NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain, which is one type of crypto. You won’t receive pounds or pence if you create an NFT and sell it on the Ethereum blockchain. You’ll be paid in Ethereum (ETH). Other cryptocurrencies which offer NFT marketplaces are Solana or Polkadot.
A blockchain is the community of investors and traders related to that particular cryptocurrency. Every user has their profile on the blockchain, which contains their purchase history.
What do you need to get started?
- Bitpanda / Coinbase / Crypto.com Account
- Metamask Wallet — Browser Extension
- Opensea.io
- Crypto Account
You need a Crypto Wallet for buying some Ethereum and transfer the assets between your wallets and also get it someday back to your bank account. I use Bitpanda for this. It works fast, is reliable, safe, and is located in Austria.
Set up your Metamask Wallet, this is needed because opensea.io will connect to your wallet for transactions. Metamask is very easy to setup.
3. Now you can start your Opensea.io Account
You’ve already set up your wallet, now you can create your first collection, add your NFTs and list them for sale. Everything is pretty straightforward and easy to set up. This whole process is mostly free, you have to pay a one-time gas fee for connecting your opensea account to your metamask wallet. This will be done when you want to sell your first NFT. The cost varies depending on the network usage of Ethereum. For me, it was around $80. This means you have to buy some Ethereum via your Bitpanda Account and transfer it to your Metamask Wallet, make sure you buy a little more because you have fees with every transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.
Every NFT you set up afterward is free until you sell, then you have to pay a Service Fee. You can sell your assets for fixed prices, or you can offer a bidding service.
Check out my NFT Collection: ALPS LIFE
If you have any questions, leave a comment or send me a message on Instagram.
