Selling Stock Photographs Online – An Introduction

Felisa Rosalba asked:


You don’t have to be an experienced photographer, or someone who knows how to sell stuff online, to make money from your photographs. But you do need time and motivation to learn new things.

Is stock photography the best option for someone who wants to make money with photography? Most photographers say yes. Creating simple photos that can be used to illustrate online articles, or to be used in advertisements, is something that can be learned easily.

Regardless of what you like to photograph – portraits, animals, landscapes or people – you have the opportunity to offer your stock photos to hundreds of people. You can sell the same photograph multiple times, and make money. It all depends of what agency you select. For the so called macrostock, or traditional stock agencies, you’ll probably need more quality shots, and be more experienced photographer. If you prefer to be paid less, but with a greater chance of making your first sale in the first week or month of your photo business, then choose micro-payment stock agencies.

The most important thing is to create photos which can be used by webmasters, designers, small business owners and advertisers. Stock photographs are not art. Remember that. For some people this is bad news, but even in stock photography there’s enough room to be ‘arty’ and creative. Take a look at those photos in the “Abstracts” category, for example.

Make sure your photos are bright and colorful, and that there’s no noise or over-filtering. When your photo gets rejected don’t waste your time complaining on forums, move on and create another photo. Who knows, that photograph might end up to be in the top 100 bestsellers on a popular stock agency site.

And now, you can learn more about how to Make Money Taking Photos. You can also read tips for Making Money in Photography

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