For someone who loves photography and has invested time, money and energy into their hobby, a small business that helps recoup some of the investment and gives a "home" to some of those photos makes a lot of sense. While not all photographers can manage to land contracts with National Geographic or another big name magazine, those with some ability and decent equipment can easily manage to set up a part time business that lets them sell photos online.
Read Stock Photography Site Requirements
It is a smart idea to begin a business selling photos by making sure they will be accepted by some of the different stock photography sites that offer royalty free downloads of photos to busy publishers, graphic designers, etc. Reading over the site requirements for each site the photographer is interested in using as a "storefront" for his or her work allows the photographer to see if he or she has the skills needed to make photos the site will accept.
Some sites, such as istockphoto.com, require photographers to pass a test before allowing them to upload photos. Taking the test before he or she is ready to actually upload photos can help the photographer take the kind of photos that will meet the sites' needs.
Create a Group of High Demand Stock Photos
Most royalty free photo sites are so overloaded with great nature photos that they tend to be very picky about the quality of photos that are uploaded. Even if someone does manage to get a nature photo accepted, there are so many competing photos that downloads tend to be low. The key to making a good income selling photos online is to create high demand stock photos that are scarce on the royalty free sites.
One great place to find out which photos are in high demand is the site itself. Many of them list the subjects they'd like to see more of. For example, istockphoto.com has an entire page of wish list subjects for photographers to review. Dreamstime.com has a more general description of what it is looking for, but still provides some guidance.
Start Selling Photos Online
Once a photographer has created several stock photos that seem to meet the needs of the different sites, he or she needs to get them off the camera and onto the sites. After checking size and clarity and removing any identifying information, such as logos, he or she is ready to begin the process of signing up at the site or sites that seem to be the best fit. The steps can take some time to complete, but, once the photos are uploaded and approved, he or she can simply wait for the first sales to trickle in.
While there are many ways to make money with photography, selling royalty free photos online is ideal for many hobby or beginning photographers who want to earn a bit of money without having to set up a studio or full scale business. As they upload more photos and promote their pages on the stock photography sites, they may just find that their little online photo businesses are earning a substantial amount of residual income.
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