In This Post, We’ll Talk About How to Make Money with Stock Photography
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How to Make Money with Stock Photography
Selling your images on stock photography agency sites might be a great method to supplement your income if you like photography. For several years, I’ve sold images on stock sites, and while the profits have been tiny, they’ve helped cover the expenditures of pricey photography equipment.
You may have the necessary tools to make photographs for stock photography sites if you own a digital camera or a modern smartphone with a high-quality camera. The following parts will assist you in getting started with how to make money with stock photography.
Websites for Stock Photography
Researching top agencies is a fantastic starting step toward becoming a stock photographer. Learn about the many types of royalty schemes, as well as how to become a contributor. Over the last five years, I’ve sold photographs on ten or twelve stock photo sites, but I’ve decided on six. I normally submit a fresh set of images to all six sites whenever I have a new batch of photos to sell. The pages that follow detail these organizations and how to become involved as a contributor.
Shutterstock
The headquarters of Shutterstock are in New York City. It has approximately 300 million photographs from over 1 million people, according to its about page. Study the material on the contributor page and, when ready, click the [Join Now] button to be considered for selling photographs on Shutterstock.
The Contributor mobile app is a benefit of becoming a Shutterstock contributor. You may upload photographs and track sales by year, month, day, and photo using it.
Adobe Stock is a collection of images created by Adobe
Adobe Inc., a big software corporation located in San Jose, California, owns Adobe Stock, previously Fotolia. As a contributor on Adobe’s site, you will be able to sell to the world’s greatest creative community, according to the company. To begin selling, read the information on the contributor page and, when ready, click the [Join now] button.
Dreamstime
Dreamstime, established in the United Kingdom, bills itself as the “world’s largest stock photography community.” It claims to have 700,000 contributors, 34 million subscribers, and over 158 million photographs as of March 2021. Review the material on the Upload your images page to discover how to become a Dreamstime contributor, then click the [Sign up and start making money] button when you’re ready.
Alamy
Alamy, situated in Oxfordshire, England, claims to have the world’s most diversified stock picture library with 250 million photos. Review the information on the Become an Alamy contributor page and then click the [Become a contributor] button to get started.
Gettyimages
Gettyimages, based in Seattle, Washington, is a British-American firm. According to Mark Getty, the firm’s founder and chairman, the company hosts over 400 million pieces of material from over 320,000 content providers. Review the material on this page to learn how to contribute. To be considered as a contributor, download the contributor app and follow the instructions when you’re ready.
Depositphotos
Depositphotos was launched in 2009 and claims to be the world’s fastest-growing microstock agency. It is situated in Florida and has foreign offices. It claims to have over 174 million files, clients in 192 countries, and assistance in 20 languages on their website. To become a Depositphotos contributor, go to the Become a Depositphotos Contributor page and click the [Become a Contributor] button when you’re ready.
The First Steps:
Recognize your customers’ wants and needs.
Focus on the goals and needs of potential clients to develop an interest in your images. Many stock agencies, fortunately, give subject lists and advice to assist you in selecting relevant themes. Here are a couple of such examples:
Best-selling photographs on Dreamstime according to the Shutterstock Shot List CreativeInsights by Gettyimages
Take Excellent Photographs
Most stock photography sites scrutinize each photo and allow only those that match their stringent criteria. As a result, make sure your images are of excellent quality before submitting them. Here are some suggestions:
Learn how to write a composition.
Make sure your images are properly exposed.
Make sure your key subjects are in perfect focus in your shots.
To help you become a great photographer, there is a wide range of training materials and teaching techniques available. Some instances are as follows:
Books — A wide range of photography books may be found in libraries and retailers.
Workshops and classes – Look online for affordable photography workshops and lessons.
Many online photography classes are available through courseware sites such as LinkedIn Learning and Udemy.
Websites dedicated to photography — Many websites dedicated to photography offers free or paid instruction and lessons.
Youtube videos – There are a lot of photography videos on Youtube. The key may be to locate the excellent ones among so many.
B&H Photo and Video is a company that specializes in photography and videography. B&H is a prominent seller of photography equipment in the United States. Explora / Learn Photographic — B&H is a leading supplier of photography equipment in the United States. It has a vast number of tutorials on its website.
Photos to be edited and cataloged
Before submitting photographs to stock sites, use photo editing software on a PC, smartphone, or tablet PC to optimize and arrange them. Here are some of the photo editors I’ve used in the past that are still in use today:
- Photos from Google
- Photos in Windows
- Apple Photos is a program that allows you to take
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Creative Cloud)
- Adobe Lightroom Classic is an older version of Adobe Lightroom.
Apply titles, captions, and keywords to photographs in addition to editing and saving them. You’ll be able to discover them in your picture editing program if you use keywords. They’ll also be featured with photographs posted to stock sites, making them easier to discover for potential consumers.
Contribute to Your Favorite Stock Sites
Submit your photographs to the stock site(s) you’ve chosen after they’re finished. The process for uploading and submitting photographs varies for each site. All of the ones I’ve tried permit direct uploads to their websites. They also allow FTP contributions for large entries with multiple files.
Submitting stock photographs can be time-consuming due to submission restrictions that differ from every stock agency. Hard labor, like many other parts of life, may pay handsomely.
Summary
Selling your images on stock photography sites may help you supplement your income, enhance your photography talents, and pay some of the costs of your photography equipment. Putting forth the extra effort to create high-quality photographs that you hope people would purchase may be enjoyable and can help you develop your talents.
