How To Earn Cash With Stock Photographs

De BISAWiki

What Are Stock Photographs?

In the old days, the word stock referred to images that were part of a photographers collection or archive. Photographers would license these stock photos to interested parties for specific uses, for which they would be paid in return. This also gave them an additional income stream for their photographs, beyond the original assignment. Today, these images are stocked on virtual shelves on the internet for immediate downloads to interested buyers. There are millions upon millions of stock images available for downloads from a variety of websites.

Who Uses These Stock Images?

Stock images are used everyday by website builders, bloggers, in magazines & promotional flyers, and widely in advertising. It is not unusual to see the same image used in different ads. If you are a contributor, you may even see some of your own images one day.

What Makes A Stock Photo?

A stock photo is generally one that communicates a message in a simple, clear way. It can be black and white or color. Buyers looking for stock photos usually want high quality images that will reproduce well.

How Do You Make Money With Stock Photos?

With the invention of the digital camera, most of us have large collections of photos in our personal libraries. Mine are in several libraries including iPhoto, Picasa, and Flickr. Amongst the hundreds of photos that I have, there are many that would qualify as stock photos. The photos that I have identified as stock, can be uploaded to a number of different photo stock sites. Once there, they are made available for purchase, and download to an interested buyer.

Several popular photo stock sites are:

•iStockPhoto.com •BigStockPhoto.com •Shutterstock.com •Fotolia.com •Dreamstime.com • Stockphotographic.com

Each of these stock sites offer millions of photos for download, at a price. Photographers are paid a commission on their images when they are purchased at these sites. The amount of commission paid depends on the size of the picture and the price paid. The larger the picture, the more it costs, and, the larger the commission. Commissions can be as high as 63% of the purchase price.

How Do I Get Started?

To begin with, take stock of the photos you already have in your collection. Separate the highest quality photos, and put them into a folder. Then review these photos and pick the best ones from this collection.

Sign up with a few of the micro stock sites mentioned above. It's free. Apply to be a contributor. Each site has different requirements. Some will require you to answer a few questions and upload some sample photos. This is why it is important to upload only high quality photos. So, sit back. Wait for your approval. Start making money.

Gary Denali is an amateur photographer who uses his Canon digital camera to make money online. Want to learn more about how you can earn cash with your digital camera? Click here: Stockphotographic