How To Make Money From Stock Photography! (Making Money Selling Photos)

Stock photography is a fantastic way to make money. If you have a passion for photography, or are even an amateur, this can be a fun and exciting way to make money on the side.

How it works

After choosing which photographs you want to upload, try to touch them up as best you can, using software such as Photoshop, or something as free and simple as Picasa!

Each stock photo site has different criteria, but the basis is the same. After signing up for a free account (Fotolia, DreamsTime, iStockPhoto, and BigStockPhoto are all established sites), simply go through the upload steps, adding keywords and categories when asked. It can take up to a week to receive notice if your picture has been approved, and if it isn't they will give you helpful hints as to why your submission was denied.

Quality Control

You must keep in mind that they are selling these photographs (although you retain the copyright) to businesses for the most part. Pictures of your family and such will most likely not sell very well. For inspiration about what they are looking for, flip open the nearest magazine and look at the advertisements. Each of those ad images are stock photos gathered from those same site mentioned above. Some people have even been fortunate enough to see their own ad in a magazine. You may have the nicest abstract photo in the world, but it will probably get turned down if there isn't much demand for it.

Keep Your Chin Up

Sometimes there are just too many images similar to yours and your photo is therefore denied. Other times the image is too dark, too bright, not high enough quality, showing somebodies face without an attached consent form, etc. This is why it is important to edit your photos as best you can to normalize the colour and brightness. I can't tell you how many of my photos have been denied, but I've had quite a few accepted too, so... keep your chin up!

If you need any help, feel free to comment below. Good luck!