TURN YOUR PHOTO TO CASH

TURN YOUR PHOTO TO CASH
EARN MONEY SELLING PHOTOS ON THE INTERNET
Got a digital camera? Now you can earn money selling your pictures on the Internet! If you have a good eye and
if you are a creative person, you can generate very nice monthly income by selling your pictures on stock
photography web sites. Personally, I am receiving checks and PayPal transfers for few hundreds bucks every
month and you can do it too.
I truly love online stock photography Internet phenomenon, since it is the first in the world and probably the only
business model which allows amateur photographers like you and me to earn some money from they lovely
hobby. In fact, if you are a talented photographer and you shoot hundreds of pictures every month you can earn a
very significant part of your living by shooting high quality creative pictures for stock photography agencies.
There are many stock photography sites that will be happy to sell your photos and share with you the received
revenues. iStockPhoto, ShutterStock, Fotolia, BigStockPhoto and CanStockPhoto are just few stock sites to
name. All stock sites allow you to register for free as their submitting photographer and start uploading your
work to their banks. However, be aware that many sites will ask you to provide detailed personal information
such as a scan of you picture ID or passport. Also, at many sites you will be requested to sign and fax back a
signed copy of the site's 'submitter agreement'. These requirements are part of continuous effort of limiting the
image fraud on the Internet and protecting both image buyers and image copyright owners from the fraudulent
behavior.
BASIC STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY RULES
the basic stock photography rules are quite simple:
1) Do not submit images that include any copyrighted material Avoid photographing company logos, trademarks,
third-party images and brands.
2) Use appropriate lighting and composition This is common sense, but I will mention it anyway. Your images
compete for the buyers attention with images created by highly qualified talented professional photographers
which shoot for years, own nice equipment and definitely know how and when use it. You must think creatively in
terms of lighting and composition, otherwise your images will never sell.
For instance, if until now you relied on built-in camera flash as a proper source for indoor lighting it is a time to
change your mind. Go to the stock sites and take a look how other photographers use light in their work. You will
probably need to switch to some more professional sources of lighting for your indoor photography. Again - be
creative and you will win the war for the buyers' attention and buyers dollars!
3) Images format must be JPG at most sites, typically starting from 2 megapixels and with max file size of 8-10
MB
4) Prices and payments - what income you can expect Most stock photography agencies pay photographers for
each download (a purchase) made by the image buyer. This is a micro-payment model and the prices you get paid
start as low as $0.20. However, if you were successful to create a real bestselling image you can easy hit few
hundreds downloads a month, so your earning arithmetic can be $0.2 x 300 = $60 monthly for a single image.
Shooting 10 bestsellers monthly could generate you $600 monthly income - definitely not a bad return on a few
hours investment.
The rule of the thumb says the more images you have online in each and every stock photography agency the
more images you sell and the higher monthly income you get. Typically, stock agencies send you a check or a
PayPal transfer at the end of every month if you have earned more than a certain amount of cash, typically $100,
during that month. Your earnings will be collected by the site until they reach this minimal payment.
Well, that's all folks! Just take your digital camera now and go for a shooting session. Oh, - wait!, wait a second.
First, open your web browser and look what other people submit to stock photography agencies. Note the most
popular images and agencies suggestions for stock content categories and keep these subjects in mind when you
shoot. My personal advice? Avoid flowers close-ups, typical landscapes, city scenes and buildings. Try to
materialize business terms and shoot pictures which represent them,e.g. 'success', 'failure', 'partnership'. Be
always creative in your work and your pictures will become online bestsellers. Good luck and happy shooting!
SEE SAMPLES OF PICTURES PUBLISHED FOR SALE
Some of the tested sites that to sell pictures include:
1. http://www.shutterstock.com/
2. http://www.shareapic.com/
3. http://www.istockphoto.com/
4. http://www.bigstockphoto.com/
5. http://www.canstockphoto.com/
6. http://www.fotolia.com/
7. http://www.123rf.com/