How to make money online with Microstock photography

You don't have to be a professional photographer to sell your photos (or digital images) online for money. In short, your pictures are worth money. People are constantly in need of stock photography for websites, presentations, brochures and so on, and are willing to pay for the right image.

People generally search for images on stock photography sites by keywords, not by photographer, so you have the same chance as anyone else of having your image picked. Just be careful that you don't have images of trademarked brands, copyrighted art or people's faces that are readily identifiable (unless you have a model release), but just about anything else is fair game, and I promise - you'd be amazed what people need pictures of, so don't make any assumptions. If it's a decent photo, upload it.

However, to fully take advantage of making money online from stock photography, you need at least three things:
1) maintaining your photo gallery. If possible, frequently upload photos to your gallery under different theme. More photos choice give you better exposure to possible sales.
2) research the photo search statistic. Look at the photo search statistics, it will be clue to you on which subject are popular. Suppose a hot search is on women, make sure you have photos on modeling women.
3) remember to promote your photo stock links to make it more marketable.

How does it work?

The process of making money from your photography through micro stock agencies is fairly simple.

1. Research popular micro stock photography agencies online. There are quite a few of them, but you'll want to start with just one or two until you get the hang of things.

2. Choose your absolute best pictures to submit. Some agencies require you to submit 10 pictures for review when you apply for an account with them, while others only require three the first time. Most don't have minimum requirements though, and you can start by submitting just one.

3. Your pictures will be reviewed by humans, and accepted or rejected into the micro stock photography site. If they're accepted, they'll be available for clients to "buy".

Technically they're not fully buying your pictures though. They're simply licensing the pictures for specific use. Usually micro stock photography is used in websites, though sometimes it's used in advertisements, brochures and other marketing materials. The photographer always retains full copyrights to their photos though, and is normally able to sell the same photos over and over again to additional clients.

And this is the beauty of stock photography. Once you've taken a great picture and had it accepted into a stock photography portfolio, that one picture can continue earning you money month after month... sometimes year after year.

Most micro stock photography agencies pay $0.20 - $0.50 per picture license, or download. This may not seem like much, however a good photographer with several hundred pictures for sale could make a nice second income over time, because it all adds up!

Recommended sites

There are many micro stock sites, some better. Since most contracts are not exclusive, I recommend using several micro stock agencies in parallel. Here are some recommended sites

Dreams Time - This is a less known site, but still very popular with the clients, and gets great sells. The basic price per image is 1$ (or 2$ for full resolution) out of which the photographer gets 50%. The site is very friendly. It has an FTP upload option and pictures are usually approved within a three days.

Fotolia - Fotolia is a rising star in the field of stock photography. They usually pay more then 50% of the commission to the photographer, and allow you to set your own price. They are one of the fastest to approve photographs. Another nice thing is the way you can get your money. They will allow you to make a paypal cashout once you've hit the 2 dollar mark.

Bigstockphoto - Yet another great site for photographers. They pay 50c or 1$ per image downloaded. And they allow to get paid after only 30$ has accumulated. They will approve photos in about three days. They allow FTP upload.

Shutter Stock - This is the leading micro stock agency today. Shutterstock’s business model allows a customer to make a subscription and during the subscription period the customer can download 25 pictures a day. This model encourages downloads, and indeed you will get allot of downloads. The photographers earn 25c per download, and additional 5c if the customer also requested to burn the image on a CD. There are also broader uses licenses that the client can buy for additional payment. The site is very friendly. It has an FTP upload option and pictures are approved within a day or two.

123rf.com - 123rf is a relatively new agency which is doing well. They are still small, so if you are good standing out is easy. They pay 50% of each sale to the photographer - nice. Another nice feature is email notification once your images has been approved or rejected.

Stockxpert - Stockxpert is another good micro stock agency. They have good FTP support, and they will approve your photos within days. 50% out of each download goes to the photographer.

iStockPhoto - Istock Photo is another big micro stock agency. They pay something between 20% to 40%, but the image is sold for 1-12 dollars so there is a chance of a nice payoff. Also as a photographer progresses, he/she gets more % out of every sale.

CanStockPhoto - They pay 50% for guest/member download and 0.25 USD for subscription download. They are a great agency, with a little cluttered design.

Feature Pics - A very nice agency - they let you set a price for your stock photos or set the percentage that you want to earn.

Photostockplus - photostockplus gives a great variety of products you can sell. They will not only sell your photos, but put them on mugs, shirts and more. photostockplus also provides great resources for event photographers

Fotegrafik - Fotegrafik specialized in Asian photos.


The above list is by no means comprehensive, but it highlights some of the new and interesting ways to make money online without investing any money, without having a product of your own, and without having expert sales and marketing skills. Most of all, unlike taking surveys or getting paid to read e-mail, the potential return on your time investment is substantial.

More about stock photography

Stock photography agents are companies that represent photographers and sell their photographs "right of use" graphic artists, news papers and advertising companies. One of the evolving domains in stock photography is called "micro stock". A micro stock agency, as the name implies, is a stock agency that deals with low (micro) price - about a dollar - photographs. Usually the micro stock agencies will restrict the uses allowed for a photograph. The interface is usually web based, allowing the photographer to quickly upload, and the customer, an easy selection and download mechanism. The micro stock agencies have a quantity favored policy.

Filtering and choosing photographs

When you are choosing your portfolio, consider the following point: does your photograph has a value as an illustration or as a concept or idea that a customer can benefit from? For example, a photograph of a businessman in a suit climbing a mountain will sell better that a macro shot of a mosquito on a pinhead. A lady holding a disk in one hand and a handful of dollar notes on the other hand, will sell better the a photograph of a hippopotamus chasing a koala bear. This has nothing to do with the quality of the photographs. The micro stock agencies and their customers are looking for clear ideas and concepts that their clients can use.

Preparing the photograph before uploading to your gallery / portfolio

Before uploading your photographs to a micro stock agency site, you need to make sure you comply with the following guide lines:

* The picture should be uploaded in JPEG format with minimal compression (some sites allow for RAW image upload as well)
* Most sites require that you upload your photographs in their original resolution. Do not resize the image.
* The guys who verify the images you have submitted are very sensitive to noise and granularity. Try looking at your photo in a 100% magnification to verify you do not "suffer" from noise. If in doubt use tools to remove the noise such as Noise Ninja or Neat Image
* The photograph must not have any copyright material or trade marks. This includes bottle labels, T-shirts with logo, or any other product that has a trademark. Remove those logos using Photoshop.
* For any picture that contains persons that can be identified, you must enclose a Model Release Form - this form shows the consent of your object to be photographed. If you photographed yourself, include a Model Release Form signed by you. Here are shutterstock’s model release forms, and here are dreamstime's model release forms, there are also some generic Model Release Forms on the web.

Choosing keywords for your photo

If you will not index your photographs with good keywords, you will never get good exposure on the micro stock site. You are competing against some 1,000,000 (yes that is more than one million) pictures and about 25,000 photographs added weekly.

My suggestion is put allot of effort into the keyword that you use. If you have good pictures that customers can use, attaching good keywords will give you the best rating and maximum downloads. So, how do you select your keywords? The best way is to look at similar photographs uploaded by other users to get ideas. You can also use a thesaurus to find synonyms.

You can edit the keywords in the micro stock agency site, or you can embed the keywords in your photograph using Photoshop. In the menu select file -> file info -> keywords, and add your keywords. The keywords you have inserted will be embedded in the JPEG file in a standard called IPTC. All the micro stock agencies web servers can read this format.

Getting paid from microstock photography

Once you have accumulated a fixed amount of money you can get paid. Usually this amount is between 75$-100$. You can get a check or use paypal.

Getting started with microstock photography

If you think you are up to the job (hint - answer is no "no"), take a look at the following links - they will help you to get better shots:

* A small and easy home studio
* A two minute reflector
* A DIY light tent
* A flash diffuser

Torrent Download: Microstock Photography How To Make Money From Your Digital Images (20.70 MB PDF) ** BlogTactic is not responsible for the Torrent contents.

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USA Today: Make money with microstock photography

Kim Komando of USA Today stressed a few things that you need to know about making money with microstock photography. Details below:

Image quality is important

A digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera will give you the best photos. But you can use any digital camera with a good image sensor. You want a camera good enough to avoid noise and compression artifacting in your images.

Noise is pixels of a different color in a solid color. It is most common in low-light situations. Some cameras are noisier than others. And higher ISO settings increase noise.

Compression artifacting is a loss of image detail. It comes from using too much compression. It can be attributed to editing software or camera settings.

Shoot in RAW format, if your camera offers this image setting. This yields the best quality photographs. RAW files are like digital negatives. They allow you to make more adjustments during the editing process. For example, you can change white balance and exposure.

After editing, save your images as high quality JPEGs. Avoid editing JPEGs.

Your photos must be reviewed

Microstock sites carefully review all photographs submitted. Take your time when making your first submission. If it is rejected, you may need to wait a month before reapplying.

Read the sites' training materials carefully to get started. You may be quizzed before you can submit photographs.

Subject matter is important (keywords)

Certain subjects sell better than others. Business, lifestyle and food photographs are popular. Photos of flowers and pets will probably be rejected — unless they're unique.

Photographs that promote a concept such as healthy living sell well. And don't forget seasonal photographs. Take photographs that relate to holidays — and upload them well beforehand.

Review the popular photos on microstock sites to see what sells. You'll also get new ideas. But don't re-create another photographer's image. This could land you in trouble. And your photos will be rejected.

If a person's face is visible in your photo, a model release is required. This also applies to self-portraits. A release gives you permission to use someone's likeness for commercial purposes.

Likewise, you'll need a release for identifiable buildings and houses.

You cannot include subjects protected by a copyright or trademark. This includes logos, insignias and designs. Some buildings are also trademarked.

Uploading images is time consuming

Making a substantial amount of money requires dedication. The larger your portfolio, the more you'll make. You'll need to upload hundreds of photos to see real income.

You can upload the same photos to numerous microstock sites. This increases your chance of finding buyers. Focus on the sites where you sell the most.

You must add keywords, titles and descriptions to your photos. This is a lot of work if you upload to 10 different sites.

If you hope to sell your photos, evaluate your work honestly. Technical skills are imperative. But commercial appeal is equally important.

Reference: DIYPhotography,USA Today