A stock photography business is a method of earning more money in the photography business. Stock photos are a collection of photos that are licensed for use for various purposes. These are used by people like book publishers, graphic artists, advertisers, etc. to add creativity to your work. So, due to the growing demand for these types of photos, selling stock photos has become a business unto itself.
When you intend to start a stock photography business and sell stock photos to make money, there are a few things to keep in mind. Always choose and filter the photos you want to keep on your list. In a stock photography business, most of the time quality is not as important as getting the idea across. People opt for stock photography, either when they don’t have time to go to a photo shoot or cannot acquire the required photo. Therefore, select and keep photos that are capable of conveying ideas.
If you are selling your photos to a stock photography agency, you will need to adhere to their terms and upload the photos in the specified formats and resolutions. Or if you keep stock photos on your own, always look for a format and resolution that meet customer requirements.
Stock photos must not be copyrighted or watermarked. These photos are intended for sale and reuse. So there is no point in putting a copyright mark on it. And if you are hosting your photos on a website, be sure to use the proper keywords and tags so that you are easily found by search engines. You can check out major stock photo hosting websites like ShutterStock, Fotolia, etc. for ideas on how to keyword and organize your stock photos.
Whereas, if you intend to sell your stock photos to a stock photo agency or website, that’s good too. By doing so you comply with the terms of the agency and you will be paid a good amount for the images or every time someone downloads your photo you will get a specified percentage. In this way, stock photos are a means of generating income over and over again.
You can also take orders to produce stock photos. The agencies will give you subjects you need to take photos of. This is a more effective way to sell stock photos. In the conventional method, the agency takes only selected photos of the hundreds or thousands that you send. But when you capture photos based on the subject matter they provide, the chance that most photos will be selected is high.
Microstock is the latest form of a stock photography business and photos are licensed for much lower fees. Sales of these types of photographs are also on the rise. Microstock photos are sold in bulk and therefore the photographer gets a fair amount from the sale. Although the amount per download is less compared to common stock photos, Microstock sells for more. This ensures that photographers make more money selling Microstock photos.