Photography Business Opportunities – Microstock Sites

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31 May 2010

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While photography can be a rewarding and fun hobby, it can also be a full time profession for many talented and skilled photographers. Not everyone can be a photographer for Sports Illustrated or Glamour but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a good living from photography. One example is microstock photography which is a relatively new concept and a great way to make some extra income.

What is Microstock Photography?

In order to understand microstock photography, you should first understand “stock” photography. Stock photography refers to photographs that are licensed for a wide range of uses. For instance, a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco could be a stock photo, which could be used in magazines, ads, calendars, or whatever else the person who buys it wants to do.

The big difference with microstock photography is that the images can be uploaded by anyone with good quality images and the images sell for less than stock photos. With microstock, you sell more images at a lower cost so you have to be willing to upload a lot of images to make it work. Fotalia, Shutterstock, and iStockphoto are all great websites for this purpose.

How Do I Get Started?

Getting started with microstock is easier than you think. You’ll need a basic shooting and editing setup, but nothing that would break the bank. You’ll need a digital SLR as well as some photo editing software (preferably free) like Paint.net or until you’re ready to move on to a more robust professional version.

Once you have the gear in order, all you need to do is shoot a bunch of photographs to prepare for the initial application process. If you want your images to sell, focus on subjects that are easy to sell in markets like business, home decor or other lifestyle themes. Try and bring something to the market that a person buying photographs would be looking for, but wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. When taking images, make sure that your pictures don’t include any trademarked or copyrighted subjects or material. And, if there is someone in the picture, you’ll need a signed release from the model.

Before you upload any images, check out the site and see what types of photographs they offer as this will give you a good idea of the types of images that will likely sell. Think about how the image will be used. Will it be in a magazine or ad or displayed in a picture frame? Once you have a solid portfolio, choose a site (or sites) you like and start submitting your photos for review. Pay close attention to the training materials and description the sites provide and make sure your portfolio completely fits within their guidelines, otherwise you may be denied.

How Do I Profit?

Unlike regular stock photography, microstock is all about quantity. Just remember that the more pictures you upload, the better your chance at making money. There are people who make thousands of dollars a month doing microstock photos, however, they do it full time and upload hundreds of photos a month. if you can invest the time needed to do the job, the income potential is truly endless.

Always start small so you “test the waters” before investing a lot of time and effort into uploading images before you know if it will be a good fit. If microstock seems to be your thing and you can see yourself making a healthy profit doing it, focus more time and energy on it and upload as many photos as you possibly can. If microstock photography doesn’t seem like a good fit, keep looking for other photo opportunities that are better suited for you. You should always have fun and enjoy taking pictures so find something that works best for you and you’ll end up shooting images that everyone will admire!