Making Money with your Digital Images
Congratulations on your decision to buy a digital camera. Now that you’ve handed your money to the cashier, you can enjoy this electronic gizmo as a unique paper weight or turn your new digital camera into a money-making machine.
How to ‘not make money’
Many pessimistic people would probably look at a digital camera and think that the only way to make big bucks from it would be to (in no particular order) become a world-famous photographer, migrate to Africa, take awesome pictures of lions and zebras and all that exotic stuff, and sell the pictures to National Geographic. Others would think about opening up a brick and motar photography studio, competing with the big shops in the modeling industry, and selling their pictures to Cosmopolitan or Vogue. It’s funny – the pessimistic people would more likely think about the near-impossible ways of making money, shake their heads and say “no”, subsequently closing their doors to a huge opportunity to make money.
Train your mind to ‘make money’
You see, you don’t need to be a photography prodigy in order to make money from digital images. All you need is a bit of common sense, decent photo gear, a bit of know-how with editing software and the World Wide Web, and a lot of optimism. If you take your digital camera and take pictures of just about anything – from your inlaws attic to your neighbor’s dog – you’ll likely end up with some pictures that are worth selling on the open market. You see, many people in the internet need and seek unique images for their WebPages they create and get many of these images from agencies in the net that sell ‘stock photos’.
To make things clearer, let me share with you an example. Let’s say that there’s a medical website in the internet that’s looking for photos. Let’s say that this website focuses mainly on pregnant women. And let’s say that you’re an amateur photographer with a pregnant cousin, but not just any cousin, you have a pregnant photogenic cousin. Why don’t you whip out your camera and take pictures of her (with her permission, of course) and sell these pictures to that medical website that’s looking for pictures to decorate their site?
Since your using a digital camera you don’t have to spend anything on film or development. Digital cameras are easy to use and allow you room for error repair, so you don’t have to worry about getting perfect shots every time. If you shoot a thousand pictures, you’ll likely have a few hundred that look decent, even if you’re not the most talented photographer in the world. You can take as many digital photos as you want and upload them into the internet for your clients to choose from, or if you’re not into looking for clients, you can avail of the services of an agency. They will take a percentage of your earnings but at least you won’t have to scour the net for clients. Another thing that’s great about making money from stock photography is that it’s not time consuming. You can take your stock photos while you’re walking your dog, visiting a friend or creating in your very own studio. Indeed, selling stock images can be a profitable business both spiritually and financially.
The Stock Photography Business
Have you ever visited a website containing many images incorporated into the design? Have you ever stopped to wonder where these pictures came from? They say that you can find a million opportunities if you only keep your eyes open. Here is a perfect example – stock photography.
The pictures that you see on the web’s various sites come from ordinary folk around the world who own a decent digital camera and posess a little creative spark. Yes, they come from people just like you. A creative "active" photographer can earn a decent living from selling their photographs. Some stock photographers claim that they make $500 to $2,000 dollars in a month just by selling their images online. In fact, if you love taking photographs, you can earn big bucks too by just indulging in your hobby. What better way is there to earn money than by doing something you love?
Creating Stock Images
If you’re going to venture into stock photography, though, there are a bunch of things you will need. First, you’ll need a bit of know-how on photography. The reason why people buy photographs is because they can’t take professional pictures themselves. You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to know how to compose a good photo. And of course, you’ll also need decent equipment. The higher the number of pixels, the better; since you’ll want a high resolution image for editing later on. But remember, an expensive camera does not compensate for talent in photography, so be wise in spending. Also, you’ll need a computer with a photo editing program. The best editing program to date is Adobe PhotoShop. PhotoShop is not cheap but here is a lessor version for budding photographers. Other programs include Paint Shop Pro and, if you’re really thrifty, GIMP. But if your going to get serious buy "best of breed" and invest your time and wisely with an Adobe product. If your really on a buget you can even settle for an earlier version of Photoshop such as version 7.0 or 8.0 on eBay. They may not have all the features of Photoshop CS3, the latest version. Some high-end cameras also come with their own CDs that contain photo editing programs, but they’re not as flexible as Adobe Photoshop. Last but not least, you’ll need a fast connection to the internet. Otherwise, how will you submit your photos?
You might find that you already have all the materials needed to launch your very own stock photography business. And that all that’s left is to actually take the pictures. Now you might be wondering what you have to take pictures of. The answer – anything! But there are subjects that are popular among the buyers. People, for one, are quite popular. Taking pictures of families going to church, pregnant women, children playing in the swings – anything "human". Cute animals are also quite popular. You could also take pictures of every day objects, buildings and edifices, specifically the popular ones. It’s all up to you, really. Once you’re done taking the pictures, edit them to make them more vivid, and voila, they’re ready to sell.
Selling Your Stock Images
You have two options on selling your photographs, either you look for your own clients and contact them yourself or you avail of the services of an agency. Looking for your own clients would give you more profits but it would cost a lot of time and effort so its practicality is questionable. The best option would be to have an agency take care of the selling for you. There are many agencies in the web, the most popular of which is probably Shutterstock – a large online community of stock photographers and buyers alike. Good luck in your new venture!
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