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 increasing demand for these types of photographs, the sale of stock photographs has become a business in itself.
When you intend to start a stock photography business and sell stock photography 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, 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 photoshoot or can’t afford the required photography. Therefore, select and keep photographs that are capable of conveying ideas.
If you are selling your photos to a stock photography agency, you will have to abide by their terms and upload the photos in the specified formats and resolutions. Or if you are saving the stock photos on your own, always choose a format and resolution to suit clients’ requirements.
Stock photos must not be copyrighted or watermarked. These photos are intended for sale and reuse. Therefore, there is no point in putting a copyright mark on it. And if you host your photos on a website, be sure to use apt keywords and tags so that search engines will find you easily. You can check out the major stock photo hosting websites such as 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 photography agency or website, that’s good too. By doing so you are complying with the agency’s terms and you will be paid a good amount for the photographs or every time someone downloads your photograph you 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 efficient way to sell stock photos. In the conventional method, the agency only takes selected photos of the hundreds or thousands that you send. But when you capture photos based on the subject they give, the chance of most photos being selected is high.
Microstock is the latest form of 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 sufficient quantity from the sale. Although the amount per download is less compared to common stock photos, Microstock’s sale is higher. This ensures that photographers make more money selling Microstock photos.