My Photography Book

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Microstock Photography Guide - Increase Your Income Selling Digital Photos

By Dan Feildman




Is photography your hobby or passion? In either case you can easily start minting money if you pursue this passion. All you really require is a digital camera, access to good software programs on your computer and internet. Mentioned here are a few ways on how to make money with photos:

With the advent of the Internet we now have a global marketplace where you can find anything you want, including photos. Stock photography sites provide photos to consumers such as web designers, product marketers, newsletter creators, etc. It is through these stock photography sites where you could earn an incredible income simply by uploading your photos and waiting for these consumers to purchase them. Even simple, basic photos of flowers can attract customers.

Deciding on a theme for your photographs is important. You want to attract the attention of the consumers and the only way you can is by uploading attractive, quality photographs. Creativity is also important as you want to put a new spin on basic items. People will be looking for images that will enhance their product so you definitely need to put an original spin on your photos. For instance, a lady with red lipstick in one hand and a cherry in other will sell more than a monkey jumping through the trees.

Worried you can't produce quality photos? Taking pictures as a hobby is different than trying to market them to professionals. It is best to do some research on what qualifies as a "quality" photo, i.e. lack of noise, clarity, etc., before submitting your photos to the stock photography sites. Online you can find a variety of tutorial e-books that can guide you through this process. turnyourphotosintocash.com is one of the best books that I have found. It has clear instructions on how you can actually start getting great results in digital photography by following a few guidelines.

Photo editing software is important in order to enhance and edit your photos. You can download a trial version of Adobe Elements if you currently don't have a program and a great site for learning this program is at learnelementsnow.com. There are great tutorials and tricks to make the most of your digital photos. The site creator, David Peters, also has an e-book which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to master your skills in Adobe Photoshop Elements in just 2 hours!

Once you have mastered the skill and taken a few photos, you have to follow certain instructions to upload your pictures in the micro stock agency sites. Primarily the picture should be in JPEG format. Ensure that the picture you have uploaded is 100% clear and unambiguous and does not have any granules. Even if it does have, remove all these before submitting. The photo should never include any names of the labels or brands. This will be copyright infringement. Try removing these with the help of Photoshop.

Naming your photographs is one of the most overlooked elements of stock photography. When naming your photos you want to include keywords that are appropriate to the photo itself. This is another area where research will pay off. Typical consumers use keywords to search for what they are looking for and you want to ensure your photos appear on the first page. Look at similar photos and see what keywords they use to describe what they are selling.

Finally, the most important part is your payment. Before joining any stock photography site and submitting your photos you will want to check out the terms and conditions for each site which should give you an idea what the commission rates are. Some stock photography sites will hold back as much as 50% of the selling price as their fee so you will definitely want to find a site that meets your needs.

Uploading to more than one stock photography site is a good idea and there are many to pick from. Getting your photos sold is the key so by submitting them to a variety of agencies increases your chance to earn a higher income. Doing this will also help minimize your loss.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts