Photography for Fun and Profit

If you have a digital camera and enjoy taking photos, you could be earning money. Whether you just have some regular snapshots you would like to sell, or perhaps a few amazing vacation shots, or even if you enjoy taking semi-professional photos, you can make money off your photography.

There are several companies online that provide stock photos to magazines, webmasters and others who need photos for their businesses or personal use. These companies are more than willing to pay for good, high-quality, original shots. That's where you come in! Selling your photos to these companies doesn't mean giving up your rights to them; it just means some cash in your pocket.

The companies vary in what they are looking for. Some accept anything that is of decent quality, while others are far more picky. This usually depends on the payment system. If a website offers unlimited download for a monthly fee, they are more willing to take on snapshots and less professional photos. A company that charges per photo will be much more selective.

Fee payouts also differ. Some websites offer a flat rate, like $0.50 per photo that someone downloads, while other pay on a sliding scale based on how popular your shot is. These ones are probably the best because they offer you the most money in the end, if you are any good at photography.

There are a few general guidelines to follow when taking a photo to sell.

- The light must be good. Avoid using the flash as this gives a flat, amateur look to your pictures. Natural light is best and there should be a good balance of black and white in the picture. Outdoor shots are ideal.

- Practice clean photography. There shouldn't be much going on in the background to distract you from the main object of focus. Stock photography companies really love blank backgrounds, so if you can get photos of things against a solid color, all the better. For example, an arrangement of bell peppers on a perfectly white surface would be ideal.

- Take interesting shots. There are already a zillion sunset photos out there, so why not do one with a twist? Add a silhouette of a man and a woman kissing, or a child standing on the beach. Better yet, if you can get a running horse or other animal in the shot, you have a better chance of getting accepted.

- Symbolistic photography is very useful for businesses and if you can take pictures that represent things such as balance and wealth, you will probably make a tidy profit. These can be total concept photos, such as a handful of dollar bills tied to a tree branch or hung in a row on a clothes line.

Since you keep the copyright to your photography, you can sell them over and over again. Try placing them on several different websites (checking that the sites allow this) to make the maximum profit from your photography.