Income With Stock Photography,How To Make it Happen Part I

Introduction

Love taking photos? Need some part time income to get through the month?
Then consider the possibilities of micro stock photography. I have been an amateur photographer since I graduated from the New York Institute of photography in February 2002. I did not have the time nor the proper equipment to set up a professional studio. So I have been taking photos of just family gatherings until I stumbled upon a micro photography web site, and the I so the possibility of earning some pretty good income. But before I go into explaining, let me give the definition of what stock photography is, according to Wikipedia:

Micro stock photography is an offshoot of traditional stock photography company is that (1) the source of the images are almost exclusively via the internet,(2) do so from a wider range of photographers than traditional stock agencies. (including the willingness to accept images fro amateur and hobbyists) and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (any where from a $0.20 to a $1.00 for a royalty free image.

In addition to that, micro stock sites will also sell vector art, flash animations, and video.

In a short version, micro stock agencies are the companies that store or stock uploaded photos, and pays the photographer whenever someone downloads the photo from the micro stock site. Most micro stock companies pays the photographer less than a $1.00 for each royalty free image sold.


Procedures on how this done


The main factor in micro stock photography is to sell a large number of photos at a cheap prices.
The important thing I stress that you need to invest a good digital SLR (singles lens reflex) camera. Since you will be taking a large amount of photos, a digital SRL is imprtant to invest, because if you use a less expensive 35mm SRL, you will be accuring unnecessary expenses like film and processing costs. One other thing, you can take your picture one then and there, and look at the digital screen if the image is of good quality or not. Most micro stock agencies are very strict on image quality,contrast, and composition. A new one costs about 400.00-500.00 dollars. If you cannot afford a new Digital SRL, buy one used on Ebay or go to your local pawn shop.

But before you say I do not have the proper equipment to shoot pictures right now, do not despair there is another way to make a income with micro stock sites until you can afford a digital SRL.
I will explain this later in another article.

Okay without further to do, here are the following steps to get started:

1) Take lots of photos
2) Get a photo editor program like photoshop, and make your photos as good quality as possible. A professional look makes them sale!
3) Upload them
4) Give the photo a title and assign them with key words.
5) Submit the photos to be accepted or rejected. This the approval process.
6) If your photos are accepted they will appear in the micro stock phography website immediately.
7) If rejected, do not get discourage ( I did plenty of times). Taking good photos takes time and practice! Just keep taking more photos.


How Microstock Pays You


Microstock companies pay by commission for every photo sold.The photographer receives a certain percentage of photo. Different microstock sites pay different commission percentages. Here is a few for an example:

ShutterStock
Pays 0.25 for every image dowload.
Fotolia
Pays 0.33 credits (which are later converted to dollars) for every image downloaded. The percentage
increased when the downloaded images reach a certain level on the website.

The level of income you make will vary. Most amateur photographers report that they start out making $50.00 to $100.00 per month. For me so far I have made about close to 75.00 from 2 above micro stock sites, Shutter Stock and Fotolia. I have not made any money from the other sites I joined because I have not been registered long enough. Please if anyone has made money from any other microstock sites, please feel free to post any comments.

Other Sites To Try Out

Other sites I suggest to try out are
i Stockphoto,
Dreamstime
CanStockphoto,
BigStock Photo
Stockxpert.com
123RF
Lucky Oliver

Please if you have any other suggestions about making income with microstock photography. Please email me at eternaldimensions.com

Thank You for Reading!
Gina Taylor
Byron, Ga.