How to Make Money From Photos?

Hi,
I think they are trying to cheat money. I am trying to find great sites to make some money using my photos. I hope to find some.

I know iStockPhotos, ShutterStock and Fotolia. I am not sure which one is the best and how to sign up to upload photos. The sites are quite confusing.

I know a site called shareapic where you can upload your pics and post them in a forum or your own webpage you'll be paid if your pics are viewed.
Good Luck!

Hi Kianli,
Thanks for the response. I know about Share a pic but we need a lot of views to make money.

i will try that too!thanks

Hi,
I am confused. Is MicroStock a website to submit photos to make money or it is a collection of sites to submit photos?

What are Alamy, MyLoupe, PhotoShelter and Photographer's Direct? Which site is the best to make money from photos?

I know that some sites have low traffic and less buyers. So, we make less money. I hope you could explain some ways to make money and which site is the best.

Sorry to ask so many questions because I am truly a beginner. I hope to learn more from you.

No problem. I was in the same boat when I first started.

Microstock should be more aptly named micropayment. Shutterstock, Dreamstime, Bigstock, iStock, FeaturePics, Fotolia, 123 Royalty Free, the list goes on. These are 'microstocks'. These operate much in the same way that the traditional stock agencies like Alamy, MyLoupe, Photographers Direct, and Photoshelter do.

The main difference is the pricing. Microstock offers their photographers the potential for massive numbers of sales. The catch is that you only get a fraction of a dollar per sale.

Traditional stock is the opposite. You don't get a constant drip drip drip of sales going to your account balance. BUT, a single sale with a traditional agency is monumentally big compared to a microstock sale.

There have been some pretty big debates about which is better. Can you make money with a micro, sure. I did. But, can you make more? Consider this: if it sold with micro, then it could have sold with traditional. If you're happy with more frequent sales at pennies on the dollar, try micro. If you're patient and can tolerate waiting a while between sales, try a traditional stock agency.

My first three sales at Alamy added up to almost $400. THREE SALES. Now, those images are only going to be seen one time each. They still have value. It's not like someone else who might consider using them is going to see it used elsewhere and decide against using it again.

Compare that to a microstock, where you'd need 1600 sales to get $400. 1600 different usages. The odds of having a buyer notice the image in use elsewhere is MUCH higher, making it far more likely that they're not going to use that image.

Traditional stock just seemed the better route to go for me. I want a long term earning potential out of my images, and having them used hundreds of times at the microstock pricing scheme doesn't at all fit that philosophy.

Wow, I did not know you get a chance to earn with photography until now.

Kudos to this wonderful response! I believe you deserve a best response if I were the author of this discussion.

Thanks for sharing this information. I'll check it out also.

Have a nice day rabi9634!

Hi,
Thanks for the great response but I am still blur about Alamy. I think I will try to search in Yahoo and then join it to learn more.

rabi9634, you make some very good points about microstock, I always knew there was SomEthinG wrong with ms but you have nailed it. Saturation. And not the good kind either. I would rather get $100 for one usage than $100 for 1600 uses any day!! I am looking into alamy already and I will be checking the other sites you mentioned. Thanks a ton

PS do you know anything about photoworks? They develop film and post the shots online.

I've never heard of photoworks before, but i'll definitely check it out. If it's what I think it is, it could very well be the justification for the film camera body I've had my eye on.

My Rebel XT and 40D are 1.6 crop bodies, but my lenses are all EF mount, so I'm not getting the true wide angle of some of them. 18mm is a lot wider on 35mm film than on a 1.6 crop sensor..

Rabi, you have provided me with info I didn't even know existed! ( I thought bigstock, etc WERE stock agencies as opposed to micro stock!) THANKS fo4r this information, I will definately check out the sites you mentioned!

for rabi9634, does alamy accept contributors from other countries or just from UK?

share a pic is a cool way to get some income from photos that you have of friends and such, but I wouldn't ever consider using it for pictures of something I could put to a stock agency.

Hi,
You are right, I think share a pic is helping us to make less money than other stock photos sites.

That's awesome trickiwoo. Congrats on your success.

All I'd ask is that people consider a simple notion. If the images are selling that well on microstock agencies, what's to say they wouldn't sell with traditional stock agencies?

Now, on that line of thinking, why would you settle for 25 cent sales when you could be getting three to four digit figures per sale?

Hi,
Thanks for the response. I visited your site, it is great.

Hi,
Thanks. I will try your suggestions.

You might want to try magazines sites as well.

cdrxo

Hi,
Thanks a lot. I think that dreamstime is a good one.

Hi,
Could you give me your email? I really hope to learn and get started fast.

Hi,
Yeah, personally I feel that this discussion is great because I have learn a lot from mylotters.

I hope you can make use of some of the suggested sites in this discussion to get started.