Can you make money from photography?

Ellis Beach - Overlooking Ellis Beach, near Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Whitsunday Islands are in the background.
By Barb
@abbey19 (3106)
Gold Coast, Australia
February 7, 2007 5:51am CST
Does anyone make money from photography on the internet? Photography has been a hobby of mine for years, and I would love to earn some money from it. Has anyone out there been successful on the internet in making some decent money from their own pictures?
2 people like this
14 responses
@cerium (691)
7 Feb 07
I think there are some websites where you can sell your photos. It's an earn per download program which means that you'll get more money if your picture was downloaded more times. Someone pointed me to this website before, but I haven't used it yet. You can check it out yourself. www.dreamstime.com
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Feb 07
Wow !Thanks for the above given site .That is really great one .I think this is unique to me .Before that i have no idea about that site .But now this is among my best known collection for sites .Currently i am reading the FAQs of purchasing at that site .
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
12 Feb 07
Someone else here told me about that site and I'm checking it out. Do you sell your photos online?
@jayperiod (870)
• United States
7 Feb 07
There are many ways to make money from photography. Weddings, portraits, stock photos, newspapers, magazines. All of these are good sources. News media generally will use freelance photographers. These are photographers they have on a list to use when their regular photographers are unavailable. Sometimes you have to work your way into being a freelance. Look for opportunities to submit photo without pay that they can print. Once they are printed, you can begin to build a resume. Submit the resume with a portfolio of photos which are similar to what they use. As for weddings and portraits, that just means getting the right equipment, reading some books on the subjects of lighting and posing, practicing and getting some friends to let you shoot their wedding and portraits for a portfolio and experience. Stock photography is a little more difficult but there are a couple of threads here to get you going in that direction if you choose.
1 person likes this
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
12 Feb 07
Thanks for that advice, and I'll certainly put some of it into practice. I must share this bit of good luck with EVERYONE who has responded so enthusiastically to my discussion - a photographer friend of mine has just MADE ME AN OFFER to assist him when he does weddings, etc. The experience will be invaluable to me; I feel so lucky! Perhaps it's happened because I put my desires down on paper, and the universe is answering me! Everyone's response has been fantastic, and so encouraging - THANKS GUYS & GALS!
10 Feb 07
I don't know if you have seen my site yet but i have a section about making money with stock photography (www.moneyonline.co.nr). I've made about $100 so far and i shoot stock especially to sell and i never put stock up that i want to sell as prints. Therefore i can't be accused of selling my soul lol.
13 Feb 07
It's basically paid per download. You get 25cents per download but as you add more images you get more downloads and you reach the payout quicker. :]
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
14 Feb 07
ok - thanks for that linz.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
10 Feb 07
Hi Linz! Yes, I have looked at your site, and I'm very impressed how you've put it together. There is such a lot of relevant information in it. I am in the process of checking out the photography section at the moment, but I want to look at your other subjects too as some of them are relevant to me.
@ashjoe76 (1422)
• India
13 Feb 07
Why don't you try triond, which offers you some royalty based on viewings of your pictures there. It is not a great amount, but your photograpah generates money forever, once published there.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
14 Feb 07
Thanks for the site - I've signed up so keep your fingers crossed for me!
@noyida (795)
• Singapore
11 Feb 07
Like you, I too like photography. I tend to take anything unique when I travel. I just love to make some money out of my hobby. Perhaps we can share idea and earn money together. I had request to add you as a fren. Hope you will accept me as your fren. Thank you for the great discussion, I hope to learn more from this too.
@noyida (795)
• Singapore
11 Feb 07
Thanks :). I luv to snap picture of foods, scenery, anything that is unique. Like the other days, I went to market and saw this cucumber. Kind of twin cucumber, attached to each other. I took out my camera (I carry them everywhere), and snap, snap, snap from different angle. By doing that, I caught others attention. So embarassing, like never see a cucumber before. Anyway, I had upload some pictures in the photo gallery?. Have you see some wierd sea creature? Look at them in my profile.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
12 Feb 07
I saw your picture of the weird sea creature - wow! You should put the ones you took of the "twin" cucumbers in your gallery. I have added you as a friend, but it is still pending - don't know why is is taking such a long time for MyLot to approve it.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
11 Feb 07
Sure, we can try to help each other; I have added you as a friend too. What kind of photogaphy do you like? I like taking pics of animals and children, and the beach/ocean.
1 person likes this
• Australia
21 Feb 07
yes you can earn money online by selling photos. there are plenty of websites that will help u sell ur photos or they themselves will buy your photos. Usually the types of photos that sell on these sites are photos of products or stock photos or photos that are generally downloaded by people to use in slide shows like photos of an office of furniture or photos that can be used in catalogues like electric equipment tools etc etc. If u want to sell your photos you can try www.corbis.com or www.shutterpoint.com or www.acclaimimages.com and there are plent more websites that are equally or better reputated then these you can search for them on yahoo by typing stock photos or sell photos online and u will find tons of them. however be sure to check out the terms and conditions for selling photos and the binding agreements and the payouts per sell as this can vary from website to website. however i would suggest u to try corbis.com first as it is a well reputated site owned by bill gates... if u need ny more help holla bak ;)
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
22 Feb 07
Thanks for your great comment, it was very informative and helpful to me. I am checking out those sites you gave me, and will get back to you if I need any more help. Thanks again.
• Australia
21 Feb 07
yes also www.istock.com is a good site ;)
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
7 Feb 07
I have a friend who is a photographer and he has so much work he has to knock some back, he takes mainly pictures for businesses of their reataurants and products, it would be great I think to be able to make a living from photography, it is like an art.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
7 Feb 07
Thanks lilaclady for your comment - I feel motivated to pursue this line of work now! Where in Australia do you live? I live on the Gold Coast. It's nice to meet an Aussie here!
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
7 Feb 07
I think it would be fun to work as a photographer. I did for awhile, but I got screwed big time. The company I worked for still owes me $1,600 that I'm still fighting for. Now I've decided that I'll just do small jobs on my own that I get by word of mouth.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
12 Feb 07
Sorry to hear that you got screwed by that company regarding your photography - I hope you are successful in getting the $1,600 they still owe you. Was that company you worked for on the Internet? It can be a big problem finding out which places to trust, because once they have your photos. . . I hope you are now doing ok with the smaller jobs on your own, and wish you all the best for the future.
• India
7 Feb 07
Ya i make money with photography..i love it..i sell them nt just for money but to spread my hobby...so i love doing it...if u want it u can contact me i will definately give u...even i sell them online..my email id is vrushal_bhansali@yahoo.com
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
25 Feb 07
Do you sell your photographs online? What websites do you use, and are you making money? Thanks for your email address, I will contact you soon, and thanks for your response.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
13 Feb 07
I'm sure you can, especially if you're good at taking portraits. Weddings are big celebration where you can make money from. But sometimes nature and animal photography can earn you a lot.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
14 Feb 07
Thanks mel. I consider myself good on portraits and am passionate about animals and nature so perhaps I should stick to those. I also like to catch the unusual or quirky pic!
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
13 Feb 07
I'm sure you can. Especially for weddings.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
13 Feb 07
wait i need to revise that, sorry.
• Romania
7 Feb 07
i dont know how to make money but if you have an ideea you can share with us !
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
7 Feb 07
Ok, I will let you ALL know on MyLot!
• United States
12 Feb 07
I'm going to be putting some photos on sites such as istock. Hopefully it will bring in some cash - one of my daughter's is getting married and we could use the extra cash!
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
25 Feb 07
Did you put some photos on istock? How is it going? I hope you earned some cash for your daughter's wedding! Let me know, and thanks for your response.
@sihanik (118)
• Malaysia
13 Feb 07
ya, you can, someone has proven himself. Check out more at this link, a real site that's making money from photo and affiliate programme http://www.silverroad.ws