Do you have an eye for photography? Have you been practicing your phone photography and people are telling you that your photos are really good? Are your photos getting great reactions on your social media? Maybe you can cash in on your skills by selling your photos. 

Want to find out how you can make money with your phone photos? Simple, stock photography. Stock photography websites let you upload your photos and you earn money every time it is downloaded by a user. 

Take Great Phone Photos 

First things first, you need to take great photos if you want to be selected on a stock photography website. No one will purchase photos that are out of focus, that have bad compositions, and that are simply bland. 

We now have access to great phones and several out on the market today can meet professional-looking quality photos. Take photos at the highest quality setting and learn to edit your photos in a photo editing app, like Lightroom or Snapseed. Take time to carefully edit your selected photos so they can stand out and look more professional. Remember, you will be competing with thousands of fellow photographers. 

You can even invest in some phone accessories, like a tripod, to get the best shots you can.

Stock Photo Websites That Pay

Stock photography websites are websites where people can download royalty-free photos for personal or business use. This is generally very affordable. Users can pay per photo or pay a monthly subscription with a set amount of photos that can be downloaded every month.

Stock photography websites are filled with millions of photos from amateurs and professionals alike. The photographer typically receives an amount every time one of their photos is downloaded. These amounts vary anywhere from $0.20 to $10 per download. You probably won’t get rich selling stock photos, but you can create a good source of passive income for yourself. 

Each stock photography website has its own set of rules and regulations for uploading photos. It can be time-consuming to get started, but once your photos are on the website you can sit back and cash in every time someone downloads your photos.

You may already have photos that meet their criteria or you may want to set up a photoshoot specifically for the stock websites. You can choose to stay in one particular niche or you may want to supply photos in a variety of categories. It’s up to you how much time and effort you want to invest in stock photography. Obviously, you will be more successful if you spend more time editing and regularly uploading photos.

Let’s take a look at some of the top stock photography websites. Remember to follow their specific guidelines in order to get accepted. Some will even offer trending topics advice to help you hone in on what clients want. 

iStock

iStock is one of the most popular microstock photography websites. It’s affiliated with Getty Images and users expect (and get) quality photos. The website is easy to navigate and they make it easy for photographers to get started through their resources and forums. 

Depending on the popularity of your photos, iStock works by allocating 15% to 45% of downloads to the photographers. 

Shutterstock

Shutterstock is another popular stock photography website that makes it easy to get started. They offer 30% of the download fee which typically comes to approximately 0.25$ per download. 

Shutterstock lets you keep the rights to your photos meaning that you can choose to share them on other websites if you want. 

Alamy

Alamy is one of the more generous stock photo websites with a 50% royalty for each photo downloaded. Like Shutterstock, they alo let you sell your photos elsewhere. 

Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock provides Creative Cloud users millions of royalty free photos. You can make up to 46% royalties on each download and Adobe Stock is one of the only stock photo websites where you can get access to your funds without a wait period or a minimum threshold.

Dreamstime

Dreamstime is a user friendly stock website that lets you create and manage your own gallery. This way you can have more control over what you want to promote. Royalties start at 25% and can go up to 49.5% over time when you are selling more photos. 

TIps to Become Successful Doing Stock Photography

Keywords

Keywording is essential in order to get found on the stock photography websites. Add all the keywords that are pertinent to your photos and research the trending words as well. Be as specific and as descriptive as you can. 

Go over the rules regarding keywords on the website you choose to work with. Some specify that they need to be put in order of importance. 

Don’t skip this process, this is how people will find your photos. 

Research the Markets

Research what is trending and supply photos in that category. Also, holiday photos are very trendy and tend to do well. Be ready with those Christmas photos weeks prior to the actual date. 

• Regularly Add Photos

This is a definite key to success when doing stock photography. The more time you spend on photos, the better the chances of having them downloaded. 

Are you going to try stock photography? Join our Facebook group Shoot Like a Pro With Your Phone to join a community of like-minded people. Join in on the conversation, add your photos, get phone photo tips, and participate in photo contests.