The explosive growth of the Internet has spawned many new markets. One such market is the digital photo market. The growth of online stock photography sites (also known as microstock photography sites) where photographers can submit their digital photos so that others may view and download them for a fee, has created an unprecedented demand for digital photographs.
This of course has created a wonderful opportunity for amateur photographers to sell their digital photos in a market that was previously only open to professionals.
The opportunity immediately throws up two questions: who do I go about selling my digital photos and what types of images do people buy. This article will answer the first question.
When it comes to selling your photos there is only one basic law that has to be obeyed: Find out where your clients are currently buying their photos and make yourself visible there!
Some of the most immediate avenues available if you are amateur photographer:
- Sell to Stock Image warehouse: To sell your digital photos are to sell directly to a stock image warehouse or list your photos with them for public sale and have royalties paid to you on a per sale basis
- Use eBay or other auction methods to sell the photo: Auction sites such as eBay host a multitude of photographs that are for sale. Go there and see what types of images are selling and this will give you a good indicator as to what types of shots you should be taken. Certainly the best selling images on eBay are antique shots these are not necessarily easy to create but you will find that unique celebrity shots, unique photos of sporting events, nature shots and weird photos are all hot sellers on eBay
- Sell to clients or the public directly on a contract basis called an assignment
- Sell unsolicited shots to magazines and other publishers
there is also the opportunity to sell your images yourself either online using software designed specifically for the task or by creating your own custom site and html code to protect your images.
Digital Photography as a profession
It is important to note that you can really carve out a solid niche for yourself by selling photos in areas that other photographers shy away from because they do not consider the work to be artistic enough.
Some examples of people who are willing to pay to have simple click and shoot shots taken may include:
- Real Estate Agencies
- Insurance Firms
- Car Lots
- Auction Sites
- Government and Police Agencies
- Individual with items to sell online
- Website designers
- Travel Agents
Most of the images required by these types of organizations are quite basic (real point and click stuff) and are therefore ideally suited to the beginner photographer.
