Businesses and media outlets are using stock photography more and more.Stock photography has a high-quality bank of pictures that can be licensed for specific uses.People pay you a fee to use your images.If you learn how to sell your work and get the right equipment, you can make a living from your photography.
Step 1: You should get a quality camera.
If you want to take stock photography, you need a modern digital camera with a minimum of 12MP.The settings should be adjusted manually.It should be a digital single-lens reflex camera, that is, a camera that combines a traditional lens with a sensor.The changeable lens in these cameras gives you more control over your shots.The less editing you have to do later, the better your equipment is.If your camera doesn't focus or produce a lot of noise, you need to invest in a better one.
Step 2: Get the right lens.
Taking crisp, high-quality stock photos can be difficult.You will want a wide-angle lens for landscapes and large-scale subjects and a telephoto for close-ups, portraits, and everyday scenes.Cheap glass can easily distort photos.Your camera body is only one part of the picture quality equation.
Step 3: Useful accessories are worth investing in.
A tripod is needed.It is wise to get a flash unit to fill in shadows if you are not going to rely on natural light.
Step 4: Receive training in photography.
Stock photography needs to be high-quality.It takes a degree of training to know how to use your equipment.You don't have to get a degree, but taking a course at a school, community center, or online is highly advisable.You should be able to adjust your camera settings to get the composition and lighting that you want.
Step 5: Get the right software.
You will need applications to manage your photos.They can be combined into a single program.Adobe Photoshop is the most common photo-editing program.Adobe Lightroom, ACD See Pro, StudioLine Photo, and PhotoDirector are some of the photo-management software.You will have to pay a fee to use the apps.There are some free photo-editing apps, but they won't have all the features of licensed software.If your computer crashes and you lose your photo library, make sure that whichever program you choose has online storage and backup.
Step 6: Learn how to use a camera.
Most apps have instructions that you should take.You can get your skills up-to-snuff with online courses.
Step 7: A tripod is a good way to use for stationary shots.
Stock photos need to be crisp and focused.A tripod is the best way to make sure you don't shake your camera and make your image blurry.
Step 8: Well-composed pictures are what you should take.
Stock photos are pictures that have been thoughtfully executed by trained photographers.It's important to get the lens, frame, lighting, and camera settings right.
Step 9: Take pictures that are high-resolution.
If you take pictures with your camera at it's highest size setting, you'll have the most resolution possible.Most agencies require photos that are a minimum of 300dpi and can be enlarged to a larger size without losing quality.
Step 10: Have your photos looked at for flaws.
Sometimes photos that look crisp at a lower resolution can get blurry or distorted at their full size.Scan each picture at its full size to make sure there are no problems with lighting, focus, or noise.
Step 11: Any necessary edits must be made.
You don't want to add major stylized effects or filters to your photos, but you may need to make some adjustments to fix any flaws or bring out their colors.You may want to crop the frame, adjust the contrast, highlight the shadows, or boost the saturation of the colors.The healing tool can be used if you notice noise or dust.Pick another photo if there are too many problems.You don't want to make other editorial adjustments, like sharpening an image or putting a vignette effect around its edges.The final editing of stock images should be in the hands of the people who purchase them.
Step 12: From each shoot, choose your best.
When it comes time to sell your photos, you will have to narrow the options down to just your highest quality pictures, because you can take a lot of photos during a shoot.Stock agencies will only take a few photos from each scene.Pick two to three pictures from each scene to add to your portfolio.You need to be sure that there is some variation in the photos you select.They can be taken from different angles, have different frames, or include slightly different contents.
Step 13: Pick subjects that can make money.
Looking at what's selling is the best way to do this.You can find out which subjects are most commercially viable by looking at which photos are downloaded the most from stock agencies.You are likely to notice that photos with people in them sell the best.If that is the case, you could try taking pictures of people.
Step 14: Search for a signature.
There is a lot of competition.If your portfolio addresses a specific niche, your photos are more likely to stand out.Images with the same clean studio background can be your signature.Some agencies want to build out specific categories.It is always a good idea to check with them to see if there is a niche you could fill.
Step 15: Know your rights.
A license to use stock photos in a specific way is what people buy when they purchase them.Public domain, royalty-free, and rights-managed are the three major options for licensing your photos.You can pick the designation for your images if you know the guidelines for each.You must own the exclusive rights to the image in order to submit it as a stock photo.Public domain photos can be used for free.Don't designate your photos as public domain if you want to sell them.Agencies can provide royalty-free or rights-reserved photos.They usually decide the licensing conditions.Customers will pay a one-time fee if your photos are royalty-free.Buyers will have to pay a license fee if your photos are rights-managed.You will get a much higher price for photos that are exclusive, but there will be less overall purchases.
Step 16: You have to get the releases.
People like lifestyle shots.If you use models, you will need to have them sign photo releases that authorize you to sell images of them.You can either use a standard template or the stock agency's version.
Step 17: You can submit your photos to stock agencies.
Each agency has a protocol for doing this.Most of them will vet your photos before they offer them for sale.It is best to go with a large, established agency, like Corbis, or one that you can see gets a lot of traffic.Before uploading any photos to an agency platform, make sure to check their rates, pay schedules, and licensing policies.Many agencies, like Fotolia or iStock, only take royalty-free images.Before uploading photos, you need to verify the file requirements and quality guidelines for each agency.The minimum file size and file type will be specified by some agencies.Don't be surprised if you get rejected.Try again with new photos, just submit those photos elsewhere.
Step 18: Generate detailed descriptions and search results.
Attaching the text to your photos is the best way to find them.These are your best marketing tools, so be careful in how you describe and tag them.People are more likely to find a photo if you use a lot of the same words.Agencies use tags to categorize images and find the right photo.Descriptive words are more important than abstract concepts.If you have a photo of a leafless tree, you should tag it with the word "oak" but not "mortality" in an attempt to get customers to look at it.It may also get you kicked off of stock photography platforms.If you are at a loss when it comes to tags, try an online generator that can help you find the most popular ones.Don't include extraneous articles in your titles.Your search results will be weakened if you start with an article.Spellings will affect your search results, so make sure to use spell-check for your words.