This is only one of my 1,526 images currently on iStockphoto; I've already earned $119 from this photo alone.
Turn
Your Vacation Snaps Into Cash
International Living Postcards--your daily escape
http://www.internationalliving.com
Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008
Dear International Living Reader,
To most travelers, a vacation is a time to relax,
take in a few museums, enjoy coffee in an outdoor café, eat out, and meet new people. But to me, a vacation is also
the ticket to some easy cash…
Take Paris, for instance. I enjoyed the cafes…the lavish meals…the
leisurely strolls along the Seine. And I took pictures as I went--just like we all do when we're on vacation.
The
big difference for me is that I don’t just slide my pictures into an album when I get home. I sell them. And the truth
is, thousands of websites, magazines and travel agencies buy vacation photos from travelers like me all the time. And it’s
not hard to find buyers…
Online stock photo agencies, also known as “microstock sites,” are how I
make most of my cash. Enough, in some cases, to cover the cost of my trip.
They’re happy to work with amateurs
but they do expect near-perfect photographs so you’ve got to have a good digital camera and an eye for composition.
Travel
agencies, magazines, art directors, and even high school kids looking for photos to illustrate their geography and history
papers are all customers of these online stock sites. It doesn’t cost you anything to upload your vacation shots and
buyers can download whichever pictures they choose for anywhere between $1 and $20 a pop depending on what size image they
want.
You, in exchange, get a percentage of the sale. But the beauty of these sites is that $.20 might not sound like
a lot now but I average $.80 per image per month for all the photos I have on file at the stock agency I use www.istockphoto.com. The advantage is in sales volume.
Over time, I’ve collected several thousand images from my travels and
even pictures from inside my hotel room and inside my house and backyard at home. I don’t have to do any marketing.
I just upload photos and they sell in my sleep. At the end of the month, I get a check for a thousand or so dollars for my
efforts.
It's fast, easy, and fun.
Here are three things you can photograph on your next trip
to sell for stock. Keep these in mind when you travel and you can have fun, take lots of pictures, and make some extra cash,
to boot.
1. Farmers’ Markets. Farmers’ markets are teeming with stock shots... from the
repeating patterns and colors of seasonal fruits and vegetables to signs scrawled in chalk and people picking out their wares.
Almost
every online stock agency requires that you submit a model release for images that contain recognizable people so I suggest
you focus on the fruits and vegetables at first. Model releases are specific to each site so get your account up and running
before you try to submit people photographs.
2. Your Hotel. One photo of a front
desk bell has sold 1021 times on iStockphoto.com. And I've sold photos of curtains, tassels, pillows and more. Do some
research and look up hotel pictures on these stock sites before you leave and take inventory of your competition. You can
photograph the same thing--just be sure to make unique. But look for what’s selling and what’s not. Put your attention
on the type of photos that sell best.
3. Textures and Patterns. People like to buy photos of simple
textures or patterns to use as backgrounds for their websites… fine art on their wall… and a myriad of other
things. Keep an eye out for these as you travel. Peeling paint, rusted metal, brick walls, cracks in the sidewalk, bark on
a tree… can all make for interesting patterns and textures.
Make sure you read the site’s technical requirements
and submission guidelines before you start uploading pictures. Some of the leading sites are: Istockphoto.com, Bigstockphoto.com,
Shutterstock.com, and Dreamstime.com.
Shelly Perry
For International Living
