As an enthusiastic photographer you will doubtless hold a large portfolio of images that you have accumulated pursuing your hobby, including ones that you may not have shared with a wider audience.
With just a little research you could soon be one of the increasing numbers of people who now make extra cash by turning their hobby into something more profitable.
Most photographers have a whole raft of pictures and images on storage devices that can be quickly added to an online portfolio, and amongst these stock photos and images could be ones that a website, online journal, newsletter or magazine is looking for.
Making money from your pictures is a very rewarding experience not only for the financial gain, but also for the pride you can take in seeing an image that you have captured being shown to the world. So many companies and websites need unique images for a whole range of projects that they are working on, that no particular genre of photograph is excluded.
Many photographers now use their online portfolio to fund new projects or just to get their artwork seen by millions of other people who trawl the placement sites for their desired image. Building up an eye-catching portfolio is a simple task, and sharing your talent with a wider audience delivers a sense of pride in your work that can inspire you to develop your skills and find new ways of delivering the perfect picture.
As your portfolio will be competing with many others it is essential that you think carefully about its structure, as it will say a lot about you and the type of pictures that you can deliver. To include a range of images is often the most popular way to proceed, although if you are specializing in a certain field then there is plenty of opportunity to express this in your personal profile.
As there are now many placement sites to choose from, selecting the right one for you is important. Taking some time to review the sites that are available, their popularity, success rates and how your portfolio is presented, is crucial to your success. Stock photography websites generally have a series of rules and guidelines that all contributors must agree to on joining, and it is important to read these carefully.
Most host websites will work on a percentage payout for all artwork sold and it is important you are comfortable with the prices that will likely be paid.
There is always the possibility of increasing the value of any of your images by ensuring exclusivity to the purchaser.
If this is the case, you must remove the image from sale in any further portfolios by marking it clearly as sold. This is not only so that you do not incur problems, but also shows prospective purchasers that you have sold images and, therefore, it further validates your portfolio.
Photographs, by their very nature, are meant to be seen and admired, and by making some extra money at the same time as increasing your audience is a rewarding and worthwhile activity.
photo credit: moominsean via photopin cc
photo credit: henk.sijgers .. training this week .. may be slow via photopin cc
photo credit: Daniel Y. Go via photopin cc
