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Thinking About Selling Travel Stock Photos? Read This First…

Anyone who has an interest in photography will probably also have a ton of photos sitting on their hard-drives from their travels. Selling these as stock photos can be a great way to earn a few extra dollars from photos which would otherwise just sit on your computer. But make no mistakes about it, stock photography is not easy and won’t make you rich. So here are some things to think about and be aware of before you decide to sell your stock photos.

It might take years

Unless you have a huge collection of photos from a wide variety of subjects and destinations, you may not see many sales from your photos. Stock photography is about numbers and the more images you have on sale the more chance you have of earning money from them. Think of it like this. If you have a few photos from one destination, then you have to wait until someone wants a photo from that place. But if you have photos from 100 places, then your chances increase greatly.

The most important thing is to ensure you are not relying on stock sales as your only source of income as it can fluctuate and vary hugely. Think of it as an additional income rather than your main source.

Your “bucket list” won’t sell

Most people’s travel bucket list includes exotic faraway places. But those places won’t necessarily sell as stock photos. For example, one place that was always on my bucket list was Bhutan. It’s somewhere that I always wanted to go to. But to date (a year after submitting photos for stock sales) I have yet to make a sale from those photos. I’m sure over time I will sell some photos but they will never be as popular as say, the USA, France or Italy photos. It’s purely to do with tourism and the countries with the most number of tourist (during COVID free period) are always going to sell more photos as there will be more written and featured about them.

This doesn’t mean you should never go anywhere on your bucket list. But separate the two and think of your bucket list as a holiday and places you expect to sell stock photos from as work.

Shoot your location

The key to a successful stock photography business is to keep your costs as low as possible. Unfortunately, the whole photography industry has taken a huge beating over the last 10 years. This has been even more destructive to the stock photo industry where prices have dropped and competition has increased. By shooting in and around your location you can keep costs low which means you ROI increases when you make sales. Obviously, if you are lucky enough to live in or near a tourist destination like New York, London or Paris that can be even more advantageous. But even if you don’t, you will still find that taking photos of your local area will probably have a better ROI over the years than splashing out on trips to places.

The other advantage of shooting where you live is that you have a far better opportunity to plan your shoots when the weather will be right. This gives you a huge advantage over someone who has to book flights and accommodation in advance.

Learn what sells from your sales

You should treat stock photography like any other business. This includes analysing trends, looking at magazines and newspapers and studying your sales. By knowing which types of photos are appearing in publications you will be more likely to be able to capture the type of photo that is going to sell. keep a spreadsheet of your sales and over time look at the type of photos you have taken that are selling the best. Is there a common trend? Is there a reason that those are selling more than others? You’ll be amazed at what you will discover when you delve a little deeper into your sales.

Some of my published work. I often study my sold photos to try and take more of the ones that sell.

Take photos of everything

As mentioned earlier, stock photography is a numbers game. The more sellable photos you have the better your chances are of making a sale. But that also includes covering as many different locations, scenarios and types of shots. So try to get into the habit of photographing as many things as possible from every location you are in. For example, if you are in a local park, take photos of the statues, flowers, people sitting or playing sport as well as the big beautiful wide-angle shots. This also includes covering off different crops and both horizontal and verticle versions. This is why a shot list is so valuable for stock photography. The reason for all of these different shots is because you never know when someone might be looking for a photo of a specific statue. If you have that photo, you have the potential of a sale.

Revisit old collections

I have lost count at the number of times that I have looked through a collection of photos I took a few years ago and found a whole host of photos that I missed off sending to stock sites the first time around. The reason is that when you have spent time working on a collection you can become a bit tired of looking at the same photos over and over again. By giving it some time you will be able to look at things with fresh eyes. This often allows you to find some more images that you can supply for stock sales. As long as they are not duplicates of previously submitted work you can put them on sale and increase your chances of making sales from a location.

One that I missed off from my original submission but then re-submitted a couple of years later. This photo sold multiple times.

Choose your stock site carefully

This is a really important aspect of stock photography and one that you shouldn’t take lightly. There are lots of different stock sites out there. So don’t just choose the first one you come across. Instead, spend a bit of time learning about them and where they sell to. Is it to the publications that you want to see your photos in? But also what are their rates? There are many microstock sites out there that will pay you a few cents for each photo sold. So that means you have to sell thousands of photos to earn any sort of meaningful amount. That might be ok for you, but it’s worth knowing before you sign up.

Stock photography is a good way to supplement your income. But to make it work takes more than just heading off to places you want to visit and supplying a few shots to stock sites. Use the tips above to set yourself a clear plan and work toward specific goals and targets and over time you’ll find that you are making a reasonable amount from stock photo sales.

How To Make Money From Your Photos

Every photographer these days knows that making money from your photos can be very tough. With falling prices over the last 15 years, it has meant that photographers have had to diversify in order to make money from their photos. But whilst it is hard to make money from your photography, there has also never been a better time to do so. There are more opportunities than ever for a photographer and if you are willing to work hard and think creatively there is money to be made. So here are 6 ways that you can make money from your photos.

Get assignments

Getting paid to do a shoot may seem like the obvious thing to do. But what most new photographers don’t realise is that you can’t just rely on your select few chosen outlets or companies to hire you. For example, if you are a travel photographer, you can’t just rely on travel magazines for work. There is just too much competition and not enough work to go around. So instead of just targeting the obvious potential clients, try to think creatively about who else might be interested in working with you. For example, as a travel photographer, you can target everything from outdoor clothing companies to hotels and even car and campervan hire companies. This gives you much more opportunities for work.

Sell stock photos

For most photographers, selling stock photos is one of the best ways of making money from their photos. After all, if you have all of those photos sitting around on your hard drive you might as well make some money from them. But don’t be under any illusions, stock photography isn’t going to make you rich and you need a vast amount of images to make any sort of decent money from it. But if you have a collection of images covering a wide range of subjects or areas than it can certainly help you make some additional cash. But do your homework and chose the right stock agency to represent your work.

Look for stories

More than anything these days, what companies are looking for are stories. So a great way to try to make money from your photos is to look for unique stories that can either be told as a photo essay or even as a written story. Again rather than just targeting the obvious travel magazines, look for other companies that would potentially be interested in these stories. You can even do this just on social media for companies by offering to do a story whilst doing the work. Even in this day and age, there are still plenty o “untold” stories or even interesting new angles on already written stories that can be told.

Sell prints

If you have a large selection of photos, then another good opportunity is to sell prints of your work. But make no mistakes, you should treat this as a proper business and plan accordingly. Just putting up a few images on your website and hoping to sell them isn’t going to work. You should create a business plan and look at how you can promote and target potential customers. Needless to say that you also need to take into account your costs and postage and packaging which are imperative to your operating costs.

Contribute to blogs

One of the best opportunities these days for making money from your photos is by contributing to blogs. Whether it’s a tour company, a photography website or even a travel blog, they all present a great opportunity for work. Most blogs require content regularly and so if you can build a good connection with one, then you will be able to get regular work. But again, it’s important to do your research as blogs vary massively in how much they pay. Some will offer to just credit you for your work, whilst others will pay a small amount. It’s up to you how much you are willing to accept as a minimum, but at the very least you should ask for some sort of payment and not work for free.

Look for partnerships

In this age of social media, there are a lot of companies out there that are looking for great content creators to work with. So there is an opportunity to connect with companies that are looking for this sort of thing. The best way to approach this is to first make a list of brands that you admire and approach them with a clear proposal of how the partnership could work. Don’t just try to get freebies but offer them something that is going to be of value to them. Needless to say that if you have a mass of dedicated followers on your blog or social media you will be far more likely to find these opportunities.

These are just some of the ways that you can make money from your photography these days. There are lots of opportunities out there and as long as you are willing to work hard and think outside of the box you too can find ways to make money from your photos. But you have to make a concerted effort to actually get out there and do it as unfortunately, you won’t just get people breaking down your door to offer you jobs.

12 Tips To Ensure You Capture Stock Photos That Sell

Most people’s first reaction to my job as a travel photographer is “wow, you’re so lucky”. There’s no doubt that making money from photographing some of the most beautiful places in the world is the stuff of dreams. But despite the appeal of life as a travel photographer, the reality is a little less glamorous. Like any business, travel photography requires all of the same discipline, organisation and planning to make it a success. For most people, the most common avenue for earning money from travel photography is stock photo sales. But unfortunately, in this day and age of digital photography, it has never been harder to earn money from stock photos. So here are 12 tips to ensure you capture stock photos that sell.

Be the most informed tourist in town

Before you even pack your camera for any trip you need to spend a considerable amount of time researching and planning your shoot. Create a shot list of exactly what you need to cover on any trip. Then spend time working out how you can capture each shot in the best possible way. This means knowing sunrise and sunset times. The direction of the light and having a rough idea of where to actually shoot from. You should look at existing images to see what already exists so that you can think about how to do it better. Read guide books, magazines and even do some research on social media to see if you can find those unique views that are not photographed as much. The more you know the better prepared you will be for your shoot.

Shoot as much as possible

Stock photography is a numbers game. The more photos that you have on sale the better your chances are of actually making a sale. So try to shoot as much as possible at every opportunity. That doesn’t mean photographing the same subject a thousand times. But rather capturing different things. Photograph every meal that you eat, get up at every sunrise and stay out for every blue hour. Take a photo of as many landmarks, statues and situations as you can as you never know when someone might be looking for a specific photo of somewhere or something.

Cover different crops

A really good habit to get into is to try and capture any shot in multiple crops. So besides the usual horizontal and vertical formats, make sure you cover things like have your point of interest on the left and the right. Capture vertical shots with room near the top where a headline might go. The reason for this is that it gives you all of the options when it comes to making a sale. For example, if in your photo your point of interest is in the centre of the page, it is unlikely to be used in a double-page spread. But place it on the left or right and you will have a much better chance of selling it as a double-page spread.

Capture multiple photos

As I mentioned earlier, stock photography is about numbers. So to ensure that you capture as many sellable photos as possible you should look to maximise every possible location that you will be at. For example, if you are photographing a famous landmark, once you have finished photographing it, look around the vicinity to see if there are other things that you can capture. People, details, statues and even street signs might all sell as stock photos. If you just photographed the landmark and left, you might have 5 photos to sell. But if you spend a few extra minutes photographing the surrounding area, you might have 2o to sell.

Think about every photo

Whilst it is important to capture as many shots as possible, it is also vital that they are great photos. Because if your photos are not good enough they will not sell. Try to think about every photo as you would if it was your glamorous sunrise or sunset shot. Spend time looking and thinking about the composition and try to make every photo the best that it can be. Don’t just settle for any photo if you can capture a better one.

Think about ROI

If you want to build a successful photography business you need to start thinking of it as a business. That means that every shoot that you decide to undertake should be done so with an eye on the return that you will get on your investment. For example, you might have a desire to photograph that remote island in the middle of the Pacific. But is it going to make enough money from stock photo sales not only to cover the cost of your trip but actually make you money? One of the best strategies is to photograph things that are close to your home that require little effort and money to capture.

Picture the story

Travel photography is about telling stories and transporting the viewer on a journey. If you can picture what and where a photo might be used, you’ll often end up with more sellable photos. For example, a landscape photo gives a completely different message when there is a hiker walking in the scene. Whereas one might be saying tranquillity and a beautiful view, the other might be saying adventure. You can, of course, try to capture multiple stories in the same scene, thus maximizing your output.

The same image but a different story with the photographer in the shot.

Capture it the first time

Don’t ever assume that you will be able to recreate any photographic scenario. So if the opportunity presents itself, take the photo. You can always re-shoot it again if you have a chance. For example, you may get to a location and the light is not favourable. So you are tempted to not even bother taking the photo and aim to come back. But if for some reason you can’t then you have missed out on that shot altogether. So always remember to shoot at the first chance you get. Then if you get a chance, shoot it better at another time.

Spend your budget wisely

It can sometimes be a difficult balancing act when you are away on a shoot. Yes, you want to enjoy yourself and see the sights at that location. But the question you have to ask yourself is if the cost is worth it from a business point of view. For example, an entrance ticket to somewhere might cost a hundred dollars, but is it worth it if photography is not allowed inside? Only you can make that decision, but it is worth thinking about it beyond just “what you want to do”.

Get releases

A model or property released photo is far more likely to sell at higher prices than one without one. So if you have an opportunity to get a model or property release form, do so. A released photo can be used for commercial purposes and as such could command higher fees than the traditional editorial photos. Clearly, in the vast majority of instances, this isn’t very practical or efficient to do so don’t be put off taking the photo if you can’t get a release form.

Edit with your head

We all get sentimental sometimes. A photo that we worked hard to capture waiting in the cold and wet might feel like it should be on sale. But you need to try and detach yourself from your photos and think like a photo editor. Judge your photos on their own merits rather than how hard you worked to capture it.

Analyse your sales

Once you begin to make some sales, you should create a spreadsheet to keep a list of your sales, locations and so on so that, you can then analyse them to see if there is a pattern that emerges. For example, if you find that the photos you take of cities sell more, then focus on doing more of that. Or you may find that most of the photos that you sell have a person or people in them. You have to constantly analyse and tweak your plans to make your business as efficient as possible.

Stock photography is a good way to make money from your photos. Even though there is so much competition and fees as a whole are dropping, there is still an opportunity to earn money from selling stock photos. Follow these 12 tips and you’ll be able to capture stock photos that sell on every trip.